HOW TO USE THE FEATURES OF

PERSONAL-REFLECTIVE WRITING
What is personal writing?

You write about an important event or experience that has happened in

your life and how you reacted to it.

You could also consider an important person or object that has had a
significant impact on your life.
If you write about an experience:
The focus is on your thoughts and feelings about what happened,
and how the experience affected you.
If you write about a person or object:
Again, the focus is on your thoughts and feelings. You must
consider why the person/object is important and the impact
that this person/object has had on your life.

e.g. Person- boyfriend/girlfriend; parents; friends; teacher…

e.g. Object/item- a photograph; clothing item; piece of jewellery;

your room; a book…
Important!

You must avoid simply retelling a story of what happened!

The focus of a personal/reflective essay is thoughts and feelings!

You must clearly express how you felt/feel and what you
thought/think.
Reflection is also essential.
The marker is looking for you to explain how the
event/experience/person/object has contributed to your development
as a person and how it has affected the person that you are.
How will I be successful?

For effective personal-reflective writing, you must:

1. Describe the event/experience.
2. Describe your reactions to what happened, and your thoughts and
feelings.
3. Reflect on the experience.
Important!

There is no specific structure that you have to follow for a personal-

reflective essay.

e.g. There does not have to be an introduction, middle or conclusion.

e.g.It doesn’t have to be written chronologically.

You can structure it according to the “flow” of your thoughts (within

reason, of course).
 1. Describe the event/experience

As part of your essay you can describe:

What happened.
Why it happened.
When it happened.
Where it happened.
Who was involved.
When describing the experience, try to think about the five senses:

What did you see?

What did you hear?
What did you smell?
What did you taste?
What could you feel/touch?
Important!

An effective personal essay is not just a series of details about the

experience that you had.

Your description of what happened should only be the basis of you

explaining your thoughts and feelings.
 2. Thoughts and feelings

The essay must put across a sense of your own personality.

You must describe and explain what you thought and how you
felt.

Thoughts and feelings= essential.

Try to use interesting language when describing your thoughts and
feelings:

 Interesting adjectives and adverbs.

 Similes; metaphors; personification; onomatopoeia; alliteration.
You should try to vividly describe your thoughts and feelings.

Instead of saying “I was really angry”, you could say “My face
turned red with rage. Before I lost control and started shouting
at him I ran upstairs furiously and then aggressively slammed
my door”.
As well as vividly describing your thoughts and emotions, you
must also explain them.
 Example

1) As I entered the water, a feeling of trepidation washed over me like a wave.

I was convinced that something would go terribly wrong and that I would
end up drowning somehow.

2) As I entered the water, a feeling of trepidation washed over me like a wave.

I was convinced that something would go terribly wrong and that I would
end up drowning somehow. My mind was suddenly flooded with a
memory from my childhood- an accident at a swimming pool and having
to be rescued by the lifeguard. A water-related encounter with death, a
lesson in my own mortality in my formative years.
 2) is better than 1) because I have explained why I felt scared going
into the water.

I have not only described my feelings. I have gone into greater depth
and detail about why I felt that way!
3. Reflection

You must include some reflection throughout your essay.

This means that you have to write about how the experience has
affected you as a person.
Reflection means looking back at the event or experience and
thinking about:

How do you feel about the experience now?

How do you feel about how you reacted?
How did the experience change your perspective or opinions?
How have you changed since then?
What did you learn from the experience?
Example 1

“In hindsight, I realise that I have grown through this experience and I
am now a much more mature person.”
Try to go into depth and detail with your reflection.

Fully explain yourself.

Example 2

“In hindsight, I realise that I have grown through this experience and I
am now a much more mature person. When I was younger, I used to
be so self-obsessed and did not really take other people’s feelings
into consideration. I was so narcissistic, only thinking about my own
problems and my own happiness. But now, I have learned to put my
friends and family first as they are the most important part of my
life.”
Example 2 is better than Example 1 because I have fully explained the
ways in which I have changed as a person.

I have elaborated on my reflection.

Reflective Phrases
There are a large number of different reflective words and phrases that
you can use in your essay.
These will help the marker to see that you are being reflective.
However, don’t use them too often.

 Looking back...
 In hindsight...
 On reflection...
 In retrospect...
 I should have...
 Since this happened...
 If I could change things...
 I learned that...
 I wish I had...
 I now understand...
 If this happened now...
 If I could do this again...
 Because of this, I...
 This made me realise...
 Now that I have been through
this...
 I grew through this experience
because...
 I could have...
 I remember feeling…