how to conclude personal narrative essay

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The Perfect Ending: Concluding the Narrative Essay

Concluding a narrative essay can be a challenge for experienced and beginning writers alike. Writers often fall into the trap of tying the narrative up too  neatly, telling the readers what they are supposed to take away from their story instead of letting the reader come to their own conclusions. Study a few essays from some of the great writers and notice how they conclude their stories. Often the ending to their narratives is left ambiguous; the reader isn’t exactly sure how everything will turn out. The reader should be left with a sense of closure, without being told how or what to feel. 

Conclude with an Image

Have you ever heard the phrase, “Show, don’t tell”? Showing an image puts a visual in the reader’s mind, an effective way to conclude without telling too much. Showing an image prevents you from telling  your feelings, which, in most cases, you want to avoid. In the essay “Buckeye,” Scott Russell Sanders uses the image of a grazing deer to conclude his narrative:

. . . within a few paces of a grazing deer, close enough to see the delicate lips, the twitching nostrils, the glossy, fathomless eyes.

This lyrical conclusion comes from “Bathing,” as writer Kathryn Winograd shows the last moments of her bath:

The wind sings through the window like a siren, and the steam floats from my skin like milk.

Conclude in the Action

Show yourself in action. Move. Do something, anything, to avoid telling the reader how happy, or sad, or hopeful you are in the end. Look at something, and walk away, as Edward Hoagland does in “The Courage of Turtles”: But since, short of diving in after him, there was nothing I could do, I walked away.

Or look at something, and become mesmerized. A chapter from the classic memoir, Stop Time by Frank Conroy, “Yo-Yo Going Down, a Mad Squirrel Coming Up,” shows a young Conroy as he watches a girl through a window:

That same night, hidden in the greenery under the window, I watched a naked girl let down her long red hair.

Conclude with Dialogue

Dialogue can be tricky to conclude with, but can work if it avoids a message or moral. You’ll only want to use this concluding technique if it has been maintained in the narrative; you probably don’t want to throw in spoken word if we haven’t heard anyone speak up until that point.

David Sedaris, in his essay, “Cyclops,” ends with the voice of his father, who is the main character in this essay: “I don’t know where you got it from, but in the end, it’s going to kill you.”

The following brief reply, taken from Jo Ann Beard’s “The Fourth State of Matter,” shows an image, followed by unquoted dialogue. Beard uses italics instead:

Around my neck is the stone he brought me from Poland. I hold it out. Like this? I ask. Shards of fly wings, suspended in amber. Exactly , he says.

Another example below comes again from Scott Russell Sanders, this from “Cloud Crossing,” as his toddler son babbles:

“Moon,” he is piping from the back seat, “moon, moon!”

Conclude by Reflecting

When used well, reflection is a great way to convey feelings without telling the reader how you felt – or how they should feel. Reflection offers the writer’s thoughts about what is happening or has happened. Reflection can include thoughts about the moment or thoughts looking back, about the experience. Reflection can add clarity, as we see the writer thinking through the experience. This concluding moment is from James Baldwin’s, “Notes of a Native Son”:

. . . I wished that he had been beside me so that I could have searched his face for the answers which only the future would give me now.

Bret Lott, in his short essay, “Brothers,” reflects on childhood memories of his family, taking him into the present with his own two sons:

What I believe is this: That pinch was entry into our childhood; my arm around him, our smiling, is the proof of us two surfacing, alive but not unscathed. And here are my own two boys, already embarked.

In Conclusion

When writing your own conclusion, think about what you want your readers to take away from your story. Then think about how best you can show it. You seldom can go wrong with images. Dialogue is a great way to let a character have the last word. Ending with reflection, sharing thoughts or feelings, works when a bit more needs to be said. Think about what feeling, emotion, or question you want to leave your readers with, the take-away, then choose the type of conclusion that best suits the narrative. It’s not unusual to actually write the conclusion first, and it often serves as a road map to get the narrative where it needs to go. Taking time to carefully craft a conclusion can make or break your narrative.

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2 thoughts on “ The Perfect Ending: Concluding the Narrative Essay ”

Very important and well-said.

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Telling the Story of Yourself: 6 Steps to Writing Personal Narratives

Jennifer Xue

Table of Contents

Why do we write personal narratives, 6 guidelines for writing personal narrative essays, inspiring personal narratives, examples of personal narrative essays, tell your story.

First off, you might be wondering: what is a personal narrative? In short, personal narratives are stories we tell about ourselves that focus on our growth, lessons learned, and reflections on our experiences.

From stories about inspirational figures we heard as children to any essay, article, or exercise where we're asked to express opinions on a situation, thing, or individual—personal narratives are everywhere.

According to Psychology Today, personal narratives allow authors to feel and release pains, while savouring moments of strength and resilience. Such emotions provide an avenue for both authors and readers to connect while supporting healing in the process.

That all sounds great. But when it comes to putting the words down on paper, we often end up with a list of experiences and no real structure to tie them together.

In this article, we'll discuss what a personal narrative essay is further, learn the 6 steps to writing one, and look at some examples of great personal narratives.

As readers, we're fascinated by memoirs, autobiographies, and long-form personal narrative articles, as they provide a glimpse into the authors' thought processes, ideas, and feelings. But you don't have to be writing your whole life story to create a personal narrative.

You might be a student writing an admissions essay , or be trying to tell your professional story in a cover letter. Regardless of your purpose, your narrative will focus on personal growth, reflections, and lessons.

Personal narratives help us connect with other people's stories due to their easy-to-digest format and because humans are empathising creatures.

We can better understand how others feel and think when we were told stories that allow us to see the world from their perspectives. The author's "I think" and "I feel" instantaneously become ours, as the brain doesn't know whether what we read is real or imaginary.

In her best-selling book Wired for Story, Lisa Cron explains that the human brain craves tales as it's hard-wired through evolution to learn what happens next. Since the brain doesn't know whether what you are reading is actual or not, we can register the moral of the story cognitively and affectively.

In academia, a narrative essay tells a story which is experiential, anecdotal, or personal. It allows the author to creatively express their thoughts, feelings, ideas, and opinions. Its length can be anywhere from a few paragraphs to hundreds of pages.

Outside of academia, personal narratives are known as a form of journalism or non-fiction works called "narrative journalism." Even highly prestigious publications like the New York Times and Time magazine have sections dedicated to personal narratives. The New Yorke is a magazine dedicated solely to this genre.

The New York Times holds personal narrative essay contests. The winners are selected because they:

had a clear narrative arc with a conflict and a main character who changed in some way. They artfully balanced the action of the story with reflection on what it meant to the writer. They took risks, like including dialogue or playing with punctuation, sentence structure and word choice to develop a strong voice. And, perhaps most important, they focused on a specific moment or theme – a conversation, a trip to the mall, a speech tournament, a hospital visit – instead of trying to sum up the writer’s life in 600 words.

In a nutshell, a personal narrative can cover any reflective and contemplative subject with a strong voice and a unique perspective, including uncommon private values. It's written in first person and the story encompasses a specific moment in time worthy of a discussion.

Writing a personal narrative essay involves both objectivity and subjectivity. You'll need to be objective enough to recognise the importance of an event or a situation to explore and write about. On the other hand, you must be subjective enough to inject private thoughts and feelings to make your point.

With personal narratives, you are both the muse and the creator – you have control over how your story is told. However, like any other type of writing, it comes with guidelines.

1. Write Your Personal Narrative as a Story

As a story, it must include an introduction, characters, plot, setting, climax, anti-climax (if any), and conclusion. Another way to approach it is by structuring it with an introduction, body, and conclusion. The introduction should set the tone, while the body should focus on the key point(s) you want to get across. The conclusion can tell the reader what lessons you have learned from the story you've just told.

2. Give Your Personal Narrative a Clear Purpose

Your narrative essay should reflect your unique perspective on life. This is a lot harder than it sounds. You need to establish your perspective, the key things you want your reader to take away, and your tone of voice. It's a good idea to have a set purpose in mind for the narrative before you start writing.

Let's say you want to write about how you manage depression without taking any medicine. This could go in any number of ways, but isolating a purpose will help you focus your writing and choose which stories to tell. Are you advocating for a holistic approach, or do you want to describe your emotional experience for people thinking of trying it?

Having this focus will allow you to put your own unique take on what you did (and didn't do, if applicable), what changed you, and the lessons learned along the way.

3. Show, Don't Tell

It's a narration, so the narrative should show readers what happened, instead of telling them. As well as being a storyteller, the author should take part as one of the characters. Keep this in mind when writing, as the way you shape your perspective can have a big impact on how your reader sees your overarching plot. Don't slip into just explaining everything that happened because it happened to you. Show your reader with action.

You can check for instances of telling rather than showing with ProWritingAid. For example, instead of:

"You never let me do anything!" I cried disdainfully.

"You never let me do anything!" To this day, my mother swears that the glare I levelled at her as I spat those words out could have soured milk.

Using ProWritingAid will help you find these instances in your manuscript and edit them without spending hours trawling through your work yourself.

4. Use "I," But Don't Overuse It

You, the author, take ownership of the story, so the first person pronoun "I" is used throughout. However, you shouldn't overuse it, as it'd make it sound too self-centred and redundant.

ProWritingAid can also help you here – the Style Report will tell you if you've started too many sentences with "I", and show you how to introduce more variation in your writing.

5. Pay Attention to Tenses

Tense is key to understanding. Personal narratives mostly tell the story of events that happened in the past, so many authors choose to use the past tense. This helps separate out your current, narrating voice and your past self who you are narrating. If you're writing in the present tense, make sure that you keep it consistent throughout.

6. Make Your Conclusion Satisfying

Satisfy your readers by giving them an unforgettable closing scene. The body of the narration should build up the plot to climax. This doesn't have to be something incredible or shocking, just something that helps give an interesting take on your story.

The takeaways or the lessons learned should be written without lecturing. Whenever possible, continue to show rather than tell. Don't say what you learned, narrate what you do differently now. This will help the moral of your story shine through without being too preachy.

GoodReads is a great starting point for selecting read-worthy personal narrative books. Here are five of my favourites.

Owl Moon by Jane Yolen

Jane Yolen, the author of 386 books, wrote this poetic story about a daughter and her father who went owling. Instead of learning about owls, Yolen invites readers to contemplate the meaning of gentleness and hope.

Night by Elie Wiesel

Elie Wiesel was a teenager when he and his family were sent to Auschwitz concentration camp in 1944. This Holocaust memoir has a strong message that such horrific events should never be repeated.

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

This classic is a must-read by young and old alike. It's a remarkable diary by a 13-year-old Jewish girl who hid inside a secret annexe of an old building during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands in 1942.

The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

This is a personal narrative written by a brave author renowned for her clarity, passion, and honesty. Didion shares how in December 2003, she lost her husband of 40 years to a massive heart attack and dealt with the acute illness of her only daughter. She speaks about grief, memories, illness, and hope.

Educated by Tara Westover

Author Tara Westover was raised by survivalist parents. She didn't go to school until 17 years of age, which later took her to Harvard and Cambridge. It's a story about the struggle for quest for knowledge and self-reinvention.

Narrative and personal narrative journalism are gaining more popularity these days. You can find distinguished personal narratives all over the web.

Curating the best of the best of personal narratives and narrative essays from all over the web. Some are award-winning articles.

Narratively

Long-form writing to celebrate humanity through storytelling. It publishes personal narrative essays written to provoke, inspire, and reflect, touching lesser-known and overlooked subjects.

Narrative Magazine

It publishes non,fiction narratives, poetry, and fiction. Among its contributors is Frank Conroy, the author of Stop-Time , a memoir that has never been out of print since 1967.

Thought Catalog

Aimed at Generation Z, it publishes personal narrative essays on self-improvement, family, friendship, romance, and others.

Personal narratives will continue to be popular as our brains are wired for stories. We love reading about others and telling stories of ourselves, as they bring satisfaction and a better understanding of the world around us.

Personal narratives make us better humans. Enjoy telling yours!

Write like a bestselling author

Love writing? ProWritingAid will help you improve the style, strength, and clarity of your stories.

Jennifer Xue is an award-winning e-book author with 2,500+ articles and 100+ e-books/reports published under her belt. She also taught 50+ college-level essay and paper writing classes. Her byline has appeared in Forbes, Fortune, Cosmopolitan, Esquire, Business.com, Business2Community, Addicted2Success, Good Men Project, and others. Her blog is JenniferXue.com. Follow her on Twitter @jenxuewrites].

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How to Write a Narrative Essay Conclusion

Students typically experience panic attacks or feelings of hopelessness just by hearing the word “essay.” It takes a lot of effort to write an extended, thoughtful essay. This is regardless of whether you are writing a descriptive, argumentative, expository, or narrative essay. Nothing, however, might be more stressful than finishing your piece only to struggle with your conclusion.

For seasoned authors and brand-new writers alike, concluding a narrative essay can be problematic. Remember, the essay’s subject must have emotional resonance for the writer to make it meaningful and for the readership to appreciate why it is essential to them. The conclusion must serve this purpose excellently too.

Therefore, there is a dire need to understand how to write a compelling conclusion for your narrative. Please read on to learn how to write a narrative essay conclusion.

One might envision narrating a story when composing a narrative essay. These articles frequently use personal, experiential, and observational experiences. Contrary to most academic writing, this form of composition and a descriptive essay allows you to express yourself creatively and personally.

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We are now taking exams and courses

Your capacity to convey experiences in a unique and captivating way, and adhere to the proper narrative structure, will be put to the test in a narrative essay. Such articles are typical in composition classes at universities or in high schools.

Also see: How long should a conclusion be in an essay? 

The ending of a narrative essay is similar to that of other pieces in that it conveys a sense of awakening, a flash of inspiration, understanding, insight, and enlightenment. It ensures the audience can relate to the revelation you are trying to impart. Therefore, such a conclusion must ultimately persuade the reader to follow your sentiments.

Tips on how to write a narrative essay conclusion

Below are essential tips to guide you in composing an impactful and persuasive conclusion for your narrative essay. Please take note and benefit from them.

Capture Emotion

In the same way you draw the reader in with an intriguing hook, you should maintain their interest throughout your conclusion. Nobody enjoys reading a good narrative that ends poorly! A strong ending leaves your reader thrilled and gives your narrative essay a sense of completion.

Capturing feelings or emotions is one method of concluding a narrative essay. To get your reader emotionally invested in your story, you can either reflect on your feelings over an experience or appeal to their sense of compassion.

If you are penning about a devastating thing you learnt, don’t be a frigid fish. If you learnt a lesson regarding uncomfortable situations, don’t forget to include the shame (or comedy). What effects did your activities have on you? Similarly, include your character’s feelings if you’re creating fiction.

A Summary of your Main Ideas

Writing a summary is among the most popular ways to end a narrative essay. Summaries of the important points are included. This does not imply that you redo the entire narrative throughout the paper in conclusion. This would be pointless and would divert attention from your message. Instead, cite a few of the crucial incidents and learnings from the article.

For example, consider the scenario of writing a narrative essay outlining your first day of college. Summarize some of the lessons you learnt from what transpired that day in your concluding paragraph, to sum up. Make sure you summarize how that first day of college went in just a few phrases. Additionally, describe the insight you received from the event.

Showcase the Moral of the Narrative

Every narrative, whether real or made up, has a moral that the writer or one of the characters discovers through meditation. If you are drafting one paragraph, your concluding comment should clarify that point abundantly. The thesis statement in a paper or the hook in a news piece would be analogous to the moral lesson in a narrative.

Your argument or point is made clear with a moral lesson. But it must have all of the previously listed components, including reflection, emotion, and analysis. The ending to your narrative essay should be outstanding if you have observed these recommendations.

Review the Narrative’s Significance

You definitely care about the story you’ve written since; otherwise, you would have penned about another subject. That does not necessarily imply that other individuals are interested as well. Take into account the so what question, which every reader has the right to ask.

Examine the significance of the events for yourself, and determine why anyone else could be interested. Is this a shared experience that we have all had? Is it a storyline with multiple layers of meaning that can be told? Is that a humorous example of proverbial common sense?

Conclude With a Reflection

You can consider reflecting on the story as a whole if you feel like a summary of events doesn’t fit well with the rest of your article. Reflection entails seriously considering and giving careful thought to the story.

Consider a reflection of a more powerful version of the understanding provided in summary. If you’re thinking back on the entire story, you should elaborate more than just saying you learnt how to overcome challenges. Take it a step further and state your resolutions or a basic life philosophy that you have come to that might shape your future undertakings.

Finish by describing the things you’d do differently if the circumstance arose again. Furthermore, you may offer recommendations to individuals who experience a similar issue.

Remember, never dictate to the reader how to feel. A narrative essay’s conclusion ought to be resonant rather than prescriptive. You’ll notice that the scriptwriter or director does not instruct the audience to feel joy or sadness after a movie. Similar principles apply to the conclusion of a narrative essay.

Consider what you wish your audience to learn from your narrative when composing an essay. It is why it’s vital to learn how to write a narrative essay conclusion. Note that it is common to start writing the ending first, which frequently acts as a roadmap for the story.

Personal Narrative Writing Guide

WHAT IS A PERSONAL NARRATIVE?

A Personal Narrative recounts an event or experience from the writer’s life in story form and often in intimate detail. This text type not only relates to the events happening around the author but also often reveals the writer’s inner thoughts and emotions also.

A personal narrative can be understood as nonfiction storytelling based on the writer’s thoughts, feelings, and experiences. Told in the first person, the writer draws on their life events to construct a story.

Combining elements of nonfiction recount writing with introspection and the frequent use of literary devices more commonly associated with fiction and poetry, a personal narrative can be best understood as a type of creative nonfiction .

PERSONAL NARRATIVE VERSUS A PERSONAL RECOUNT: SO WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?

Personal narratives are also frequently referred to as personal recounts. They share much in common but are unique text types, so let’s explore how they compare and contrast.

When we first instruct our students to write stories based on the events of their own lives, they will inevitably write simple recounts. These recounts are based on retelling personal incidents of their lives but lack the depth we can typically expect to find in a personal narrative.

While personal narratives also recount events from the writer’s life, with greater emphasis placed on exploring the writer’s thoughts and feelings on these events rather than just what happened.

A personal narrative is a means for the writer to explore the meaning of the events in their life. It is, at its core, an introspective and creative endeavor that focuses as much on the interior life of the writer as it does on external events.

While the conclusion of a traditional recount usually provides some of the writer’s insights, in a personal narrative, these are woven throughout the text.

STRUCTURE AND FEATURES OF A PERSONAL NARRATIVE

Personal narrative structure.

ORIENTATION Explain the who, what, when, and where of the experience in your introduction to your audience.

FOCUS Mainly focus on meaningful events.

CHRONOLOGY Events are described in the sequence in which they occurred.

ORGANIZATION Relevant information is organized into paragraphs

INSIGHT & MEANING Include personal comments, opinions or interpretations of the experience or event in your personal narrative.

PERSONAL NARRATIVE FEATURES

TENSE The first and third person are used most frequently and recall is always written in the past tense. Present tense can be used for analysis and opinion.

NOUNS Use proper nouns to refer to specific people, places times and events

VOICE Both active and passive voice are used in recounts. Use these to express your emotions and thinking clearly.

CONNECTIVES Use conjunctions and connectives to link events and indicate time sequence in your personal narrative.

A COMPLETE TEACHING UNIT ON PERSONAL NARRATIVE WRITING

Teach your students to write AMAZING PERSONAL NARRATIVES using a proven model of research skills, writing strategies and engaging content. ALL CONTENT, RESOURCES AND ASSESSMENT TOOLS INCLUDED covering.

Download this COMPLETE 85 PAGE UNIT today. NO PREPARATION REQUIRED.

HOW LONG SHOULD A PERSONAL NARRATIVE BE?

The personal narrative is a modern text type and therefore has no traditionally defined optimum length, and we can find texts ranging from a couple of hundred words to a multi-volume series in this genre. 

However, for our students, this text type can be thought of in terms of length as similar to an essay. Like an essay, the text needs to be long enough to comprehensively answer the question, prompt, or the event/experience the student is retelling.

David Sedaris, the American writer and one of the best-known writers of humorous personal narratives, has written many books that could accurately be classified in this genre.

While these full-length books are often built around a loose theme, each chapter could stand alone as a personal narrative essay in its own right, each built around a single identifiable experience or event. 

As with an essay, the length of a personal narrative can be based on a variety of factors, including:

• Age and ability of the students
• Specifics of the question or writing prompt
• Any limitation imposed by a word count
• The complexity of the event/experience being written about.

Regardless of length, given its structural similarity with the essay, personal narratives usually follow a basic three-part structure.

HOW TO WRITE A PERSONAL NARRATIVE STEP-BY-STEP

We mentioned previously that this text type is relatively modern, so there aren’t many fixed rules concerning structure. That said, we can usually identify three distinct parts of a personal narrative corresponding to the three parts outlined in the hamburger essay or the 5-paragraph essay format. These are:

• The introduction
• The body paragraphs
• The conclusion

If you want an in-depth guide to this format, check out our comprehensive article here . But, for now, let’s take a brief look at the purpose of each section as it relates to a personal narrative.

WRITING THE INTRODUCTION OF A PERSONAL NARRATIVE

The introduction of a personal narrative performs several functions. 

1: It hooks the Reader

The first job of the introduction is to ‘hook’ the reader. If we can’t catch the reader’s interest initially, there will be no middle or end for the reader. A strong hook is needed at the very outset, and it can take several forms. 

Some effective hooks to open a personal narrative with include:

• A bold claim
• An interesting anecdote
• A fascinating fact or revealing statistic
• A compelling quotation

Whichever technique the student chooses to open their narrative with, they should ensure it is relevant to the subject matter explored, whether it focuses on external or internal events or experiences or a mixture of both. 

2: It orients the Reader

Like many other nonfiction and fiction text types, the opening paragraph (or paragraphs) will also orient the reader by answering some basic questions such as:

• What is the text about?
• Who is in this story?
• Where is it set?
• When do the events or experiences occur?

While it may also hint at why these events or experiences matter, a detailed answer to the why of a personal narrative may be saved for the text’s conclusion.

This section of the personal narrative can also be thought of as The Exposition .

3: It Sets the Tone

The introduction reveals not only what the text will be about but also how the writer (and, by extension, the reader) will treat the topic. This is the tone.

For example, a more sombre tone has been established where the language used is serious and formal. In this instance, the reader will adopt a more serious approach to the work.

On the other hand, if the treatment of the event or experience is humorous, this will be apparent in the language choices the writer makes and the mood they establish. Going forward, the reader can reasonably expect to be amused by what’s to come in the text.

THE BODY PARAGRAPHS OF A PERSONAL NARRATIVE

The body paragraphs of a personal narrative comprise the bulk of the text. 

As with any type of recount, this section will generally focus on the chronological retelling of an event or experience. 

However, there is another significant difference between this type of recount and the other types.’ The root of this difference can be found in the word ‘narrative’.

While the body paragraphs of a personal narrative can make use of some of the defining characteristics of more traditional types of recount, if the introduction acts as the exposition of the setting and character of the story, the body paragraphs move the text along its story arc.

Though we will cover the main elements briefly, structuring a story is an art in itself and if you want to find out more about it, check out our detailed article on the subject here.

Also, if you want to learn more about the structure of general recounts, find out more here .

While we’ve seen that the introduction of a personal narrative corresponds to a story’s exposition, the following elements of a story arc can be found in the text’s body.

1: The Problem

The problem or conflict is an essential ingredient in any story worth the name. It creates the story’s focal point, ignites the reader’s interest, and drives the story forward. In a personal narrative, this problem can be internal or external, however, there is often an emphasis placed on how the issues affect the writer psychologically.  2: The Rising Action  

As the narrative develops, the dramatic tension will tend to increase. The main problem will intensify, or the writer may introduce additional more minor problems to amp things up. 3: The Climax

This is where the story reaches its dramatic high point. In the case of a personal narrative where the conflict or problem is psychological, this drama and its climax may play out internally.

WRITING THE CONCLUSION OF YOUR PERSONAL NARRATIVE ESSAY

This third and final section of the personal narrative performs a slightly different function to a regular essay’s conclusion. 

While the conclusions of most nonfiction text types focus on restating a central thesis and/or providing a summary of arguments, the conclusion in a personal narrative follows a story’s final section more closely. 

That is, it usually contains the story’s falling action and resolution.

Let’s take a quick look at each.

1: The Falling Action

The story arc dips in dramatic tension after the dramatic high point of the climax. As personal narratives often focus on ‘internal’ events, this ‘action’ can also occur internally. 2: Resolution

The resolution marks the end of the story, and in this text type, it usually involves some personal change in circumstances or transformation. It can also take the form of a lesson learned or new knowledge attained.

TIPS FOR WRITING A GREAT PERSONAL NARRATIVE ESSAY

• Begin with a clear and compelling story: Your personal narrative essay should focus on a significant event or experience in your life that you want to share with the reader.
• Write in the first person perspective: Use “I” statements to describe your experiences and thoughts and take us inside your mind.
• Be descriptive: To bring your story to life, use descriptive language to paint a picture of the sights, sounds, and emotions of your experience.
• Focus on what matters the most: Tell a powerful story with just a few key details. When writing your personal narrative, focus on the most impactful events and thoughts that help convey your message.
• Emphasize the impact the experience had upon you: Leave the reader with a clear understanding of the impact that the experience had on your life.
• Be true to yourself: Ensure your personal narrative essay is honest and genuine in your descriptions and reflections.
• Deliver a powerful ending: The conclusion should summarize the major points of your essay and leave the reader with a lasting impression.
• Review and Revise: Don’t be afraid to proofread your essay several times to ensure it is the best it can be.

Teaching Resources

Use our resources and tools to improve your student’s writing skills through proven teaching strategies.

PERSONAL NARRATIVE TEACHING STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES

PERSONAL NARRATIVE PRACTICE EXERCISE: ACTIVITY 1

• Organise your students into small groups of four or five
• Provide each group with a selection of personal recounts
• Can the students identify how each sample text attempts to hook the reader in the opening paragraph?
• How effectively does the introduction of each text orient the reader?
• What is the tone of the text? How has this tone been created?

PERSONAL NARRATIVE PRACTICE EXERCISE: ACTIVITY 2

In their groups, with their sample personal narrative texts, ask students to identify how the writer deals with each element as listed below and discuss how effectively they have done so.

• The Problem
• The Rising Action

PERSONAL NARRATIVE PRACTICE EXERCISE: ACTIVITY 3

Now students understand how to structure and write each stage of their personal narrative, encourage them to spend some time brainstorming events and experiences from their lives that could serve as the topic for their writing.

When they have chosen a suitable topic, instruct them to begin planning the writing of their text using the categories listed above. They might even wish to create a simple graphic organizer to help. 

For example:

Introduction

• What is the opening hook?

Body Paragraphs

• What is the central problem?
• What happens in the rising action?
• How does the climax play out?
• What happens in the falling action?
• What is the resolution of the story?

Once students have their narrative adequately planned, it’s time to get them writing earnestly to put all that theory into practice.

PERSONAL NARRATIVE WRITING TEMPLATE / GRAPHIC ORGANIZER

PERSONAL NARRATIVE WRITING EXAMPLES

VIDEO TUTORIAL ON PERSONAL NARRATIVE WRITING

NARRATIVE WRITING CHECKLIST BUNDLE

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Sat / act prep online guides and tips, 3 great narrative essay examples + tips for writing.

General Education

A narrative essay is one of the most intimidating assignments you can be handed at any level of your education. Where you've previously written argumentative essays that make a point or analytic essays that dissect meaning, a narrative essay asks you to write what is effectively a story .

But unlike a simple work of creative fiction, your narrative essay must have a clear and concrete motif —a recurring theme or idea that you’ll explore throughout. Narrative essays are less rigid, more creative in expression, and therefore pretty different from most other essays you’ll be writing.

But not to fear—in this article, we’ll be covering what a narrative essay is, how to write a good one, and also analyzing some personal narrative essay examples to show you what a great one looks like.

What Is a Narrative Essay?

At first glance, a narrative essay might sound like you’re just writing a story. Like the stories you're used to reading, a narrative essay is generally (but not always) chronological, following a clear throughline from beginning to end. Even if the story jumps around in time, all the details will come back to one specific theme, demonstrated through your choice in motifs.

Unlike many creative stories, however, your narrative essay should be based in fact. That doesn’t mean that every detail needs to be pure and untainted by imagination, but rather that you shouldn’t wholly invent the events of your narrative essay. There’s nothing wrong with inventing a person’s words if you can’t remember them exactly, but you shouldn’t say they said something they weren’t even close to saying.

Another big difference between narrative essays and creative fiction—as well as other kinds of essays—is that narrative essays are based on motifs. A motif is a dominant idea or theme, one that you establish before writing the essay. As you’re crafting the narrative, it’ll feed back into your motif to create a comprehensive picture of whatever that motif is.

For example, say you want to write a narrative essay about how your first day in high school helped you establish your identity. You might discuss events like trying to figure out where to sit in the cafeteria, having to describe yourself in five words as an icebreaker in your math class, or being unsure what to do during your lunch break because it’s no longer acceptable to go outside and play during lunch. All of those ideas feed back into the central motif of establishing your identity.

The important thing to remember is that while a narrative essay is typically told chronologically and intended to read like a story, it is not purely for entertainment value. A narrative essay delivers its theme by deliberately weaving the motifs through the events, scenes, and details. While a narrative essay may be entertaining, its primary purpose is to tell a complete story based on a central meaning.

Unlike other essay forms, it is totally okay—even expected—to use first-person narration in narrative essays. If you’re writing a story about yourself, it’s natural to refer to yourself within the essay. It’s also okay to use other perspectives, such as third- or even second-person, but that should only be done if it better serves your motif. Generally speaking, your narrative essay should be in first-person perspective.

Though your motif choices may feel at times like you’re making a point the way you would in an argumentative essay, a narrative essay’s goal is to tell a story, not convince the reader of anything. Your reader should be able to tell what your motif is from reading, but you don’t have to change their mind about anything. If they don’t understand the point you are making, you should consider strengthening the delivery of the events and descriptions that support your motif.

Narrative essays also share some features with analytical essays, in which you derive meaning from a book, film, or other media. But narrative essays work differently—you’re not trying to draw meaning from an existing text, but rather using an event you’ve experienced to convey meaning. In an analytical essay, you examine narrative, whereas in a narrative essay you create narrative.

The structure of a narrative essay is also a bit different than other essays. You’ll generally be getting your point across chronologically as opposed to grouping together specific arguments in paragraphs or sections. To return to the example of an essay discussing your first day of high school and how it impacted the shaping of your identity, it would be weird to put the events out of order, even if not knowing what to do after lunch feels like a stronger idea than choosing where to sit. Instead of organizing to deliver your information based on maximum impact, you’ll be telling your story as it happened, using concrete details to reinforce your theme.

3 Great Narrative Essay Examples

One of the best ways to learn how to write a narrative essay is to look at a great narrative essay sample. Let’s take a look at some truly stellar narrative essay examples and dive into what exactly makes them work so well.

A Ticket to the Fair by David Foster Wallace

Today is Press Day at the Illinois State Fair in Springfield, and I’m supposed to be at the fairgrounds by 9:00 A.M. to get my credentials. I imagine credentials to be a small white card in the band of a fedora. I’ve never been considered press before. My real interest in credentials is getting into rides and shows for free. I’m fresh in from the East Coast, for an East Coast magazine. Why exactly they’re interested in the Illinois State Fair remains unclear to me. I suspect that every so often editors at East Coast magazines slap their foreheads and remember that about 90 percent of the United States lies between the coasts, and figure they’ll engage somebody to do pith-helmeted anthropological reporting on something rural and heartlandish. I think they asked me to do this because I grew up here, just a couple hours’ drive from downstate Springfield. I never did go to the state fair, though—I pretty much topped out at the county fair level. Actually, I haven’t been back to Illinois for a long time, and I can’t say I’ve missed it.

Throughout this essay, David Foster Wallace recounts his experience as press at the Illinois State Fair. But it’s clear from this opening that he’s not just reporting on the events exactly as they happened—though that’s also true— but rather making a point about how the East Coast, where he lives and works, thinks about the Midwest.

In his opening paragraph, Wallace states that outright: “Why exactly they’re interested in the Illinois State Fair remains unclear to me. I suspect that every so often editors at East Coast magazines slap their foreheads and remember that about 90 percent of the United States lies between the coasts, and figure they’ll engage somebody to do pith-helmeted anthropological reporting on something rural and heartlandish.”

Not every motif needs to be stated this clearly , but in an essay as long as Wallace’s, particularly since the audience for such a piece may feel similarly and forget that such a large portion of the country exists, it’s important to make that point clear.

But Wallace doesn’t just rest on introducing his motif and telling the events exactly as they occurred from there. It’s clear that he selects events that remind us of that idea of East Coast cynicism , such as when he realizes that the Help Me Grow tent is standing on top of fake grass that is killing the real grass beneath, when he realizes the hypocrisy of craving a corn dog when faced with a real, suffering pig, when he’s upset for his friend even though he’s not the one being sexually harassed, and when he witnesses another East Coast person doing something he wouldn’t dare to do.

Wallace is literally telling the audience exactly what happened, complete with dates and timestamps for when each event occurred. But he’s also choosing those events with a purpose—he doesn’t focus on details that don’t serve his motif. That’s why he discusses the experiences of people, how the smells are unappealing to him, and how all the people he meets, in cowboy hats, overalls, or “black spandex that looks like cheesecake leotards,” feel almost alien to him.

All of these details feed back into the throughline of East Coast thinking that Wallace introduces in the first paragraph. He also refers back to it in the essay’s final paragraph, stating:

At last, an overarching theory blooms inside my head: megalopolitan East Coasters’ summer treats and breaks and literally ‘getaways,’ flights-from—from crowds, noise, heat, dirt, the stress of too many sensory choices….The East Coast existential treat is escape from confines and stimuli—quiet, rustic vistas that hold still, turn inward, turn away. Not so in the rural Midwest. Here you’re pretty much away all the time….Something in a Midwesterner sort of actuates , deep down, at a public event….The real spectacle that draws us here is us.

Throughout this journey, Wallace has tried to demonstrate how the East Coast thinks about the Midwest, ultimately concluding that they are captivated by the Midwest’s less stimuli-filled life, but that the real reason they are interested in events like the Illinois State Fair is that they are, in some ways, a means of looking at the East Coast in a new, estranging way.

The reason this works so well is that Wallace has carefully chosen his examples, outlined his motif and themes in the first paragraph, and eventually circled back to the original motif with a clearer understanding of his original point.

When outlining your own narrative essay, try to do the same. Start with a theme, build upon it with examples, and return to it in the end with an even deeper understanding of the original issue. You don’t need this much space to explore a theme, either—as we’ll see in the next example, a strong narrative essay can also be very short.

Death of a Moth by Virginia Woolf

After a time, tired by his dancing apparently, he settled on the window ledge in the sun, and, the queer spectacle being at an end, I forgot about him. Then, looking up, my eye was caught by him. He was trying to resume his dancing, but seemed either so stiff or so awkward that he could only flutter to the bottom of the window-pane; and when he tried to fly across it he failed. Being intent on other matters I watched these futile attempts for a time without thinking, unconsciously waiting for him to resume his flight, as one waits for a machine, that has stopped momentarily, to start again without considering the reason of its failure. After perhaps a seventh attempt he slipped from the wooden ledge and fell, fluttering his wings, on to his back on the window sill. The helplessness of his attitude roused me. It flashed upon me that he was in difficulties; he could no longer raise himself; his legs struggled vainly. But, as I stretched out a pencil, meaning to help him to right himself, it came over me that the failure and awkwardness were the approach of death. I laid the pencil down again.

In this essay, Virginia Woolf explains her encounter with a dying moth. On surface level, this essay is just a recounting of an afternoon in which she watched a moth die—it’s even established in the title. But there’s more to it than that. Though Woolf does not begin her essay with as clear a motif as Wallace, it’s not hard to pick out the evidence she uses to support her point, which is that the experience of this moth is also the human experience.

In the title, Woolf tells us this essay is about death. But in the first paragraph, she seems to mostly be discussing life—the moth is “content with life,” people are working in the fields, and birds are flying. However, she mentions that it is mid-September and that the fields were being plowed. It’s autumn and it’s time for the harvest; the time of year in which many things die.

In this short essay, she chronicles the experience of watching a moth seemingly embody life, then die. Though this essay is literally about a moth, it’s also about a whole lot more than that. After all, moths aren’t the only things that die—Woolf is also reflecting on her own mortality, as well as the mortality of everything around her.

At its core, the essay discusses the push and pull of life and death, not in a way that’s necessarily sad, but in a way that is accepting of both. Woolf begins by setting up the transitional fall season, often associated with things coming to an end, and raises the ideas of pleasure, vitality, and pity.

At one point, Woolf tries to help the dying moth, but reconsiders, as it would interfere with the natural order of the world. The moth’s death is part of the natural order of the world, just like fall, just like her own eventual death.

All these themes are set up in the beginning and explored throughout the essay’s narrative. Though Woolf doesn’t directly state her theme, she reinforces it by choosing a small, isolated event—watching a moth die—and illustrating her point through details.

With this essay, we can see that you don’t need a big, weird, exciting event to discuss an important meaning. Woolf is able to explore complicated ideas in a short essay by being deliberate about what details she includes, just as you can be in your own essays.

Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin

On the twenty-ninth of July, in 1943, my father died. On the same day, a few hours later, his last child was born. Over a month before this, while all our energies were concentrated in waiting for these events, there had been, in Detroit, one of the bloodiest race riots of the century. A few hours after my father’s funeral, while he lay in state in the undertaker’s chapel, a race riot broke out in Harlem. On the morning of the third of August, we drove my father to the graveyard through a wilderness of smashed plate glass.

Like Woolf, Baldwin does not lay out his themes in concrete terms—unlike Wallace, there’s no clear sentence that explains what he’ll be talking about. However, you can see the motifs quite clearly: death, fatherhood, struggle, and race.

Throughout the narrative essay, Baldwin discusses the circumstances of his father’s death, including his complicated relationship with his father. By introducing those motifs in the first paragraph, the reader understands that everything discussed in the essay will come back to those core ideas. When Baldwin talks about his experience with a white teacher taking an interest in him and his father’s resistance to that, he is also talking about race and his father’s death. When he talks about his father’s death, he is also talking about his views on race. When he talks about his encounters with segregation and racism, he is talking, in part, about his father.

Because his father was a hard, uncompromising man, Baldwin struggles to reconcile the knowledge that his father was right about many things with his desire to not let that hardness consume him, as well.

Baldwin doesn’t explicitly state any of this, but his writing so often touches on the same motifs that it becomes clear he wants us to think about all these ideas in conversation with one another.

At the end of the essay, Baldwin makes it more clear:

This fight begins, however, in the heart and it had now been laid to my charge to keep my own heart free of hatred and despair. This intimation made my heart heavy and, now that my father was irrecoverable, I wished that he had been beside me so that I could have searched his face for the answers which only the future would give me now.

Here, Baldwin ties together the themes and motifs into one clear statement: that he must continue to fight and recognize injustice, especially racial injustice, just as his father did. But unlike his father, he must do it beginning with himself—he must not let himself be closed off to the world as his father was. And yet, he still wishes he had his father for guidance, even as he establishes that he hopes to be a different man than his father.

In this essay, Baldwin loads the front of the essay with his motifs, and, through his narrative, weaves them together into a theme. In the end, he comes to a conclusion that connects all of those things together and leaves the reader with a lasting impression of completion—though the elements may have been initially disparate, in the end everything makes sense.

You can replicate this tactic of introducing seemingly unattached ideas and weaving them together in your own essays. By introducing those motifs, developing them throughout, and bringing them together in the end, you can demonstrate to your reader how all of them are related. However, it’s especially important to be sure that your motifs and clear and consistent throughout your essay so that the conclusion feels earned and consistent—if not, readers may feel mislead.

5 Key Tips for Writing Narrative Essays

Narrative essays can be a lot of fun to write since they’re so heavily based on creativity. But that can also feel intimidating—sometimes it’s easier to have strict guidelines than to have to make it all up yourself. Here are a few tips to keep your narrative essay feeling strong and fresh.

Develop Strong Motifs

Motifs are the foundation of a narrative essay . What are you trying to say? How can you say that using specific symbols or events? Those are your motifs.

In the same way that an argumentative essay’s body should support its thesis, the body of your narrative essay should include motifs that support your theme.

Try to avoid cliches, as these will feel tired to your readers. Instead of roses to symbolize love, try succulents. Instead of the ocean representing some vast, unknowable truth, try the depths of your brother’s bedroom. Keep your language and motifs fresh and your essay will be even stronger!

Use First-Person Perspective

In many essays, you’re expected to remove yourself so that your points stand on their own. Not so in a narrative essay—in this case, you want to make use of your own perspective.

Sometimes a different perspective can make your point even stronger. If you want someone to identify with your point of view, it may be tempting to choose a second-person perspective. However, be sure you really understand the function of second-person; it’s very easy to put a reader off if the narration isn’t expertly deployed.

If you want a little bit of distance, third-person perspective may be okay. But be careful—too much distance and your reader may feel like the narrative lacks truth.

That’s why first-person perspective is the standard. It keeps you, the writer, close to the narrative, reminding the reader that it really happened. And because you really know what happened and how, you’re free to inject your own opinion into the story without it detracting from your point, as it would in a different type of essay.

Stick to the Truth

Your essay should be true. However, this is a creative essay, and it’s okay to embellish a little. Rarely in life do we experience anything with a clear, concrete meaning the way somebody in a book might. If you flub the details a little, it’s okay—just don’t make them up entirely.

Also, nobody expects you to perfectly recall details that may have happened years ago. You may have to reconstruct dialog from your memory and your imagination. That’s okay, again, as long as you aren’t making it up entirely and assigning made-up statements to somebody.

Dialog is a powerful tool. A good conversation can add flavor and interest to a story, as we saw demonstrated in David Foster Wallace’s essay. As previously mentioned, it’s okay to flub it a little, especially because you’re likely writing about an experience you had without knowing that you’d be writing about it later.

However, don’t rely too much on it. Your narrative essay shouldn’t be told through people explaining things to one another; the motif comes through in the details. Dialog can be one of those details, but it shouldn’t be the only one.

Use Sensory Descriptions

Because a narrative essay is a story, you can use sensory details to make your writing more interesting. If you’re describing a particular experience, you can go into detail about things like taste, smell, and hearing in a way that you probably wouldn’t do in any other essay style.

These details can tie into your overall motifs and further your point. Woolf describes in great detail what she sees while watching the moth, giving us the sense that we, too, are watching the moth. In Wallace’s essay, he discusses the sights, sounds, and smells of the Illinois State Fair to help emphasize his point about its strangeness. And in Baldwin’s essay, he describes shattered glass as a “wilderness,” and uses the feelings of his body to describe his mental state.

All these descriptions anchor us not only in the story, but in the motifs and themes as well. One of the tools of a writer is making the reader feel as you felt, and sensory details help you achieve that.

What’s Next?

Looking to brush up on your essay-writing capabilities before the ACT? This guide to ACT English will walk you through some of the best strategies and practice questions to get you prepared!

Part of practicing for the ACT is ensuring your word choice and diction are on point. Check out this guide to some of the most common errors on the ACT English section to be sure that you're not making these common mistakes!

A solid understanding of English principles will help you make an effective point in a narrative essay, and you can get that understanding through taking a rigorous assortment of high school English classes !

Melissa Brinks graduated from the University of Washington in 2014 with a Bachelor's in English with a creative writing emphasis. She has spent several years tutoring K-12 students in many subjects, including in SAT prep, to help them prepare for their college education.

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How to Write a Conclusion for a Narrative Essay: An Ideal Conclusion

Published : January 13, 2024

By | MyPremiumEssay 12 mins read

In narrative essays, the conclusion serves as the final brushstroke on the canvas of your essay. It's the moment when you leave a lasting impression, prompting reflection and emotion in your readers. So, how do you write a conclusion that resonates, leaving your audience with a sense of fulfillment? Let's explore the steps and guidelines for concluding a narrative essay and remember, you can always explore options to buy narrative essays online for added inspiration and guidance.

Concluding the Narrative Essay: The Perfect Ending

Examples of effective narrative essay conclusion, tips on writing the conclusion of your narrative essay.

In the pursuit of a flawless conclusion for your narrative essay, the paramount steps are:

Revisit the Essence

Wrap up your narrative essay by echoing its central theme. Take your readers back through the emotional arc of your story. Whether it’s about overcoming, loss, or finding oneself, highlight the core message again.

For example: In my journey's dimly lit moments, I uncovered not just the power to face challenges but also the enduring spirit in us all.

Echo Emotions

Stir emotions by revisiting your story's emotional peaks and valleys. Show, don't just tell. Paint your narrative’s emotional scenes with vivid words and imagery.

For example: The sting of defeat still clung to me, yet in the quiet ruins of lost dreams, a spark of hope kindled, rising anew like a phoenix from ashes.

Leave Room for Contemplation

Prompt your readers to ponder the wider meaning of your story. What insights emerge? How does it resonate with universal human experiences? Guide them to see your personal tale as a mirror to broader truths.

Take this example: In the wake of my trials, I understood that resilience is more than personal; it's a shared thread of our collective spirit, ever-present in adversity.

End with a Memorable Quote or Thought

End your narrative essay with a striking quote or deep statement. This leaves your readers with a powerful, lasting idea that sums up your story's core.

For instance: In life's rich tapestry, our scars are not imperfections but threads that stitch together our unique life stories.

Circle Back to the Beginning

Circle back to your narrative's start for a cohesive finish. By returning to the starting point, you create a sense of closure and unity within your essay. This circular structure reinforces the completeness of your storytelling.

Consider this: Standing once at uncertainty's crossroads, I never imagined how the path ahead would shape me into my true self.

Invoke the Senses

Draw your readers in with sensory details in your conclusion. Paint a vivid scene using sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell to immerse them in your story’s essence.

For Example: As I embarked on a new chapter, the autumn breeze whispered of fresh starts, its crispness laden with the scent of new possibilities.

Craft a Powerful Final Sentence

Finish your conclusion with a sentence that leaves a lasting impact. Aim for something memorable, stirring, or deeply meaningful. This final thought should echo in your readers' minds well after they've read your essay.

Here's an example: As my journey quieted down, I discovered that life's most remarkable tales are often scripted in the simplicity of everyday moments.

Also Read: How To Write A Narrative Essay?

Here are some examples of effective narrative essay conclusions:

1 Conclusion that summarizes the main points and reflects on the significance of the experience: Eventually, my journey of teaching abroad was a profound learning experience. It revealed my own untapped potential and resilience. I gained insights into compassion, understanding, and the value of cultural sensitivity. This adventure, rich in lessons, will forever be a cherished part of my life.

Ready to transform your storytelling?

Let our skilled writers perfect your narrative essays ,leaving a lasting impression on your readers writing.

2 Conclusion that ends with a question to make the reader think: As I look back on this experience, I often think about what if I hadn't dared to venture out. Such a choice would have kept me from discovering my own strengths and the vastness of the world. I'm thankful for this enlightening journey and urge everyone to embrace new experiences, stepping beyond their usual boundaries.

3 Conclusion that uses strong language and imagery to leave a lasting impression on the reader: The lasting memory of my students' joyous faces will always be with me. They showed me the true value of happiness, resilience, and hope. I'm thankful for the chance to have impacted their lives and am confident they will achieve remarkable things.

Remember, a strong conclusion ties back to your essay's theme and leaves a lasting thought for your readers.

Read More: How to Write a Narrative Essay Outline?

When writing the conclusion of your narrative essay, keep in mind the following tips:

In wrapping up your essay, avoid just repeating the tale. The reader knows the story; focus instead on its deeper message.

Keep new info out of the conclusion to avoid confusion.

Use vivid language and imagery to leave a strong, lasting impression.

Your ending should tie back to the essay and provoke thought.

Lastly, polish your conclusion to perfection, ensuring it's error-free. Keep it brief, engaging, and thought-provoking.

Use these steps and tips from our blog to craft conclusions that resonate and make your readers think about something. Let MyPremiumEssay be your secret tool to add sparkle to your words. Here's to writing standout stories and essays. Happy writing adventures!

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2.7: The Personal Narrative Essay

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• Page ID 40379

• Heather Ringo & Athena Kashyap
• City College of San Francisco via ASCCC Open Educational Resources Initiative

Assignment TLDR;

This first essay assignment is a chance for me, the instructor and your peers to get to know you. It is also an opportunity to practice MLA formatting & understand basic concepts of storytelling/literature.

Below are the parts to help you scaffold this assignment:

• Personal Narrative Rough Draft
• Personal Narrative Peer Review
• Personal Narrative Final Draft

The following readings will help you with the technical aspects of the essay:

• The Writing Process
• MLA Formatting

The following readings are effective examples of personal narratives you can use to help you craft your essay:

• Creative Nonfiction Readings
• Student Sample Personal Narratives

The following activity will help you get started:

• Descriptive Imagery Worksheets

The in-depth essay directions follow.

Detailed Directions

For this writing assignment, students are to use what they have learned about Creative Nonfiction to write a personal narrative of their own.

To review, creative nonfiction tells a true story in an artistic -- or literary -- way. This means that the story has certain elements, such as descriptive imagery, setting, plot, conflict, characters, imagery, metaphors, and other literary devices. A personal narrative , then, is a work of creative nonfiction that is, well, personal . Usually, a personal narrative is narrated in first-person, though sometimes it can be written in third-person. Though writing about your personal experiences is often the subject of a personal narrative, if you are feeling self-conscious the story does not necessarily have to be about you: often writers will write about someone they love, an object, a place, or even a stranger with a remarkable story.

Scope, or how "big" of a story you choose to tell, is an important consideration for a personal narrative. Since you have limited time in your literature or writing class, you will probably not be able to write an autobiography or memoir. For 750-1500 words, it is best to focus on a single moment in time. An effective example of this might be "The Fourth of July" by Audre Lorde (Date unknown) or "The Death of the Moth" by Virginia Woolf (1942). But if you have a story that stretches over a few days rather than a few minutes or hours, journal entries or letters ( epistolary form) can be an effective method to tell a drawn-out story through a series of vignettes , or image-centric flashes of memory. Please see the story "Bajadas" by Francisco Cantu (2015) for an effective example of the epistolary form. Lastly, some authors choose to organize their essays with anchoring images or subheaders. For an effective example of this form of personal narrative, see "Girl" by Alexander Chee (2016). Take a look at the readings in this chapter to get some ideas about scope. After examining these professional examples, it's time to tell your story! So where is a good place to start? Think about a metamorphic moment in your life.

Metamorphic Moments

"Untitled" by morganglines , 17 June 2007, published on Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

What does metamorphic mean? Think of the caterpillar's metamorphosis into a butterfly while in the chrysalis. Similarly, a metamorphic moment is an intense moment or experience which profoundly impacts or changes a person. It could be the happiest moment of a person's life, such as a wedding, birth of a child, or graduation from college. It could be the worst moment of a person's life, like the moment they realized their dream job was not a good fit after all, the moment they realized racism was real, the moment they lost someone they loved, or the moment they realized their lifelong hero was a fraud. It could be a hilarious moment, a scary moment, an extremely embarrassing moment: essentially, it is a moment that made you see the world in a new way or transformed you from the person you were to the person you are .

Whatever the moment might be, the important idea to remember is to tell a story in a way which immerses the reader: that you make the reader feel like they are there by describing the moment in great detail using your five senses; that you use metaphors; that you have a setting, conflict, and some kind of character growth. A great essay makes a reader forget they are reading an essay. It transports them to your world. It forces them to see the world through your narrator's eyes. As one of my favorite mentors, Caroline Kremers, once said about engaging readers with your writing, "go for the jugular." (Note: please do not physically assault your readers. This is a metaphor.)

Descriptive Imagery: Showing vs. Telling

"moon" by George Lezenby , 14 Sep. 2017, published on Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

“Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.” ― Anton Chekhov

Which of the above lakes would you want to visit? Which one paints a more immersive picture, making you feel like you are there? When writing a story, our initial instinct is usually to make a list of chronological moments: first I did this, then I did this, then I did that, it was neat-o. That might be factual, but it does not engage the reader or invite them into your world. It bores the reader. Ever been stuck listening to someone tell a story that seems like it will never end? It probably was someone telling you a story rather than using the five senses to immerse you . In the example above, the writer uses visual (sight), auditory (sound), olfactory (smell), tactile (touch), or gustatory (taste) imagery to help the reader picture the setting in their mind. By the final draft, the entire story should be compelling and richly detailed. While it's fine to have an outline or first draft that recounts the events of the story, the final draft should include dialogue, immersive description, plot twists, and metaphors to capture your reader's attention as you write.

"Eibsee Lake" by barnyz , 2 August 2011, published on Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Need a more specific prompt to get you inspired? Check out the 7 Personal Insight Questions from the University of California's Personal Statement Prompts for Transfer Students . Interested in transferring or applying to another college or scholarship? An effective personal statement is a story that captures the attention of your readers (the college admissions team) and shows them why you are a good fit for the school/scholarship.

Why Write A Personal Narrative, Anyway?

First of all, writing a piece of creative work will help students gain an appreciation for the skill and effort which goes into writing, and helps them recognize common literary devices. It will help you get acquainted with some of the basic elements of writing, such as specificity, writing process, and time management. It will also allow you to practice MLA formatting . This will come in handy for future essays. But personal narratives are not just for literature and creative writing classes!

Believe it or not, writing a personal narrative is an extremely useful skill for anyone to master. Besides helping you get into colleges and win scholarship money, you can use it to ace job interviews, get Instagram or YouTube followers, sell a product to customers through effective marketing, or share the most interesting parts of yourself with a new friend or romantic interest. In science? Telling the story of your research can help you get grants from the government. In the medical field? Listening to patient stories can help you better provide quality care. Small business owner? Personal narratives can help attract clients (think of the "About Us" section of websites!). Passionate about social justice? A powerful personal narrative can quite literally change the world. Whatever your future career or interests, effective storytelling can make a difference in your life. So what are you waiting for? Let's get writing!

Brainstorming

• First, write a list of as many "metamorphic moments" you can think of.
• Next, write a list of the most important or memorable places you have been.
• Lastly, write a list of objects which hold symbolic importance to you.

After you have written these lists, wait at least a day. Then come back and circle the 3 list items which you feel will make the best essay, or that you feel most strongly drawn to write about.

Once you find three moments, try making a brainstorming web. Write any associated words, objects, ideas, and descriptive imagery (all five senses) you associate with this moment, place, or object. Finally, pick the topic upon which you were able to generate the most ideas. This could be your essay topic!

Free Writing

Find a quiet place and set a timer for 10 minutes. Write as much as possible on your topic, as much as you can remember, in as vivid of detail as possible. Try to keep the pen moving on the page without stopping. Do not worry about grammar, spelling, punctuation, or that mean little critical voice in your head. Your job is just to get ideas down. Pretend you are trying to explain the memory to someone who has never met the people you are describing or has never been to the place where the story takes place. How would you describe the moment to an alien? That is usually a good way to ensure you are very detailed!

Other Generative Writing Ideas

• Find a picture that means a lot to you. While it is clear to you why this picture is important, it is likely not clear to a stranger. Try to describe to a stranger all the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and feelings of the moment so that they understand why the picture is meaningful to you.
• Find an image, object, action, or place/scene that is important to you. Use this descriptive imagery worksheet by Shane Abrams to help you describe that object.

Learning Outcomes

• Analyze and employ logical and structural methods such as inductive and deductive reasoning, cause and effect, and logos, ethos, and pathos.
• Use style, diction, and tone appropriate to the academic community and the purpose of the specific writing task; proofread and edit essays for presentation so they exhibit no disruptive errors in English grammar, usage, or punctuation

So much is at stake in writing a conclusion. This is, after all, your last chance to persuade your readers to your point of view, to impress yourself upon them as a writer and thinker. And the impression you create in your conclusion will shape the impression that stays with your readers after they've finished the essay.

The end of an essay should therefore convey a sense of completeness and closure as well as a sense of the lingering possibilities of the topic, its larger meaning, its implications: the final paragraph should close the discussion without closing it off.

To establish a sense of closure, you might do one or more of the following:

• Conclude by linking the last paragraph to the first, perhaps by reiterating a word or phrase you used at the beginning.
• Conclude with a sentence composed mainly of one-syllable words. Simple language can help create an effect of understated drama.
• Conclude with a sentence that's compound or parallel in structure; such sentences can establish a sense of balance or order that may feel just right at the end of a complex discussion.

To close the discussion without closing it off, you might do one or more of the following:

• Conclude with a quotation from or reference to a primary or secondary source, one that amplifies your main point or puts it in a different perspective. A quotation from, say, the novel or poem you're writing about can add texture and specificity to your discussion; a critic or scholar can help confirm or complicate your final point. For example, you might conclude an essay on the idea of home in James Joyce's short story collection,  Dubliners , with information about Joyce's own complex feelings towards Dublin, his home. Or you might end with a biographer's statement about Joyce's attitude toward Dublin, which could illuminate his characters' responses to the city. Just be cautious, especially about using secondary material: make sure that you get the last word.
• Conclude by setting your discussion into a different, perhaps larger, context. For example, you might end an essay on nineteenth-century muckraking journalism by linking it to a current news magazine program like  60 Minutes .
• Conclude by redefining one of the key terms of your argument. For example, an essay on Marx's treatment of the conflict between wage labor and capital might begin with Marx's claim that the "capitalist economy is . . . a gigantic enterprise of dehumanization "; the essay might end by suggesting that Marxist analysis is itself dehumanizing because it construes everything in economic -- rather than moral or ethical-- terms.
• Conclude by considering the implications of your argument (or analysis or discussion). What does your argument imply, or involve, or suggest? For example, an essay on the novel  Ambiguous Adventure , by the Senegalese writer Cheikh Hamidou Kane, might open with the idea that the protagonist's development suggests Kane's belief in the need to integrate Western materialism and Sufi spirituality in modern Senegal. The conclusion might make the new but related point that the novel on the whole suggests that such an integration is (or isn't) possible.

Finally, some advice on how not to end an essay:

• Don't simply summarize your essay. A brief summary of your argument may be useful, especially if your essay is long--more than ten pages or so. But shorter essays tend not to require a restatement of your main ideas.
• Avoid phrases like "in conclusion," "to conclude," "in summary," and "to sum up." These phrases can be useful--even welcome--in oral presentations. But readers can see, by the tell-tale compression of the pages, when an essay is about to end. You'll irritate your audience if you belabor the obvious.
• Resist the urge to apologize. If you've immersed yourself in your subject, you now know a good deal more about it than you can possibly include in a five- or ten- or 20-page essay. As a result, by the time you've finished writing, you may be having some doubts about what you've produced. (And if you haven't immersed yourself in your subject, you may be feeling even more doubtful about your essay as you approach the conclusion.) Repress those doubts. Don't undercut your authority by saying things like, "this is just one approach to the subject; there may be other, better approaches. . ."

Copyright 1998, Pat Bellanca, for the Writing Center at Harvard University

Narrative Essay Writing

Personal Narrative Essay

Personal Narrative Essay - Easy Guide & Examples

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Published on: Apr 18, 2020

Last updated on: Mar 24, 2024

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A personal narrative essay can be a fun way to share your life story with friends and family. However, most students have no idea how to write a personal narrative essay. 

This can be a challenge. On top of that, it's one of the most common assignments in school.

Is this something that you are also dealing with? Fortunately, you don't have to worry anymore! We are here to simplify the process for you.

This guide will walk you through the process of writing a personal narrative essay step by step. Plus, you can find plenty of examples here to help you get started and avoid common writing mistakes. 

So what are you waiting for, take a step forward to make your essay shine!

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Personal Narrative Essay Definition

What is a Personal Narrative Essay? 

A personal narrative essay is also referred to as short storytelling. It depends on the writer's type of story they want to tell the readers. This type of essay can be composed of the personal experience of the writer. 

A personal narrative essay is usually written in the first person participle. It helps to depict a clear narrative that’s focused on a specific moment.

Usually, high school students are usually assigned to write such essays. Writing these essays helps them to enhance creative writing skills. Also, they help to provide insight into a student’s personal life. 

To write a personal narrative essay, the writer specifies a plot around which the entire essay revolves. Moreover, the plot should also discuss the characters that have played some part in the story.

Sample Personal Narrative Essay (PDF)

How to Start a Personal Narrative Essay?  

The personal narrative essay requires a balance between objectivity and subjectivity. To write about an event or situation with significance, you must first identify what's important to share with the readers.

As with other types of writing - there are some guidelines you need to follow some guidelines. These are;

1. Choose the Right Topic 

A good topic can not just make your essay look good, but also it will make the writing process much easier. Since personal narrative essays are written on personal experiences and thoughts, make sure you choose your most interesting experience. 

Keep in mind that the topic you choose matches the intended audience. It is the reader who decides the scope and success of your essay.

2. Choose a Theme 

You can also choose a theme for your essay. This will help you focus on what you want to say. You can use your personal experiences to explore the theme in depth.  For example, if you choose the theme of love, you could talk about your experience of love with your sister(s).  Alternatively, you can start writing out the story and see if any ideas might relate to a bigger theme. When you are writing, pay attention to any ideas that keep coming up. See if they might be related to a bigger topic.

3. Create a Thesis Statement 

The thesis statement is the most important sentence and tells the reader what your essay will be about.  

In a personal narrative essay, the thesis statement can briefly explore the story's events. Or it can tell the reader about the moral or lesson learned through personal experience. The thesis statement can also present the main theme of the essay. 

For example, if you are writing an essay about your personal experience as a refugee. You may have a thesis statement that presents the theme of freedom.

Check out more thesis statement examples to learn how to write one!

4. Create an Outline 

Once you have your topic, it is time that you create an outline for your essay. The essay outline is an essential element of an essay. It keeps the whole composition in an organized order. 

Also, it helps the reader through the essay. With the help of an outline, a writer can provide logic for the essay. 

Personal Narrative Essay Outline

Being a student, you must know how important an outline is for an essay. It provides an organization with the whole content.

To create an outline for a personal narrative essay, you need to follow the following traditional method.

Introduction

These three major elements of a  narrative essay  are further elaborated down below.

The introduction is the most important part of essay writing. It is the first impression on the reader; by reading this part, the reader decides the quality of the essay. This part should be the most attention-grabbing part. 

It should have an attention-grabbing hook and some background information about the topic. Moreover, it should include the thesis statement, which explains the main idea of your essay.

Keep in mind that the essay introduction should always end with a transition sentence. This will make a logical connection with the rest of the essay. 

Personal Narrative Introduction Example

Body Paragraphs 

After the introduction, the body paragraphs are written. These paragraphs help you to explain the key elements of your personal narrative essay. 

In a standard personal narrative essay, there are usually three body paragraphs. These paragraphs help the writer to describe the subject of the essay in all possible aspects. 

With the help of these paragraphs, the writer describes their point of view to the readers. To support the essay, the time and place of the event happening are also mentioned. Moreover, these paragraphs have all the information about the characters. 

Keep in mind that a body starts with a topic sentence . This sentence is a kind of introductory sentence for that particular paragraph.

Another important thing you need to keep in mind is the order in which you will present the details. Make sure that you use chronological order for this purpose. 

Personal Narrative Body Example

In conclusion, you need to provide the climax of the story. 

In this section of a personal narrative essay, you should wrap up the whole story. Do it in such a way that you provide a summary of the entire essay. 

Your conclusion should be just as impactful as your introduction. End with a memorable sentence or thought that leaves the reader with a lasting impression. You can summarize the main points of your essay or reflect on the significance of the experience in your life.

Make sure that you do not add any new points in this part. It will not give the reader a sense of accomplishment and will leave them in confusion. 

Personal Narrative Conclusion Example

How to Write a Personal Narrative Essay

A personal narrative essay is considered very good when it is expressive, and the reader enjoys your personal narrative. The key to writing an amazing personal narrative is to use sensory details as much as possible.

An excellent narrative essay doesn't tell what happened. Instead, it shows what happened precisely and how you have felt at that moment.

Here is how you can write a personal narrative essay:

• Start With a Good Hook 

For any type of essay , a hook statement can be a game-changer. But, particularly for a personal narrative essay, hook sentences are very important. 

Usually, the introduction of the essay starts with this sentence. You may use a famous quotation, verse, or an interesting fact for this purpose. This sentence helps to attain the reader’s attention and persuade the reader to read the entire essay. 

• Vivid Description 

For a narrative essay, it is a must to be vivid enough to let the reader imagine the whole scene. This is why it is necessary that the writer uses as much descriptive language as possible. 

For instance, if you are writing about a visit to the beach, you can describe how the sun felt on your face. On top of that, making use of strong verbs and adjectives will also help to provide an engaging experience for readers.  

• Use Transition Words 

For any essay, be it an argumentative essay , descriptive essay , or personal narrative essay. It is very important to have some transition sentences and words. These transition words help to make a logical connection in all parts of the essay. 

In other words, the transition words help to make links between the storyline. You may use transition words like this, however, whereas, therefore, moreover, etc.

• Add Emotions 

The purpose of a personal narrative essay is to show the reader what and how you have felt. Hence don't forget to add the emotions, as you have to make the reader know about the feelings. 

Describe all of the emotions and feelings using very descriptive words. 

• Be Consistent 

Consistency is the key to writing an essay in a professional way. Make sure that you don't get distracted by any irrelevant details. 

Stay focused on one single point, and add details related to your specific idea.  Make sure that you inter-link all the events of the story in a regular manner. This will help the reader to relate all the events. Also, use first-person impressions as you are writing a personal narrative. 

You also want to show the reader that you are telling your own story. Make sure that you follow the same participle in the entire essay. 

• Prove the Significance of Your Experience 

You know that behind every event, there is a reason. Similarly, let your readers know the reason behind your essay and its significance. 

Also, mention that the story you just told was important to share. 

As it is a personal narrative, you don't have to provide evidence to prove the significance of your story. Rather, you have to convey a broader message through your story. 

• Use Dialogue

Dialogue is an excellent way to bring life to your story and make it more engaging. It can reveal the character’s personalities and add a touch of realism to the essay. 

When you use dialogue, make sure to punctuate it correctly and indicate who is speaking.

• Show, Don't Tell

When writing a personal narrative essay, avoid summarizing events and simply telling the story. Instead, use sensory details to help the reader experience the story with you. 

Describe what you saw, heard, felt, tasted, and smelled to bring the story to life.

• Reflect on the Experience

Reflection is an important part of any personal narrative essay. It is an opportunity for you to reflect on the experience you are writing about and what it means to you. Take the time to think about what you learned from the experience and how it has shaped you as a person.

Once you are done with writing your personal narrative essay. It's time that you put a little effort into making it error-free. Proofread the essay more than once and look for minor spelling mistakes and other grammatical mistakes. 

This will ensure that you have written an essay like a pro. You can do this yourself or you may ask a friend to do it for you.

To understand better how to write a personal narrative essay, take a few moments to watch the video below!

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Free Personal Narrative Essay Examples

Examples help you to understand things better; here are a few well-written  narrative essay examples . Read them thoroughly and use them as a guide to writing a good essay yourself.

Personal Narrative Essay 750 words

Personal narrative essays can be long or short. It depends on the writer how they want to elaborate things.

750 Words Personal Narrative Essay (PDF)

Personal Narrative Essay Examples for High School Students

Personal narrative essays are often assigned to high school students. If you are a high school student and looking for some good examples, you are exactly where you should be.

Best Summer Memory of My Childhood (PDF)

Near-Death Experience (PDF)

Personal Narrative Essay Examples for College Students

Being a college student, you will often get to write personal narrative essays. Here are a few examples of well-written personal narrative essays to guide college students.

Climbing a Mountain (PDF)

My First Job (PDF)

Want to get a better understanding? Dive into the wide collection of our narrative essay examples !

Personal Narrative Essay Topics

It is important to choose a good topic before you start writing. Here are some interesting  narrative essay topics  you can choose from for your essay.

• My worst childhood memory
• My favorite summer activities during vacation.
• The first time I had a serious argument with my best friend
• The first time someone broke my heart.
• Things I could tell myself.
• How I balance my family life and my professional life.
• The most important rule in life
• Teachers who inspired me in my college.
• Why I love to write a diary
• My favorite New York Times Article.
• My favorite movie.
• Personal advice for the youth of today.
• How I overcame my stage fear.
• The toughest decision I have ever made.
• What I regret most

Need some inspiration to craft your essay? Our expansive list of narrative essay topics will provide you with plenty of ideas!

Personal Narrative Essay Writing Tips

You need to follow a few things in order to start your personal narrative essay in a proper way. Those significant things are as follows:

• Think of a memorable event, an unforgettable experience, or any that you want to tell the readers.
• Plan your narrative essay. Make yourself clear on the order in which you want to mention all the details.
• Start your personal essay with a hook sentence. This will help you to grab the attention of the readers.
• Use vivid language so that the reader can imagine the whole scene in mind. Describe the actions, mood, theme, and overall plot.
• Make sure that you use descriptive language.
• Use proper sentence structure.

In conclusion,

writing a personal narrative essay can be daunting for many students.

So, step into the world of professional essay writing with our specialized narrative essay writing service . We're committed to crafting compelling stories that capture and engage.

For added convenience and innovation, don't forget to check out our essay writer online , an AI tool designed to refine and elevate your writing experience. Join us today and transform your writing journey!

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How to write a Compelling Personal Narrative Essay

Have you been assigned to write a personal narrative assignment but do not know how to proceed? Do you suck in writing essays and fear that you will fail in your personal narrative essay? Worry no more; we have compiled a helpful guide never seen before on the internet. We understand your pain point and have tried to cover literary every little detail you need to know as you set out on a journey to write.

The good thing is that our refined essay writers , who themselves are masters of crafting personal narratives have developed this guide. We sought their input as well as did research on the best practices when writing this type of assignment. As a custom paper writing service , we are so impressed by this guide that we use it in internal training for our new writers.  We, therefore, believe that it is a valuable resource when writing your personal narrative essay.

This step-by-step guide to writing a personal narrative essay covers all the critical elements, with practical samples and elaborations as necessary. We are doing this so that you do not dread writing one or cringe when assigned personal narrative essays, as most students do.

What is a personal narrative essay?

A personal narrative is a story about you. Narrative, from the Latin  narrare , means to narrate a tale or a story. The narrative you will write will be a "personal" narrative.  Thus, the story will be written by you, about you, and in many ways, for you. What makes a personal narrative so interesting is that it's a story with a point or purpose.   In other words, a personal narrative is detailed, descriptive, dialogue-driven, and determined to make a point. 

A personal narrative can be a story that conveys your fears, ambitions, passion, sensitivity, humor, excitements, or what makes you sad, angry, or weak, written in prose form . It lets your audience connect with you. Like other stories, personal narratives have the beginning, middle/climax, the end, and characters.

Personal narratives are written by those in academics as well as other professions. In the realm of academia, a personal narrative essay tells a story that is personal, experiential, and personal. As an author, you aim to creatively express your thoughts, ideas, feelings, and opinions. Personal narrative essays are usually from 500 words onwards.

In the general life arena, personal narratives are a form of journalism or non-fiction works that are part of narrative journalism. Pioneer publications like New York Times, Guardian, and Time magazine have personal narrative sections.

A persona narrative covers any reflective and contemplative subject with a unique perspective and a strong voice. You can write it using personal pronouns such as "I" or "we." The story is usually about a memorable moment that is worth recounting.

What is the purpose of a personal narrative essay?

When a teacher, lecturer, or professor assigns you a personal narrative, there are many things they are testing.

Like any form of academic writing, there needs to be a reason for writing the narrative and why the reader should read it.

The purpose of the personal narrative is to share a meaningful experience, and the lesson learned from the experience.

Specifically, this essay aims to share a story about a time you experienced gratitude.

From the perspective of a professor or lecturer, it is assigned to test your narrative writing skills. It is also meant to assess whether you grasp following instructions, using proper English, and expressing yourself.

So, a personal narrative is not a chance for the professor to fail you. Instead, it is to help you better yourself by honing your writing, creativity, and critical thinking skills, which are equally needed to survive in real-world settings.

Who is the audience of a Personal Narrative?

In many ways, we write a personal narrative for ourselves to reflect upon an experience, to grow from an event.

However, we want you to imagine that your audience is you and someone else. Therefore, the writer needs to know who their audience is and how their needs will affect how the narrative is composed and presented.

For example, in addition to writing this story as an opportunity for personal reflection, you may also choose a family member or friend group as your real or imagined audience.

 Selecting a real or imagined audience will help you develop your essay with the right tone. For example, the tone for a personal narrative can be formal or informal; it depends on your chosen audience.

Related: How to write a descriptive essay.

Steps to take when writing your Personal Narrative

If you are assigned to write a personal narrative essay, or you are doing it for a contest, here are some eight must-follow steps to succeed:

1. Choose a befitting topic

After reading the personal narrative essay prompt, you must choose a good topic to write a story about. We have outlined how to choose a topic in this guide.

A good topic makes an essay look good and simplifies the writing process. In addition, the topic helps you define the theme you want to share with your audience. In most cases, the topic for a personal narrative refers to your experiences as the writer, so you do not have to use external sources when brainstorming.

Because your personal narrative reflects personal experiences, thoughts, and ideas, ensure that you choose an exciting topic. In addition, the topic should match the intended audience because the audience eventually defines the scope of your essay.

2. Brainstorm and develop ideas for your essay

With the topic, you can create mind maps or notes brainstorming on presenting your ideas. Next, determine what befits your story's beginning, middle, and end. Now that you have all the best ideas, you must turn them into a plan.

3. Write your essay outline/structure

The outline of your personal narrative is your blueprint or essay plan. It is an essential component in your preparation and writing phases. An outline helps organize the composition, maintaining flow, coherence, and clarity. You can visualize your audience and logically write a paper that meets their expectations with a good outline.

4. Begin your essay with a good hook

Now that we have the outline, write your essay with a good hook statement . A sound hook is a game-changer in every aspect. For example, a good hook sentence for a personal narrative essay will signal your reader to keep all their attention to the paper because there is better to come. You can use famous quotes, statistics, current issues or affairs, concepts, anecdotes, verses, or interesting facts. And once you have one, you have the currency to grab your readers' attention to read your essay entirely.

5. Write the essay in the first person, with spice, and descriptively

Develop your ideas in the first person or "I," but avoid overdoing it. A personal narrative allows you the freedom to use the first person since it is personal. Therefore, you should use "I" without switching the perspective to favor someone else when outlining the significance of ongoing events.

Also, when writing, describe the places and characters. Giving a vivid description adorns your story as it makes the plot clear. This is specifically big for the people affected by the outcome or those who matter in your story. When mentioning places, ensure you use spatial relations to create the picture in the reader's mind. Having such information helps shape the perspectives of your readers. It also helps change the characters' attitudes and helps them understand your central idea.

When writing, spice up the essay by turning things around to make your readers entertained even more. To do this, you can introduce a dramatic or antagonistic character that interferes with the status quo: your purposes. Having such an unpredictable twist can help break the monotony of your audience.

6. Edit your essay

With your first draft ready, you must revise it thoroughly to make it presentable, flowing, and worth grading. To edit well, follow these suggestions (our top-rated essay writers do this, and their essays always turn out perfect):

• Avoid editing your essay immediately after completing the essay. Instead, take some rest and only edit when you are fresh. It helps you be objective, determined, and fresh enough to spot mistakes.
• Simplify the big vocabulary, complicated sentences, and paragraphs for a compelling story.
• Avoid using terms that can easily confuse your readers
• Scan your essay for repetitions of ideas, messages, words, and sentences
• Check if your essay meets the word count, general formatting requirements, and number of paragraphs
• Review the structure of your essay
• Check if there are problematic areas and paraphrase

A well-edited personal narrative essay is a direct ticket to the best grade.

7. Proofread your essay

Editing is not proofreading and vice versa. Editing focuses on the content, structure, and style, while proofreading concerns grammar, syntax, and spelling errors. When proofreading:

• Use a professional proofreader to check your essay . Our custom writing company has the best proofreaders around.
• Using applications such as Grammarly, Hemmingway, or Ginger, you can check your essay for grammar mistakes.
• Ensure that your essay is devoid of spelling mistakes

Having someone re-read your essay helps you correct otherwise unnoticeable mistakes. If the personal narrative is for a common APP or college application, use a credible editing company like Gradecrest.

8. Submit for marking/publishing

Finally, with everything in its rightful place, it is time to polish up the essay and ensure the title page is well written. Input your name, professor's name, submission date, class name, and code as per the recommended style. Once you have everything labeled as it should, including the filename, you can hit the submit button in your email or on Canvas and wait for the best grades .

Tips for writing a resounding Personal Narrative Essay

• Choose a focused and narrow experience , as a "too big" experience will result in less development and detail. Flesh out the details of a "smaller" story, but an important one.
• Plan your narrative essay and avoid pantsing . Planning a personal narrative means writing a story based on a specific blueprint or roadmap for telling the story. You first figure out the parts of your story before writing. On the other hand, pantsing is when you write a personal narrative based on a chosen essay topic from the start to the end without planning or thinking things through.
• Have a clear purpose . The personal narrative essay must mirror a unique perspective on life. Even though this is hard to attain than it sounds, watch your tone in the essay.
• Use your introduction to "sell" your audience on your topic . In other words, "HOOK" them into your story by providing an interesting and engaging opening paragraph.
• Draft your story using the first-person pronoun "I." (This is among those assignments where you can use first-person pronouns, so "I" away!). Remember, you are the author. So, take ownership of your story. However, overusing "I" only makes your story redundant and self-centered.
• Mind attention to tenses. When writing a personal narrative, choose to write in the past tense. It helps in separating your current narrative voice and your past self. You are narrating the latter more. However, if you flip the story and use the present tense, ensure consistency.
• Be sure that the audience/reader understands precisely what your narrative will be about with the background information to understand that narrative fully. Give the reader appropriate background, but don't go overboard.
• Your story should have a point, a message, and/or a clear lesson that the reader can understand . In a personal narrative, the point of your story can also be called a thesis statement. Make sure you make your point or thesis clear to the reader. In a personal narrative, the thesis statement should be located within the introduction: and most commonly, it is usually woven into the introductory paragraph as the last sentence.
• Use your conclusion to "wrap up" the topic and the narrative. Be sure to return to what the point of your story is.
• Ensure that you use proper sentence structure . For example, mix long and short sentences and try as much as possible to avoid run-on sentences.
• SHOW, Don't Tell ! Since it is a narration, it should show your readers exactly what happened instead of telling them what transpired. You, as the writer, become one of the characters. Showing helps you shape your readers' perspective and attitude toward your story. It equally impacts how the audience views your predominant plot. Therefore, do not succumb to explaining everything descriptively but show your readers some action.
• Use descriptive language and tone when writing
• Use vivid language so that your readers can imagine the whole scene.
• Use sensory-driven details to describe moods, actions, themes, and the plot. Adding emotions to your essay helps the reader to know about the feeling. Describe the feelings and emotions using descriptive words.
• Zoom into the important moments of your story's most significant and interesting parts. You must also prove the significance of your experience through adequate personal evidence and examples.
• Maintain consistency when writing this essay. Any professional essay writer will tell you that consistency is vital. Stay focused on one idea and add as many details related to the specific point as possible. Avoid detours into irrelevant details.

Related: T ricks and tips for good narrative writing.

Features of an excellent personal narrative essay

Ensure that these six personal narrative features are addressed when writing your personal narrative essay. The features include:

1. Proper Essay Organization

Like any other story, the Personal Narrative is organized with a clear beginning, middle, and end. It should read like a story: with an exposition, a rise action, a climax, falling action, and a resolution or denouement.  While the Personal Narrative is less formal than other academic essays , the point or moral of the story (i.e., the thesis) should be obvious to the reader.

2. Description of characters

It is vital to develop the characters in the story so that the reader understands the people in the story: even if the one person is YOU. Mainly, doing this helps your reader learn about the characters by what they say and do.

3. Use Transitions

An excellent personal narrative utilizes paragraph breaks and transitional words and phrases that help the audience (or reader) flow in and around the story.

4. Dialogue

You can include external or internal dialogue when writing a personal narrative to connect your characters and help propel the story forward. Dialog is instrumental in showing rather than telling the story to the reader.

5. Sensory Details

As you write the essay, develop some sense of imagery within your story. You can achieve this by using sensory-driven details. You must create a vivid story by helping your reader/audience perceive, see, hear, taste, touch, and feel as the characters in your story do. The sensory details invite the readers into your world so much that they resonate and own the story. In addition, it helps the audience experience the story you are sharing with them in the most intended way.

6. Thesis Statement

Like all essays you will ever write, a personal narrative has a thesis , the central idea, or the message that drives the story. Thus, it is a thesis-driven storytelling approach where you share with others a story about you.

A thesis helps to show the significance of themes, events, lessons, or morals from the events. When the purpose of your story is structured as a thesis statement, you convince your readers. 

When writing other academic essays, the thesis appears in the last sentences of the first paragraph. However, when writing your personal narrative, you have the freedom and flexibility to determine where your story's main point appears.

This means that as long as your point of the story is clear, the location of the thesis can vary depending on how to develop the story. If anything, underline the thesis statement before submitting your personal narrative for grading.

Format of a Personal Narrative Essay

When you are typing your personal narrative essay, you need to do it in:

• Times New Roman, font size 12.
• Double-paces
• MLA or APA format (depending on your institution or professor)

In terms of flow, a personal narrative is written in prose form. It is a piece of writing assignment that uses the story format. This is to say that it has a beginning, middle, and end.

Ensure a clear introduction paragraph with a hook, background story, and thesis when writing it. Next, the body of the story develops as body paragraphs. Last, your personal narrative has to have a concluding paragraph.

Although personal narratives are less formal than traditional academic writing, your story must have a thesis statement to allow your readers to understand the focal point in your story.

Outline of a Personal Narrative

When doing any piece of writing, having an outline makes work easier. It enables you to determine the flow of ideas and plan the organization of your content.

A personal narrative essay follows the five-paragraph essay structure . That means that it has: an introduction paragraph, three body paragraphs, and a concluding paragraph.

Introduction

In a personal narrative essay, the introduction is as essential a paragraph as with conventional essays. It is the first impression on your reader, which can be used to judge if the essay is worth their time. It further defines the quality and scope of your essay. Therefore, it has to beckon your readers by grabbing their attention-stealing them off their feet.

Begin the introduction with a hook that catches the reader's attention and sets the scene.

• Where is the event set?
• When did the event occur?
• How old were you when this occurred?

After your hook, present some background of the story or the setup of your story. Finally, round up the essay by stating the thesis: What did you learn, or how did the event become significant in your life?

Body Paragraphs

Your essay can have three significant moments from the event's beginning, middle, and end. As you write the body paragraphs, show and don't tell. Use spatial relationships, sensory details, and transition words to mark the passage of time.

Each body paragraph should have an outstanding topic sentence, a detailed explanation, and a concluding sentence.

Ensure that every paragraph focuses on a specific encounter chronologically. Also, place your characters in an excellent position to tell your story for a better flow.

In your personal narrative conclusion, provide the story's climax. Wrap up the entire story and do not introduce new ideas or points.

In your conclusion, analyze and reflect on the story's action, including telling the reader what the event taught you or how it is important/significant to you.

Your conclusion should be satisfying enough so your readers find your personal narrative unforgettable, relatable, and exciting. Ensure that you reiterate the climax of your story to make it more interesting.

Write the lessons learned or takeaways from your story without forcing them on your readers. Instead, show and don't tell. For example, instead of telling your readers what you learned, tell them how different you are now or how the encounter contributed to who you are today. Doing this helps build the moral of your story without forcing issues.

Anatomy/Structure of a Personal Narrative Essay

INTRODUCTION PARAGRAPH

Setting the scene.

BODY PARAGRAPHS

Body Paragraph #1

Topic sentence.

Closing sentence.

Body Paragraph #2

Body Paragraph #3

CLOSING PARAGRAPH, aka. CONCLUSION.

State your thesis differently.

Close with an interesting parting shot.

How to choose a personal narrative topic

To choose a great personal narrative topic, you need to brainstorm and then evaluate the personal narrative topic you've chosen.

Brainstorming means walking through your life, encounters, and experiences and choosing one that you want to share with your readers. Here are some questions to help you:

• What memorable encounters have occurred in your life?
• What challenges have you faced so far in life?
• Are there any important memories that you have?
• What are some of the saddest or happiest events in your life?
• What obstacles or challenges have you faced in life?
• What stories matter the most to you as a person?
• What memories define you?

When brainstorming, you can list such topics; you will surely come up with vivid and outstanding topics. You can equally select personal narrative topics from the class's personal narrative essay prompts. Furthermore, if our list of 50-plus personal narrative topics does not resonate with a personal narrative you want to write, you can use an essay writer who will brainstorm and develop a great topic.

When brainstorming, use divergent and convergent thinking. Divergent thinking helps generate as many ideas as possible, whereas convergent thinking helps you narrow down to the best ideas.

Having chosen a topic, evaluate if it is the best you can tell your story through. If a story is boring to you, it will most likely be boring to your audience. This is enough of a signal to change the personal narrative topic.

With the topic, write an outline with the story's beginning, middle, and end. You must critically and deeply analyze the personal narrative ideas developed when brainstorming to help you write a great essay.

Some valuable tips for choosing the topics

• Avoid overdone topics. Instead, come up with fresh ideas.
• Narrow down to a topic you are comfortable writing about
• Do not choose a topic that triggers stress in your life
• Choose a topic you relate with, know about, and care to share about
• Choose a topic about something you are passionate about
• Have a topic you can relate to at a personal level
• Choose a topic you are sure will interest the audience

51 Personal Narrative Topics to Consider in your assignment

• My favorite pet
• A teacher I will never forget
• A memorable high school encounter
• My first job
• A memorable childhood experience
• A memorable music concert I attended
• How I Developed the love for Football
• When I found my passion for gymnastics
• A story of how I lost a close friend
• A memorable sporting events
• A birthday surprise party I will never forget
• Why I visit the park often
• Personal advice to my generation
• What I regret the most
• When I learned to control my anger
• My favorite movie
• My favorite subject
• My dream job
• An encounter with my model celebrity
• The most important principle in my life
• How I balance family and professional life
• The first time I drunk
• The most challenging decision I have ever made
• My most memorable loss
• Celebrities that inspire my life
• My favorite congressperson
• My favorite president
• The day I first voted
• An encounter with a stalker
• My pains as a child who was neglected
• My experience as an orphan
• My experiences as an adopted child
• An embarrassing moment in my life
• An inspirational class I took online
• When I got lost when camping
• How I Fell in love with riding bikes
• The most memorable volunteering activity
• An unforgettable encounter with thieves
• The day I brushed shoulders with death
• The day I had a date with death
• The day I woke up in a hospital
• My immigration story
• When I discovered a nasty family secret
• One day I felt alone and scared
• First time I cooked a meal for my parents
• When I bought my first shares
• The first time I learned how to play the piano
• An encounter that changed my life perspective
• A story about a personal failure that inspired your resilience
• A first love that never was
• The stepmother from hell
• The day death robbed my family
• The day I learned the hard truths about my birth

5 Examples of Personal Narrative Essay Prompts

We have compiled some personal narrative essay prompts we came across as we researched and interacted with the content and from works that our writers have completed. Here are some examples:

1. Experiencing Gratitude

For this assignment, you will write a personal narrative: a story: illustrating an event, moment (or series of moments), or experience exemplifying gratitude. Share a story about a moment, experience, or event where you experienced gratitude either during the experience itself or after the experience took place.  

2. A Favorite School Memory

Write a story about your favorite school memory. Who was there? Where was it? How did it happen? How does it end? Focus on one single event. For example, if you played the violin in school, you could tell a story about playing the violin in a concert. Or, if you played on a soccer team, you could tell the story of your tryout.

3. Unresolved personal experience

Describe something that happened to you but where there's no resolution. What was the experience, and how did it occur? What don't you understand or know about the experience? Then, instead of having a resolution to the story, convey how you feel about not knowing what happened.

4. Family Story

Write a personal narrative about something that happened within your family. What occurred, who was there, and what did you do? Is there an important, funny, sad, or happy event in your family?  Did you do something important or special with your family? Some examples of this topic are the birth of someone in your family, the death of a loved one, or something fun you did with your parents, siblings, grandparents, etc.

5. The Memorable Journey

Write a story of the best, strangest, or worst thing that happened to you on a vacation or trip to another place. Focus on one event or experience. When assigned such, you can focus on a robbery encounter when in a new town, an encounter with pickpocketers, getting lost in a place, experiencing a new culture in a place, getting to demystify your personal beliefs while on a journey, meeting new people while on transit, being left by a plane, or being stuck on the roads in a forest, etc.

6. An International or National Event or Incident

Write a personal story describing how you acted, witnessed, or responded to a significant national or international event or incident. For example, did you play in the Olympics or join a protest?  Did you survive a natural disaster?  What was your role in this circumstance? What did you do? For example, if you were in a hurricane, describe what happened, who you were with, and how you survived.

7. Meaningful Life Experience

Write a powerful short story about a meaningful life experience. This prompt was used in the September 2020 New York Times Personal narrative essay contest . Look at how glittery, composed, organized, and well-thought-out the winning personal narrative essays were and hone your skills. The best ones, including the honorary mentions, were sieved from over 8000 entries sourced globally.

8. Accident

Write a story about an accident you caused or that happened to you.  This could be negative, as in a car accident, or maybe it's an accident of good fortune.  Describe the accident, who was involved, and how it ended. For example, was it a bicycle accident? How did it happen? Did someone get hurt?

Personal Statement Examples

Below is an image of a color-coded personal narrative example that explains the different parts covered in an essay.

 You can also access more personal narrative essay examples through these websites:

• Thought Catalog : a publication that targets Generation Z through publishing personal narrative essays based on family, romance, friendship, and self-improvement, among others.
• The writing Life : a publication run by selfpublishing.com, which presents samples of personal narratives.
• Annual New York Times contest : Check out the yearly contest with different prompts targeting teenagers across the globe.
• The Narrative Magazine : an online publication that publishes non-fiction narratives.
• Narratively : publishes long-form writing that celebrates humanity through storytelling. In addition, it has personal narrative essays written to inspire, reflect, and provoke, mainly focusing on marginalized and overlooked subjects.
• Long Reads : includes best personal narratives and narrative essays from the entire web, including award-winning articles.

You can also rummage through websites such as GoodReads to access some read-worthy personal narrative books to inspire you. Here are a few picks:

• Educated by Tara Westover
• Owl Moon by Jane Yolen
• Fireflies by Julie Brinckloe
• Night by Elie Weisel
• The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
• The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
• My Rotten Readhead Older Brother by Patricia Polacco
• Marshfield Dreams: When I Was a Kid by Ralph Fletcher
• Kitchen Dance by Maurie J. Manning
• The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant

Many worthy personal narrative books can inspire you to write an unforgettable story you want your audience to enjoy, appreciate, and forever think about.

Step-By-Step Checklist: Ready, Set, Write!

Here is an excellent step-by-step checklist that can help you craft a terrific personal narrative essay.

• Begin by brainstorming experiences in your life that you think may be a good fit to showcase a story where you experienced gratitude.
• Once you settle on an experience to write, begin to imagine the experience as a story. Use the storytelling graphic organizer to brainstorm the sequence of events.
• Next, imagine the characters who will appear in your story. Of course, you will be in this, but who else plays a role? Imagine you are a character in the story and those who share in the experience. By imagining you and others as characters, you will characterize those involved and build conversations between the characters appropriately. Internal or external conversations or dialogue between characters allow the reader to see the story unfold. We call this showing vs. telling.
• Start Writing! As you begin your first draft, focus on using vivid details and sense imagery. If the story becomes too detailed or long, you can always edit what is necessary. As well, share specific and relevant details to this experience.
• Organize your story using a clear and logical order, with a strong introduction and conclusion.
• Incorporate dialogue to show a character's personality and propel the story forward.
• Show that the experience had a definite impact on you: in other words, it has a point or thesis.
• Select various words and sentence structures to create tone and voice: focusing on your audience will help you focus on the tone you use.
• When you're done writing the draft: read it to yourself and ensure that the story illustrates a strong point, vivid characters, and a clear beginning, middle, and end structure.
• Correct spelling, usage, mechanics, grammar, and sentence formation errors. Also, be sure your story has an original title and properly label your draft using MLA formatting.

Parting Shot

You can attest that writing a personal narrative essay is not as complicated as you thought. It is a writing assignment you will most likely encounter in college, high school, or university. You are involving your person in the body of this paper, which makes it a bit confusing. But our guide has clarified everything you need to know. You can now turn your thought, ideas, imaginations, and experiences into a brilliant piece.

When writing a personal narrative essay, you tell your story, so make it count! It is an exercise that sometimes becomes complex and confusing for most students. Lucky you that we have a professional team of writers you can hire to write a bespoke personal narrative for you. You can use the model personal narrative essay to understand how to find your way through the assignment.

When you buy narrative essays from our website, our writers write your college essay from scratch. As a result, the essays are plagiarism-free, personalized ( since you communicate with the writer), and delivered within the shortest turnaround time.

You can contact our support team, available 24/7 to help you with any queries about any order or assignment placed on our website. So head to our homepage and click the " order now " button to let us take the stress of writing a personal narrative away from you.

Gradecrest is a professional writing service that provides original model papers. We offer personalized services along with research materials for assistance purposes only. All the materials from our website should be used with proper references. See our Terms of Use Page for proper details.

Narrative Essay with Tips - a Detailed Guide

Defining What Is a Narrative Essay

We can explain a narrative essay definition as a piece of writing that tells a story. It's like a window into someone's life or a page torn from a diary. Similarly to a descriptive essay, a narrative essay tells a story, rather than make a claim and use evidence. It can be about anything – a personal experience, a childhood memory, a moment of triumph or defeat – as long as it's told in a way that captures the reader's imagination.

You might ask - 'which sentence most likely comes from a narrative essay?'. Let's take this for example: 'I could hear the waves crashing against the shore, their rhythm a soothing lullaby that carried me off to sleep.' You could even use such an opening for your essay when wondering how to start a narrative essay.

To further define a narrative essay, consider it storytelling with a purpose. The purpose of a narrative essay is not just to entertain but also to convey a message or lesson in first person. It's a way to share your experiences and insights with others and connect with your audience. Whether you're writing about your first love, a harrowing adventure, or a life-changing moment, your goal is to take the reader on a journey that will leave them feeling moved, inspired, or enlightened.

So if you're looking for a way to express yourself creatively and connect with others through your writing, try your hand at a narrative essay. Who knows – you might just discover a hidden talent for storytelling that you never knew you had!

Meanwhile, let's delve into the article to better understand this type of paper through our narrative essay examples, topic ideas, and tips on constructing a perfect essay.

Types of Narrative Essays

If you were wondering, 'what is a personal narrative essay?', know that narrative essays come in different forms, each with a unique structure and purpose. Regardless of the type of narrative essay, each aims to transport the reader to a different time and place and to create an emotional connection between the reader and the author's experiences. So, let's discuss each type in more detail:

• A personal narrative essay is based on one's unique experience or event. Personal narrative essay examples include a story about overcoming a fear or obstacle or reflecting on a particularly meaningful moment in one's life.
• A fictional narrative is a made-up story that still follows the basic elements of storytelling. Fictional narratives can take many forms, from science fiction to romance to historical fiction.
• A memoir is similar to personal narratives but focuses on a specific period or theme in a person's life. Memoirs might be centered around a particular relationship, a struggle with addiction, or a cultural identity. If you wish to describe your life in greater depth, you might look at how to write an autobiography .
• A literacy narrative essay explores the writer's experiences with literacy and how it has influenced their life. The essay typically tells a personal story about a significant moment or series of moments that impacted the writer's relationship with reading, writing, or communication.

You might also be interested in discovering ' HOW TO WRITE AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY '

Pros and Cons of Narrative Writing

Writing a narrative essay can be a powerful tool for self-expression and creative storytelling, but like any form of writing, it comes with its own set of pros and cons. Let's explore the pros and cons of narrative writing in more detail, helping you to decide whether it's the right writing style for your needs.

• It can be a powerful way to convey personal experiences and emotions.
• Allows for creative expression and unique voice
• Engages the reader through storytelling and vivid details
• It can be used to teach a lesson or convey a message.
• Offers an opportunity for self-reflection and growth
• It can be challenging to balance personal storytelling with the needs of the reader
• It may not be as effective for conveying factual information or arguments
• It may require vulnerability and sharing personal details that some writers may find uncomfortable
• It can be subjective, as the reader's interpretation of the narrative may vary

If sharing your personal stories is not your cup of tea, you can buy essays online from our expert writers, who will customize the paper to your particular writing style and tone.

20 Excellent Narrative Essay Topics and How to Choose One

Choosing a good topic among many narrative essay ideas can be challenging, but some tips can help you make the right choice. Here are some original and helpful tips on how to choose a good narrative essay topic:

• Consider your own experiences: One of the best sources of inspiration for a narrative essay is your own life experiences. Consider moments that have had a significant impact on you, whether they are positive or negative. For example, you could write about a memorable trip or a challenging experience you overcame.
• Choose a topic relevant to your audience: Consider your audience and their interests when choosing a narrative essay topic. If you're writing for a class, consider what topics might be relevant to the course material. If you're writing for a broader audience, consider what topics might be interesting or informative to them.
• Find inspiration in literature: Literature can be a great source of inspiration for a narrative essay. Consider the books or stories that have had an impact on you, and think about how you can incorporate elements of them into your own narrative. For example, you could start by using a title for narrative essay inspired by the themes of a favorite novel or short story.
• Focus on a specific moment or event: Most narrative essays tell a story, so it's important to focus on a specific moment or event. For example, you could write a short narrative essay about a conversation you had with a friend or a moment of realization while traveling.
• Experiment with different perspectives: Consider writing from different perspectives to add depth and complexity to your narrative. For example, you could write about the same event from multiple perspectives or explore the thoughts and feelings of a secondary character.
• Use writing prompts: Writing prompts can be a great source of inspiration if you struggle to develop a topic. Consider using a prompt related to a specific theme, such as love, loss, or growth.
• Choose a topic with rich sensory details: A good narrative essay should engage the senses and create a vivid picture in the reader's mind. Choose a topic with rich sensory details that you can use to create a vivid description. For example, you could write about a bustling city's sights, sounds, and smells.
• Choose a topic meaningful to you: Ultimately, the best narrative essays are meaningful to the writer. Choose a topic that resonates with you and that you feel passionate about. For example, you could write about a personal goal you achieved or a struggle you overcame.

Here are some good narrative essay topics for inspiration from our experts:

• A life-changing event that altered your perspective on the world
• The story of a personal accomplishment or achievement
• An experience that tested your resilience and strength
• A time when you faced a difficult decision and how you handled it
• A childhood memory that still holds meaning for you
• The impact of a significant person in your life
• A travel experience that taught you something new
• A story about a mistake or failure that ultimately led to growth and learning
• The first day of a new job or school
• The story of a family tradition or ritual that is meaningful to you
• A time when you had to confront a fear or phobia
• A memorable concert or music festival experience
• An experience that taught you the importance of communication or listening
• A story about a time when you had to stand up for what you believed in
• A time when you had to persevere through a challenging task or project
• A story about a significant cultural or societal event that impacted your life
• The impact of a book, movie, or other work of art on your life
• A time when you had to let go of something or someone important to you
• A memorable encounter with a stranger that left an impression on you
• The story of a personal hobby or interest that has enriched your life

Narrative Format and Structure

The narrative essay format and structure are essential elements of any good story. A well-structured narrative can engage readers, evoke emotions, and create lasting memories. Whether you're writing a personal essay or a work of fiction, the following guidelines on how to write a narrative essay can help you create a compelling paper:

• Introduction : The introduction sets the scene for your story and introduces your main characters and setting. It should also provide a hook to capture your reader's attention and make them want to keep reading. When unsure how to begin a narrative essay, describe the setting vividly or an intriguing question that draws the reader in.
• Plot : The plot is the sequence of events that make up your story. It should have a clear beginning, middle, and end, with each part building on the previous one. The plot should also have a clear conflict or problem the protagonist must overcome.
• Characters : Characters are the people who drive the story. They should be well-developed and have distinct personalities and motivations. The protagonist should have a clear goal or desire, and the antagonist should provide a challenge or obstacle to overcome.
• Setting : The setting is the time and place the story takes place. It should be well-described and help to create a mood or atmosphere that supports the story's themes.
• Dialogue : Dialogue is the conversation between characters. It should be realistic and help to reveal the characters' personalities and motivations. It can also help to move the plot forward.
• Climax : The climax is the highest tension or conflict point in the story. It should be the turning point that leads to resolving the conflict.
• Resolution : The resolution is the end of the story. It should provide a satisfying conclusion to the conflict and tie up any loose ends.

Following these guidelines, you can create a narrative essay structure that engages readers and leaves a lasting impression. Remember, a well-structured story can take readers on a journey and make them feel part of the action.

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Narrative Essay Outline

Here is a detailed narrative essay outline from our custom term paper writing :

Introduction

A. Hook: Start with an attention-grabbing statement, question, or anecdote that introduces the topic and draws the reader in. Example: 'The sun beat down on my skin as I stepped onto the stage, my heart pounding with nervous excitement.'

B. Background information: Provide context for the story, such as the setting or the characters involved. Example: 'I had been preparing for this moment for weeks, rehearsing my lines and perfecting my performance for the school play.'

C. Thesis statement: State the essay's main point and preview the events to come. Example: 'This experience taught me that taking risks and stepping outside my comfort zone can lead to unexpected rewards and personal growth.'

Body Paragraphs

A. First event: Describe the first event in the story, including details about the setting, characters, and actions. Example: 'As I delivered my first lines on stage, I felt a rush of adrenaline and a sense of pride in my hard work paying off.'

B. Second event: Describe the second event in the story, including how it builds on the first event and moves the story forward. Example: 'As the play progressed, I became more comfortable in my role and connecting with the other actors on stage.'

C. Turning point: Describe the turning point in the story, when something unexpected or significant changes the course of events. Example: 'In the final act, my character faced a difficult decision that required me to improvise and trust my instincts.'

D. Climax: Describe the story's climax, the highest tension or conflict point. Example: 'As the play reached its climax, I delivered my final lines with confidence and emotion, feeling a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment.'

A. Restate thesis: Summarize the essay's main point and how the events in the story support it. Example: 'Through this experience, I learned that taking risks and pushing past my comfort zone can lead to personal growth and unexpected rewards.'

B. Reflection: Reflect on the significance of the experience and what you learned from it. Example: 'Looking back, I realize that this experience not only taught me about acting and performance but also about the power of perseverance and self-belief.'

C. Call to action: if you're still wondering how to write an essay conclusion , consider ending it with a call to action or final thought that leaves the reader with something to consider or act on. Example: 'I encourage everyone to take risks and embrace new challenges because you never know what kind of amazing experiences and growth they may lead to.

You might also be interested in getting detailed info on ' HOW TO WRITE AN ESSAY CONCLUSION '

Narrative Essay Examples

Are you looking for inspiration for your next narrative essay? Look no further than our narrative essay example. Through vivid storytelling and personal reflections, this essay takes the reader on a journey of discovery and leaves them with a powerful lesson about the importance of compassion and empathy. Use this sample from our expert essay writer as a guide for crafting your own narrative essay, and let your unique voice and experiences shine through.

Narrative Essay Example for College

College professors search for the following qualities in their students:

• the ability to adapt to different situations,
• the ability to solve problems creatively,
• and the ability to learn from mistakes.

Your work must demonstrate these qualities, regardless of whether your narrative paper is a college application essay or a class assignment. Additionally, you want to demonstrate your character and creativity. Describe a situation where you have encountered a problem, tell the story of how you came up with a unique approach to solving it, and connect it to your field of interest. The narrative can be exciting and informative if you present it in such fashion.

Narrative Essay Example for High School

High school is all about showing that you can make mature choices. You accept the consequences of your actions and retrieve valuable life lessons. Think of an event in which you believe your actions were exemplary and made an adult choice. A personal narrative essay example will showcase the best of your abilities. Finally, use other sources to help you get the best results possible. Try searching for a sample narrative essay to see how others have approached it.

Final Words

So now that you know what is a narrative essay you might want to produce high-quality paper. For that let our team of experienced writers help. Our research paper writing service offers a range of professional writing services that cater to your unique needs and requirements, from narrative essays to medical personal statement , also offering dissertation help and more.

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What Is A Narrative Essay?

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Write a Gripping Personal Narrative Essay Using Our Cheat Guide

Jim Peterson has over 20 years experience on speech writing. He wrote over 300 free speech topic ideas and how-to guides for any kind of public speaking and speech writing assignments at My Speech Class.

There’s no way to cheat the system and avoid writing a narrative essay. Every student has written it at least once. However, while the great majority find this type of essay pretty easy and not challenging, many students struggle to understand the point behind the personal narrative essay.

In this article, you’ll learn:

• How to write a personal narrative essay like a pro.
• Why is essay writing critical?
• What exactly is a personal narrative essay?
• What is the structure of this essay type?
• How to choose a unique narrative essay topic?

Before you know it, ideas will start pouring in, and you’ll find the assignment wasn’t a difficult task after all!

In this article:

What is a Personal Narrative Essay?

1. introduction, 3. conclusion, how to write a personal narrative essay, how to choose a personal narrative topic.

A personal narrative essay is usually the preferred type of essay for students. It is commonly referred to as “short storytelling” and lacks the intense research and reference of argumentative and other essays.

Personal narrative essays are all about you and the story you want to tell. It helps shape the future writer in you and takes the reader through a journey. It can be an emotional piece of writing featuring a funny, sad, or surprising event or memory.

You will write a personal narrative essay in first person participle unless your assignment states otherwise. It aims to depict a particular narrative and a crucial moment within it.

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Personal narrative essays are typically assigned to high school students to help advance their creative writing skills, but the structure of this essay is applied to many other writing assignments.

An integral part of your personal narrative essay is the plot and story, as well as the characters featured in it. You can learn more about the structure and essential elements of personal narratives in the sections below, including some tools used by professional writers like a thesis statement or hook sentences. You’ll know how to write a personal narrative essay like a pro by the time you’re done!

Structure of a Personal Narrative Essay

The personal narrative essay certainly provides the most freedom and flexibility when writing. Of course, like any other text written by high school students or college students, it needs to have an outline and structure. But, don’t worry, it isn’t complicated. It’s there to help you arrange and organize your writing content.

A personal narrative essay consists of three parts:

The introduction is the most crucial part of the essay. It’s the beginning, and it includes your hook statement or sentence, which you use to grab the reader’s attention. Depending on how effective your hook is , the reader will decide whether or not to keep reading.

Another element present in your introduction is the thematic statement. These sentences summarize the essence of your story. They are a little tricky to master, and if you want to learn more, you can use a thematic statements guide to gain some insight into the topic.

Finally, don’t forget your transition word and sentences at the end of the introductory paragraph (and throughout). It’s essential to include those in your work.

Think of it as a burger – the introduction and conclusion are the burger buns, and the body of your essay is the delicious filling inside: all the cucumbers, meat patty, and mouthwatering sauces go here.

When we write personal narrative essays, we use the body of the narrative essay to explain the critical elements of our personal story. As a standard, your body should feature three paragraphs describing your views, stories, and ideas. This is where you will feature your characters and mention where the main event occurs.

Make sure to start your first paragraph with a topic sentence. Topic sentences work as introductions and typically come naturally. They are used as smooth transitions which bridge your introduction and body.

Keep your telling of the events in chronological order. This is the easiest way and most professional way to write. I will help you avoid getting tangled in your storytelling.

This is where you put the climax of your story. The conclusion is where we wrap up and give the readers what they have been waiting for. Summarize your story, and don’t get tempted to add any new elements in this paragraph. Otherwise, you’ll confuse the reader.

The point of the personal narrative essay is to tap into the student’s personal life and challenge them to write about their experience. A great personal narrative essay shows what happened through vivid details, and it’s an excellent written example of your inner world. The overall story should exemplify your creative writing, feelings, and morals, whether trying to convey interesting thoughts or a specific event. The are several essential elements that need to be present in your personal narrative essay:

• Choose the Right Topic

The main challenge leading to procrastination is everyone’s most dreaded part – choosing the suitable personal narrative essay topics. I get it. It’s a lot of pressure to focus your entire personal essay on one subject. In addition, you need to choose a theme with an emotional impact, which is a tough decision. However, if you’re struggling to find your topic, browsing essay topics on the web can provide you with various ideas and may even lead to some new inspiration.

Since personal narrative essays are based on thought or actual experiences, choose a topic that excites you. For example, think of a specific moment that you vividly remember. A moment that’s important to you that you can retell through the form of a personal narrative essay. Or perhaps some philosophical thoughts have been on your mind lately? You can use those to inspire your narrative essay topics research.

• Write an Outline

Think about the main event, and using the structure discussed above, pinpoint the most critical moments of your story. Next, try to create a personal narrative essay outline. This is a great way to prevent your story from filling with irrelevant details and form a straightforward narrative. Writing an outline helps keep your essay in order. Outlines make personal narrative essays and other written work easily digestible for the reader.

• Grab Attention with a Hook Sentence

Any essay needs a good hook statement, but the personal narrative essay needs it the most. Good hook sentences can convince the reader to go through your entire essay. It grabs the reader’s attention and piques their interest, making them want to read along. With this type of essay, you can be as creative as you want with your hook sentence, but if you’re struggling to come up with one, hook example lists do exist. Take the time to check out all the different hook examples for inspiration.

• Create Powerful Descriptions

You won’t need to do tons of research for your essay. Since it’s a personal take on events or thoughts, you don’t need to reference anyone. But what you should do is come up with a vivid description. I’m not saying pack your essay full of descriptions, instead, describe a scene or thought and try to submerge the reader into it. It helps to think about adjectives related to the five senses. Then, using your creative writing skills, try to paint a picture with your words.

• Get Familiar With Transition Words and Use Them

No matter the essay type, whether it’s an argumentative essay or a personal narrative essay, it is vital to use transition words and sentences. The ones we don’t use in our speech but often apply in text: moreover, however, nevertheless, whereas, as well as, etc. You can find other words in the list of transition words that could work to your benefit with a simple Google search.

• Add Emotions

The point of a narrative essay is to convey the way you feel to the reader through your personal story and experience. This can be hard on new students, and it’s often the most challenging part of an essay. Try to tap into your personal experience, and don’t be shy! Since you’re telling the story in the first person, it’s easier to talk about emotions and provide insight into your thoughts.

• Maintain Consistency

It’s easy to get distracted focusing on the vivid details or crucial moments. Grabbing the reader’s attention is essential, but getting to the point. Be realistic – have you been staying focused on the point you’re trying to make? Be sure the events in your own story are linked well enough to convey the broader message.

You might want to tell the whole story as it happened, but that’s not always necessary. So instead, go back to your essay topic. Is what you’re writing still consistent with your subject? If not, chop off the unnecessary bits. It might be challenging, but it will make for a cleaner story and free some room for other, more helpful information.

• Deliver a Moral

What is the significance behind your story? What made you choose this same event? Since this is a personal narrative essay, don’t worry too much about providing evidence – no one will fact-check your story. Instead, think about the moral or the significance behind your experience. What is the broader message?

• Check Your Work (Twice, Like Santa)

What? Read the whole thing? Again? Yes, proofreading your work is a must and checking it twice matters. Learn to go through your text and look for different things each time. Proofread once and look for grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors. This is also the time to look for punctual mistakes and contextual inaccuracies.

I recommend a fun brainstorming session for anyone stuck with choosing their personal narrative essay topic. Grab a piece of paper and write down a “personal narrative essay” in the middle. Circle the word. Now write down the first words and thoughts that come to mind, no matter how relevant. Maybe you think of the word “pet.” Write that down, circle it and connect it with a line to “personal narrative essay” in the middle. Maybe the word “pet” makes you think of your old cat Timmy. Write down Timmy, circle it, and connect it to “pet” with a line. Perhaps there’s a great story lurking in there.

Repeat the process and try to answer these questions:

• What are some of the most significant events in your life?
• Have you ever faced an obstacle or challenge in your life?
• Did you successfully overcome it? If not, did you learn something?
• What are some funny stories you can think of?
• What are some sad events you can think of?
• Have you experienced betrayal in your life?
• Is there a place you traveled to that made an impression on you?
• What is your greatest accomplishment?
• Can you think of a surprising story from your past?

List as many of your ideas as you can from answering these questions. If you run out of space on your sheet, use another one – don’t let that stop you! The more choices you have, the better.

Believe it or not, even this article uses the structure of a narrative essay – it has its own introduction and body, and here is where I deliver the conclusion!

Unlike in a personal narrative essay, I can give you new information!

You can find information on all sorts of essay writing. For example, how you can perfect your 500-word essay or ideas on topics for psychology research , and even examples of debate speech topics , the internet can be full of interesting topics and resources you can use for your next written piece.

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How to Write a Personal Narrative Essay

January 5, 2024 by Richard Leave a Comment

A personal narrative essay relates an important event or milestone from the writer’s life. Unlike other essay forms that aim to provide factual info, the goal here is to tell a compelling, engaging story. By going through the writing process step-by-step, you can craft an essay sure to connect with readers.

Choose a Meaningful Topic

The first vital step in writing a compelling personal narrative essay is deciding on a truly meaningful event from your life to showcase. Set aside some quiet time for self-reflection – what past experiences, relationships, challenges, accomplishments, or discoveries shaped you into who you are at your core? Which ones still emotionally move you years later when you recall them? Jot down anything that comes to mind, whether big or small. Look for pivotal moments that revealed a hard-won truth, stirred personal growth, altered your worldview, or strengthened bonds with others.

As you compile this list, evaluate the most vivid and transformative story. Spotlighting just one key incident will allow you to go in-depth rather than giving a surface-level overview crammed with details. As you narrow down your choice, assess which reveals the most intriguing aspects of your inner self while also relating a universal life lesson others may connect to. If you need help picking a topic try our 100 Greatest Narrative Essay Topics for ideas. 

Some classic impactful narrative essay topics include poignant childhood memories

, awe-inspiring travel adventures, acts of courage in the face of fear, obstacles you worked to overcome, special mentors that left a mark, or close personal bonds forged through laughter and tears. These life-shaping experiences often emerge around milestone events like a first job, a parent’s divorce, writing your college application essay, living abroad, becoming an activist for a cause, or the arrival of a new family member.

By selecting one sentimental episode that conveys emotional truth in a relatable way, you equip yourself to write an engaging personal narrative sure to resonate with readers. So embrace self-excavation to uncover the gems resting in your memory’s treasury, waiting to be polished into prose.

Narrow Your Focus” Focusing on Key Moments in Your Story

You picked an important experience from your life you want to write about. But telling the whole long story from start to finish might get boring or confusing. Good news – you don’t need to do that. Just focus on re-telling the most intense, emotional moments.

Picture yourself back at the event in your mind. What details do you see, hear, smell, touch or taste? When during that day did the biggest things happen…the stuff that made you feel joy, sadness, worry, relief? Write down every key moment of the scene that’s still crisp in your brain after all this time.

Don’t just say, “I took a summer trip to the beach as a kid and learned to surf.” Go step-by-step instead: Show your mom waking you early. Smell the salt air as you run across hot sand with a surfboard under your arm. Feel the tension in your muscles as you paddle out nervously to wait for a wave, not knowing what will happen when it comes. Describe wiping out over and over until, finally, you stand up successfully and ride the wave to shore, beaming with accomplishment.

By narrowing in on the minutes and seconds where you reacted strongly, and things changed, readers feel like they’re right there seeing your important life event through your eyes. The emotional whirlwind comes through more powerfully when you unroll tiny key details one by one instead of a broad, general storyline. So, take readers on your personal journey by bringing your most impactful moments back to life.

Craft the Narrative Arc: Crafting Your Narrative Arc for Maximum Impact

Simply recounting the play-by-play of your chosen memory risks leaving readers feeling disjointed or bored. Shaping the flow intentionally as an arc builds suspense, allowing you to land emotional punches. First, start by giving a one-sentence teaser hook relaying why this event held such significance – how it challenged your worldview, taught you something weighty, strengthened a bond, and ignited personal growth. Use a crisp image or impactful quote to draw readers in.

Next, if backstory is needed for context, use quick flashbacks or background woven organically into the action rather than halting all momentum with lengthy explanations upfront. Give just enough familiar details to ground readers – “I was 17 when I traveled to Ecuador on a service trip the summer after junior year.”

With context set, describe the rising action as you inch toward the climactic apex of it all. Draw out tension slowly through the obstacles you face, the fears swirling inside, the meanings and stakes becoming clear. Right as the moment of peak emotional intensity nears, use short, punchy sentences and vivid sensory details to slow down time, heightening anticipation.

After the focal point crashes over you and readers alike, illustrate the falling action and resolution concisely. Show thoughts, realizations, and impacts in the aftermath rather than tell. Close with a reflective paragraph at the present day, considering how the experience strengthened or enlightened you – “Now, as a nurse and mother, when I strap on my medical volunteer vest each day, I still touch that carved wooden necklace from Ecuador underneath for courage.”

With this intentional narrative arc guiding your scenes, you fully immerse readers in your memoir’s most dynamic emotional moments. The structure makes your message crystal clear while keeping them invested from the first word to the final profound reflection.

Show, Don’t Tell: Bring Your Story to Life By Showing the Details

Telling a story from your life is more fun for readers when you make them feel like they’re really there with you. Instead of just saying, “I went to basketball camp when I was 10,” show all the sights, sounds, and emotions that happened.

Picture the scene like a movie playing in your mind. Describe exactly where you were so readers see it too – the squeak of sneakers on the shiny gym floor, rows of blue folding chairs along the sidelines, the heavy sound of balls bouncing, the zing of whistles around you.

Show the key moments happening rather than looking back and just telling what went down later. In the story, have the coach blow the whistle and shout gruffly for drills to start, make readers hear balls swishing through nets when you score, and feel the burning in your calves as you sprint end to end all practice. Let them get nervous with you when the coach calls out the names for the starting lineup.

When you unfold the scenes bit-by-bit like this instead of saying, “I worked hard all week, then made the starting lineup,” or whatever, it’s so much more fun for readers. They feel all caught up in the action, too, high-fiving when you succeed or cringing when something embarrassing happens.

Don’t forget to zoom out and quickly summarize other parts, though, so readers know stuff like when the scene changes to a new day. But use showing, not telling, to let your biggest moments shine!

Using “I” and “You” to Draw Readers Into Your Story (IF ACCEPTABLE) 

Personal stories are way more fun to read when they make you feel like you’re in action with the writer. Using a first-person point of view helps make that happen. That’s when the writer talks about their own life using the word “I.”

So try starting most sentences with “I” to share the play-by-plays from your eyes. Like “I could barely breathe as the rollercoaster crept up the steep track” and “My hands were slick with sweat when I finally asked my crush to dance.” Readers know they get the insider scoop on your embarrassing or fantastic moment.

Every now and then, throw in some “you” sentences, too, to make readers feel like they’re the ones having the experience. For example, “You should have seen Coach’s eyebrows shoot up when I tried to explain why I missed practice” or “Picture yourself as an 8-year-old, staring up at that rickety treehouse ladder, wondering whether to risk it.”

Using “I did this…” and “You would have felt this…” hooks readers into your greatest hits. It’s almost like they traveled back in time with your older self to ride along on all your adventures and mishaps. So invite them in with lots of first person. After all, your awesome stories belong to you, so share them loudly and proudly!

Note: Sometimes, teachers and professors do not want you to use “I” in your narrative. If this is the case, please follow their instructions. 

Adding Transition Words to Connect Scenes

You chose a fantastic life event for your personal story and are ready to pull readers right into the action. But remember – you’ll likely focus on 2 or 3 main scenes rather than giving every detail from a whole day or week. So, between big moments, guide readers clearly from one time, place, or event to the next.

Pepper in transition phrases so they know when you skip forward or jump back. For example, “Later that evening, after pizza at Chuck E. Cheese, I spotted my crush from school again” or “Flashback to earlier that morning – I woke up extra early from pre-sleepover jitters.” Other helpful transitions are “Meanwhile, across town…” or “Five minutes later…”

You can also simply split major scenes into separate paragraphs. Add an extra space between paragraphs to signal readers they’re traveling to a new spot in your journey. No long boring explanations are needed – just quick time markers saying “But meanwhile…” or “Two hours after that…” work nicely.

These tiny phrases are pathway signs that stop readers from getting lost. Help them follow along happily without wondering if you’re still at your grandma’s house from a sentence ago or suddenly jumped forward to middle school. Guide them step-by-step through your scenes’ twists and turns with clear transition words sprinkled throughout

Wrapping Up Your Story With Lessons Learned

You took readers on a ride through your favorite life memory, revealing emotions and funny mishaps along the way. Now that the wild adventure is over share what that experience gave you or changed in you. The last paragraph should look back at your younger self with some wisdom.

Think about what mattered most from that scene with some distance now. Have you realized things you were too young to see then? Maybe you recognize now why your dad cried when you left for sleepaway camp or why losing the championship game surprised you less than disappointing your team.

If powerful life lessons or truths were uncovered, explain briefly. Like realizing monsters under beds aren’t real, but bravery in hard times is. Or how focusing on pleasing others less leaves room for adventuring more. These “moral of the story” bits show readers how you grew wiser.

You could also describe ways you’re different now, thanks to what happened back then. If you learned Spanish after struggling to order food in Madrid as a kid, share how speaking Spanish reminds you now of respecting different cultures. Or if you became a baseball coach years after your own lousy coach, talk about how you use encouragement, not anger, now.

However you wrap up, show readers your experience gave you new perspectives, shifting how you walk in the world today. It’s cool to model looking back thoughtfully!

Revise for Strength

Edit your draft for clarity and flow. Assess spots that seem bland and employ more descriptive language and compelling turns of phrase. Have others read and give feedback before polishing it into a powerful narrative sure to resonate.

You can write an engaging, meaningful narrative essay by planning your poignant personal story, bringing readers vividly into key scenes, and closing with insight gained. Using these steps, your unique life experience will come to life for readers.

Planning Out Your Essay’s Flow

Writing stuff that happened to you lets you get creative with the setup. However, having some structure helps readers follow along with your awesome life story. Here’s one way you could organize all the scenes:

Intro: Start with 1-2 sentences setting the scene – where/when is this happening, and why does it matter? Get readers hooked fast!

Next paragraph: Give some quick background – describe something important from earlier or explain who people are.

Buildup: Unfold more details slowly in 2-3 paragraphs to ramp up to the big moment. Build suspense about what’s coming!

Climax: Spend 2-3 paragraphs on the peak emotional or exciting point. Zoom in super close on meaningful dialogue, feelings, and actions here.

Winding Down: In 1-2 paragraphs, show how everything is wrapped up afterward. How did people respond? How did you?

Conclusion: In one paragraph, share the life lesson or way this changed your views more significantly. Look back with some wisdom!

This is just a suggestion, though – outline however you want! The key is grabbing readers’ attention quick, then making the most intense parts stand out by slowing down to show emotions and reactions. However you structure it, you’ll share an awesome memory! 

A more detailed layout: 

Paragraph 1:.

Introduction and Opening Hook

• Begins with an attention-grabbing opening hook (anecdote, question, vivid description)
• Provides brief background context to set up your story
• Ends with a clear thesis statement or main focus

Paragraph 2:

Rising Action

• Gives a more detailed background and sets the scene
• Starts describing key events leading up to the main story
• Uses vivid sensory details and descriptions
• Ends in a mini-cliffhanger to transition to the next event

Paragraph 3:

• Details the peak event, challenge, or adventure
• Tell the moment that changed you or impacted you the most
• Builds anticipation and uncertainty leading up to this moment
• Ends when the main event concludes, for better or worse

Paragraph 4:

Falling Action and Reflection

• Describe the aftermath and impacts of your climactic moment
• Analyze the deeper meaning and what you learned
• Discusses how the event changed you or your life in the future

Paragraph 5:

Conclusion and Closing Thoughts

• Summarize your main takeaway or theme from the story
• Discusses why this memory matters and what readers can learn from your story
• Ends with a strong, impactful closing line that resonates

This 5 paragraph’s narrative structure follows a complete story arc, allowing you to reinforce and reflect on your key message. There are many other suggestions for writing a 5 paragraph essay on the web .  

Spilling your inside stories out takes guts but feels great after. Following these tips will make your real-life tale flow well so readers feel they lived it, too. Pick a moment that rocked your world somehow and zoom your emotions up to 100. Show all the sights, smells, and sounds as it went down. Unfold the blow-by-blow slowly like a movie, not just saying what happened. Toss in some “I felt” and “You would’ve thought” lines to get readers right in your shoes. Wrap up with the gems you scored from that pivotal time that changed how you think or act now. However you tell it, your one-of-a-kind adventure can inspire. Remember, these memories and remarkable personalities belong to nobody else. So shine that spotlight on the stuff that shaped you into you!

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About Richard

Richard Everywriter (pen name) has worked for literary magazines and literary websites for the last 25 years. He holds degrees in Writing, Journalism, Technology and Education. Richard has headed many writing workshops and courses, and he has taught writing and literature for the last 20 years.  

In writing and publishing he has worked with independent, small, medium and large publishers for years connecting publishers to authors. He has also worked as a journalist and editor in both magazine, newspaper and trade publications as well as in the medical publishing industry.   Follow him on Twitter, and check out our Submissions page .

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Personal Narrative: my Surface Culture

This essay about surface culture examines the visible and accessible aspects of cultural expression, such as language, dress, cuisine, and behaviors that form the immediate layer of cultural identity. It highlights how surface culture serves as an initial point of contact and understanding for outsiders and plays a significant role in forming stereotypes due to its visibility and ease of generalization. The essay discusses the importance of surface culture in cross-cultural communication, particularly in business, education, and diplomacy, emphasizing that while these elements offer a gateway to deeper engagement, they often require further exploration to gain a comprehensive understanding of a society. Additionally, it notes the dynamic nature of surface culture, influenced by globalization and technology, reflecting the evolving identities within a global context. The piece underscores the necessity of looking beyond surface culture to grasp the underlying values and beliefs that define a society more profoundly.

How it works

Within the realm of cultural dynamics, the notion of “surface culture” assumes a pivotal role in comprehending how societies project themselves to both insiders and outsiders. Surface culture encapsulates the most overt and accessible facets of a culture, spanning language, attire, culinary traditions, and observable conduct. It serves as the initial interface through which understanding commences, contrasting with deep culture, which encompasses ingrained beliefs, values, and attitudes acquired over time. Unlike deep culture, surface culture is directly observable, rendering it indispensable in the domain of intercultural communication.

Elements of surface culture often epitomize a society and encompass customary music, dance, and communal festivities, serving as conspicuous sources of national pride. For instance, visitors to India may swiftly discern the kaleidoscopic hues of traditional attire, the aromatic spices permeating local cuisine, and the linguistic diversity, all emblematic of Indian culture. Similarly, travelers to Spain might promptly encounter flamenco performances, the siesta tradition, and local revelries.

While these facets are readily apparent, they are also susceptible to stereotypes due to their visibility, often leading to generalized perceptions. Thus, grasping surface culture necessitates a nuanced approach: acknowledging its role in shaping initial impressions and facilitating preliminary communication while acknowledging its constraints in furnishing a holistic understanding of a society. For instance, superficial observations in the United States might highlight phenomena like fast food, baseball, and a proclivity for informality. However, overreliance on these elements may engender oversimplified or erroneous assumptions about American ethos and norms.

Moreover, surface culture assumes paramount significance in the global arena, particularly in realms such as international commerce, academia, and diplomacy. Practitioners in these spheres often leverage surface culture as a springboard for deeper engagement with international counterparts, fostering deeper cultural comprehension and connections. For instance, grasping the significance of tea ceremonies in Japanese business milieu can facilitate more meaningful negotiations and alliances.

Furthermore, surface culture is dynamic and subject to rapid transformation compared to deep cultural tenets. Globalization, technological advancements, and social media have all contributed to reshaping aspects of surface culture in various societies. For example, global culinary influences have been assimilated to suit local tastes and ingredients, redefining notions of ‘traditional’ cuisine. Such adaptations reflect the evolving contours of cultural identity and expression in an increasingly interconnected world.

In conclusion, while surface culture offers a compelling and essential glimpse into a society’s customs and practices, it represents merely the superficial layer. Genuine comprehension and integration into a new culture necessitate delving beneath these initial impressions to explore the underlying beliefs and values. Recognizing both the importance and limitations of surface culture is pivotal in fostering authentic intercultural understanding and collaboration.

Remember, this essay serves as a point of departure for inspiration and further inquiry. For personalized assistance and adherence to academic standards, consider consulting professionals at EduBirdie .

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