A reflective essay is an essay that a student writes in order to share his or her opinion or insight on a certain matter. Reflective essays are first-person essays in most cases, in which the student uses “I” statements and personal experiences to share his or her view. An “I” statement is a statement that a student makes based on his or her own opinion or viewpoint, such as, “I think this works this way.”
Reflective essays are common essay writing assignments for English classes. However, they are not very common for other courses, such as science or history. There are several reasons that a student may be required to write a reflective essay. In many cases, teachers want to challenge students to relate their experiences to one that they have read about in a book or learned about through a classroom project.
For example, if a student reads The Great Gatsby, professors may ask the students to write reflective essays that relate their own experiences with delusion or being stuck on a particular subject to Gatsby’s attraction to Daisy and delusion about his experiences. Teachers are hoping to help students identify with characters emotively through a reflective essay of that nature.
Reflective essays are very popular writing assignments for middle and high school English classes as well because they help students learn to write. When a student is required to write a reflective essay, the student is literally writing about himself or herself. The student usually does not have to research a topic, so the essay can be easier for the student to write. Teachers are helping their students develop their thinking and writing skills when they assign reflective essays in lower level courses. They are also helping students to be self-aware by identifying their own needs and opinions.
In order to write a reflective essay, students should follow the same basic format as any other type of essay. The student should begin with an introduction into the.
