Reflection Paper, Tips for Writing
Tips for Writing a Reflection Paper
A reflection paper is intended to citing your reactions to a subject, article, movie, in a
personal way instead of writing a more formal research or analytical essay. A reflection
paper focuses on your reactions, reactions, feelings and analysis of a piece or experience in
a personal way more than formal research or analytical essay would require. Check with
your instructor for verification, but in general first person writing (using personal pronouns
like I, me, my, our) is appropriate for this type of assignment.
Include your thoughts and reactions to the reading or experience. You can present your
feelings upon reading what you read and why. You can also use a reflection paper to
analyze what you have read. Maintain good organization of your thoughts and cite specific
passages, if appropriate. Personal experiences are OK to include but don’t rely solely on
your experiences.
Don’t use a reflection paper to simply summarize what you have read or done. It is not
simply a free flow of ideas/thoughts. The idea of a reflection paper is to write an essay
describing your reactions and analysis to a reading or other experience; it’s more formal
than a journal and less formal than a research essay.
Organizing your Reflection Paper
Organize it like any other essay (consider jotting down an informal outline and working from
it). Include
1. An introduction – great place to present the expectations you had for the article based on
the title, before you read it.
2. Body - explain the conclusions you arrived at and your rationale. Base your conclusions on
concrete details from your reading and experience. Separate paragraphs for each
conclusion (you should have more than one).
3. Conclusion/Summary - End the paper by summing up what you got from the reading. Put
your critical thinking skills to the test here.
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Most students will be required to submit a reflection paper once or twice in high
school or college. But what is a reflection paper? Aside from writing in general is
not easy for most people, it will be more difficult if you don’t know what you
need to write.
Reflection Paper: What Is It?
A reflection paper is an essay of your thoughts about something that could be
a movie, book, incident, etc. To put it simply, it is a paper on what you think
about something. Most teachers would require students to write about a similar
subject such as a reflection essay on this movie or that event. Others would give
a general topic such as the best childhood experience.
Reflection Paper: What It’s Not
To ensure that you will write the right type of essay, it is also important that you
know what it is not. For instance, a reflection paper is not a piece composed of
mixed thoughts of other people. No matter how well known the people you will
quote, you will end up with a failing grade as this type of essay requires your
own thoughts.
What Should Be in the Reflection Paper?
To understand what is a reflection paper, knowing what should be in it might
also help. A reflection paper should be mostly about your personal insights. It
could be your experiences and beliefs. It could also be your personal
observations. It is a simple reflection paper. It is easy to write because you just
have to express your thoughts and how you see things.
To make it easy for you (considering that you already have a subject), you can
start by describing the big picture in the introduction. There is no rule on how
you should write the introduction but it is best to give them an idea – a general
statement – that prepares them for the body of your reflection paper. Be sure to
include your thesis statement in the introduction. It is the statement that sums
up the entire essay.
Aside from the introduction and a narration or description of the subject, a
reflection paper should also have a judgment, a conclusion, etc. It is usually in
the latter part of the essay. Since it is a reflection essay, it should be your own
words and how you exactly perceive things. It should state your personal
insight, which makes it different from other types of essay.
What is a reflection paper? To put it simply, a reflection paper or essay is
something that reflects your insights, opinion, or observation. You could quote
once in a while but the essay should not be entirely what other people think
about the subject. Like other types of essays, it should have an introduction
(thesis statement), body and conclusion (judgment and summary).
