summer over the rainbow

Objective: Use a personal observation (your own experience, something you've witnessed), or a set of related observations, to illustrate and comment upon scholarly ideas and explanation.

Where it's found: Whatever name it goes by, the observation-reflection essay is regularly asigned in introductory classes or at the beginning of a semester. Outside of academia, it can be a model for writing opinion columns or personal blogs.

Tone of writing: Probably the most autobiographical style of formal essays found in college writing assignments. After all, most of the essay involves telling a personal story.

Weight given to scholarly discussion: Although the first thing an instructor often notices is your correct use of concepts, theory and ideas from the class, these take up relatively little space in this essay style — in a 3-4 page paper, generally the first paragraph and the concluding paragraph(s). Use primary texts sparingly, all the while showing your command of and close attention to these materials.

Weight given to empirical material: Most of the observational-reflection paper is devoted to relating a personal story. Transitions from the general/scholarly introduction into your personal observations and then back are particularly important. Beyond telling a coherent story, pay attention to introducing key details in your observations that illustrate the scholarly materials supporting your analysis.

Weight given to personal references: It's almost impossible not to use "I" in this essay style, as both author of the essay and protagonist of the story. Personal reflection also surfaces as you show interest in/respond to scholarly ideas that your story complicates or rejects.

Breadth vs. depth of argument: As in many writing formats, it's preferable not to shape your narrative around the "big picture" or overarching arguments from scholarly materials. Instead, demonstrate your close attention to these materials by illustrating and elaborating particular claims — in a 3-4 page paper, maybe one or two claims — from the readings or class discussion. Try to exhibit your command of overarching arguments through fluency in particular details that you choose.

Tricks of the trade: Of all the essay styles in the social sciences, the observation-reflection essay most closely corresponds to the student's experience of reading or engaging scholarly materials, since we often make sense of an idea by "trying it out" using our own experiences or observations. However, the essay shouldn't literally narrate this reading experience. A useful conceit is to propose to illustrate an idea or argument that's of general interest to your readers, using a case-study example that — hey, how convenient is that! — just happens to come from your personal observation