How To Write A Reflection Paper? Easy Tips & Format

Reflection papers are generally written by high school graduates, university students and university professors. The use of reflection paper helps the student by allowing them to analyse and review their texts, reading, and experiences in their life. The paper helps express their thoughts and ideas about various experiences without writing guidelines. The outline of the reflection writing generally depends on the criteria mentioned by the professor in the university and college. A typical reflection paper typically consists of 500-800 words in length.

Eight easy steps for waiting for a reflection paper:

Any quality reflection paper uses a formal tone to express your experiences and thoughts on any particular event and thought. The steps you need to follow while writing your reflective essay are:

• Summarising and understanding the material: Before beginning reflective writing, reviewing the material and information before writing a reflection paper is essential. In some of the reflection papers, it is also required to review a particular event. 
• Analysing the content: It is essential to analyse the content, argument and thesis before starting a reflection essay or reflection paper. The reflection paper may include your experience with different academic subjects.  You can also provide an opinion for giving a positive and negative judgement about an event discussed in your reflection paper. 
• Selection of themes: Selecting a proper theme plays a significant role in setting the tone of your reflective paper. Themes also help you to form a structure for your writing. 
• Making connections:  For an engaging reflection paper, connecting the different arguments by writing paragraphs sequentially is essential.  The link in the writing helps provide an outline, which helps secure your thoughts to various justifications made in the reflection paper. 
• Start by providing an introduction:  The introductory paragraph should provide information regarding the topic of the reflection report. It also includes information regarding the purpose of writing and your position on the issue. 
• Writing the body of the reflection paper: The body contains detailed information regarding your thesis statement.  The section contains information regarding the arguments and references used in the paper.
• Providing a reasonable conclusion:  The conclusion will help in submersing the arguments and ideas about the event in the paper.  The summary should include information about what you learned from the experiences described in the reflection paper. 
• Editing and proofreading: Before submitting the reflection paper to the college and university, it is crucial to proofread it multiple times. This helps in the identification of any possible factual and grammatical errors.  It also helps ensure that you have followed the guidelines of the reflection paper provided by the professor in college, high school or university. 

Types of Reflection Paper:

The reflection paper helps explain the understanding gained in a topic and how it influences your thoughts and beliefs. Some  of the different types of reflection papers are

1. Experiential Reflection Paper

The experimental paper helps evaluate personal observations and experiences. Experiential paper helps assess the correctness of different theories with your experiences. The experiential reflection paper is mainly used in business, medicine and education as it helps in linking personal experiences with various ideas and practices. 

2. Textual Reflection Paper

This type of reflection material helps evaluate a written book, essay or article.  The paper contains your interpretation and assumptions regarding the reading material. This reflection paper has no personal experience and solely uses the book's or text's information.

Reflection Paper Format:

Introduction: The introduction should provide detailed information regarding the topic on which you are a reflection. The thesis presented in the introduction should provide detailed information regarding the writer's position in the event or opinion of the writer regarding the information provided in the reflection essay.  The introduction should include information regarding what you are referencing such as an essay, academic article, lecture and experience.  The introduction should also include a brief summarisation of the information provided in the reflection essay. 

Main body: The paragraphs in the main body should provide information regarding the various experiences and ideas related to the topic in the essay. The body paragraph of a reflection essay should always begin with the topic sentence.  The reflection should alos include information regarding the book and the author, if you are providing information regarding a book in the reflection essay.  This helps in providing the readers with references to understand the experiences shared by the writer in the essay. 

Conclusion:  The conclusion help in summarising the various experiences learned by the writer after the incident. It also provides information regarding any new knowledge gained by the writer and how it influenced the understanding of the subject in the reflection essay.

Tips for Writing a Reflection Paper:

• The reflection paper should be short and clear with around 300 to 800 words. The essay should contain only relevant information regarding the subject matter. 
• The reflection essay should be concise and easy to understand. Ths helps in attracting a large number of readers and improves the overall credibility of the reflection essay. 
• The use of academic and formal tone is considered important as it helps in improving the overall quality of the reflection writing.
• Citing the authentic sources helps in improving the academic integrity of the reflection essay. 
• Proofreading the essay many times will help in identification of any type of grammatical error which will help in improving the overall quality of the information provided in the reflection essay. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Writing a Reflection Paper:

Are reflection essays written in first person?

Reflection essays are generally written in first person as they are considered more subjective than any other academic essay. However, on the directive of the instructor, a reflection essay can be written in third person. Also it is important to make use of formal tone while writing a reflection essay. 

What is the difference between reflection essays and research paper?

Reflection essays are subjective in nature and are used to provide information regarding personal experiences. Research papers on the other hand are academic essays that provide information regarding the interpretation of a writer on certain theories and topics.