A reflective essay reflects an experience or personal event of the author. Mainly, the essay must reflect the perception of the author when the experience happened. The author describes his personal experience or event and discusses its importance in understanding the essence of society and social relations. Philosophical analysis is often associated with reflective essays that can describe feelings about everyday experiences. These essays are often assigned to students to gauge how creative they are in forming standard perception into an original essay.
Philosophy is the trademark of reflective essays. The author attempts to relate his philosophical beliefs into the events or experiences they had. Revelations often make an intriguing topic for the author to interpret her feelings and how they develop into an overall philosophy. The author may ask a question, such as "What is love?" or "Why do I exist?" and then describe an experience that relates to the topic discussed, as well as conveying attitudes she assumes society has over these topics.
Reflective essays don't follow a set path. A standard essay layout structure doesn't apply to them. Instead, the thesis statement and conclusions in a reflective essay are usually blurry. The opening paragraph tells the reader the details of the experience or personal event. The author grabs the reader by offering a vivid description of an experience and provides a reflective philosophical conversation about that experience. A conversation about the author's ideas on the event, with a variety of ideas, is covered in the second paragraph. The author reviews the main points at the end and gives the reader an idea of his decision about the event.
A wide range of topics can be written about, as long as they describe a personal event or experience of the author. The author should choose a topic with which he is deeply familiar. The format varies according to the region or institution for which the author is attending or writing. Generally, he wants to have a consistent style throughout the essay.