Metacognition: Critical Thinking and Analysis

I learned a multitude of new things first semester in all of my classes: how to calculate the specific heats of gases in chemistry, trigonometry in pre-calculus, proper nutrition in health, subject-verb agreement in German, the Industrial Revolution in history, and dissecting literature in english, among other topics. But for me, one of the most valuable things I learned was the importance of critical thinking and analysis in english class. Our spectrum of literature ranging from non-fiction and historical-fiction books such as The Healing of America and The Kite Runner, respectively, to poetry including King Lear and An Anthology of Poems, have all allowed me to become a better critical thinker. In The Kite Runner and King Lear especially, we were required to read between the lines by looking at specific literary devices. This process helped me find the deeper meaning in each work we've read so far this year. Analyzing Sophie's World made the information in the book easier think about, especially when it came to learning about the Enlightenment in social studies. I was able to take what I discovered about philosophy in Sophie's World and apply it to what I was studying in history, making the Enlightenment unit much easier to understand, all because I took the time to critically think about a book.

King Lear really helped me to understand poetry. The language Shakespeare used in his works was sometimes confusing, but reading each line of a sonnet carefully and translating (although roughly and not always exact) the words gave me the chance to see the real meaning behind his work. When we started our poetry unit, my thorough analysis of Shakespeare really helped me read the poetry the way it was intended to be read. I was able to search for the deeper meanings and dissect lines one at a time until I could understand them.

Learning proper reading comprehension skills in english has really helped me first semester (and I'm sure it will continue to help me for the rest of my high school and college careers) in almost all of my classes. Even at home when I'm reading a novel just for fun, I automatically begin scanning the pages for hidden meanings, complex language, and other literary devices. I think I am almost a completely different person than I was at the beginning of the year in terms of my reading and thought processes.