A reflective essay is a type of academic writing in which the author describes an event or incident that is experienced by them in their life. As the name indicates in a reflective essay the author has to look back to the past and analyze a particular event or experience from the present point of view.
The first and foremost step while writing a reflective essay is to choose a suitable topic for the essay. At times your instructor would provide a topic to reflect on, but most of the time you are also given a choice to choose it yourself that is a daunting task. However, when I write my essay, I prefer to choose a topic on my own.
Some tips that must be considered while choosing the best topic are
- Make sure you choose a topic that is of your interest, and you already have information about
- Choose a topic that would engage your audience
- Select a topic that you can approach from a different angle.
- Know the target audience and choose the topic according to their interest.
Moreover, here are some interesting topics that an essay writer might consider when choosing a suitable and interesting topic for a reflective essay
- A memorable dream or nightmare.
- Your least favorite subject.
- A time when you lied or tried to hide a lie or faced it.
- A place you always try to avoid
- What do you like most about yourself?
- Your favorite place to eat.
- Getting a new job.
- What is the most hurtful thing someone has said to you?
- Your favorite cartoon.
- Renovating your house.
- A bookstore or coffee shop.
- A birthday party was attended.
- The way my family and I celebrate Christmas in the US
- The time you went fishing
- Moving to a new city or country.
- Committing a small crime
- Your greatest accomplishment
- Your biggest strength.
- A dinner that brought my family members together.
- Walking with your cat or dog
- The most inspiring sport event you have seen
- When you first voted.
- Favorite foreign country
- Witnessing a natural disaster.
- Witnessing a natural disaster.
- Working on the thing of your life
- Family reunion.
- A skating or ice-skating rink
- When you first spoke in public
- Tell me about your exciting vacation
- The day my sister/brother was born
- My first trip abroad.
- Rock climbing
- The first time you skipped school.
- The most memorable dream or nightmare that you have ever had
- How money matters for your life.
- Moving to a different school or starting a brand-new job.
- The town where you grew up.
- Experiencing an earthquake or another natural disaster.
- The day you met your relatives.
- Your favorite place for shopping or having dinner
- When someone’s words make you scared.
- The football field where you used to play with your friends all day long
- What do you hate most about your professors?
- The day I won a competition.
- What was the best birthday memory you had?
- The moment when you were proud of yourself
- Taking care of someone who was sick or needed your help.
- Skiing down a hill with the wind blowing in your face
- Describe a day when the electricity or water supply was not working.
- The time you lied.
- Sharing room on campus with another student.
- A trip to an exotic place with your parents.
- Challenges that I faced being a college freshman.
- The place where you work
- A time when you felt lost in life.
- Spending vacations in your grandparent’s house.
- Seeing a spider.
- A time when you were disappointed.
- Paragliding
- When someone’s words made you scared.
- Changing the city you live in.
- Watching a bird flying in the sky.
- Walking in the forests.
- Watching animals at a zoo.
- What do you like about sunsets?
- Picking berries
- The most beautiful thing you have ever seen.
- Camping outdoors
- Smelling a flower.
- Your favorite lunch spot
- A former workplace.
- Quality time with your pet.
- Boat riding in a large river
- Your middle school.
- My first hiking experience.
- Your favorite vacation spot.
- Best park in your town.
- The town where you grew up.
- Your hometown.
- What is your best online space?
- An unforgettable family reunion.
- Composing a well-structured reflective essay
If we talk about the structure of the reflective essay, it is typically very different from other kinds of essays. The structure may vary according to the model on which the structure of your essay is based upon. For instance, according to Gibbs Reflective Cycle, Several Things that you must focus on while writing a reflective essay are
Description
As in a reflective essay you need to describe a relevant situation in particular to the chosen topic. You should describe what was the scenario, what and how the event occurred, when and where it took place, what were you doing there etc.
Feelings
After giving an overview of the event you need to explain your feelings and thoughts that you experienced at the time of a particular incident. An important factor to consider is exploring how the incident influenced you.
Evaluate
Analyze the whole scenario and describe both negative as well as positive aspects associated with the event or incident
Analyze
This part would help you describe and analyze the things like what factors contributed positively to the incident, what were the things that went well or why things went well etc.
Conclude
After you have explained and critically analyzed the whole scenario or event/incident it is time to conclude your essay. You are required to present a summary of your understanding regarding the event and showcasing the changes made to the action. Moreover, explore the ways it can be improved in the future.
Plan of action
After all, a plan of action is needed, and as an essay writer, you must concentrate on the characteristics that must be strengthened and suggest actions that might be conducted better in the future.
After you are done with your essay make sure to get it checked by an expert or take help from the essay writing service so that there remains no fault in your essay.
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