Elements of Justifications

Approaching the Reflection Statement in Module C:

What is Reflective Writing?

Writers use reflective writing to analyse and examine an event, memory, or observation. In reflective writing, the writer reflects on the meaning and impact of the occasion.

Most writing is creative writing, where you describe something that happened or you make up a story. However, reflective writing gives the writer insights and can lead to further learning. It is like rewinding your life to a past event and then thinking about how it affected your life, what you could have done differently to change the outcome, or what came out of the event.

Reflective writing isn’t just personal, however. Reflective writing is used in an academic setting to examine your response to a new experience or piece of writing. Reflective writing can also be analytical when applied to critical thinking or processing used in research. To begin reflective writing, start with reflection.

Reflective Writing Sentence Starters:

• Prior to the composition of my narrative I drew on/ was inspired by/ reflected on/ spent time reading/ was intrigued with/ impressed with the text….

• We spent some time in class researching/ discussing/ reading/ workshopping….

• During class time I found the creative activity ……beneficial/ helpful/ helped me get started…

• Out of the pieces I wrote I was most drawn to…because…

• I like the idea of using…/ the idea of using…appealed to me

• After research into…. I decided to

• I felt frustrated when/ I faced problems when…

• I felt pleased/ happy with…

• I have learnt…

• When writing this text (identify type), my purpose/aim was to achieve a…

• The main objective of my composition is to…

• This text would appeal to readers who enjoy…

• Readers who like … are my intended audience as they would appreciate…

• I decided to structure my text as a/in a…

• The process of composing included (explain the steps you undertook) ...

• For this piece, I was inspired/influenced by the work of ________, who, in their text … created a … and I wanted to h achieve/emulate/experiment with something similar.

• My use of … (technique and quote) had a … effect which added to the overall impact of the ... 

• I made a deliberate choice to use … (identify techniques and provide examples) to create/develop/to…

• Feedback from my family/friends/teacher/classmates suggested that I should … so I …

• The experience of writing this has taught me …

• Overall, I am feeling … about my writing and will continue to …