Reflection paper writing requires you to express your point of view about a certain topic, concept, or experience. This type of writing requires your opinion about a certain subject backing it with your observation or experience. This article focuses on reflection paper writing, types, and topics.
What is a reflection paper? A reflection paper is a piece of writing that requires you to express your opinion and ideas about a particular subject or experience. As opposed to other writing, you do not have to use evidence-based information from other writers or academic sources. You just have to write an assignment paper giving your point of view about a topic or experience in a clear and well-organized manner.
Types of Reflection Papers
There are various types of reflective writing. They include:
- Academic reflection paper
Course instructors frequently give academic reflection papers to help students make the connection between abstract ideas and practical applications. They ask students to consider how the readings from the course have affected the way they think about and comprehend a subject.
- Literary analysis reflection paper
In this kind of reflection paper, writers evaluate particular literature, art, or media and give their opinions and interpretations about the artwork. When writing this type of reflection paper, you can quote text from the art piece and give your analysis of it
- Professional reflection paper
Writing professional reflection papers is common in professions like social work, education, and nursing. They encourage professionals to reflect on their choices, conversations, and behaviors within the workplace with the goal of ongoing development.
- Personal reflection paper
A personal reflection paper focuses on your life experiences including achieving success, memorable moments, events, and lessons. It explores the experience’s emotional resonance and how it influenced your viewpoint.
Steps to take before writing a reflection paper
Before writing a reflection paper you should take some steps. Those steps include:
- Read and understand the assignment
When assigned a reflection paper assignment, you are either given a certain material to analyze or you are required to write a paper about your own experience. If you are required to analyze a certain material, you should read and understand the context. This helps you to properly analyze and interpret the material in your reflection paper.
If you are required to write a reflection paper about a personal experience. You should choose a personal experience that is memorable and has a major impact on your life. Choosing an impactful experience in your life makes writing the paper easier since you have a consistent flow of ideas on how the event happened.
- Choose a theme
You should refer to your analysis of the event or the material to choose a theme for the reflection paper. It’s critical to select a theme since it will direct your argument in the entire paper. It also aids with the paper organization. You can select a theme by focusing on the key idea of the given material or your lived experience.
- Write an outline
Before you start writing your reflection paper, you should write an outline. Writing an outline helps you to properly organize your thoughts and ideas for the paper. In the outline, you should write the key points of the introduction, the body paragraphs, and the conclusion.
When writing an outline, you should try to make a connection between your ideas of the paper. Outline each paragraph with a unique idea of the main theme. This helps you to have a proper flow of information throughout your reflection paper.
How to start a reflection paper
How to start a reflection paper? The start of a reflection paper is very important since it sets the tone of the entire paper. Below is how you should start a reflection paper:
If you are writing a personal reflection paper, you should start your paper with a hook to grab the reader’s attention. This could be a thought-provoking question, a quotation, a personal anecdote, or a writing a vivid description of the experience that you will be reflecting on. You should complete the introduction paragraph with a thesis statement describing the main idea of the paper.
If you are writing an educational reflection paper where you are given literature to reflect on. You should start your paper by referring to the main theme of the literature and a summary of the literature. You should complete the introduction paragraph with a compelling thesis statement where you describe your stance on the given literature.
How to write a reflection paper
Below is how to write a reflection paper:
a) Write the topic
The topic of your reflection paper should show what your paper entails. If you are writing a personal reflection paper, you should choose a topic that you are interested in. If you are writing an educational reflection paper, you should write a topic that follows the main theme of the material given.
b) Write the introduction
You should write an interesting introduction to catch the reader’s attention. For an educational reflection paper, you should summarize the given material and write the purpose of the paper referring to the given material. For a personal reflection paper, you should briefly describe the experience that you will discuss in the paper. You should complete the introduction with a strong thesis describing the main idea of your paper.
c) Write the body paragraphs
The body paragraphs describe the main theme in detail. You should properly structure your paragraphs by starting them with a topic sentence with introduces the paragraph’s key idea, middle sentences that give your interpretation or supporting examples of the paragraph’s key idea, and a concluding sentence that wraps the whole paragraph. Use proper transition words to transition from one paragraph to the next.
If you are writing a reflection on an academic article, you should use quotes from the article in your reflection paper. They provide your readers with a framework so they can comprehend your criticism as a whole. If you are writing a personal reflection paper, you should discuss your thoughts, feelings, and observations in the body paragraphs.
d) Write the conclusion
The conclusion sums up the whole reflection paper. You should write the lesson, emotion, or comprehension you took away from the article or experience. In addition, you should rephrase and reinforce your thesis statement. You should not bring new ideas to the conclusion.
e) Proofread your paper
Once you complete writing the reflection paper, you should proofread it several times to remove any wording or spelling mistakes. You can also run it on Grammarly to make sure you removed all the mistakes. Edit and submit your reflection paper.
The guide above shows how to write a reflection paper on a class. You can also research various reflection paper examples to get a better understanding of how to properly structure and write your reflection paper.
Tips on writing a reflection paper
Below are tips on writing a reflection paper:
- Write an outline
Before you start writing your reflection paper, you should write an outline. Writing an outline helps you to properly analyze your idea for the paper. Write all the key points of the paper in the outline. Once you begin writing the paper, use the outline as a guide.
- Write a short paper
A reflection paper word count should be between 300-700 unless instructed otherwise. It is mainly a short essay. Thus, you should write a paper with clear and concise information that meets the word count. Avoid writing too much unnecessary information.
- Maintain an academic tone
You write your opinion in a reflection paper although you should always maintain an academic tone. You should avoid using informal language or idioms
- Reference your sources
As you write your paper, you may choose to review the works of different authorities. You should use proper citation styles.
- Make sure you properly proofread your paper
You should proofread your paper loudly several times to make sure you omit all the mistakes. You should also run on Grammarly to remove any mistakes you missed. While proofreading you should also check if your paper is well-organized.
Nursing Ethics reflection paper
A nurse’s behaviors, relationships, and decisions in their patient care duties are guided by a set of principles and values known as nursing ethics. In nursing, the principles of beneficence, non-maleficence, fairness, and truthfulness form the foundation of the ethical framework. Encouraging care of the dying to resource allocation and privacy issues are just a few of the ethical situations that nurses should navigate while adhering to these values.
As a nursing student, when assigned a nursing ethics reflection paper you should reflect on the above nursing ethics. Your nursing reflection paper should be well-structured and consistent flow of information from the introduction, through the body to the conclusion.
Reflection paper topics
Below are the reflection paper topics:
- Ethical issues in the society
- From grass to grace experience
- The pursuit of spiritual growth
- My success stories
- My camping experiences
- Visiting the wildlife
- A decision that changed my life forever
- How I let go of my fears
- The power of patience
- How I cope with changes in my life
To sum up
Writing a reflection paper requires you to describe your opinion on a particular topic or an assigned book. Using this article, you learn how to write a reflection paper. If you need help with your reflection paper, we provide coursework writing services.
