Numerous students across the globe are unable to formulate a well-structured, well-researched, and well-presented essay for their university and that goes on to be the reason professional writing assistance is needed. But the reflective essay for the university is your stepping stone to get in, thus should be full of authenticity because that is what the admission’s authorities are looking for- your true personality. Reflective essay topics seem easy to write but are difficult to write at the same time as they are the critical investigation of a life experience but they can be put together nicely with proper materials and the right guidance.

A diary entry and reflective essay are similar with the only difference being that the essay will be read by others thus, should possess a good structure and a great deal of coherence. With that context, a reflective essay is just like any other type of essay. In the guide given below, we will be exploring the ways to structurize your essay and some tips to improve the writing process, in the entirety.

About the Format

About the format

Though a reflective essay can be presented in multiple formats, it is usually in the learning log or what we call a diary entry format which is about how the author’s thoughts have advanced over some time. The format of the reflective essay can differ depending on the target audience. For instance in-class assignments, the way of presenting the essay can be different but the purpose of it remains the same which is the teachers inspiring the students to think deeply and critically about their life experiences.

Focus on personal growth- This is a type of reflective essays where teachers will focus more on strategizing the aspect of personal growth development with the students analyzing their personal life experience. This essay will help the students in understanding themselves as well as their behavior better.

Focus on literature- Another type of essay includes the understudies to provide the teachers with a summary of the literature and after that, it is applied to the understudies’ life experiences.

What do you Write About?

While you are in the process of writing a reflective essay, you should be aware of the fact that reflective essays are highly personal and are written to engage the readers or the targeted audience but it is much more than recounting your story. You should be able to create a reflection of your experience and how it is the reason behind the subsequent reactions or behavior and how it has affected your life. Initially, you would think about experiences or incidents that have affected you deeply either positively or negatively. Some of the reflective essay topics are picked from a life experience, a hypothetical experience, an object that affected you, an influential person, or anything that you have watched or read. For writing an essay for university you will be majorly asked to focus on a situation like the time when you took a decision and its consequences. Keep a note that the aftermath of that experience is important or else it will be nothing but storytelling.

Reflection

Reflection

This is obvious but the reflective part of the essay is the core of this writing type and this brings us to the high importance of this segment of a reflective essay. You will have to ponder deeply about how the experience that you have chosen to describe has affected your life. Make use of your feelings and memories to write down the implications of the experience on a personal level. After you have all the content that needs to go on the paper, get some reflective questions and make your essay answer those, for instance,

  • What is that you have learned about yourself from the experience?
  • Have you witnessed any development in you? If yes then, how?
  • Did you have any positive or negative implications on your life?
  • Now when you look back, what could have been done differently?
  • What do you think about the choices that you made, were they right or wrong/
  • Also, ensure that you utilize the models of reflection after the learning process to keep the high level of analysis intact.

The Overall Plan

Overall Plan

Introduction- It should incorporate both, a hook and a thesis statement. You should keep the interesting facts of your story in the initial paragraph to get your reader’s attention. Also, give a quick overview of the experience but do not flood in with too much information, or else you will lose the reader’s interest.

Body- Having a chronological approach helps in formulating a good body of a reflective essay because this kind of approach will keep your body systematic and coherent. Ensure that the body comprises critique and reflection. It should not be the summary of your essay, rather, it should be about the impact and consequences of that experience.

Conclusion- Your conclusion should be a summary of the points that you have mentioned and the lessons that you have learned from that experience. Try to incorporate a few points that showcase how your attitude or behavior has changed due to that experience. You can answer the question of how differently you would have acted or reacted if you are in a similar situation presently.

Writing Process

Writing Process

To get the proper format and structure of the reflective essays, you should read a few other reflective essays and don’t stress on how to begin your essay, just go with your mind’s flow. And, for every point that you make, validate it with support or evidence that how it has impacted your life. You should use the first-person narrative while writing a reflective essay and you can add a quote or an anecdote at the starting of your essay to grab your reader’s attention. Avoid the usage of any vague adjectives because these will be of no use in reflecting your personality in any way. For enhanced dynamics, add punctuations wherever necessary and use the vivid imagery technique if you want your reader to imagine a situation. Ensure that you have a highlighting point that leaves your reader in amazement and keep on reiterating the lessons that you have learned from that experience.

Some Final Tip

Some final tip

Though a reflective essay is highly personal but you should gather different sources that can help in enhancing your understanding of the essay from a theoretical point of view. Remember that the reflective essay is about your attitude, your behavior, and your assumptions so don’t shy away from vividly explaining your feelings and emotions. They are also highly therapeutic because they can help you in identifying your strengths and weaknesses in terms of some knowledge gaps. You can also improve a lot of your critical thinking abilities and it enhances your skill of introspection. And, if you are still perplexed about the way to proceed, make sure to make a mind map of the reflective essay and proceed according to that. Don’t forget that there are descriptive parts in your reflective essays but the importance of reflective, critical, and analytical cannot be emphasized enough. So, what are you waiting for, go ahead and have happy writing!

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About the Author

Kristy

Kristy

Hi! I am a passionate writer with 3 years of experience in academic writing and over 2 years of experience as a professional blogger. I aim to provide academic solutions which add to the grades of the students as well as to their learning. I’m working with My Assignment Services since 3 years, during which I have always worked for the benefit of the students by providing them quality work.

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