How to Write a Journal Essay

Journal essays provide opportunity for deep reflection on a topic.

A journal essay is an essay based on several journal entries. A journal entry is simply writing down thoughts and ideas about a topic or experience. There are two basic methods for writing a journal essay: write journal entries about an assigned essay topic as preparation for writing the essay, and writing journal entries and deciding on an essay topic after journaling for several days. A journal essay helps you to reflect deeply on a topic.

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Assignment
Journal

Instructions

- 1
  
  Understand the journal essay assignment. The assignment might be to write an essay, so journaling is simply a means to think through the essay topic. Or the assignment might be to journal about a particular aspect of life, in which case the essay will be about either the topic of the journaling or about the act of journaling itself.
- 2
  
  Write in a journal every day.
  
  Write in your journal every day. Focus journal entries on the essay topic. The more journal entries you write, the easier it will be to write the essay, because there will be more information to work with.
- 3
  
  Reflect on journal entries to complete the assignment appropriately.
  
  Read through your entire journal to find common themes and lessons learned. Reflection a day or two before the assignment is important to the writing process because, according to Damien Wagaman, a teacher in Prince George's County School District, "the purpose of a journal essay assignment is to cause students to think deeply about a topic."
- 4
  
  Journal essay assignments allow students to think deeply about a topic.
  
  Write the assigned essay using the journal entries. If journaling was a required part of the essay, it might also be helpful to journal about that experience. If the assignment did not require the use of a journal, the journal entries will serve as an outline for the assigned essay.
- 5
  
  Edit and hand in a completed essay. Proofread and make necessary changes to the essay before a final draft is turned in. If the journal was a part of the assignment, you may be required to turn it in with the essay as well.

Tips & Warnings

Begin writing the essay with enough time to finish prior to the assignment due date.

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How to Write a Journal Essay

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