IB Literature: Writing the Reflective Essay

Your Reflective Statement is an important component of all essays for IBDP English Literature.  

Your Reflective Statement is:

• required by Criterion A of the IBDP Works in Translation Essay
• worth 3 marks out of 25 of the IBDP Works in Translation Essay
  
• between 300-400 words (these limits are strictly enforced)
• written as a response to an Interactive Oral
• written in first person (you should use the word “I”)
• an honest reflection on what you have learned

Criteria

• 3 Marks:  
• Reflection on the interactive oral shows development of the student’s understanding of cultural and contextual elements.
• 2 Marks:
• Reflection on the interactive oral shows some development of the student’s understanding of cultural and contextual elements. 
• 1 Mark:
• Reflection on the interactive oral shows superficial development of the student’s understanding of cultural and contextual elements. 
• 0 Marks:
• The work does not reach a standard described by the descriptors above  

The Guiding Questions

The following questions are designed to assist you in writing the statement:

1. How has your understanding of cultural and contextual considerations changed as a result of the oral presentations/discussions?
2. How has your understanding of stylistic and linguistic aspects of literature changed as a result of the oral presentations/discussions?

 What You Should Do

• Your Reflective Statement needs to focus on how your Interactive Oral helped you reach conclusions about the text’s cultural, literary and contextual elements.  Don’t just talk about what you learned from the text itself.
• Using first person is encouraged, but try not to use it in every sentence.
• A couple of specific textual references (linked to context/culture) always help (e.g. one or two short quotations or reference to a specific plot event or character detail).
• Spelling, grammar, and sentence structure are not DIRECTLY evaluated in this reflection, BUT English teachers are the ones who will be grading this reflection.
• Do not go outside the word limit (300 minimum - 400 maximum).
• Don’t evaluate the orals.  Focus on what you did learn.
• Be Specific! – simply saying that culture was “vastly different” or “worlds apart” was a problem.  Saying that you learned that “people used to be more religious back in the day” is not specific.
• “Cultural” and “contextual” – what we are talking about is the “world outside the text.”  What you want to discuss is how the text allowed you to access that world and compare/contrast it with your own world (or other texts/worlds that we’ve investigated).
• Differences between your world and the world of the author/text – students who reflect on specific differences between their own world and the world of the author/text tend to write better reflections.  You can also talk about similarities or connections (especially if they are surprising). 
• Do not include the guiding questions in your reflection.
• Do not evaluate yourself – feel free to say things like “I realized…” or “I was surprised to discover…,” but do not evaluate your own performance in the Interactive Oral.
• Check your facts!