Essay: Reflection Essay
In the essays by Beth Nguyen, Wallace Stegner, and Vann Newkirk, we see the authors slowing down to examine ideas, objects, and relationships. In a reflection, we take a closer look at something that might already be familiar. In doing so, we are paying attention to ideas or issues we might have missed at first.
A summary shortens a text or events: it includes main ideas but not a lot of the details.
An analysis looks at the various parts of a text/idea/event and how they function.
An evaluation judges the value of a text/idea/etc. within an established or defined set of rules: Is this movie good/effective/successful within its genre? Is this speech good/effective/successful in achieving its stated goals? Is this book good/effective/successful according to critical review or according to sales figures?
A reflection is often a more detailed look at a specific moment, object, or idea — it will probably include elements of summary, analysis, and evaluation, but is often more personal or subjective in its approach.
According to NFG, “[s]ometimes we write essays just to think about something–to speculate, ponder, probe; to play with an idea, develop a thought; or simply to share something. Reflective essays are our attempt to think something through by writing about it and to share our thinking with others” (256).
Check out the “Key Features” of reflections on p. 259 to determine your approach to your topic, structure, details, and tone.
Spend some time going through the steps in “A Brief Guide to Writing Reflections.”
For your last essay of this semester, you will be reflecting on your writing. You may want to start by considering the everyday objects or routines that helped you (or that got in your way) this semester. You may want to reflect on the processes of writing you experimented with. Maybe you want to write about revision. Maybe you want to write about research. Maybe you want to write about why this class (or writing more generally) matters to you and to your education and career. You can pick one of the following questions to answer in your essay:
What is something you need in order to write for college? Why is that important? How easy is it to obtain?
What is something you struggled with as a writer this semester? Were you able to solve the problem? Do you expect to face this problem again in the future?
What was a feeling you had in the beginning of the semester about writing? How/has that feeling changed? Do you know why it has changed, if it has?
What assignment, reading, or piece of feedback this semester has been most helpful to you? Why do you think that one thing mattered to you?
Who is someone who has made your semester easier/more successful? How did they do this? Did they inspire you to work? Did they bug you to turn work in? Did they agree to read over your drafts?
