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Reflection Essay

 

          After thoughtfully and actively reading a text and using the skills of underlining, noting, paraphrasing, and summarizing, you are ready to respond by bringing your own world of experiences, concepts, and values into reaction with the author’s world. A reflection essay is similar to a reading and experience essay, but the focus is not so much on how your reading evokes experiences you have had, but more on ideas generated by a text.

 

Personal Response

 

          You may begin your preparation for a reflection essay by noting short personal responses in the margins of a text. If you do not own the book, or do not want to mark in it, you can make notes on a separate piece of paper or a computer, noting the relevant page numbers. You can then expand your reactions into a larger format if you wish. Your personal responses are important in the reading and writing processes, and good essays can come from your honest reactions to what you read.

 

Open-Minded Responses

         

          In responding to a written or spoken communication, such as an essay, a novel, a sermon, a play, or a poem, an open-minded person withholds judgment until he or she has heard the whole presentation. Then a variety of judgments can be made from a spectrum of responses. The major outline of the spectrum can be simplified into four statements:

  • The speaker/writer may be rejected along with the message.

  • The speaker/writer may be accepted, while all or part of the message is rejected.

  • The speaker/writer may be rejected, while the message, whole or in part, is accepted.

  • The speaker/writer and the message both may be accepted.

 

          It takes real practice and thoughtful listening or reading with these shades of options. Our shallow responses tend to be limited to the extremes—reject-reject or accept-accept. And these are often based on the way our emotions are swayed, how our assumptions and expectations color our seeing and hearing, or how the frame, power, or reputation of the speaker/writer unduly influences us. Using reason to hear all the evidence, to test its validity and weight, and to think logically about the attitude or action we are being asked to support may seem to be too tedious. It is far easier to simply act and believe on the basis of emotions. Being closed-minded ensures that our complacency will not be disturbed by the challenges of new ideas or our settled opinions shaken by speakers/writers who call our attention to experiences that make us ask troubling questions. Insecurity, even fear, motivates people to be closed-minded to the ideas of others, avoiding any profound encounter with another religion, philosophy, culture, or with a person holding views unlike our own.

 

          The best way to read with an open mind is to follow the advice of the “Golden Rule” as it might apply to reading or listening to the ideas of others: “Hear the ideas others communicate by their writing or speaking as you would want to be heard.” That simple consideration helps you respect the communication another is offering you and remind you to suspend final judgment until you have finished reading or listening.

 

Assignment

Writing a Reflection Essay

 

          In the introductory paragraph of your reflection essay you need to cite a specific passage from your selected text that caused you to start thinking, questioning, or recalling related ideas. In this introductory paragraph, you may not want to give your final conclusions, so you may avoid having a thesis statement.

 

          In the following paragraphs of the body of your essay, list the sequence of ideas that the reading has generated in your thinking. Use a paragraph to detail each of the ideas; these should be given in an appropriate order, such as a numerical sequence (“first, I thought. . . . Next I realized. . . .”), an order of importance, or some other order that can be perceived easily by your reader.

 

          In a closing paragraph, state your final thoughts, summing up your process and conclusion. Your ideas should reveal some insight, what the poet Robert Frost calls a “clarification.” This does not have to be a greatly significant insight, but should represent a fresh understanding that you have achieved in your reflection.

 

Directions

  1. You must have a clear, appropriate thesis statement positioned at the end of the introductory paragraph.

  2. Be as descriptive as possible. You are narrating, so be a good storyteller. For example, instead of writing, “I was very angry,” write “This insult made me boil.” Also, include as many sensory details as possible: what did it look/sound/taste/feel like? Avoid weak, abstract words such as “beautiful,” “awesome,” “amazing,” and the like. Part of your grade comes from your use of concrete, lively details.

  3. You MUST make at least two references to the text, quoted directly, with accompanying parenthetical citations.

  4. You MUST include a work cited page with an entry for your selected text. See LBCH 10th ed. 57.2, pp. 463-496.

 

Structure

This is, at minimum, a basic five-paragraph essay.

  • Introduction with thesis

  • Optional paragraph that summarizes the reading to give the reader context for the remainder of the essay. If this paragraph is not included, then the context needs to be provide in the introduction.

  • Three or more body paragraphs describing your experience, including the minimum two quotations, cited parenthetically.

  • A concluding paragraph that sums up the experience and draws the essay to a satisfying close

  • A work cited page

 

Suggested Selections for Writing a Reflection Essay

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