Genre Overview: 

Reflective writing is one of the only forms of writing you will do in college where the audience is you. If you have ever kept a diary or a journal, you have already engaged in reflective writing. This is an important genre because as a learner, it is important to figure out what you have learned, what you are in the process of learning, and what you still need to work on. We all learn differently and at a different time scale, but that is not to say that any form of learning is better or worse than any other. Instead, it's important to reflect on your learning process, what works best for you as a learner, and what goals you have in the classroom. 

Genre in Action: 

Reflective writing in a composition college course is critical and introspective analysis of your writing experiences, processes, and outcomes. It is a metacognitive activity that encourages you to think deeply about your learning, understand your growth as a writer, and identify areas for further improvement. A reflection discusses your writing process, your scholarly contribution to the field, the changes you made, and your research process. The purpose of your reflection is to give you an opportunity to reflect on your writing, your writing process, and how you could improve your writing and/or process. You should feel free to be authentic in your writing and state your true feelings and learning about the assignment. You should use storytelling when applicable. You should be metacognitive about your writing (think about your writing process while you are writing, considering how you felt and any other relevant information to the assignment). 

Here are some key aspects of reflective writing. 

Be Honest. Reflective writing should be genuine and honest, acknowledging both successes and areas for improvement. 

Be Specific. Provide specific examples and details to support reflections, making them more meaningful and insightful. 

Be Analytical. Go beyond describing experiences to analyze and evaluate them, considering why certain strategies worked or didn’t. 

Be Forward-Looking. Use reflections to set goals and plan for future writing projects, focusing on continuous improvement. 

Remember-- the primary audience for a reflection is you. A reflection is an opportunity to be honest with yourself about your strengths and weaknesses, your successes and failures, and the places in your learning where you can learn and grow and work more. In writing classes in particular, everyone has bad habits. Whether reading or writing or analyzing, we all have processes we rely on. Use reflections as an opportunity to break out of those bad habits, try different processes, and expand your accomplishments as a communicator. 

Genre in Practice: 

Free Write

1. What was the most challenging part of this assignment and why? What was the most rewarding part of this assignment and why?

2. If you had another week to work on this project how would you revise/change it and why?

3. What, specifically, is this piece trying to accomplish—above and beyond satisfying the basic requirements outlined in the task description? In other words, what work does, or might, this piece do? For whom? In what contexts?

4. What was your writing process? Discuss it in detail. What was your research process? Discuss it in detail. 

5. What transferable skills did you learn during this project? How will you use these skills in your future as a literary scholar? 

Mini Activity: Timeline of Learning

Step 1: In small groups, share the skills and memories that you have of the class together, taking notes of anything you may have forgotten that you might want to include in your own personal learning reflection.

Step 2: As a big group, add important lessons, assignments, and dates to a timeline on the board.  Add your list of skills and find where you learned each skill and add it to the timeline (there will be some overlap!).

Step 4: You are encouraged to also add any learning outcomes to the board. 

Step 5: Take notes of the timeline or take an image of the timeline so you have a visual to look at while you write your learning narrative. 

Questions to Ask AI

1. What are the typical components of a reflective essay?

2. How should I structure my reflective essay?

3. What questions should I ask myself about my drafting process, my writing process, and the revising and editing stages of my writing?

4. What strategies can I use to overcome writing challenges in the future?

5. What can I learn from the feedback I received on my writing?

6. How can I reflect on the peer review process and its impact on my writing?

7. How can I set realistic and achievable goals for future writing assignments?

8. How can I critically analyze the effectiveness of my writing?

9. What questions should I ask to assess the clarity and coherence of my writing?

10. How can I evaluate the impact of my writing on the intended audience?