How to write a reflection paper
If you are a student, most likely you are already familiar with such a concept as “reflection paper”. But do you know what it means? And how to write a really good paper?
High school and college students constantly have to deal with such an assignment. Our recommendations will definitely help surprise the teacher and classmates.
The definition of a reflection paper
Most student work involves presenting bare facts. But other papers require a more creative approach. For example, in a reflection paper, you can reason on any topic, from your favorite book to visiting a new country or even the meaning of life. Even though it relates to academic assignments, you do not need to think about official requirements, strict tone of writing, etc. True, you need to consider the purpose of the paper. It can be:
- educational – an opinion about any book, film, information studied in the class, etc;
- professional – such a paper will be aimed at analyzing the behavior of the personalities of teachers and social workers;
- personal – expresses your thoughts and feelings about different things.
Choosing a theme for reflection paper
In most cases, when the teacher instructs you to write an academic or educational analytical paper, one provides you with a topic or subject. Most often, students are offered to write about a film, a book, a lecture that was studied in the classroom. The topic can be the same for all students or may differ for each individual person.
In some cases, students are offered the subject of study, and the topic is allowed to choose on their own. Some areas are wide enough and you can narrow them down as you wish. For example, if you were instructed to write about a direction in literature, devote your reflection paper to specific writers or their books.
You do not have to write about too personal issues, because it is uncomfortable and provokes psychological difficulties. besides, in this case, you can’t provide objective conclusions. Therefore, if you feel that the subject is too close to you, choose another or describe it in general terms.
Outline and Brainstorm
While writing a reflection paper, you will need to take notes. This will help to maintain a clear structure and make the writing process much more effective.
First, write a few sentences on your main topic. They will become the basis from which it will be possible to build upon when writing a further paper. Write down all your thoughts, ideas, even if you understand that you will not use them. Often, brainstorming helps filter out unnecessary information and find truly creative ideas. Also, the more thoughts you write, the easier it will be for you to understand how you really relate to the topic.
When you see all your ideas in front of you, you need to sort them. For example, draw three columns on paper. The first one will focus on highlights or key events. Second is devoted to your personal feelings, subjective values, experience. And the third column is for thoughts that you include in the paper.
As a result of a brainstorming session, you will receive a draft and offline, which will be useful to you in further work.
Read also about SAT Essay Examples for Your Success!
Organization matters
Be sure to pay attention to the preparation of the main scheme, using notes from a brainstorming session.
To organize a reflection paper well, you will need a few important points.
Reflexive questions
To understand what the tone and theme of your essay will be, ask yourself a question. For example: “How does this subject affect me and my feelings?
But this is not the only question you can ask yourself. And the better the paper, the deeper your reflection, the more there should be such questions. Here are some examples that may inspire you:
- Does the topic of your essay challenge you? How does it bother you, why does it catch your attention?
- Did your book, film or past experiences change your mindset? Is it possible to say that new thoughts began to contradict the old?
- Do you have any questions? How do you plan to look for answers to them?
- What problems reflected in the book, film or lecture you already knew? Is it important for you to live this experience again and again?
Strong introduction
This will immediately highlight your paper among the works of other students. You can select only 2-3 sentences for entry and then go directly to the essence of the paper.
Focus on the thesis
You need to think through a thesis statement and present it in the introduction. Explain whether your expectations about the paper were met, what are the reasons for this.
Great idea
You need the body of an essay to expand on the topic. Now you have enough space to describe your attitude to the studied subject, to highlight the main feelings, doubts, fears, etc. Do not forget about the reasons, since it is an in-depth analysis that will help to write a good reflection paper.
Conclusion
It’s time to draw conclusions and summarize. Briefly summarize, describe your thoughts and feelings in 2-3 sentences. Remember that conclusions that are obvious to you may not be obvious to other people. Therefore, you need to write not just a sentence with the result of your thoughts, but explain how you came to this result. If there are several ideas, select a paragraph for each of them. Make sure they are logically structured.
Useful Tips
Of course, the main aim of a reflection essay is to express your own writing style. For each student, it will be different, so you cannot select a single template. Your paper should be unique, reflect your character, type of thinking, language skills. But we can give you some useful recommendations:
- Brevity is the soul of wit. We have no doubt that you can tell a lot about the topic. But stick to a given volume. Most reflection essays contain 250-750 words.
- Clear and understandable. No need to beat around the bush. Write clearly and concisely. If you have a strong thesis statement, it will be easier.
- Use the right tone. Even if you write about personal items, stay professional.
- Quote the sources. Links to experts and authoritative resources will be your advantage.
- Don’t forget about proofreading. You need not only to get rid of mistakes and make amends but to make sure that your paper is structured, understandable and interesting.
Order paper from professional authors
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