Metacognition: The act of writing about Jane Eyre

Writing about Jane Eyre was a bit more difficult than I thought it would be. For me, getting all of my group members to collaborate at the same time and in a collective way proved to be challenging, but we got through it.
I found that the easiest part was coming up with a way to relate Jane's situation to a modern 21st century example. I felt that because this book was so dense, there was much we could relate and elaborate on. However, in the same way, it was difficult, because there were times when we stretched the text too much. It was hard to find the medium between going into depth and plain overanalyzing.
I did learn a lot about my own personal thinking through this project, though. In the past, before I write an essay, I prepare an outline, where I put down the guidelines, what I need to have, quotes, claims, etc. from start to finish. This became the one-and-only blueprint for my paper. However, while writing this essay I did not do that. While at first it was a challenge, because I didn’t know where to begin, once I began fleshing through ideas and concepts, the essay fell together. I found that while writing about something, I would come to a profound conclusion or a different way to look at the scenario. I felt that this really added depth, and gave a whole different layer to our writing. This style helped me expand my mind more, than if I had just followed an outline. Upon thinking about this, I remember what Mr. Allen told us when writing our short stories; that we shouldn't have a clear-cut idea of what the ending will be, but rather we will discover it while we are writing the story. I found that this method worked very well.
One thing that I learned about my thinking, though, is that it is very disorganized, abrupt, and chaotic. I talked about, in this essay, including thoughts which popped-out while I was writing the essay. While these ideas tend to be the one’s most in-depth, I’ve got no effective way to organize and record them all at once. I think that I need to find a system or find some organized way of recording these ideas, so I can include more of them in my writing.
In conclusion, I learned many things about my writing and thinking when completing the Jane Eyre essay. There are many things I wish to continue, while there are some that need adjusting. That's all part of the great process of becoming a greater writer, and thinker.