Reflective Essay: Failure Steps to the Reflective Essay

1. 
   Read the essay on failure.
   
2. 
   Develop a STANCE on that topic. (Your position, belief, or assertion written in the form of defensible statement.) This is your thesis.
   
3. 
   Find a personal experience that illustrates the truth of your stance (supports/proves it.)
   
4. 
   In your retelling of the personal experience, include:
   
   • 
     Sensory imagery (what you saw, heard, felt, smelled, etc.)
     
   • 
     Vivid action verbs
     
   • 
     Similes/metaphors
     
   • 
     Interior monologue (thoughts going through your head at the time)
     
   • 
     Dialogue (if appropriate)
     
   • 
     Concrete details (specifics)
     
   • 
     Sophisticated vocabulary
     

5. 
   Write about a second example that supports or shows the truth of your stance. You can use an example from:
   
   • 
     Current events
     
   • 
     History
     
   • 
     Literature
     
   • 
     The arts
     
   • 
     Sports
     
   • 
     Science
     
   • 
     Film
     

6. 
   Formulate a universal reflection that incorporates “we” “us” “our.” Your universal reflection shows how what was true for you, and what was true for your second example, is true for us all. Explain how your stance is a universal truth. You MUST have a universal reflection with the appropriate pronouns, or you will earn an “F” on this essay.
   

1. 
   Introduction (attention-getter, Henry David Thoreau, stance)
   
2. 
   Personal Experience
   
3. 
   2^nd Example
   
4. 
   Universal Reflection
   

Due date:_______________