Metacognition: Planning the Essay

So here's how my thought process worked while I was laying out the evidence plan for my essay. I had to begin with my subject: a subject tied in directly to the Kite Runner book. So in order to choose this essay topic, I had to start with some brainstorming.

I had four possible topics written down by the time I was finished. One of them was the thought of burying the past. This was a major theme of the book, so i thought it would have been easy subject for my essay.

I still ended discarding that thought because i realized this was a very broad topic and it was almost too "glaringly obvious" within the book for me to write something thoughtful and creative about it. I could do better than simply restate the idea of someone's past. I figured i could be more original about it- maybe more focused on a specific issue?

So I began paying more attention to the book's details. I consumed small pieces at a time- not just big pictures. I quickly learned that when one DOES focus on smaller ideas within a book, it becomes much, much easier to find big ideas. I was finding little tidbits of wisdom within every chapter of the book: wisdom regarding truth, lies, hopes, guilt, friendship, and connections to my everyday life.

So I eventually found a good essay topic. The truth This was the truth. I asked myself: "What does the book tell us about the nature of truth?" (and Mr. Allen really liked this idea).

And with that, i began to work on my heavily-worded evidence plan. I was aware of how heavily-worded it was. I am a wordy person after all (Not to mention a perfectionist who can take hours writing one paragraph). So i found my evidence. It took a few thorough searches through the book to get the evidence i precisely wanted, but it was worth it, and i soon discovered there was more evidence that i could fit on one page!

It almost felt as if the further i delved into this project, the sharper my thinking senses came to be. I realized that again, I am a wordy person.