If you have to write a reflective essay, the professor expects the analysis of a specific article, lesson, lecture or experience in the light of what you have learned in class. This type of text is personal and subjective, but it must still maintain an academic tone and be organized in an accurate and cohesive way. Here's everything you need to know to write an effective reflection essay.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Collecting Ideas
Step 1. Identify the main topics
In your notes, summarize the experience, reading, or lesson in 1-3 sentences.
These sentences should be both descriptive and straight to the point
Step 2. Write down the parts that most impressed you
Determine why certain aspects stand out and make notes on your interpretation of them.
- In the case of lectures or readings, you can jot down specific quotes or summarize passages.
- If it's an experience, write notes on specific parts. You could also give a brief summary or tell about an event that occurred during the experience and imposed itself on others. Images, sounds and other sensory experiences are also fine.
Step 3. Create a table
You may find it helpful to make a chart or table to keep track of your ideas.
- In the first column, list the main points or key experiences. These points can include any aspect that is predominantly dealt with by the author or speaker, but also specific details that you found important. Devote a line to each point.
- In the second column, indicate your personal reaction to the points you raised in the first. Explain how your subjective values, experiences, and opinions affect this response.
- In the third and final column, determine how much of your personal answer you will share in the reflection essay.
Step 4. Ask yourself questions to guide your answer
If you have trouble analyzing your feelings or identifying your personal reaction, try asking yourself questions about the experience or reading, and try to understand how they relate to your life. Here are some questions you might ask yourself:
- Did the reading, lecture or experience challenge you socially, culturally, emotionally, or theologically? If so, when did this happen and how? Why did it bother you or get your attention?
- Did the reading, the lecture or the experience change the way you see things? Did it spark a conflict with the views you previously held? What evidence has he given you to change the way your thoughts are processed on the subject?
- Did the reading, the lecture or the experience leave you in doubt? Did you have these questions before or did you develop them only after you finished?
- Did the author, speaker, or other people involved in the experience fail to adequately address important issues? Could a certain fact or idea have drastically changed the impact or conclusion of the reading, lecture or event?
- How do the problems or ideas raised by the event relate to your past experiences or lessons? Do the concepts contradict or support each other?
Part 2 of 3: Organizing a Reflection Essay
Step 1. The essay should be short and concise
Generally, the length should be between 300 and 700 words.
- Ask the professor if he prefers a certain number of words or if you should simply follow the average length parameters expected for an essay.
- If the teacher indicates parameters other than the standard ones, respect these rules.
Step 2. Present your expectations
In the introduction to the essay, you should identify the expectations you initially had about the reading, the lesson, or the experience.
- In the case of a lecture or lecture, explain what you expected based on the title, abstract or introduction.
- In the case of an experience, indicate what you expected based on previous knowledge you gained through similar events or information given to you by others.
Step 3. Develop a thesis
At the end of the introduction, you should include a short sentence that quickly explains the transition from your expectations to the final conclusion.
- Basically, this is a short explanation to indicate whether your expectations have been met.
- A thesis offers a central point on which to dwell and gives cohesion to an essay for reflection.
- You could structure the thesis for this essay starting like this: "From this reading / experience I have learned that…".
Step 4. In the body of the essay, explain the conclusions you came to
The paragraphs of the text should indicate the conclusions or understanding that you have gained at the end of the reading, lesson or experience.
- The conclusions need to be explained. You should provide details on how you came to these conclusions using logical and concrete examples.
- The purpose of the essay is not to summarize the experience, you should instead extrapolate concrete and specific details from a text or event in order to contextualize your conclusions.
- Write a separate paragraph for each conclusion or idea you have developed.
- Each paragraph should deal with a specific topic. This topic should clearly reflect the main points, the conclusions you have reached and your understanding.
Step 5. Conclude with a summary
The conclusion should concisely describe the general lesson, feeling or understanding you have gained from reading or experience.
The ideas or understanding you have come up with in the middle paragraphs of the text should support the overall conclusion. There may be a conflict between a couple of concepts, but in principle the text should be consistent from start to finish
Part 3 of 3: Writing
Step 1. Reveal information wisely
A reflection essay is personal, because it describes subjective feelings and opinions. However, instead of just exposing everything about yourself, ask yourself clearly if a thought is appropriate before including it in the text.
- If for personal reasons you do not agree with the conclusions you have reached, it is better not to enter private details in this regard.
- If a certain issue is unavoidable and you need to address it, but you have trouble disclosing personal experiences or feelings about it, talk about it in more general terms. Describe the issue and indicate any professional or academic concerns you have.
Step 2. Maintain a professional or academic tone
A reflection essay is personal and subjective, but thoughts still need to be organized and sensible.
- Avoid tarnishing someone else's reputation. If a certain person has made the experience difficult, unpleasant, or unpleasant, you still need to maintain a certain distance while describing their influence. Instead of making statements like "Roberto was hateful", try writing instead "A participant behaved abruptly and his speech was rude, making me feel anything but welcome." Describe the actions, not the person, and contextualize their attitude to explain the impact they had on your conclusions.
- A reflection essay is one of the few academic texts where you can use the first person singular pronoun "I". That said, you should still link your personal feelings and opinions to hard evidence to explain them.
- Avoid slang and always use spelling and grammar correctly. Typical internet abbreviations, like LOL or XD, can definitely be used with friends and family, but not in an academic essay, so you need to write it with the grammatical respect it deserves. Don't think it's a page in your diary.
- After you've finished your essay, check and double-check your spelling and grammar.
Step 3. Correct the reflection essay on a syntactic level
A clear and well-written text must present understandable and carefully structured sentences.
- Each sentence must be precise and relate to a single concept. Avoid squeezing multiple ideas into one sentence.
- Avoid fragmented sentences. Make sure each sentence has a subject and a verb.
- Vary the length of the sentences. Include both simple sentences, with a single subject and verb, and complex sentences with multiple clauses. In this way, the essay is smoother and more natural, and this prevents the writing from becoming too rigid.
Step 4. Use transition expressions
These linguistic elements allow you to change the subject or introduce specific details. In addition, they allow you to illustrate the direct link between an experience or a detail and a conclusion or understanding.
Some of the more common transitional expressions include "for example", "therefore", "consequently", "on the other hand" and "further"
Step 5. Make a link between the relevant information you have acquired in class and the experience or reading
You can incorporate data you learned in class by merging it with information gained from reading, lecture or experience.
- Imagine having to reflect on an article of literary criticism. Could you explain the connection between your views and ideas about the theory illustrated by the piece and the teachings of the professor. Alternatively, explain the possible application of this theory to a prose text or a poem read in class.
- Another example: If you reflect on a new social experience for a sociology class, you might link it to specific ideas or social mechanisms that were discussed in class.
