Reflective Essay

Essay Specs

POV: First Person
Minimum Word Count: 1,000 words
Format: MLA format

Assignment Type: Rough Draft

Topic: This “essay” is a little different. It is a reflective piece, a way to document your thoughts, ideas, processes, etc, as you work on your final essay. The goal/purpose of this paper is to take a close look at your process. Where are you in developing the final paper. 

Last week we went over the actions you should have taken up to this point. Reflect on that discussion and complete your rough draft addressing these topics specifically. As you write your 1,500 word process reflection, take a look at the process from start to finish. Use your paper to analyze where you are in the process and expand upon your challenges versus what is coming easy. 

The process from start to finish. Remember, your final paper is an analysis of “The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky” by Stephen Crane

Step I: Conduct your first basic read. This is a reading for enjoyment, for entertainment, and to get a feel for the work.

Step 2. Your critical reading should begin with at least two critical reads. Go back to the section that explains critical reads if you are still a little uncomfortable with this phrase/process.

Step 3. Annotate your critical read. Extra from the text. Use the three-column annotation tool we were given for essay two. Remember, the first column should contain words, phrases, sentences, summations, etc directly from the text. The second column will contain literary elements that the extracted information represents. This column will not always have an entry. That usually means that what you have taken from the text you are merely impacted by and want to comment on it. The third column should contain your interpretation. Note, there is no column for summary because this is an argumentative paper where there is no place for summary in the body of the work.

This is a very important concept to accept, embrace, and master.

Step 4. Analyze your annotations. What is on paper/screen in front of you? What patterns are there. What stands out the most? What is prevalent? What can you develop into a topic?

Step 5. Develop your topic(s) then narrow down the topic(s) to one or refine the one topic to perfection as much as possible.

Step 6. Develop a working thesis. We call it a working thesis because some things about it may change depending on what surfaces after you research and actually begin to write the paper.

Step 7: (choice A) Draft all your main ideas (interpretations of sections of the literature that support your thesis) Each main idea should be a direct reference to a specific section of the literature where you see a solid argument (directly from the text) for your interpretation.

Step 7: (choice B) Start your search for secondary sources using several key phrases that represent your thesis.

Note, as we discussed, you can move through step 7 however you choose but not the cons: Choice A might “box” you in and leave you with a narrow set of secondary sources because your main ideas are very focused on a specific point.

Going with the search for secondary sources first may lead you to discover a number of sources that capture your interest and some may actually lead you to rethink your topic and thesis. Don’t get buried in the research!

Step 8. Outline your essay. Note all borrowed material and keep up with the source of that borrowed material.

Step 9. Draft the paper and let it rest for at least 2 days.

During this process you can submit the paper to Upswing for tutorial feedback.

Step 10. Return to the paper and revise and edit as appropriate, paying attention to not only grammar, but also word choice, sentence structure, the order and sequence of ideas, and the development of each of those ideas.

Step 11. Finalize the paper  after your edits and revisions and let it rest another day or two. 

You can repeat Step 9 at this point. But remember, at some point you have to let it go. 

Step 12. Read your paper one last time. Make any last minute changes. Submit. 

Breath.