The concept of reflective writing is embedded within the various definitions of the term "reflection", one of which includes the words, "thoughtful", "meditative" and "deliberate". When I assign a reflective essay or entry, I teach my students to spend more time thinking about the work they are considering than actually writing about it. Good reflective writing should demonstrate considerable thinking. I also want my students to do more than simply react or respond to the writing; I want them to make clear connections between what they have read and either their own personal experience, or some current event or some other piece of literature we may have read in class. So, to sum up, a good reflective entry should have three solid characteristics: evidence of thoughtful consideration, specific personal response and clear and relevent connections.

Reflective simply means to consider what you have read and record your feelings about the topic.

For example, recall the scene in "Night" where the Wiesel's family is being carted off in the trains to Auschwitz. How did it make you feel when Madame Schater is freaking out and screaming about the fires? How did you feel when the other people in the railcar act the way they do toward her?

Try also to analyze why you may have felt one way at first, but now feel differently. What I mean is, as you finish your reflection on each entry, you may want to see if your thoughts about the previous reflection are the same or have changed. Reflection is not about right and wrong, but connecting a reader and author.