The purpose of this research was to seek evidence of awareness ofmetacognitive processes and intertextuality in the reading comprehension of students inan adult basic education class. Its purpose was to interweave several strands of researchinvestigation and theory to explain the reading and writing capabilities of arepresentative population in an adult basic education class. This action research in theform of inquiry is described by Weirauch and Kuhne, (2000), and by Neimi in 1989 inQuigley's, Fulfilling the Promise of Adult and Continuing Education. It consists of partaction research and part advocacy in a mixed methods approach with an emphasis onimproving the education of adults returning to school to further their job prospects orremediate their lack of education (p. 56). The participants were all working adults in anAdult Basic Education class with either a high school diploma or a GED. The fourcomponents to the research design were two survey instruments: Mokhtari andRichardson's "Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies Inventory" (MARSI)and Schraw and Dennison's "Metacognitive Awareness Inventory" (MAI). There werethree reading-comprehension modules taken from standard popular and school literaturecoupled with written impressions and thoughts following both the first and secondreadings. The illustration requirement captured an aspect of the reading that the studentfelt was emotionally significant or had a strong visual element. The difference betweenthis research and other research in the field is the inclusion of a rich picture descriptionmodule designed to capture non-conscious elements of understanding and to counterany effects of self-report. One finding of this study shows that people often do not knowhow much they do not know, and tend to either overestimate or underestimate theirabilities. A second finding is that the rich picture illustration revealed understandingsbeyond the participants' written expression.