Maybe you realized that something that happened to you demonstrates an abstract concept from a sociology class. Perhaps you are able to empathize in a special way with a character in a reading from Principia or a literature class. Learning how someone resolved a business ethics case could provide insight about how you might have dealt with some episode you faced. Through the way you connect the two, you'll show readers something significant about you as a reflective learner. Thesis idea is unified, restricted, precise, and goes beyond the obvious.
Narrative recreates the experience.
Narrative consistently excels in applying principles of plotting, dialog, and climax. Essay has hardly any lapses in conventions of formatting, grammar, and mechanics. Thesis idea is present but may be mechanical or present an obvious insight. Narrative describes experience. Narrative incorporates, with varying success, principles of plotting, dialog, and climax.