Well, let's stop to ask "So What?"

Here's the problem:

Reflection essays, when written by the student within the classroom's habitus and rolled out in first person narrative, enact Locke's punctual self -- one who observes, controls, and uses language as a transparent window on reality. For service learning -- this means using the reflection essay as a vehicle to demo learning.

Here's our solution:

Writing in particular situations, both in and outside the classroom, and in a variety of genres allow students to see themselves as agents who 'participate in' rather than 'write about.'