Writing Workshop Writing a Reflective Essay

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Writing WorkshopWriting a Reflective Essay
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Assignment Prewriting Consider Your
Purpose Choose an Experience Reflect on
Meaning Recall and Record Details Arrange the
Details Practice and Apply
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Writing a Reflective Essay
Assignment Write a reflective essay in which you
explore an experience from your life and share
its significance with readers.
Think back to an important experience in your
life. What did it mean to you? Did you discover
something new about yourself? How did it change
your beliefs about life in general?
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Writing a Reflective EssayPrewriting Consider
Your Purpose
Your purpose in writing a reflective essay is to

• express and explore your thoughts and feelings
  about a personal experience

• discover and share the significance of your
  experience

• show how your experience connects to your beliefs
  and ideas about life

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Writing a Reflective EssayPrewriting Choose an
Experience
Sift through memories to find an experience for
your essay.
Recall experiences that have taught you something
about yourself and the world.
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Writing a Reflective EssayPrewriting Choose an
Experience

• What have everyday experiences taught you?

• What once-in-a-lifetime experiences have you had?

• What do your souvenirs, journals, and photos
  bring to mind?

Be sure youll feel comfortable sharing your
experience with your readers.
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Writing a Reflective EssayPrewriting Choose an
Experience
Volunteering at a local animal shelter was a
meaningful experience that I want to explore and
share.
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Writing a Reflective EssayPrewriting Reflect on
Meaning
What did I feel during this experience?
At first I felt overwhelmed and saddened by the
sight of so many homeless cats and dogs.
What did I feel when I thought about it shortly
afterward? How do I feel about it now?
Later, I knew I had made the right choice. Even
though some of the animals would never be
adopted, I knew that I was helping to make their
lives better. Now, I want to help educate others
about the problem of homeless animals in the
community.
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Writing a Reflective EssayPrewriting Reflect on
Meaning
What did I learn about others and myself?
People can be careless about animals. Every kind
act makes a difference. By volunteering, I made
the lives of these animals better. I let them
know they were loved even though they were in a
shelter.
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Writing a Reflective EssayPrewriting Reflect on
Meaning
How did this experience influence what I believe
about people or life in general? How have my
beliefs changed or developed since then?
I see that the decisions people make are
important for themselves and others. People who
own animals have a responsibility to care for
them and prevent unwanted litters. Now I try to
be sure that what I decide to do will be good for
me and for those around me.
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Writing a Reflective EssayPrewriting Reflect on
Meaning
Sum up the significance of the experience. This
is the larger meaning you want to convey in your
essay.
When I make decisions, I must think about their
short- and long-term effects on me, my family,
and my community.
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Writing a Reflective EssayPrewriting Recall and
Record Details
To recall details about the experience

• visualize the experience

• discuss your experience with a friend or family
  member

• look through photos and souvenirs of the
  experience

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Writing a Reflective EssayPrewriting Recall and
Record Details
Gather all the details that bring the experience
to life.

• narrative details

Oh, youre a beauty! I said as I pet the cats
soft fur. When the cat began to purr, I knew I
had made the right decision.

• descriptive details

The young man with the beard led me into the
yard. It was lined with metal cages filled with
dogsall barking. The sharp smell of ammonia
filled the air.
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Writing a Reflective EssayPrewriting Arrange
the Details
How will you organize the events and details?
Chronological Order Relate the events in the
order in which they occurred.
Within chronological events, arrange details
spatially.
Within chronological events, arrange details in
order of importance.
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Writing a Reflective EssayPrewriting Arrange
the Details
Flashback to meeting shelter volunteers at a pet
adoption.
Event 1 Describe first visit to the shelter.
Event 2 Describe feelings after visiting the
shelter.
Close with what I learned from the experience.
Begin in present with my volunteer work at animal
shelter.
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Writing a Reflective EssayPrewriting Practice
and Apply

• Follow the guidelines in this section to
  consider your purpose, choose an experience to
  relate, reflect on that experience, and recall
  and arrange the details of your essay.

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The End
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Writing a Reflective EssayPrewriting Recall and
Record Details
Narrative details

• tell the actions, thoughts, and feelings of the
  people involved

• include dialoguewords spoken by people involved
  in the experience

• include interior monologueyour internal flow of
  thoughts

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Writing a Reflective EssayPrewriting Recall and
Record Details
Descriptive details

• describe appearances of people involved

• describe the setting

• use sensory language that appeals to the five
  senses (sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch)