Writing Folio Intermediate 2

Creative Piece Reflective Writing

What is Reflective Writing? The easiest way to remember it is to look back at the Personal essays you wrote in Standard Grade. Reflective writing follows the same rules: you MUST reflect on the experience and examine what you learned about yourself as a person. Reflection is important because looking back in order to think about what we have just done helps us to make changes in our interactions with people, and to get better at what we do. We all experience things, then think about what we have done, learn from the experience, and then try out what we have learned in a similar situation.

An excellent description of reflection can be found in the Harry Potter novel ‘The Goblet of Fire’. In the paragraph below Dumbledore the chief wizard and head teacher is talking to Harry about having excess thoughts! ‘Harry stared at the stone basin. The contents had returned to their original, silvery white state, swirling and rippling beneath his gaze. “What is it?” Harry asked shakily. “This? It is called a Pensieve,” said Dumbledore. “I sometimes find, and I am sure you know the feeling, that I simply have too many thoughts and memories crammed into my mind.” “Err,” said Harry who couldn’t truthfully say that he had ever felt anything of the sort. “At these times” said Dumbledore, indicating the stone basin, “I use the Penseive. One simply siphons the excess thoughts from one’s mind, pours them into a basin, and examines them at one’s leisure. It becomes easier to spot patterns and links, you understand, when they are in this form.’ ( Rowling 2000)

Think of an experience or series of experiences that have resulted in a change in the way you think, or feel. You may feel a bit like Harry at present, but you will have changed a great deal in the last few years, and need to consider what, or who, has had an influence on the person you have become. You might like to consider other people’s points of view, such as those of your friends, parents, teachers on the issue you are thinking about.

Rules for reflective essays: You must show the ability to organise your thoughts and your essay should lead to a conclusion – a self indulgent stream of thought with no structure is unlikely to score well. REMEMBER! Even though you might think you are utterly fabulous, others might not agree! Reflect upon the experience as well as yourself! This genre should NOT simply tell a story, or give an account of an experience.

Structure Your essay must have a good shape. Aim to structure your sections around a reflective aspect of the experience, so that each section becomes a combination of both description and reflection: BOTH ARE ESSENTIAL. Show the emotional stages that you have went through during this experience.

Example of Structure: Idea: Climbing accident 1) What the attraction of rock climbing was. You could reflect on this as you’re starting the climb. 2) Making crucial decisions. You could reflect on this while describing the first phase of the climb. 3) Feeling powerless. You could reflect on this while describing the approach to the fall and the fall itself. 4) How the accident changed you. You could reflect on this while describing the aftermath of the fall.

Helpful Topics: Places and Days Memorable day in your life – it might be a time when you were ill, when you were afraid, when you moved house, changed school, or when you were part of a serious or funny family incident. Describe a place of special significance. You could choose a specific time of year and imagine you are looking out from one point, describing first what is closest to you and then start describing things further and further away from you. Write an account of a journey or visit you have made exploring unfamiliar places. You could reflect on events, feelings and the impressions you had about the people you met.

Helpful Topics: People and Issues Describe a person/s who is/are very important to you. Include anecdotes which illustrate character traits and your relationships with them. Consider why you feel the way you do, think about similarities and differences and reflect on the influence they have had on your life. The problems of growing up. Think about the most pressing problems and concern for you in the society of today. What does it feel like to be you?

Helpful Suggestions: Starting Off Try to generalise: Put your experience in the context of all or most people’s experience: For example: “Most people need a strong element of excitement in their lives. Some people take drugs, others get high out on rock concerts, some are hooked on fast cars or bikes. For me, it was rock climbing.”

Helpful Suggestions: Being Reflective Stand back and see the situation from present perspective: “When you have to make crucial decisions so much depends on what you have to lose. From my perspective now, as a parent, there is no doubt in my mind what decision I would make. But then things were different.”

Helpful Suggestions: Being Reflective Stand back and see the perspective of others: “From where Liz and John were, I must have looked in complete control. They could not have seen the imperceptible tremor in my heel, or the thought racing through my mind. Panic can be like that.”

Helpful Suggestions: Being Reflective Compare with the experience of others: “I’d read one account of a fall where all that could be recalled was the letting go and the attempt to get up afterwards. I, too, can remember nothing about the freefall in the middle.”

Helpful Suggestions: Being Reflective Contrast with what might have been: “Luckily he kept the vital medicine down. It was days before I could bring myself to think about what would have happened if he hadn’t.”

Assessment Criteria Ability to use language – wealth of vocabulary, exploiting language to desired effect. Technical accuracy – paragraphs, spelling, punctuation. Structure – The skill with which you have shaped your essay to develop your thoughts/feelings/reflection. Tone – The way you have created an overall tone or mood through your writing. Content – Should be well developed, original, reach a satisfying conclusion and offer genuine insight in a challenging way.

Process: Submit to your teacher an outline of what you intend to write about. This should be a paragraph, or a few bullet points, describing the rough idea you want to explore and a clear paragraph plan. Due: Monday 23 rd August Once this has been agreed with your teacher you are ready to write your first draft. Due by end of period on 1 st September.