Reflective Essay

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Reflective Essay
Introduction A Writers Checklist Choosing your
subject Reflecting on your subjects
significance Recalling key anecdotes and
details Shaping your reflective essay A Writers
Model Your Turn Write a reflective essay
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Introduction
The older we become, the more people we get to
know. Some of these people enrich our lives. At
times, we reflect on their significance to us.
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Introduction
You can reflect on the significance of a person
who has touched your life by writing a reflective
essay. Such an essay will give readers a clear
picture of your subject and will help you explore
why the person is special to you.
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A Writers Checklist
When you write a reflective essay about another
person you should

• Choose a subject, a person who is important and
  meaningful to you in some way.
• Reflect on the significance of the person you
  have chosen.
• Recall key anecdotes and details about your
  subject.
• Shape the essay into a readable, enlightening,
  and emotionally involving piece of work.

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Choosing your subject
Begin by choosing a subject for your reflective
essay. The subject should be a person who has
made a significant impact on your life. Who in
your life has
affected you emotionally or helped shape who you
are?
taught you something about yourself and others?
influenced you and your view of life or human
relationships?
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Choosing your subject
Use these strategies to help identify people who
might be suitable subjects for your essay
Talk to members of your family about experiences
you have in common. Do any of them spark memories
of someone significant?
Create a list of some of the teachers or coaches
you have had since you began school. Which of
them do you remember most vividly? Why?
Think about important experiences in your life.
Who comes to mind when you remember them?
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Choosing your subject
Evaluate each possible subject by answering the
following questions
Do I have first-hand knowledge of the person?
Do I have enough details about this person to
create an accurate, effective description?
Is this person someone I feel comfortable writing
about?
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Choosing your subject
As Marc considered possible subjects for his
essay, one person in particular seemed especially
significant. He examined his impressions of her
Possible subject Connie Fulmer, a retired
professor who was my neighbor when I was young
Yes. I visited her often and considered her a
friend.
Do I have first-hand knowledge of her?
Do I have sufficient details about her?
Yes. I have many vivid memories of our friendship.
Do I feel comfortable writing about her?
Yes. I think our friendship could be instructive
and enlightening to others.
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Reflecting on your subjects significance
A reflective essay isnt just an inventory of
recollections. You need to reflect on the
significance that your subject holds for you.
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Reflecting on your subjects significance
The more Marc reflected on his subject, the more
memories and insights came to mind. He noted them
for possible inclusion in his essay.
My feelings about Connie fondness, appreciation,
gratitude, a sense of being challenged and
nurtured How she changed me She strengthened my
love of reading and learning. She taught me that
friendships can form in unlikely circumstances.
She taught me that education can bring about
wisdom.
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Reflecting on your subjects significance
Once you have your subject fully in mind, write a
sentence to clearly state his or her
significance. Marc distilled his thoughts and
feelings about his subject into this sentence
Connie had a talent for awakening the love of
learning in others.
As he continued, Marc used this statement as a
sort of thesis to help shape his essay.
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Recalling key anecdotes and details
Most likely, your subjects effect on your life
is a result of things he or she has said and
done.
Think about key anecdotes and details that will
convey to your reader why the subject of your
essay is so meaningful to you.
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Writing Tip Reflecting on your subjects
significance
Dont be sentimental about your subject.
Everyone has strengths and weaknesses, and you
should include examples of both to ensure that
your description is realistic and interesting.
Here are some of Marcs recollections about
Connie
- was very well-read- loved to teach and share
her insights - would sometimes make a point, then
beat it to death - could sometimes be
impatient, but that was rare
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Recalling key anecdotes and details
An anecdote is a short, illustrative story.
Anecdotes can be everyday happenings or dramatic
events. Recall anecdotes by delving into memories
of your subject. Take note of those that
illustrate his or her significance in your life.
I remember sitting with her one afternoon,
talking about history. I made the comment that
everything that happened would be history, even
us sitting there. She smiled and replied,
Unrecorded history, Im afraid. At the age of
twelve, that struck me as deeply profound. Today,
I still see it as typical of her willingness to
share her insights.
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Recalling key anecdotes and details
Evaluate each of your anecdotes and select the
ones you will use in your essay.
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Recalling key anecdotes and details
Remember to enliven your writing with
details. Narrative details describe actions and
events.
Descriptive details describe people, places, and
objects.
Sensory details appeal to the senses.
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Recalling key anecdotes and details
Consider these strategies for gathering details
Freewrite things you associate with your subject.
What aspects of appearance, mannerism, and
character come to mind?
List places you associate with your subject. Jot
down descriptive or sensory details of these
places.
Remember that not all of your details may be
necessary to include in your essay. Examine them
for relevance.
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Recalling key anecdotes and details
Here are some of the details Marc associated with
his subject.
Things I associate with Connie her insistence on
being addressed by her first name, her pride in
her backyard flower garden, her love of learning
and teaching, and the way she kept her
surroundings in order Places I associate with
her her backyard, her downstairs library, and
her two-story brick house
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Shaping your reflective essay
Before you begin writing, decide how you will
shape the essay to make it readable,
enlightening, and emotionally involving for your
audience.
Many reflective essays present their content in
chronological order. This means that the events
being written about are presented in the order in
which they happened.
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Shaping your reflective essay
Writers sometimes insert flashbacks and
flash-forwards into a chronological sequence. For
example, an essay may begin in the present,
flashback to a past memory, then flash-forward to
some projected future event.
Event one (present)
Event two (past)
Event three (future)
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Shaping your reflective essay
Another commonly used organizational pattern is
to put the essays content in order of
importance, relating events, anecdotes, and
details in order of least to most important or
vice versa.
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Shaping your reflective essay
Writers often combine organizational patterns in
various ways. For instance, you might use a
flash-forward in your introduction, arrange
anecdotes in the essays body in order of
importance, and conclude with a flashback.
INTRODUCTION (future)
CONCLUSION (past)
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Shaping your reflective essay
To plan the order of your own essay
Begin by arranging your anecdotes, events, and
details in chronological order.
Experiment by rearranging them in order of
importance, from least to most and then vice
versa.
Ask yourself Which order best conveys my
subjects significance and ensures a coherent
narrative?
Once you have answered that question, you are
ready to write your reflective essay.
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Test Tip Writing a reflective essay
If you are assigned a reflective essay as
part of a standardized test
Remember that the purpose of a reflective essay
is to focus on the subjects relevance to you.
Choose illuminating anecdotes, events, and
details. Determine your organizational pattern.
Allow at least 65 percent to 70 percent of your
available time to write your essay.
Conclude with a specific statement of the
subjects significance.
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A Writers Checklist
Use the checklist as you look at the following
Writers Model and as you evaluate and revise
your own reflective essay.

• Choose a subject, a person who is important and
  meaningful to you in some way.
• Reflect on the significance of the person you
  have chosen.
• Recall key anecdotes and details about your
  subject.
• Shape the essay into a readable, enlightening,
  and emotionally involving piece of work.

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A Special Friend When I was twelve years old
or so, most of my social circle consisted of
friends who were around my own age. I had one
special older friend, though, whom I doubt Ill
ever forget. She was a retired English
professor named Connie Fulmer who lived on the
corner of my block. When we met, I had no idea
how important to me she would become. I tried
calling her Professor Fulmer once or twice, but
she insisted on Connie. I liked that it made
me feel grown-up.
engaging opening
hint at subjects significance
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Connie lived in a two-story brick house.
Over time, shed structured her life so that she
seldom went upstairs. Things she used often were
kept within easy reach. Her clean clothes were
folded and stacked neatly by her washer and
dryer. Her coffee cups, both clean and used, were
arranged single-file on her kitchen counter.
She had a spare downstairs bedroom that she used
as a library, but she really didnt need one.
She, herself, was a library of life.
descriptive details
buildup to first anecdote
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I remember once sitting with her in that
downstairs room, talking about history. I made
the comment that everything that happened would
be history, even us sitting there. She smiled and
replied, Unrecorded history, Im afraid. At the
age of twelve, that struck me as deeply profound.
Today, I still see it as typical of her
willingness to share her insights. Connie
had a love of learning and a talent for awakening
that love in others. She was born to teach, and
she relished every chance to do so.
first anecdote (flashback)
narrative details
writers thoughts and observations
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She had little tolerance for excuses,
though. One afternoon, in her backyard, I showed
her a book report Id written. She perused it
thoroughly, pencil in hand, seated at her picnic
table. This word should go here, she
critiqued, marking up the paper Id planned to
turn in. Yeah, but I protested.
Goodness! Where? She stood and inspected the
area around our feet. I dont see it.
buildup to second anecdote
flashback (second anecdote)
dialogue
narrative details
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Dont see what, Connie? I looked around,
too, not knowing why. The yabbut thats
after your book report, she explained. Oh,
there it is. Get lost, you. She pretended to
shoo something off, then returned her attention
to me. Yabbuts like it when youre lazy.
Yeah, but I said again. She frowned at the
ground, fearing the beasts return. She could
beat a point to death sometimes, but I got the
gist of that one pretty quickly.
dialogue (continued)
second anecdote (continued)
narrative details
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We spent many hours in that backyard. Connie
was proud of it and justifiably so. Its fragrance
greeted visitors throughout the summer. On still
afternoons, you could hear the buzzing of the
bees. Later that day, Connie gave me a book
on the subject of my report. I still have that
book, along with others she gave me. Some of them
were well above the level of a twelve year old,
but in the passing years, Ive read them all. She
knew I would, I think.
sensory details
flashback (third anecdote)
anecdotes significance
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Sadly, I dont know what became of her. As
time passed, the distractions of growing up took
over, and at some point, she moved away. We did
write a couple of times, but the letters from her
are long-since lost. Id bet she still has mine,
though. I remember Connie fondly, and I
always will. She taught me a lot about books, but
also a lot about life. I learned from her that
friendships might form at any time, if we just
remain open to possibilities.
writers thoughts and feelings
flashback
subjects significance
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Your Turn Write a reflective essay
Write a reflective essay in response to one of
the prompts below. Then use the Writers
Checklist as a guide to writing, evaluating, and
revising your work.
Think of a teacher or coach who has made a
significant impact on your life. Using the steps
and guidelines you have learned, write a
reflective essay about that person.
Who comes to mind when you think about learning
lifes lessons? Jot down three names, examine
each, then choose one. Write a reflective essay
illustrating how this person has influenced you.
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The End