Students in college are often asked by their professors to write a reflective essay. This is done to reflect on what the students have learned in class. Before writing your essay, it is essential you know its purpose. A reflective paper seeks to serve many purposes.
First, a reflective essay helps you share how an event shaped your growth and transformation. When writing, you explore your thoughts, feelings, and opinions about the event, examining its impact on you. This process allows for deeper self-awareness and evaluation of your actions during the event. If you’re short on time or need expert help, consider a buy essay writing service to guide you in crafting a thoughtful and well-structured paper, ensuring you’re prepared for future experiences with more insight.
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Features of a reflective paper
A reflective essay has similar features to that of any other essay. However, when writing a reflective paper about an event, you should remember that your main objective is to inform your reader(s) of what transpired during the event, and how it affected you. You also should know the features of such a paper. Below are some features of a reflective essay about an event:
- A reflective paper is personal: It seeks to explore the relationship between you and the event.
- It is perceptive: Unlike an informative essay, a reflective one does not merely narrate the story to the audience. You inform them of the feelings you had, your attitude, what you learned and how it affected your personality.
- It is purposeful: A reflective essay seeks to serve its objective which is to reflecting your inner-world or self, relating feelings and emotions about the event.
How to start
Starting an essay is not as simple as starting a race. To start writing, you have to be well equipped with the efficient essay writing skills. This will make it easier for you to know how to write your paper. To start a reflective paper, consider the following tips:
- Discover what its features are: As stated above, the purpose of a reflective essay is to inform your audience about your attitude, idea or impression regarding the event. This will help you to stick to the topic.
- Choose a topic: Select a topic which will be easy for you to reflect on. Once you have done so, ensure you stick to it. Do not include any information which does not relate to the event. This will misguide the audience hence make them lose interest in reading your article.
- Study your subject: Try to recall what you experienced during that event, how you felt about it and note it down.
- Brainstorm: You need to give a vivid description of that event. To achieve this, think about the feelings and emotions you had, what caused them and what impact it had on you.
- Pick reflection questions: These will help you narrate to your audience how you felt about the event and what impact it had on your development.
- Develop an outline: Having an outline is fundamental before you start writing your paper. This is because it makes it easier for you to write your paper.
How to write the introduction with the thesis statement
The introduction of a paper is crucial as it is the beginning of your article. It introduces the audience to your paper. To write the introduction of a reflective essay, you ought to incorporate a hook. This will capture the attention of your audience and make them interested in reading your paper. Your introduction should grab the reader’s attention in a short preview of what your essay is about. Therefore, ensure you do not include what you ought to have in the body in your introduction.
The thesis statement is significant; it is a summary of the paper’s idea. It ought to be concise and contain all the information which is to be presented in the body of your paper. Ensure your thesis is easy to comprehend and that it will help you develop strong body paragraphs. Your story should impress the audience.
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How to compose body paragraphs: Tips on body writing
The body of a reflective essay is vital as it holds the main content of your paper. It seeks to support your thesis statement. To write the body of your paper, consider the following tips:
- Begin each body paragraph with a topic sentence: Ensure you state how you behaved during the event, why you behaved that way, what your feelings and emotions about the event were and how the event affected you.
- Use transition sentences: These help your paper to flow smoothly. It also helps to show the connection between your paragraphs.
- Provide evidence to support your thesis statement: State providing evidence your thoughts, ideas and emotions about the event and what impact it had on you.
How to finish the paper
To conclude your paper, provide a summary of your essay. Remind your audience of the relationship between you and the event and the impact what you experienced has had on you as an individual. Also, remember not to include any new information which you have not mentioned in the essay.
Tips on revision
After having written your paper, it is essential that you proofread it. This is to ensure you deliver quality work which will not only impress your audience but also give you good grades. To revise your work, ponder on the following tips:
- Proofread your work: Proofreading your work enables you to correct the mistakes you come across in your essay.
- Correct the mistakes you come across: Man is to error. You are bound to make grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors when writing your essay. Revising it helps you to correct them.
- Check for plagiarism: Cases of plagiarism are likely to happen. Use the online plagiarism checking tools such as Grammarly and Turnitin to check for plagiarized content in your paper.
Outline sample
The outline of a paper is crucial as it helps to simplify the writing process. It also enables your paper to have a smooth and systematic flow. Below is an outline sample of a reflective essay about an event:
- Introduction: Which experience did you encounter?
- Thesis statement: What did you accomplish from the experience?
- Body: What did you experience during the event? How did you feel about it? What were your opinions about it?
- Conclusion: What did you learn from the event? How did it affect you as an individual or in your development?
Reflective essay about an event (Sample)
Joining college has been the most enthusiastic experience in my life. I got to have the freedom I was yearning for and also made new friends. My parents were not always keeping tabs on me like they did while in high school. I attended most parties I was longing for as well as went for tours and road trips. I spent most of my time with the new friends I made, Charlotte and Krystal. We did almost everything together, like going for parties, road trips, games competitions, etc. However, little did I know what was awaiting me.
I made new friends on the school’s basketball team, Lorraine, and Phoebe. Our school’s basketball team was popular, and if you were one of the best players, many people would want to hang out with you. Charlotte was not happy that I was friends with Lorraine and Phoebe. She often tried to tell me that they had a bad reputation and that I should stop hanging out with them. I often thought she was jealous because she was not representing the school in any co-curricular activity. I told her I knew what I was doing and that I could take care of myself. This built a rift between us as I chose to distance myself from them.
We often went to celebrate whenever we won a game. During one of the parties, I became too drunk to even stand on my feet. I did not know what transpired after that. I woke up to find myself lying next to some male students from a neighboring school.
I had a throbbing headache. I struggled to get to my feet and searched for Lorraine and Phoebe. They were nowhere to be seen. The male students who were in the room woke up. One of them smiled at me and asked where I was going that early. I did not reply as I thought the worst had happened to me the previous night. I tried asking him about it, but he just laughed. Tears immediately filled my eyes. What I had not imagined happening happened. I was raped.
I went back to the room I used to share with Charlotte. I knocked on the door, and she opened up for me. I did not know what to say to her but just cried letting all my pain out. Charlotte felt sorry for me, and she let me in. I explained to her what happened and she consoled me. I was regretful for not having listened to her. This made me realize that pride comes before a fall. I chose to be who I am and not live to impress others