Reflective Essay Examples & Reflection Paper Writing Guide

Find a Reflection Essay Example on Any Topic

As mentioned before, more than one example of reflection essay are available for reading, studying, and inspiring yourself. Describing thoughts and emotions doesn’t sound all that difficult, right? Just type everything that comes to your head and you’re golden. That’s a very popular misconception among scholars of various institutions.

Often confused with strictly narrative pieces, a reflective paper requires advanced vocabulary, clever structuring, and a good understanding of personal feelings. Creative description and well-paced narration are also desired. To learn all that, open any reflection essay sample on this website. Study and examine it, steal words and sentences from them to improve personal writing skills. We also recommend browsing various narrative writing examples every user can fine in our database.

Personal/Self Reflection Essay Examples

The most popular type of such assignment is personal. Wonder what is a personal essay? It can’t be successfully done without reading personal reflective essay examples beforehand. These intimate papers are focused strictly on emotions, feelings, and individual opinions. Those things are at the core of successful work. Topics heavily rely on describing the emotional impact something had on the author.

While writing such an intimate paper, great importance goes to writing style, structure, and presentation. Describing personal thoughts or feelings requires extensive language knowledge to fully convince readers. Sentence construction, as well as approach to depiction, play a vital role. To see how it’s done, look at the personal reflection paper example on the site. Careful in-depth analysis of a self-reflective essay example improves vocabulary, shows description approach, and text structuring.

Example of Reflective Essay on Learning Experience

Reflective essays on learning experience are loved by teachers of colleges and high schools. Students are often asked for such pieces after completing courses or practicums. The smart approach is focusing on subjective feelings and effects seen after course completion. Describe goals before starting, whether they were achieved or not. There is no need for extensive contextual data, only basic information. Note institution name, program overlook, and short retelling of the curriculum.

Then, express emotions during courses, the attitude of mentors, and relations with scholars. It’s needed to showcase the impact of educational programs on a writer’s life, aptitudes, and impressions. To know more, look at provided samples!

Reflective Narrative Essay Examples

To stop confusion with strictly tale-like papers, examine at least one reflective narrative essay example closely. Differences are there, visible on the surface. A strictly narrative essay focuses on telling a story, while a reflective-focused one considers the emotional side, too. Similar, yet, completely different type of written paper.

Maintaining a fragile balance between story and feelings can be mastered only by writing. To get a general gist, the following samples will do. Look at pacing, structure, and sentence formation. Try extracting patterns, singular words, and description tactics. See how such tactics are used in our descriptive essay examples. Check how the story is intertwined with intimate feelings and how experience is portrayed. Diligent studying yields positive results!

English Reflective Essay Examples

Checking out an English reflection essay example is the only way to go. Describing such papers is rather difficult. English essay – is it called that only because of language? Or is it about English classes? Let’s assume that it’s a piece on any topic written in English.

Multiple samples on general subjects are freely available for anyone. Teachers, students, mentors – every person can get the best of them. Downloading examples and studying through the looking glass is perfect for young authors trying to improve their writing skills. Learn how to create unique, creative, well-crafted scholarly pieces from scratch by repeating after samples!

Reflection Paper Samples for Everyone

Attentive, captivating, interestingly-written reflection paper sample is everything scholars need to score! There are numerous benefits to proposed samples. Here are some of them.

• Well-written

Each sample reflection paper was created in compliance with all regulations regarding size, formatting, and outline. Grammar mistakes, spelling errors – eliminated.

• Solid structure

Carefully built outline is visible behind every word. Consistency, coherency, and ease-of-replication are maintained throughout.

• Believable presentation

Description is natural, fluent, intelligent, and vibrant. Every emotion, feeling, and experience is presented in an academically correct yet informative way.

• Unique

Plagiarism-free texts, written and donated by clever students ensure never-seen-before presentation. One-of-a-kind, exclusive papers are available for everyone!

Reflective Essay Examples for High School

Good example of reflective essay for high school scholars is bliss. It is a new type of assignment, never seen before. Such scholarly pieces tend to scare students away, forcing them to resort to copying existing works. With samples presented on this site, learning new writing skills is easy! Each example, written by creative students from similar institutions, gently introduces new authors to reflection papers. The structure is visible, sentences are clean, informative, and creative. Repurposing proposed samples and following their structure is a great way of self-education.

College Student Reflection Essay Example

In college reflection paper examples save lives, scholarships, future careers. Failing such an assignment is easy without previous research. To effectively write this piece, students have to learn new tricks. Every aspect becomes more demanding and challenging in comparison to papers from high schools.

More advanced vocabulary, complicated sentences, narrative pacing, and description are key elements of competent work. That’s where reflective essay examples for college shine! Each aspect is shown in a clear, understandable way. Improve writing in a few minutes with expertly-crafted samples available freely without registration.

What Is a Reflective Essay: Definition

What is a reflection essay? Check these characteristic features to find out!

• Asks many personal questions

Topics are deeply connected to the author's life experiences, situations, people, and events that happened or might happen.

• Dwells for real emotions

Paper encourages sharing feelings in such a way that readers could experience them similarly. Emotions and feelings are the main focus.

• No research is needed

Such assignments do not require conducting research beforehand. Content is based on real-life situations, describing feelings, and showcasing emotions. 

Reflective Essay Outline Example

The outline for reflective essay is similar to other academic texts. Before writing anything, spend time creating an outline. Structuring papers helps organize ideas, thoughts, and their placement in your text. Following a previously created outline substantially decreases the time needed to complete the task. Structure improves readability, ensures equal pacing throughout, and helps with transitions. Each thought, feeling, or emotion becomes more pronounced, vibrant, separated from others. A reflective essay outline keeps the text consistent, comprehensible, easy-to-read. Here’s a simple plan you might consider.

Reflective essay outline template

Introductory part

• Basic information regarding topic
• Personal connection/story
• Thesis statement

First body section

• Presenting emotion, thought
• Describing feelings
• Emphasizing its importance

Second body section

• Presenting emotion, thought
• Describing feelings
• Emphasizing its importance

Other body paragraphs

• Presenting emotion, thought
• Describing feelings
• Emphasizing its importance

Summary

• Rephrasing thesis statement
• Encouraging readers

How to Start a Reflective Essay Introduction Example

Check how to write a reflective essay introduction in proposed, free, expertly-written text samples. Every paper starts with an introductory part. Begin with introducing the main subject to readers. Share problematics and background data necessary to fully understand the situation. Portray people, objects, and places, if needed. Next, give a general overview of personal impressions and subjective feelings. Focus on individual emotions that cause concerns.

Despite being short, the introduction paragraph must include a thesis statement. More on that later. Examine provided “how to start a reflective essay examples” for clues, ways to successfully express emotions, feelings. Repetition samples are a powerful, effective, and convenient way of self-improvement. Look at Beowulf essay introduction. Studying existing scholarly pieces positively affects creativity, argumentation, improves narration, and writing style.

Reflection paper introduction example

The world is unarguably becoming urbanized, and the trend will only intensify moving into the future. Interestingly, the rate of generation of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) is higher than the rate of urbanization. Hoornweg & Bhada-Tata (2012) cite that 0.64kg of MSW was generated per individual per day by approximately 2.9 billion urban dwellers ten years ago. The authors argue that as at 2012, 1.2kg of MSW was generated daily per person by the 3 billion urban residents. They further projected that this figure would rise to 4.3 billion city dwellers, producing up to 1.42 kg of MSW per person per day. Globally, the annual solid waste management costs are expected to reach $375.5million in 2025 (Hoornweg & Bhada-Tata, 2012). The increase in costs will be felt more severely in the low income and lower-middle income nations. The impacts of the increased solid waste are unprecedented. For instance, the waste harbors methane, which is a notorious greenhouse gas (GHG). Thus, increased garbage generation contributes significantly to global warming and climate change (Bhada-Tata & Hoornweg, 2016). Likewise, if uncollected, solid waste results in air pollution, flooding, respiratory diseases, dengue fever, and in some cases diarrhea. Driven by the growing generation of waste, the recycling industry has continued to grow at all levels.

Reflective Essay Thesis Examples

Thesis statement for reflective essay is also called a “hook statement”. It is a sentence that expresses the main idea. By creating one small sentence with care and diligence, skilled authors are able to interest people. Creating such a thing with no experience isn’t easy. Trial and error is not an option, only one shot is available. That's why we created a top-notch thesis statement generator. Try and enjoy!

For better understanding, look at reflective essay thesis statement examples on this website. Look at the structure of this sentence, approach to information presentation, and hooking techniques. Use it to write custom statements. Examine how a reflection essay thesis example handles it. Try copying it, adding fresh ideas, relevant data, and credible arguments. Write, correct, repeat. Undergo this cycle until full satisfaction with the final result. 

Reflection Essay Main Body

Reflective essay body paragraphs are simultaneously the easiest and the hardest parts of such papers. If an author has created a competent, well-thought-out outline, the process goes swiftly and smoothly. If an outline is lacking details and structural integrity – the task becomes undoable.

If a process or situation is described, chronological order must be maintained. Present personal thoughts, ideas, and feelings accurately, without mood shifts. Every paragraph must be structured similarly. Follow patterns, with only minor deviations. Such a section is a small text within a bigger text. It has a beginning, body, and ending. Start with presenting a thought, feeling, or emotion in a clear, understandable way. After, add depth with a detailed description, and appropriate lexicon. Finish with a small conclusion. Look how it’s done at examples of a reflection paper body paragraph.

Example of reflection essay body paragraph 

Bhada-Tata & Hoornweg (2016) argue that approximately 1.3 billion tonnes of waste are generated in the United States (U.S). Currently, a negative attitude thrives with regard to collection and disposal of garbage (Chowdhury, 2016). However, the said garbage is a source of vital raw materials. For instance, globally, there is an inadequate supply of clean and green sources of electricity. The proposed waste-to-energy innovative project will, therefore, address two problems facing the U.S citizenry. Firstly, it will ensure proper garbage collection and its disposal in an environmentally friendly manner. Secondly, it will use the garbage collected in the generation of electricity, which will then be supplied to the local community at subsidized prices. Therefore, the project will turn the first challenge into a solution for the second problem. It will leverage innovation and technology to achieve this.

Reflective Essay Conclusion Example

Many students have no idea how to conclude a reflective essay. They follow the same guidelines from familiar essays, which is academically incorrect. Multiple repetitions and misuse of words are some of the popular mistakes. Summary for this particular paper type is different. Guides are freely available online, with numerous illustrations.

Only the main idea must be repeated. All emotions were already described previously, no need to do it again. Avoid redundancies. The thesis statement that are reasons from the body paragraphs must also be mentioned. Keep it short, no need for detailed copy-paste of body parts. Use the animal testing conclusion or the proposed sample as a template or inspiration. Conclusion must be powerful, encouraging to feel and emote. Add a few bonus ideas to wrap it up at the end.

Reflection essay conclusion example

Incineration of garbage to produce electricity is the way of the future, and this article looks at the present and the future of this process. It evaluates the current technology and innovation as well as its limitations and how these limitations may be handled in future. The article gives hope that the process of incineration of garbage is neither short-lived nor misguided. 

How to Write a Reflective Essay Example

Here's a quick guide on how to write a reflection essay. Additional steps may be added if required. Adjust this plan to your liking, but follow it as closely as possible. Check out “how to write a reflection paper example” to see the correct, consistent utilization of a plan below.

Follow these steps to create custom, fully original scholarly pieces.

1. Refresh memories, feelings if possible. Descriptions come out better if emotions are fresh. Try remembering every detail vividly. If something imaginary is reflected on, try accounting for every detail. Spend time to finalize your personal attitude.
2. Arrange thoughts and emotions. Divide important thoughts and feelings from less crucial ones. Write keywords down, strong words, and think of adjectives. After, set them aside to clear vision before writing.
3. Make an outline. Careful planning increases the chance of success. A clever outline helps support ideas and acts as a backbone for the whole scholarly piece. Without it, any article falls apart, looks incoherent, and weak.
4. Follow it. Do it! The following structure ensures proper pacing, equal coverage of every major point of interest, and captivating narration. Creating high-quality pieces starts with following an outline. 
5. Proofread text. Check final papers for grammar mistakes and spelling errors. Terminate repetitions, long sentences, and unclear idea presentation. Make your paper academically perfect!
6. Check for plagiarism. Thoughts must stay unique at all times. Open any plagiarism checker on the web and see how original your work is. Rewrite sentences and paragraphs, rephrase, if necessary.
7. Submit. Only after completion of all previously mentioned steps, work can be considered “done”. Check formation once again, upload a file, and press “Submit”.

Good Reflective Essay Topics Examples

If you’re struggling with generating ideas, here are topics for reflective essays examples. Taking any of them or selecting a custom one is an author's choice. Modify any subject to personal liking or mix several to create one:

• First “end of year” ball.
• Hardest class to finish.
• Changes in life course.
• The most shocking book.
• Global perspectives of economic collapse (possible emotional response).
• Authors personal development failure.
• Recent group work at creative task.
• Imagine community service for speeding.
• Awkward self-presentation filmed on video.
• First work experience.
• Reflecting on career goals.
• Scary movie at young age.
• Communication with def person.
• Last art appreciation experience.
• Life with no siblings.
• Social work with addicts.

Not all topics are equally challenging. Some are more complex and imaginative. Try looking for parallels with personal life in each subject. If necessary, imagine situations, possible feelings, and emotional effects. For ultimate results, follow the proposed outline and sample texts. For example, look at Pride and Prejudice reflection essay or LGBT reflection essay. Steal sentences from them, description approach, narrative tactics. Keep thoughts unique, ideas fresh, sentences captivating.

Reflective Essay Format Example

Depending on paper type or direction, reflection essay format may vary. The target audience also impacts the format. At first glance, an easy task turns out complicated as soon as the question of format arises. The format can be provided by teachers, so check available materials first.

Three basic formats are:

• MLA

Popular, widely used in various educational institutions for all paper types.

• APA

Simple-to-follow, frequently seen with simple topics, in high schools.

• Chicago

Used by publishers, journalists, researchers, and students of higher-grade universities.

Tips on Writing a Reflective Essay

With some tweaks and helpful tricks, such tedious task as reflective essay writing can be simplified dramatically. Look at these tips, implement them and write better articles!

• Select an interesting subject.
• Formulate the main message and stick with it.
• Adjust text complexity for target audience.
• Keep it informative.
• Examine every reflecting writing essay sample available.
• Describe emotions and feelings in detail.
• Follow formatting guidelines.
• Avoid redundant information.
• Proofread the final paper for grammar or spelling errors.
• Generate unique wording.
• Use advanced vocabulary.
• Maintain consistent narration.
• Follow outline from reflective writing example essay.

These advices are universal and applicable to any written assignment. Implement them into the writing process to create unique, memorable scholarly pieces. Polish skills with rewriting proposed samples, and repurposing existing sentences. All  tips are visible in proposed education materials. Written by students for students, samples deliver maximum useful data in a slim enclosure. Use them freely to become better at writing this kind of task!