How to Write a Reflective Essay

Most students are familiar with the school requirement that they write a reflective essay. Often the first experience with this type of literary writing occurs in the early years of school with the teacher assigning a “what I did last summer” writing project. While most students simply write what would be considered an informative essay, other students use this opportunity to demonstrate their skills at how to write a reflective essay. What makes the latter type of essay unique is that it becomes more than the events relayed in the story. Students who know how to write a reflective essay will transform plot, characters, and setting into meaningful representations or symbols of larger life lessons.

Those who are the most adept at writing such essays are often short story authors as well. These professional writers craft the story in ways that engage the interest of the reader and teach a lesson at the same time. This is a high-skill endeavor that students who buy a custom-written reflective essay will learn to develop as they work with their own professional writers. Through the manipulation of plot, the reader is propelled through the reflective essay. Through the micro and macro lenses of character development, the reader is invested in the outcomes. Through the three-dimensional descriptors of setting, the reader is transported into the reflective essay. Combining all these will develop the writing skills students learn when they purchase the services of a professional writer.

The topics that can be addressed with a reflective essay include every academic subject imaginable. Scientists implement the strategies of how to write a reflective essay at the culmination of an experiment. Fine arts students practice how to write a reflective essay when they share their experiences with great works of art. How to write a reflective essay is perhaps the favorite genre of philosophy students and their particular discipline. For example, the “meaning of life” assignments that are famous on every college and university campus are essentially reflective essays. However, the use of this type of assignment can be adapted to any academic subject.

Generally, the first step in how to write a reflective essay is a stream of consciousness type of activity. The writer of a reflective essay will spend a short period of time brainstorming ideas and random thoughts and impressions surrounding the topic of the reflective essay. The next step in how to write a reflective essay is to develop a catchy introduction and propose a backward looking question to grab the reader’s attention. This can be compared to the “hook” in fiction writing. In this instance, the more creative and generalizable to humanity, the better!

The following three steps in how to write a reflective essay form the body and conclusion of the assignment. It is crucial to adjust the viewpoint in order to effectively convey the larger meanings of the reflective essay. Develop and posit an inward looking question about the meaning and provide examples of why you arrived at this particular interpretation. Next develop and posit an outward looking question using additional examples. This is the point you pull the reader’s own experience into the elements of the reflective essay. Finally, develop and posit a forward looking question and conclusion that will leave the reader amused, pondering, or reactive to the conclusion. While all these steps may seem to require great literary acumen, students can learn and apply them effectively by purchasing the professional writing services of an academic writing company. After all, reflective essays are some of the most enjoyable, flexible, and creative writing exercises in the school setting.