How To Write A Reflective Essay?
Have you ever heard of a reflective essay? It is an essay you are supposed to write in your school days, college days, applying for a scholarship, job applications, and any other type of application. In order to write a reflective essay that can make you stand-out, you need to learn the art of writing it flawlessly. Let’s study a reflective essay in detail before talking about the tricks and tips in order to understand how to write it perfectly.
Define the term “Reflective Essay.”
We can define it as an essay in which choosing the topic is necessary, and writing all the nitty-gritty on a certain topic is also paramount. The use of personal tone is preferred over any other tone when writing a reflective essay. Writing this essay in the first person is also another critical thing. Let’s discuss some of the examples of topic related to reflective essays:
- How did I get the scholarship?
- How I managed to improve my communication skills?
A reflective essay writing is more of an essay related to the activities of life. If your professor assigns you to write this essay in your school days, it is well and good. If there is no trend of writing this form of essay in your school, make sure to write it on your own. It is an essay you need to write more often than not in your college or even during your jobs. Either you apply for a job, or you want to apply for a scholarship, it is mandatory to write a reflective essay, which is why you have to master at writing this essay. Read this blog carefully if you are looking to get a scholarship or you are looking to get a job for yourself.
What is the purpose of outlining your essay?
Outlining is as necessary as writing an essay, no matter what sort of essay you are supposed to write. Outlining will keep your essay on track, and you will be able to clear your point easily. A reflective essay is like a personal account, but you need to structure it properly to qualify you for the job of the scholarship. An essay with an outline will give us an idea that which piece of information has to be there in the essay. The points that have to be in the introduction are easy to decide with the help of an outline. In order to make an essay successful and engaging, all the paragraphs of an essay must not be mixed. This can only be avoided with the help of a standard outline.
Steps to writing a reflective essay!
Writing a reflective essay involves lots of steps. Here in this blog, we are going to study all the steps in detail. Here, we will discuss step-wise that how to write a reflective essay that can impress your audience. This essay involves the following steps:
Selection of the topic
Have you understood what reflective essays are? If yes, then you are on your way to learning how to write it impeccably. The first thing you need to take care of is the selection of a suitable topic. If you have your topic give by your institute, make sure to follow the topic. If you are on your own to write your topic, make sure to use a topic that is interesting and fascinating. We have some examples for you in terms of the topics for reflective essays:
- My dream jobs
- My favorite holiday destination
- The movies I love the most
- My dying dog
Introduction
Writing an introduction is as important as writing the whole essay. Most of the readers only read the introduction of an essay to get an idea of what the essay is all about. Writing an engaging introduction is required in order to get the attention of your potential audience. Everybody wants to write an essay that people can read until the very last. Make one thing clear; you are supposed to write a thesis statement for your essay at the beginning of your essay. In your introduction section, cover your thesis statement.
Writing a thesis statement isn’t enough; you have to write it in an error-less form. On the basis of your thesis statement, your readers will come to the essay about what they are going to read in your essay. Make sure to write an opening paragraph that can hit your target audience. Another is crucial to understand when writing an introduction for your essay, and it is supporting your thesis statement. The writer has to be very precise and conscious in terms of a thesis introduction. To prove your point, you will have body paragraphs. In the introduction paragraph, just give your message and make your intentions clear.
Body paragraphs
All the relevant information that can prove your point will have to be there in your body paragraphs. The points you have successfully covered in your introduction must not be there in your body paragraphs. Repetition in an essay is like destroying your essay with your own hands. Only the individuals who have found your introduction attractive will come to read your body paragraphs. So, remember one thing, the readers have read the thesis statement, and now they are expecting some genuine arguments from your side.
Body paragraphs are written to prove your point as far as your thesis statement is concerned. Here, you will need to come up with logic and evidence that your point of view is correct. These paragraphs must be easily understandable because you don’t know who is going to read your essay. Write it in a way that even a 6th standard child can understand what you really want to say. Nobody loves reading tough language. The success of your reflective essay depends largely on the type of language you use for your essay.
Conclusion
After the successful writing of your introduction and body paragraphs, you will need to write a conclusion for your essay. Try to make a mark on your audience and try to prove your point with the help of a gripping conclusion. It is right that the first impression is the last impression, but the last impression lasts for a long period of time. The purpose of writing a conclusion for your essay has to be that your readers will get something out of your essay. If you can write some of the tips that can help the readers understand your essay, it would be great for your essay.
Make sure not to mix your conclusion with your body paragraphs of your essay. Only the decisive pieces of information have to be there in your conclusion section. The concluding remarks that can prove your point must be used. You need to strengthen your thesis statement with the help of your concluding remarks. A lot depends on your conclusion, which is why you should not take that for granted. If you manage to write a great essay, but your conclusion isn’t good enough, you will not receive most of the points for your essay.
Write your first draft
When you are writing any sort of essay, there is a great probability of errors and mistakes. We always suggest students to make a draft to look for any mistake in your essay. After making a draft for your essay, read it again and again until you find no problem in your written essay. Making a draft can increase the standard of your essay.
Editing & Proofreading
Most of the students ignore or skip this step, but this step is of great importance. After writing your essay, let one of your mates or someone who is good at essay writing read your essay. If you don’t have one, make sure to read it on your own. You will definitely find lots of errors and mistakes in your first draft. When you successfully point your mistakes out, make sure to remove all the errors and writing-related issues. In order to edit your essay, do the following things:
Peer edit
If you know a professional who is great at writing essays, make sure to go to the professional and ask if he/she is willing to edit your essay. The way a professional can point out your mistakes, you cannot do that on your own. Peer edit can make your essay flawless, which is actually required in order to increase the truthfulness of your essay. After all the hard work, if you don’t peer edit your essay, all of your efforts will go in vain.
Read your essay loudly
Do you remember how you used to learn something or memorize something in your childhood? In childhood, reading loudly can make us memorize things quickly. Go back to this childhood technique and try to read your essay loudly. When you do that, you will be able to become a reader of your essay. By reading, you can look for some mistakes in your essay. The grammatical mistakes can be erased once we manage to point them out. You can only read something without a pause that is correctly written. The moment you stumble, there has to be an error.
Look for spelling mistakes
Not just a reflective essay, but any form of assignment or presentation with spelling mistakes will be considered substandard. The final version of your essay has to be free of spelling errors. We always recommend students not to copy-paste data from any website. If you have done great research, and you have managed to add authentic pieces of information, but there are plagiarism related issues and spelling errors, your essay will not get appreciation. Always use simple structure in order to deliver your message. Proofreading is something that can make your essay classy. Don’t think of proofreading a step to be skipped.
Have you read this blog thoroughly? If you have, you must be ready to write a reflective essay for you. We know it is not easy to start writing an essay, but we suggest you to get the ball rolling with the help of this blog. We have written steps as well as tips to make you write your reflective essay faultlessly. So, are you ready to amaze the world with your writing abilities? Let’s do it. Happy writing!
