In a reflective essay, you are expected to share personal experiences of different event or your ideas on an article, lesson, or lecture, for example. The fact that you, as a writer, analyze a past event from the present is what distinguishes that essay as reflective. In this article, our proficient and credible writers will share with you our ultimate writing guide on how to write a reflective essay, which includes the definition, essay format, and reflective essay examples to inspire you.
What Is a Reflective Essay?
Reflective papers are about specific events or experiences. When you write one, you analyze the experience, its meaning, and the lessons drawn from it. To discover your mindset, personality, character traits, and background, the Refractive essay format requires you to be open about your thoughts and emotions. A description of the experience/literature piece, as well as explanations of your thoughts, feelings, and reactions, should be included in your reflective essay. Reflections are highly subjective and personal, but they must be formal and well-organized.
What is the Goal of a Reflective Essay?
A reflective paper is an academic writing assignment that seeks to reveal more information about your identity.
- Analyze and conclude from what you’ve read, heard, or seen.
- Draw connections between the text and yourself, or between other texts and the world
- Consider what you’ve learned and how you can or will use the new information
- Write subjectively (from your point of view) to help identify your interests.
The guide below will lead you to create the perfect reflective essay.
What Am I Going to Write About?
Because it should be about your thoughts and experiences, the reflective essay is probably not something for which you can borrow a topic. However, here are some reflective essay ideas topics to write about to get you started:
- A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
- When you overcame a fear.
- The most challenging decision you had to make.
- A time when your beliefs were called into question.
- A time when something in your life changed.
- The happiest or most terrifying moment of your life so far.
- Ways you believe you or others can make the world better.
- A time when you felt lost.
- An introspective examination of your choices or a time when you made the wrong choice.
- A period in your life that you wish you could go back to.
You might find it helpful to make a chart or table to keep track of your ideas. Divide your chart into three sections:
- In the first column, list your essential experiences or main points. You can arrange them in descending order of importance.
- In the second column, write your reaction to the points you made in the first.
- In the third column, write what you want to share in the essay based on your response.
Reflective Essay Structure
A reflective narrative essay differs significantly from an argumentative or research paper in format. A reflective nursing essay is similar to a well-structured story or diary entry rich in insight and reflection. You may be required to format your essay in either APA or MLA style.
And while the average length of a reflection paper ranges between 300 and 700 words, ask your instructor or employer about the word length if it was assigned to you. Even though this is your essay, you should avoid using too much informal language.
Here are a few tips if your instructor requests that you format your paper in APA or MLA style.:
1. MLA Format Reflective Essay
- Times New Roman font 12-point font, double spacing
- 1″ margins
- On every page, the top right includes the last name and page number
- Titles are centered
- Include your name, the name of your professor, the course number, and the date in the header.
- The last page should include a Works Cited list.
2. APA Style Reflective Essay
- Times New Roman 12 pt font, double spaced;
- 1″ margins;
- a page header at the top of each page;
- a page number on the right;
The title page, abstract, main body, and references should all be included in your reflective essay.
Reflective Essay Outline
Examine your brainstorming table to begin organizing your critical thinking reflection essay. The ‘experience’ and ‘description’ sections should account for no more than 10% of your essay.
Your introduction should include the following elements:
1. The hook
Captivate the reader’s attention by summarizing what you’ll be writing about. For example, we discovered Buffy covered in tar from head to toe, starved, and with patches of fur under an abandoned garbage truck. It should have a reflective essay topic.
2. Thesis statement
A reflective essay thesis statement should include that ‘experience’ information as well as a brief statement of what your essay will be about.
For instance, my summer volunteering at the animal shelter inspired me to pursue this type of work in the future. Body paragraph structure is best discussed in chronological order. Answer the bold questions in the table’s’ reflection’ section; this should naturally result in a linear storyline.
Here’s an example of how a body paragraph outline should look:
- Expectations about the shelter
For example, I expected it to be dull and mundane.
- The first impression
- Previous shelter experience
- Finding and rescuing Buffy.
- Other animal rescue experiences
- Discoveries
Example: Recently discovered passion and feelings for one’s work.
- A newly developed mindset
Example: How your thoughts about animal treatment have changed.
How to Write a Reflective Essay?
If you’re writing a reflection on a text, annotate your initial emotions and thoughts as you read it. If you’re writing about yourself or a specific event in your life, make a chart with three columns: previous experiences, descriptions, and a reflective essay thesis. This table should help you brainstorm and help you in reflective essay structure and your essay’s introduction and body.
Follow these tips for writing a reflective paper to success.
1. Take care of what you’re writing
As it includes your feelings and opinions about something, a reflective paper is a unique type of writing. Before you include something in your paper, consider it appropriate to include it. If you are uncomfortable writing about something personal, leave it out of your essay or write about it in more general terms.
2. Maintain your professionalism
What is critical reflection? Even though a reflection paper is personal, it should be professional. Avoid slang and only use proper spelling and grammar. Use no abbreviations.
Since this is your story, the emphasis should be on your critical self-reflection and experiences. In your custom nursing essay, there is no need to go into detail about someone else. Even if this person played a significant role in the experience you are discussing; you should remain professional and describe the actions the person took rather than the person.
3. Double-check
Examine your paper sentence by sentence to ensure that there are no errors.
- Keep your sentences short and to the point.
- Avoid cramming two ideas into one sentence.
- Don’t leave sentences unfinished; make sure each sentence serves a purpose.
4. Put the Finishing Touches on Your Cake
Use transitional phrases to switch between arguments and introduce specific details. Using transitions will improve the appearance of your paper.
A poor reflective essay fails to demonstrate the following:
· The essay fails to convey the author’s “big picture” to the reader.
· Your reflective essay bears no resemblance to a Cause and Effect Essay.
· Throughout the essay, you have failed to demonstrate to the reader that you are capable of viewing your actions and decisions from a different angle.
Reflective Essay Examples
Referring to reflective essay examples can be highly beneficial. A critical reflection example can help you understand what a reflection essay should look like.
Reflective Essay Ideas
“My first day of work following graduation”
Our team prepared examples to help you understand how the above tips work together. The following is one of the reflective essay samples to consider: Agitation. Excitement. Shock. Anger. Melancholy. Relief. Gratefulness. This list only scratches the surface of my first day on the job’s emotional rollercoaster.
Our team prepared examples to help you understand how all of the above tips interact. Consider the following example of a reflective essay: Agitation. Excitement. Shock. Anger. Melancholy. Relief. Gratefulness. This list only scratches the surface of my first day on the job’s emotional rollercoaster.
And now it’s my first day. I felt I could touch the air of importance and intricate business processes. Most of whom were older than me; Strangers appeared to be all-knowing and experienced. My head was filled with excitement. It was challenging to maintain a serious expression when everything inside my head was screaming, “I did it! “I’m a big-shot human resources manager!” Finally, I have my workplace. It had everything a young green manager could want: a comfortable chair, a set of office supplies, and a computer screen that took up half the desk—pure happiness and bliss surrounded by a naive soul.
Everyone wants to show off their best qualities when starting a new job. When it’s your first job, you’re ready to jump out of your skin to impress your boss and coworkers. This approach places a lot of pressure on the new employee.
Everything went swimmingly at first. My new boss assigned me a seemingly simple task, which I completed in hours. It should have been my first success, in my opinion. While walking across the room to show the results of my work, I imagined Mr. Smith (my boss) shaking my hand and telling me that I was a capable manager, and so on. Should I tell you that nothing of the sort occurred at that time?
Mr. Smith did not share my enthusiasm for my presentation. Long story short, instead of the expected praise, it received a slew of criticism, and I sobbed my way back to my desk. And I didn’t know how to react at first.
Mr. Smith was not as enthusiastic about my presentation as I was. To cut a long story short, it received a slew of criticism instead of the expected praise, and I sobbed my way back to my desk. I didn’t know what to do at first.
I took criticism and transformed it into a new skill. I noticed a difference in work approaches typical of top- and middle-management employees from that day forward.
Final thoughts
Having proper skills on how to write a reflective essay helps you present your personality professionally. You can use the above guide to help you grasp and advance your writing skills. Becoming the best student in your class by following the above steps and tips when working on your reflective essay. It is our immense pleasure to share our knowledge and help you submit a top-notch essay.
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