Metacognition: Kite Runner Essay

Looking back and providing evidence was, at first, a laborious process.  The basic idea for my thesis was father-son relationships, combined with redemption.  I gathered evidence about how Baba and Ali were similar to Amir and Hassan, and how they all make amends (or do not make amends); if I had went on with that thesis, the paper could have been an A paper, but I was more worried with going a little deeper into the subject of redemption.  There was one element in particular that came up in a couple of my pieces of evidence; and that was that a smile makes their relationship, then breaks their relationship.  And eventually, a smile redeems Amir.  To me, this topic and thesis was a little more interesting.  Looking back, I realize I made the right choice.  The paper was much more enjoyable after my new thesis, and the product wasn't bad either.

The change I made was effective in two ways.  First, making the thesis more specific allowed me to keep the paper on-topic.  Changing the paper to evolve around smiling in The Kite Runner allowed me to keep the facts and analysis specific.  The smile has a small role in The Kite Runner in terms of frequency; however, its significance is uncanny.  Second, making the thesis more specific made the entire paper more original. The fact that smiling represents redemption was never brought up in class.  Taking an idea, like redemption, and looking at it from a different angle made the paper mine.

One thing I am proud to say, is that I am not often surprised by my own thinking.  To me, this is not a bad thing.  I am not implying that my thinking isn't surprising in general, but I am at the point where I know what my boundaries are as a thinker.  I do whatever I can to cross the boundaries, and when I do, it is seldom spontaneous.  I am definitely a fan of my own brain.  I am an eccentric person, and my thinking reflects that; I can go off on a tangent on the most basic, daily things in life, and turn them upside down.  Observing them from a different angle.  A cornerstone of my thinking, is that everything we need/ want to know is right under our noses.  Once we see that, other, more complicated ideas will rush to us.  There are many occasions where my brain doesn't work well.  For example, I am very bad at staying on topic.  My mind, well, has a mind of its own, so I tend to wander off sometimes.  That is why having a clear, concise thesis statement was important for me in this paper.