Reflective Writing Final Tips

What is reflection The process of stepping away from an experience in order to think more deeply about it. Why did you feel a certain way? Why did you act in a certain way? How did this experience help to shape you as a person? Why is this important to you?

Reflections Do not simply consider thoughts and feelings Consider why you felt that way Take a step back from the experience to think about something more deeply Has it caused you to change your views, or think more deeply about anything in general? What has this experience taught you about yourself? What has it taught you about life, death, etc?

Reflections Not describing how upset you were at a funeral, but considering why we have you funerals; why do we feel the need to mark the passing of a life? Also, what caused you to feel so upset? What did that reveal about yourself?

Before this experience, I had never considered how . . . This made me realise . . . I considered for the first time . . . This sparked a series of questions in my mind . . Looking back at how I acted

I couldn’t sleep that night. I understood I couldn’t sleep that night. I understood. I finally understood everything. I understood why I had just walked away. I understood why the youths had behaved as they did. I understood it all. I suddenly remembered that overwhelming feeling, that wonderful sense of belonging when you discover you are no longer an individual but just one miniscule part of what makes up that intricate, complex, powerful body – the crowd.

This was extremely frustrating for me because I felt as though I had become a caged animal and could only pace up and down where the zoo keeper could keep an eye on me. In hindsight, I know that their actions were only out of concern and care. I hadn’t realised how lucky I had been before when that sort of action was second nature to me, but I can now start to understand the frustration and pain that people who are ill experience every day.

Looking back on this, the worst part of the experience was the feeling of helplessness and frustration. In a situation like this you want to be as close to the person as you can, even if you are unable to do anything. However, we were trapped in limbo, awaiting our flights home.

Activity Read ‘Death is the Goal’ Highlight all the reflections.

Narrative Descriptions of events, setting, people These should act as a spark for your reflections or be used to illustrate them. Description of setting should be sensory and include imagery

The atmosphere was tense, almost electric The atmosphere was tense, almost electric. The sound of the dry drums resounded throughout the barren valley. Everyone was screaming and all over the barbed-wire- topped ex-prison fence were pinned thousands of banners and leaflets creating a beautiful, colourful collage around the Centre. I gripped my mum’s hand as tightly as I could.

Style Word choice Sentence structure (use the short guide to sentence structure) Sound techniques- alliteration and onomatopoeia Descriptive language Imagery Tone

Activity Reread ‘Death is the Goal . . .’ Identify features of style and complete the grid