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First of all, let’s look at the reflective essay definition. This is a type of writing assignment that requires a person to describe and analyze a past event or an experience he or she was involved in. Reflective writing requires not only knowledge of the subject, but also an analytical/critical mind. It is a common task in schools and universities, which helps students learn from difficulties they have faced in their lives or studies, and think of the ways to avoid or cope with them in the future.
If you want to know how to make a reflective essay perfect, here is a rule to follow: devote 10% of the essay’s length to the description of a certain experience, 65% to its thorough analysis, and other 25% to reflecting on the things you have learned for the future. Your work has to do more than just tell how you have matured since the event; it has to show this in examples to make the reader believe it.
Reflective essays are written at least once a year and cover diverse parts of students’ lives. This task helps students of different ages to evolve, learn from their mistakes, and apply the obtained knowledge later in life. Therefore, it is crucial to understand how to write a reflective essay and present personal growth in it properly.
Overall, it is important to tell about the event in detail mentioning what, where, and why has happened and propose the ways you could have changed the outcome of the situation. You will have to describe the situation and tell how it has influenced your life. It is crucial to show that you have learned your lesson and will be able to make the right decisions if a similar situation occurs in future.
The essay consists of at least five paragraphs, where each one has a different purpose. The way the academic reflective essay is written is has its own specifics, but the outline is rather typical:
The body of the paper has to cover three main questions:
Answering these questions clearly will help in writing a good reflective essay. Note that it is important to separate the answers and create nice transitions to make the work coherent. This part needs to flow into the conclusion, where the reader has to see the whole picture and understand the way the writer has developed through the process.
Read the essay question carefully!
Look for these words:
Structure an essay
Beginners use the five-paragraph structure with references. Advanced writers use a variation of this method.
Writing
Write the first ugly draft – using first/third person depending on the requirements. Know how to paraphrase and summarize. Don’t plagiarize – everyone checks if the essay is unique.
Editing & Formatting
I use the chainsaw and surgical methods. Chainsaw cuts material that isn’t relevant. Surgical involves fine-tuning spelling and grammar.
What is the formatting style? APA, MLA, or CMS? What is the word/page count? Follow the rubric.
Writing a reflective essay is an intricate process and the introductory part of your paper should be flawless to grab the attention of the reader. So, ‘how to start a reflective essay?’, you may think. The answer depends on the experience you have chosen to analyze, so there are no common rules as to what should definitely be included in the introductory part. But we have gathered several tips that will help you to avoid the most common mistakes made when writing a reflective essay introduction, like:
When writing a reflective paper, you might still be required to formulate a thesis. Why though?
The thesis is the basis of the whole paper. As you write a reflective paper, your main idea may change slightly, so at the end of the work, do not forget to re-read everything again and assess whether the thesis still reflects the content of the resulting work.
The main part requires the most attention especially when drawing up a plan. Generally, there is no one commonly accepted reflective essay format because it is a rather personal paper. So, the body part can have a different structure:
You are free to use any number of arguments to support your thesis as long as you do not overload the text.
Sometimes, when everything has already been said and every argument has been put forward, it is quite difficult to sum everything up in several concise sentences without repeating the ideas that have already been expressed. But good reflective essays are supposed to have well-structured and succinct conclusive parts. So, here are several standard ways to finish an essay:
No matter which option you choose, make sure it is consistent with the rest of the paper. In the end, good reflective essays leave an impression that any complications the student faced have been approached seriously, and he or she realized how to benefit from the experience, either good or bad, which is something you should aim to show as well.
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5 days | 16.99 | 21.99 | 24.99 |
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24 hours | 22.99 | 26.99 | 34.99 |
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10 days | 7.99 | 9.99 | 12.99 |
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5 days | 9.99 | 11.99 | 15.99 |
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2 days | 11.99 | 13.99 | 18.99 |
24 hours | 14.99 | 15.99 | 19.99 |
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