What is a Reflective Essay Let's begin with the basics. What exactly is a reflective essay?

A reflective essay is that form of essay writing which makes the writer think and 'reflect' on his experience pertaining to the topic that has been given to him or her. It does not involve too much research as the crux of this type of essay is to write exactly what you feel about a certain topic or issue. As opposed to persuasive essays, which require you to study a topic in depth, you may need to have just very basic knowledge of the facts and figures related to the topic you're going to be writing about. But that is one of the most initial phases of reflective essay writing. Since the essay involves personal experience, you'll definitely have, at least, the rudimentary knowledge about the topic. Generally, reflective essays are used as an assessment mechanism, for both, students, as well as the teachers, and sometimes even the administration. So, the next time you are asked to write a reflective essay, you know that you must voice your opinions, no matter how bizarre they might seem to others. It is your platform to express your views. And that is the basic point of writing a reflective essay after all. How to Write an Effective Reflective Essay In this section of the article, we will give you some tips for writing a good reflective essay. They will give you an idea of what exactly the format and structure should be. Format and Structure A reflective essay is different from any other form of essay writing only in its content. Otherwise, it follows the same basic format and structure of introduction, body and conclusion. Here, we will see what exactly you should write in the introduction, body and conclusion, respectively. Introduction: Just like any other essay, the introduction of a reflective essay, too, is the most important part of the essay. It is on the basis of this, that the reader will decide if he or she should go ahead and read the entire essay. In the introduction, you must state the topic you're going to write on and the reason you're writing on it. Also, very subtly, you can mention the slant or stand that you will be taking on that topic. Body: Again very similar to any other essay, the body is where you go deep into the topic. In case of reflective essays, you dig deep into yourself, explore your emotions and write about everything that you felt when the incident or event was taking place. For instance, if you're writing about an art exhibit that you arranged for your school or college, you can start by writing about how you wanted to be a part of the team and how you felt when your name was announced as a member of the team to arrange the event. Then you can go on about all the small incidents, arguments, jokes, troubles, deadlines, etc. that were all a part of the whole coordination. Take each point, dissect it meticulously, and write about how each point made you feel. If you think you could have done better or that you could have been helped better, mention that too. The key is, to be absolutely honest and clear about whatever you're writing. There's absolutely no other way of writing a reflective essay. Conclusion: In the conclusion, just like any other essay (again!), summarize the entire essay and very briefly mention the slant or stance that you've taken on the topic. Keep your conclusion strong worded, so as to ensure maximum and prolonged retention by the reader. One of the best tips for writing a reflective essay that can be given is to keep the language simple, and the content, honest and true. Faking an opinion or an emotion is the worst way to write it, because it will definitely be detected and that will create an unfavorable impression in the mind of the reader. This can prove to be detrimental, so be cautious and be honest! Use these tips and you'll definitely do well! By Sujata Iyer Read more at Buzzle: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/reflective-essay-writing-tips.html

Reflective essay
Eseul reflexiv (the reflective essay) este un eseu mai complex dect cele discutate pn acum. El testeaz abilitatea de gndire, descriere, ordonare a ideilor i de a insera exemple extrase din propria experien de via, imaginaie, studii etc. Exist dou tipuri de eseuri reflexive:

eseuri descriptiv-reflexive (descriptive-reflective essays) implic deopotriv un proces complex de descriere i reflexie; de obicei, acestea au un titlu format dintr un singur cuvnt (de exemplu Restauranting, Gardening etc.) i presupun nu numai descrierea subiectului respectiv, ci i exprimarea propriilor opinii i sentimente, sau experienelor care au legtur cu acesta. eseuri abstracte accentul cade mai curnd pe raionamente dect pe descrieri; i aceste eseuri pot avea un titlu format dintr-un singur cuvnt, dar acesta desemneaz o realitate abstract (de exemplu Beauty, Truth etc.). Uneori ns, titlul unui astfel de eseu poate aprea sub forma unei sintagme care ncepe, invariabil, cu cuvntul On (de exemplu On our necessity to work, On lack of courage etc.). n tratarea unui subiect de acest gen descrierea nu este att de important ca raionamentele, sentimentele i prerile personale.

Dup stabilirea titlului, cel mai important lucru este stabilirea tipului de eseu pe care-l vom avea (descriptiv-reflexiv sau abstract). De exemplu, frontiers; ntr-o abordare de tip descriptiv-reflexiv putem include detalii ca: - frontiers between countries - geographic descriptions (land, water, air) - frontiers seen as a separating space between two or more communities - they can be movable, or fixed - frontiers in history - frontiers seen as a defense etc. ntr-o abordare de tip abstract, subiectul trebuie tratat metaforic: - frontiers seen as a persons intimacy - psychical limit - boundaries - means of isolation - prevention from communication (language, behaviour, culture etc.) - why do we have inter-human frontiers? - do we build such frontiers voluntarily or not? etc. Odat ce modul de abordare a subiectului a fost stabilit, este foarte important s ne rezumm doar la unul dintre ele i s nu le amestecm! De exemplu, dac am ales eseul descriptiv-reflexiv, ne limitm doar la descrierile din punct de vedere geografic ale frontierei i ne exprimm prerile sau sentimentele n legtur cu acestea. Nu amintim de factorul psihic sau de latura metaforic a subiectului. n compunerea unui astfel de eseu se mbin mai multe abiliti:

analiza (analysis) sinteza (synthesis) descrierea (description) exemplificarea (illustration; giving examples) contrastarea (contrast)

umorul (humour) unde este posibil!

Pe lng acestea, trebuie s avem grij ca stilul ales s fie constant pe tot parcursul lucrrii. De exemplu, nu putem folosi un ton serios, pentru ca apoi s -l schimbm brusc cu unul comic, dect dac exist un motiv real pentru acest lucru. De asemenea, eseurile nu trebuie s fie prea personale (redactate la persoana I singular), dect dac se specific acest lucru n indicaii. Cel mai bine este ca lucrrile s foloseasc un ton impersonal pentru a putea exprima generalul. Ex. Title: Tourists Type: Descriptive-reflexive Main idea: Tourism today is a minutely organized affair. The average tourist actually sees very little of the country s/ he visits. Brainstorming: - leaflets, brochures, guide books - tourists plan their holiday a long tome before it actually takes place - winter time - local colour - souvenirs - sun glasses - beach - cruise liners - ruins, spas - post cards - typical scenes and traditionalism - rush - hotels - travel agencies - programmes - tourists see little and have no time to understand and analyse - holiday is over; back to work; another year full of work ahead of us Introduction: - means of transportation for the tourists - guide books, maps and travel agencies make everything easier Body: - the tourist is planning his holiday ling time before it takes place, even in the long winter months (making decisions, calculating and balancing all the offers) - nice thoughts about the holiday to come - holiday time approaching and the host countriea getting ready to receive tourists (spas, ruins, castles, typical scenes, traditional food and entertainment, souvenirs etc.) - sight-seeing; tourists see little and have no tyme to analyse and value things; they only have time to take pictures and send post-cards to their family and friends; snapshots Conclusion: - the holiday is over, the tourist returns home - s /he is refreshed and ready to start work again Tourists By car, by train, by ship and by plane, thousands and thousands of tourists depart from home like migrating birds every year. They provide the best possible evidence to prove that the world is not big enough. Armed with all sorts of guide books, leflets and maps which tell them where to go and how to get there, what to see and eat, where to stay and what to do, tourists wander the globe in search of the unseen, the unique, the

unbelievable. There are travel agencies everywhere to cater for the tourists needs and make all the necessary preparations for him. They make out ambitious programmes and promise to show him as many as seven countries in a fortnight or, if he is in a hurry, they will cover the same ground in fewer days. In the safety of his own home, away from the cold winter time outdoors, the tourist begins planning the summer holiday he longs for. Spread out before him on the floor is a splendid array of brightly/coloured leaflets, brochures and guide books all of them equally tempting. Here is a magic island, there a magnific cruise liner, the leaflet on the table reveals a superb blonde blinking an eye while sipping an exotic cocktail and enjoying the sunNow is the time for big decisions to be made, for a fortnights holiday is not to be squandered lightly. Would he like to go on a cruise and swim in the ocean? Would he like to ski and sip a hot chocolate in Aspen? Would he like to visit a remote corner of the world and hunt? And above all, would he like to do something he will always remember? It is all there for the asking. Shivering before the fire in the fireplace and armed with his best paper and pencil, the tourist makes all sorts of calculations and balances everything in his mind. It takes him an eternity to decide in which particular promising land he should invest his heard-earned money. Once the decision made, the tourist is free from worry. He now has something definite to dream at and discuss about over a cup of coffee, at the gym, when bowling or playing cards. In the tourists mind there is now a little heaven of peace and quiet takin g shape minute by minute. This idea comforts him during the bitter winter months. Winter passes and the time draws near. The simple tourist is often innocent of the fact that most countries in the world have become tourist-conscious. For months now, each country has been advertising its beaches and cities, its spas and ruins, its beauty, modernity and tradition in a frantic effort to be chosen. They do their best to meet the tourists needs and be up to his expectations. So, it ges without say that they providetypical scenes: costumes, food, music, ways of entertainment etc. Representatives of the tourist organization give the visitor a hearty welcome the moment he sets foot on their teritory and vendors of souvenirs find themselves in a permanent competition. It is no wonder that the tourist is an extremely busy man. He barely arrives at the hotel that he is immediately taken on a conducted tour of the city by day or by night (according to the moment he arrives). In the morning, he goes through another ardous course of sight-seeing. He has barely had the possibility to recover, or find out exactly where the hotel is located, before he is off again to another part of the country. It is not a tour what he gets. It is a snap-shot view. No time to analyse or even understand what everything is about. He only has at most half an hour to take some pictures which he can sort when getting home and proudly show them to his friends. The only inconvenient would be that he can no longer remember where each of them was taken and what they represent. In his perpetual race against time, the tourist is always sending post-cards to his relatives depicting wonderful views of places stored randomly in his mind, like more and more pieces of puzzle. No other fortnight in the whole year passed so quickly. Travel-worn, the tourist eventually arrives home proudly displaying his collection of passport-stamps. Truly rested, he is back at the office the next day with a years work ahead of him. But winter comes again and he will begin another chase of best paradises to see during his next summer holiday. Title: Tradition Type: abstract Main idea: Tradition is like a living body, in a permanent change. Brainstorming: - perceived as a rigid thing

- association with the old - struggle to accept the new - re-examination and re-evaluation of the past - tradition is misunderstood - war - what does tradition mean? - Darwin; social revolution - slow assimilation - tradition is like a city - we get it from our ancestors and pass it on to our successors Introduction: - the word tradition is misunderstood; it is not a fixed rigid thing Body: - there is a struggle to accept the new - we cannot decide if everything which is dazzling new will ever become tradition: fashion, arts, politics etc. - exception: atomic energy, for instance; there have been dramatic changes (slow process, but sure) - the manner in which new ideas are accepted: half way by one generation and completely by the next one - Darwins example Conclusion: - tradition is like a city, always changing. - it is something we inherit from our ancestors and pass to our successors, but we do not keep it unaltered. Tradition Due to the fact that the word itself is widely used, it is frequently misunderstood. It is regarded as a fixed entity, rigidly hostile to change, something to be defended against those who do not treasure it. Nothing could be more mistaken. Tradition is not only made up of our important beliefs, but also the great host of trivial daily habits and customs we acquire in the course of growing up. Nor is it inflexible. New ideas are continually being adapted to fit in with the old. This process is slow but sure. And when old ideas become obsolete, they fall into oblivion. There is a permanent struggle concerning the acceptance of the new. People do not wish to give up notions they hold dear. Thus, tradition protects itself, for by providing a testing-ground of the new, it allows only what is of some value to assert itself. In this way, tradition acts like a protector against the easy acceptance of new ideas which seem to be attractive on the surface. Not everything which is dazzling new is worth to be labelled as long-lasting item, but it is impossible for us to decide whether it is valuable or not. What seems to be extremely new and trendy in arts, politics or science may no longer be valid in a few yearstime. The desire for novelty which is so important in fashion, architecture or design sometimes affects our most important beliefs and institutions. We are often urged by the media to re-examine and reassess long-established views which have taken centuries to form and replace them by opinions which have been conceived in a few hours or days. One may wonder how many such re-assessments will be remembered in few years time. It is equally true that sometimes a discovery may completely alter our outlook. Ideas which have been kept intact for centuries can occasionally be swept away over night. For instance, present advances in nuclear physics have totally changed our traditionalconception of warfare. The very word war has now taken on a new

meaning which was unknown as recently as 1944. Nevertheless, dramatic changes of this sort are unusual. The big social revolution we have witnessed in the twentieth century still has a long way to go before reaching anything like perfection. Ideas which are half-accepted by one generation are often completely accepted by the one that follows. Novelty is harshly attacked by those who cannot conceive of a new order and are judged by standards of the past. This is due to the fact that peoples sensibilities are confined to what they have always known and believed. What was totally new to one generation is easily assimilated by the following one because sensibility has widened enough to allow a notion that was once considered radical to establish itself. A good example is Darwins Origin of Species: the controversy that it initially provocked has lingered down to this day. If at the beginning Darwins arguments were hotly disputed, now they are part of our cultural heritage. This means that they no longer shock our sensibilities. In the same way, modern music does not strike us as discordant because it does not conform to former conceptions of harmony. What were once new ideas have withstood the test tradition has imposed on them. Our view of the past is always changing. Tradition is like a great city which is growing and developing continuously. Old buildings disappear and new ones take their places. Regardless of its form, shape or size, each new building alters our vision on the already existing ones. The city we have in front of our eyes is not the one our ancestors saw and used to know. Nor is it the one we shall pass to our successors.

Reflective essayexercices

1. Write essays based on the plans below. Do not write more than 500 words. Construii eseuri pe baza planurilor de mai jos. Nu scriei mai mult de 500 cuvinte: a. Title: The sea Type: descriptive-reflective Main idea: people have different attitudes concerning the sea, according to circumstances. Brainstorming: - travelling - this is a watery planet; therefore, we have more water than land - holiday; cruise - the sea means life - water provides food - minerals - it is also the home of many creatures - source of mystery - the sea is a blue immensity Introduction: - the sea, in its general understanding, refers to the Pacific Ocean: immensity - the Pacific Ocean seen from outer space - this is a watery planet we are living in - Mans attitude towards water depends on the circumstances

Body: - in the past, water meant the unknown ad people were afraid to face it - at present, people are not so scared any longer; still, humans have much to learn - different people have different opinions concerning the sea: those living close to it (islanders, for instance) love it, respect it, as it is their source of life and food; those living far inland see it as a mystery - the average person connects it to holidays - scientists study water exploration, source of minerals, food, life and death, creatures living on the bottom of the sea, mysteries buried there Conclusion: - the sea represents a challenge - regardless of attitude, perhaps the sea contains the solution to many of our greatest problems. .... b. Title: Greatness Type: abstract Main Idea: ordinary men and women are capable of greatness Introduction: - when thinking about great men and women one word comes to our mind: achievement

- we are accustomed to measure greatness in terms of achievement - this idea could be wrong ordinary people can be great, too Body: - achievement: great names in various fields (arts, science, history etc.): da Vinci, Michelangelo, Magellan, Shakespeare, Pasteur etc. they are great not only for themselvesas individuals, but also for what they did - what is a great life? - enjoyment of work and play; qualities of tolerance, consideration, understanding, peace of mind etc. - difficult to achieve because it requires deep understanding of oneself and ones place in the world - achievement can be attained in ordinary life by ordinary people, too: careers, family life, happiness a combination of them is the key Conclusion: - seen in this light, it is possible for certain ordinary men and women to lead great lives - they will not be remembered for their achievements in arts or science, but this makes them no less great. 2. Choose from the title below to plan and write one essay of between 600 and 700 words. Take special care to interpret the topic and establish the type of your essay.

Alegei unul dintre titlurile de mai jos pentru a planifica i redacta un eseu de 600 -700 cuvinte. nainte de a ncepe interpretai subiectul i stabilii tipul viitorului eseu: Fashion Justice On having a mind Modesty Television Festivities On maturity On human nature Immortality Luck On being an outcast On having fights Pain Corruption Holidays