How To Write A Great Reflective Essay Outline – Interesting Facts & Ideas

• July 1, 2019
• By MWS
• Leave a Comment

A reflective essay outline is a reflection of your insight and achievements. Choose a prompt you want to write about and exemplify the composition with your real-life experiences. Normally, you have to pick this genre of essay writing for college application essays or scholarship essays. In short, go for a reflective essay wherever you have to project your capability and impression. If you know how to write a perfect essay, then you must also know that each type of essays allows to cabinet your opinions. In comparison, a reflective essay offers little more than the rest.

Reflective essay outline: what’s the need?

In most instances, students worry about writing style and approach. However, there’s one more responsibility that you happen to forget. Outlining is a significant requirement in order to make your reflective essay look professional and compact. Well, the negligence towards outline comes as students are unaware of its importance. Hence, here’s a prominent narration of the significances. Take a look –

• To categorize and arrange the main points
• For organizing the information in a sensible manner
• It makes sure that each idea can be wholly developed
• Prevents the writer from losing control of his/her track
• Gives the audiences a specific course of reading

Now that you are conversant with the importance of a powerful essay outline, time to wrap your brain with the elements, compulsory in a reflective essay.

Components of a reflective essay outline

Every essay develops on a particular format and that’s why you should maintain the pattern. Above all the claims and contention, there’s a fundamental sheet to be concerned of. Here’s the list –

1. Introduction

• Hook statement for grabbing attention
• A quick overview of the background study
• A strong thesis statement (topic sentence)

2. Body Paragraph 1

• Description of the subject or event under consideration
• A brief Summary of its background study

3. Body Paragraph 2

• Timeline of the integral events – when they happened
• Illustration of your feelings or thoughts on those moments

4. Body Paragraph 3

• Analysis of your feelings and experience
• Judgment based on your evaluation
• Supporting evidence against your judgments

5. Conclusion

• Reinstation of your topic sentence
• Overview of what you have written so far
• Moral of the essay (lessons learned)
• Recommendation for the next-gen students

Your outline can differ a bit from this one if you have something more to add on. It may also vary based on whether you are reflecting on a person or book or yourself. However, try not to cut off a slice from the above template or break the chronological order of the events. On the next go, learn the approach to take in a reflective essay writing.

Reflective essay outline template: to-do list

You are missing out something if you know the components but have no idea about the writing approach. Every paragraph in the essay holds a different essence. That you know how to write an essay introduction doesn’t mean you know the style of an essay conclusion, as well. Therefore, all the details of an essay outline are assembled here for your reference.

1. First, decide the length of your essay

Too lengthy essays do not offer a great experience in readability. Again, too shorts seem inadequately informed. The length of your essay must have a balance in accordance with the information. Normally, 500-700 words are the average length of reflective essays. Try to put in as much information within this word count. It’s possible when you avoid exaggerating on a particular event or idea.

2. Confirm the number of paragraphs

Number of paragraphs in your essay should be decided, firsthand. It will help in controlling the total length of the essay. If you want to be more organized, think of proper headings and subheadings for the paragraphs. Just like you see in narrative essay examples, develop similar passage titles for your reflective essay. This way you can save a handsome amount of time later while buy an essay online.

3. Avoid being repetitive and dithering in tense

Both of these issues are pretty much common among students. Overstating or over-emphasizing any object only results in poor grades. So, be cautious while composing the essay. Ensure that you have inserted information only for once and have not repeated it for a second time. Moreover, the briefings should be precise and compact. Dithering among present, past, and future tense is another common mistake. This looks disturbing for the audience. Normally, an essay is written in the past tense, except for the recommendation part where the use of future tense is necessary. Proofread accordingly before submission.

4. Approach for a great essay introduction

The beginning of your essay must be interesting and a bit thought-provoking. This way, you can easily hook your audience and build a solid base of readers. Start with a lesser-known but amazing fact that can trigger the reader’s urge to know more. Like a well-developed argumentative essay, you can through a question to the audience at the beginning of your reflective essay. Opening with a question with no solid response to that is another fascinating way of starting an essay. Do not reveal too much at the very beginning – let the mystery prevail for some time.

5. Voice your own opinions in conclusion

A reflective essay is mostly about your own point of view and opinions. This should not go missing from your composition. In fact, the conclusion holds most of the discussion on your analysis, judgments, opinions, and impressions. Don’t shy away from voicing what you think even also it goes against the stereotypes or traditional thought processes. Remember, this will bring a greater number of audience and help them relate to you. Finally, end the conclusion by hinting to the lessons learned from your experiences. Also, recommend to the future scholars regarding the discussion. It creates the longest and lasting impression of your composition in the readers’ mind.

Stuck with a critical topic? Let an expert help you

You may know all the techniques and tricks for a good reflective essay, still, challenges can come up if the topic is too critical to handle. Therefore, an expert’s help is the best way to get rid of stresses and worries. Find a reliable and genuine helping hand.

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