Metacognition: The act of reading Jane Eyre

While reading Jane Eyre, I was surprised by how much I was pleasantly usurped by the text. In 8th grade I read Little Women, another 19th century American classic, and felt that it was long and boring. So, going into Jane Eyre, I thought the same thing would happen.
However, this was definitely not the case. I think the difference between reading Little Women then, and Jane Eyre now was because 1.) My reading skills have developed and, 2.) I was given a clear focus of what to look for in the book.
Before reading Jane Eyre we discussed the many aspects and similarities between Victorian literatures. In addition, we discussed the life of Charlotte Bronte, the author of Jane Eyre. Lastly, before reading, I looked at what are final project would be for this book. Some of the focuses of the project were: matters of realism, challenging the status quo, feminism: not just for women, etc. Then, while reading Jane Eyre I focused on this cluster of questions, and nearly every annotation had something to do with one of the focuses for our final project. There were many things I would have skimmed over, or completely missed if I had chosen to disregard the prompts. While although these prompts are different from this years, they have greatly enhanced my understanding of this book, and it has really made me appreciate the craft and content in Jane Eyre. In addition, while although there is a different prompt, many of what I already annotated fits in with this year’s guidelines.
I found that these prompts were very effective, and they helped me keep a clear guide of certain things to look for in Jane Eyre.
I only wish that I can have these similar prompts every time I read something. I find it very useful. I noticed this when we read Heart of Darkness. Before we read the book, we disused modernism and post-modernism, which greatly influenced the way I read and interpreted the whole story.
Hopefully, in the future, though, I won’t even need prompts, and I will be able to pick up on themes and concepts of great writing, on my own. However, for now, practice and analyzing skills are the best, as they will help prepare me.
I’ve enjoyed reading Jane Eyre, and I think that is due in part to the fact that prompts have helped me identify and analyze the best works of literature.