We’ve all had those moments in which we need to write a proper, well-crafted reflective essay;
but, had no idea where to start.
What exactly sets a ‘reflective’ essay apart from other essay types anyway?
Hi, I'm Mark with EssayPro, and in this video, our writers prepared the basics
of reflective essay writing.
Be sure to stay tuned through the end of the video, as we will be offering a variety of
different tips and tricks to help your reflective essay really stand out.
A great reflective essay can be crafted in many different ways, but one of the most difficult
parts of essay writing can simply be knowing where to begin.
However, before you begin, it’s important to keep in mind what exactly a reflective
essay is.
In short, a reflective essay is an essay that conveys the personal opinion of the author.
It allows the author to explain their own thoughts or feelings about a certain subject,
rather than simply laying out the facts.
This type of essay writing has a variety of potential applications, but its most commonly
used in certain forms of creative writing – though its applications are generally limitless.
A solid self reflective essay doesn’t typically require all of the research and preparations
as other essays do.
Instead, most of the information contained within the essay needs to be from your own
thoughts, your own experiences, and your own opinions.
Often times, self reflective essays don’t require all of the same citations and sources
of a typical essay, unless you plan on listing your own brain as a source.
It’s important to really lay out all of the emotions you feel regarding the topic
you’re discussing.
Talk about your strengths in the subject, but also your weaknesses.
Make the writing feel human, and help the reader to become emotionally involved in the
information that you’re relaying.
From here, let’s talk about some basics of Reflective Essay writing.
In a well-written self reflective essay, the author should always use first person statements,
such as “I believe” or “It’s my opinion that…”
This helps the reader to understand that the information they are reading is from the
authors perspective, and not to be taken as fact, but rather, as an educated opinion.
This is extremely important, especially in todays’ world of “false facts” and “fake news”.
Begin writing by crafting five or ten sentences
as an introduction.
This is the key place to express not only the facts, but largely, your opinion.
Let the reader know straight away what your stance is on the topic, and be sure to fully
explain yourself as best as possible.
This is one of a few moments in the essay where you can really lay your opinions out
in the open and let the reader know your honest standpoint on the topic.
You also need to include your thesis statement in the introduction – but try to keep it
to just one sentence.
You’ll have a chance to further explain yourself later on in the essay.
After you’ve crafted your introduction, you need to formulate the body of your essay,
which should be at least three paragraphs.
Different assignments will require different content lengths, but three paragraphs are
a good starting point for any reputable reflective essay.
Make sure that all of the content within the body of your essay truly reflects and supports
your thesis statement – this is crucial to a truly convincing essay.
In some circumstances, it can be important to mention both sides of an argument, though
remember, the sole purpose of a reflective essay is to convince the reader of your viewpoint.
Or, at the very least, allow them to fully understand your viewpoint and see where you
are coming from.
This is why it’s so important to really hone in on why you feel the way you do.
Make sure the reader fully understands your personal experience in a clear way, and the
impact that it may have in the future.
• Be mindful, and take your time to express how you feel the knowledge you have is useful
and applicable.
• Be up front about what you feel the reader can gain from your perspective.
Throughout your writing process, just remember: this essay is about you and your
personal beliefs, experiences and opinions.
Don’t allow yourself to feel stifled as a result of what others may think.
This is your time to truly express your feelings toward the topic without fear of persecution.
So now you have learned the basics of reflective essay writing, and let’s dig a bit deeper
into the specifics of what a good reflective essay will typically cover.
To begin, let’s establish what it is that you’re going to write about.
Reflective essays will commonly cover topics such as a deeply personal experience, a story
or opinion that you have imagined, a real place or some sort of object or possession
that you hold dear, or even your opinion on something that you have read, seen, or experienced.
This isn’t an exhaustive list of topics, by any means.
However, hopefully this will give you enough inspiration to at least begin your essay.
Once you have established what exactly you want to write about, it’s time to write
the aforementioned 5 to 10 sentence introduction, including your thesis.
If you’re having trouble, remember – this essay is all about you and your beliefs.
There is no limit to what you can or cannot say or feel or write about.
Example: Why did I feel so at-ease when walking along this country road?
I came to realize that it was because country roads always felt like home – after all,
I grew up in the country.
From here, we can move on to some more specifics regarding the body paragraphs of your essay.
When writing your first body paragraph, thoroughly explain the way you feel about the subject
matter.
Truly and fully inform the reader about your experience and the emotions that were involved in it.
Then, explain to the reader why you feel the way you do.
What events led you to formulate your current opinion on the subject?
Why is it that you feel this way; what about the subject matter left this impression on you?
There is no right or wrong way to formulate this paragraph, so long as you properly inform
the ready of your “what” and “why”.
Moving on to your second paragraph.
We’ve established the “what” and “why”, but now we need a reason.
Explain to the reader the second reason why the subject matter struck you the way it did.
Did it remind you of certain past experiences that you’ve been through?
Does it conflict with any potential spiritual beliefs?
Give the reader your specifics and explain your reasoning behind your opinion openly and honestly.
Your third paragraph should finally reflect a third reason why you feel the way you do.
Again, be descriptive and honest in your approach.
Finally, you have worked your way to the conclusion of your reflective essay.
Here, it’s crucial that you revisit your thesis, and recap your opinions on the subject.
Restate some of your reasoning behind your emotions, thoughts and opinions.
Give the reader one final chance to fully understand your perspective on the subject,
and allow the reader a chance to come to terms with your reasoning.
It’s important to add some final thoughts on the matter, including some reasoning that
you may not have mentioned in your body paragraphs, if you feel that it is necessary.
Just remember to be mindful that this is, after all, a conclusion.
Don’t allow yourself to get too long winded or defensive about your approach.
You’ve made yourself clear in the body paragraphs.
The conclusion should simply be a summary of your beliefs and opinions, as well as an
“exit ramp”, so to speak, for the reader to formulate their own beliefs and opinions as well.
Example: I sent a photograph of myself walking along this country road to a close friend of mind.
He and I grew up on a similar road together, and I wanted him to know that I appreciated
our time together as children, and that I cherish those memories deeply.
I would love, more than anything, for us to revisit our old country road together one
day and make new memories to share with each other.
Today we have learned how to craft a proper reflective essay.
We’ve established ways to formulate an introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion paragraph
that will leave a lasting impression.
We hope that this information and these examples have helped to answer your questions regarding
reflective essay writing.
If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to leave them in the comments
below.
EssayPro has years of experience in proper essay writing, and we would love to help you
in any way that we can.
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