How To Write A Reflective Essay
Table of Contents
- What Is A Reflective Essay
- Why Is It Important To Know How To Write A Reflective Essay
- Reflective Essay Structure And Format
- How To Start A Reflective Essay
- How To Write Body Paragraphs
- Tips Of A Great Reflective Essay
- Topic Ideas For A Reflective Essay
- Short Example Of A Reflective Essay
- Common Mistakes To Avoid While Writing A Reflective Essay
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What is a reflective essay?
Writing a reflective essay is a form of creative writing. In this type of paper, you examine your personal experiences or situations you have been in. In this writing process, you jot down your unique insights and your views about the journey you experienced. Reflective essays have usually written from the first-person point of view. This way, you can share with your readers your trip and share the morals you gained.
Situations you can self-reflect in this essay can be something at happened to you or can be made up at the same time.
Why is it important to know how to write a reflective essay?
- It gives you a better understanding of the topic you are studying.
It is good to relax, pause, and reflect for a minute about the things you are doing from time to time. Studying can be a tremendous task, and it is a stressful one. When things are overwhelming for you, reflect on something you are studying. Why is it essential that you push through with your studies? Why is it necessary that you have to know? Reflecting will help you develop your academic skills and keep track of your progress.
- It helps you relate to other people and the environment
Reflective writing gives you a chance to step back and examine and appreciate the things and people around you. It can help connect to them better and see them as you have never before. There are times we take something and people for granted. Through reflective writing, we can see the importance of everything that surrounds us.
Reflective essay structure and format
Like any other type of text, we also follow the reflective essay format for logical consistency throughout our paper.
How to write an outline
Here is an example of a reflective essay outline you can use to write your paper.
- Introduction
- You can start writing your paper with a statement that will hook your readers’ attention. You can also start with a short story that can set the mood and the tone of the whole paper. In this part, make sure to capture your audience’s emotional side so that they will be more immersed in reading your article.
- Write your thesis statement. Ensure that your thesis statement gives your audience an overview of the main point you will discuss in your paper.
- Body
- Start with the topic sentence.
- Layout your arguments and back them up with facts and information gathered from solid research and credible sources.
- Confirm the validity of your arguments by applying them or exercising the logic.
- Repeat this format for the body based on the number of arguments you need present.
- Conclusion
- Restate your thesis statement
- Summarize all your main points and tie them all together. Show your readers how all your claim is interrelated to one another.
- Finish with an impactful statement.
How to start a reflective essay
When you begin to write a reflective essay, read the topic you are going to reflect on. Whether on a book, journal, or newspaper, it is better to familiarize yourself with the issue. Takedown important details by jotting them down or high lighting them; this will help you filter out the main points you need to include in your essay and logically establish consistency in your arguments. You can use this guide question to brainstorm ideas for your writing process.
- How can this article affect you personally? (Physically or emotionally)
- What are the questions the article sparked within you?
- Is this article relevant to others as well?
- Are there essential issues this article fails to address that you want to open?
- Does reading this article relate to past experiences?
- Are there things we can learn and pick up from reading this paper?
How to write body paragraphs?
The body of your reflective essay should thoroughly examine the experience or ideas of your chosen topic. If you are writing a reflective essay on topics found in academic journals and publications, back up your claims with information from credible sources. Using genuine data will help your readers fully understand your thoughts and your message. Make sure that the readers also feel what you feel. Describe your idea vividly so that they can feel they are on the journey with you.
How to write a conclusion of a reflective essay
A strong conclusion is a key to how to write a good reflective essay. The conclusion part should be impactful and leaves an impression on your audience. This part should summarize all your key points and the things you learned from the experience. Tell your readers how the information or realizations you discovered affected your understanding of the topic.
Tips of a great reflective essay
Here are some valuable tips on how to write a reflective essay with no fuss.
- Choose a topic that interests you as well as your readers. If you do not like the subject, it will hard for you to write a good essay and pique the interest of your readers.
- Ask yourself reflective questions like “how does this make me feel?” or “what are the things I saw?” Use this as guide questions to arrange and generate your thoughts.
- Describe your experience vividly. Make your readers feel they are together with you in your journey.
- Reflections do not need to be extended. Convey your message between 300 to 100 words.
- Keep your paper formal and academic even if you are narrating personal events of your life.
- Use an outline to give the direction of your thoughts. You should arrange your writing logically; you make your statement clear and understandable.
- Let your readers be engaged in your writing. Make them feel something; happiness, sadness, hope. Use their emotions to pique their interest.
- Do not forget to edit your work. Never submit the first draft of your paper. If you can’t do it yourself, some applications can help you with grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, and plagiarism checkers.
Topic ideas for a reflective essay
Here are reflective essay topics you can use to jumpstart your writing process.
- How you met your best friend
- The trip that gave you a new outlook on life
- People’s behavior you hate the most
- What are your fears and the ways you overcome them?
- What do you to de-stress yourself?
- Would you choose a different career if you are given a chance?
- Your relationship with your family
- Your first school prom
- What is your first heartbreaking memory?
- How reading books changed your life?
Short example of a reflective essay
People around the globe greeted 2020 with a bang. Some claimed this would be a good year and a bountiful one. Everybody started the year with great optimism and a single clue that a single moment will heavily affect our day-to-day lives. In the last days of January 2020, a new strain of the virus was discovered in Wuhan, China. A few months later, in March of 2020, the WHO declared a global pandemic due to the widespread of the COVID-19 virus. Who would have thought that we are still in the same situation we were in March 2020?
This global pandemic already claimed 3.5 million lives, and there are over 165 million active cases worldwide. This virus affected our lives drastically, from our education systems, careers, and day-to-day living; everything has changed. Students are now forced to attend classes online. This new setup has cause burnout and depression. We are also forced to stay home and as much as possible not to interact with people. This causes people to have anxiety and depression. From school interactions to daily interactions, everything was halted. The emotional health of everyone suffered a great deal.
This pandemic should show us how that company is of great importance to everyone. We often take for granted people, and now that we aren’t allowed even to talk face to face, we miss every moment of our everyday lives that feel like it is in the distant past. Not only that, this pandemic shows how the world is not prepared to face an outbreak on a large scale like this. Inadequate government responses are also one of the factors why this widespread virus cannot be eradicated.
When the day comes that we are free from this terrible threat, I hope each has learned our lesson. Every moment of every day counts. This event shows us that the future is very unpredictable. We are happy one moment we have everything, and the following day’s everything falls apart instantly. This pandemic should also be a warning call to our government. The world cannot suffer another big blow like this. Livelihoods, education, and career are paused, some ruined. The general health of the public should be their topmost concern.
The days where we start the new standard still seem far away but let’s hope we are ready to adapt and learn from our experience in the pandemic.
Common mistakes to avoid while writing a reflective essay
- Not studying the topic of your essay. You may be doing reflective writing; it is still an excellent move to familiarize yourself with your writing topic.
- You are not describing the situation enough. Writing a reflective essay is like writing a short story. You must engage your readers with the details so that they can feel what you feel.
- You are not following the reflective essay structure. Your paper should have logical consistency; following the form will help you arrange your thoughts and ideas. This is also very helpful for beginner writers because they have a guide and flow pattern to follow.
Question and Answer
- How do you start a reflective essay?
First, study your topic before writing about it. Filter put the essential details you need to included and throw away unnecessary information for your paper. Brainstorm your arguments around the prompt questions to keep logically consistency
- What is a reflective essay format?
Like any other essay type, a reflective essay should contain an introduction, a body, and a conclusion.
- What are the three parts of a reflection essay?
A reflective essay is typically divided into three parts: The title, abstract, and the main body. Some articles may include the reference part when using publications, journals, and other sources in their paper.
- What makes a good reflective essay?
An excellent reflection should make an impact not only on the writer but all the readers. It can spark a change of behavior towards someone or something else. Writing a reflection paper is not as easy as it sounds because its purpose is to touch something on the emotional side. Our service writemyessay can help you empathize through our writing. We can assure you that any essay you need, whether an academic one or a reflective one, we can deliver for you.