samples of narrative essay pdf

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• How to write a narrative essay | Example & tips

How to Write a Narrative Essay | Example & Tips

Published on July 24, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on July 23, 2023.

A narrative essay tells a story. In most cases, this is a story about a personal experience you had. This type of essay , along with the descriptive essay , allows you to get personal and creative, unlike most academic writing .

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Table of contents

What is a narrative essay for, choosing a topic, interactive example of a narrative essay, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about narrative essays.

When assigned a narrative essay, you might find yourself wondering: Why does my teacher want to hear this story? Topics for narrative essays can range from the important to the trivial. Usually the point is not so much the story itself, but the way you tell it.

A narrative essay is a way of testing your ability to tell a story in a clear and interesting way. You’re expected to think about where your story begins and ends, and how to convey it with eye-catching language and a satisfying pace.

These skills are quite different from those needed for formal academic writing. For instance, in a narrative essay the use of the first person (“I”) is encouraged, as is the use of figurative language, dialogue, and suspense.

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Narrative essay assignments vary widely in the amount of direction you’re given about your topic. You may be assigned quite a specific topic or choice of topics to work with.

• Write a story about your first day of school.
• Write a story about your favorite holiday destination.

You may also be given prompts that leave you a much wider choice of topic.

• Write about an experience where you learned something about yourself.
• Write about an achievement you are proud of. What did you accomplish, and how?

In these cases, you might have to think harder to decide what story you want to tell. The best kind of story for a narrative essay is one you can use to talk about a particular theme or lesson, or that takes a surprising turn somewhere along the way.

For example, a trip where everything went according to plan makes for a less interesting story than one where something unexpected happened that you then had to respond to. Choose an experience that might surprise the reader or teach them something.

Narrative essays in college applications

When applying for college , you might be asked to write a narrative essay that expresses something about your personal qualities.

For example, this application prompt from Common App requires you to respond with a narrative essay.

In this context, choose a story that is not only interesting but also expresses the qualities the prompt is looking for—here, resilience and the ability to learn from failure—and frame the story in a way that emphasizes these qualities.

An example of a short narrative essay, responding to the prompt “Write about an experience where you learned something about yourself,” is shown below.

Hover over different parts of the text to see how the structure works.

Since elementary school, I have always favored subjects like science and math over the humanities. My instinct was always to think of these subjects as more solid and serious than classes like English. If there was no right answer, I thought, why bother? But recently I had an experience that taught me my academic interests are more flexible than I had thought: I took my first philosophy class.

Before I entered the classroom, I was skeptical. I waited outside with the other students and wondered what exactly philosophy would involve—I really had no idea. I imagined something pretty abstract: long, stilted conversations pondering the meaning of life. But what I got was something quite different.

A young man in jeans, Mr. Jones—“but you can call me Rob”—was far from the white-haired, buttoned-up old man I had half-expected. And rather than pulling us into pedantic arguments about obscure philosophical points, Rob engaged us on our level. To talk free will, we looked at our own choices. To talk ethics, we looked at dilemmas we had faced ourselves. By the end of class, I’d discovered that questions with no right answer can turn out to be the most interesting ones.

The experience has taught me to look at things a little more “philosophically”—and not just because it was a philosophy class! I learned that if I let go of my preconceptions, I can actually get a lot out of subjects I was previously dismissive of. The class taught me—in more ways than one—to look at things with an open mind.

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If you’re not given much guidance on what your narrative essay should be about, consider the context and scope of the assignment. What kind of story is relevant, interesting, and possible to tell within the word count?

The best kind of story for a narrative essay is one you can use to reflect on a particular theme or lesson, or that takes a surprising turn somewhere along the way.

Don’t worry too much if your topic seems unoriginal. The point of a narrative essay is how you tell the story and the point you make with it, not the subject of the story itself.

Narrative essays are usually assigned as writing exercises at high school or in university composition classes. They may also form part of a university application.

When you are prompted to tell a story about your own life or experiences, a narrative essay is usually the right response.

The key difference is that a narrative essay is designed to tell a complete story, while a descriptive essay is meant to convey an intense description of a particular place, object, or concept.

Narrative and descriptive essays both allow you to write more personally and creatively than other kinds of essays , and similar writing skills can apply to both.

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Many students struggle with crafting engaging and impactful narrative essays. They often find it challenging to weave their personal experiences into coherent and compelling stories.

If you’re having a hard time, don't worry! 

We’ve compiled a range of narrative essay examples that will serve as helpful tools for you to get started. These examples will provide a clear path for crafting engaging and powerful narrative essays.

So, keep reading and find our expertly written examples!

• 1. Narrative Essay Definition
• 2. Narrative Essay Examples
• 3. Narrative Essay Examples for Students
• 4. Narrative Essay Topics
• 5. Narrative Essay Writing Tips

Narrative Essay Definition

Writing a narrative essay is a unique form of storytelling that revolves around personal experiences, aiming to immerse the reader in the author's world. It's a piece of writing that delves into the depths of thoughts and feelings. 

In a narrative essay, life experiences take center stage, serving as the main substance of the story. It's a powerful tool for writers to convey a personal journey, turning experiences into a captivating tale. This form of storytelling is an artful display of emotions intended to engage readers, leaving the reader feeling like they are a part of the story.

By focusing on a specific theme, event, emotions, and reflections, a narrative essay weaves a storyline that leads the reader through the author's experiences. 

The Essentials of Narrative Essays

Let's start with the basics. The four types of essays are argumentative essays , descriptive essays , expository essays , and narrative essays.

The goal of a narrative essay is to tell a compelling tale from one person's perspective. A narrative essay uses all components you’d find in a typical story, such as a beginning, middle, and conclusion, as well as plot, characters, setting, and climax.

The narrative essay's goal is the plot, which should be detailed enough to reach a climax. Here's how it works:

• It's usually presented in chronological order.
• It has a function. This is typically evident in the thesis statement's opening paragraph.
• It may include speech.
• It's told with sensory details and vivid language, drawing the reader in. All of these elements are connected to the writer's major argument in some way.

Before writing your essay, make sure you go through a sufficient number of narrative essay examples. These examples will help you in knowing the dos and don’ts of a good narrative essay.

It is always a better option to have some sense of direction before you start anything. Below, you can find important details and a bunch of narrative essay examples. These examples will also help you build your content according to the format. 

Here is a how to start a narrative essay example:

Sample Narrative Essay

The examples inform the readers about the writing style and structure of the narration. The essay below will help you understand how to create a story and build this type of essay in no time.

Here is another narrative essay examples 500 words:

Narrative Essay Examples for Students

Narrative essays offer students a platform to express their experiences and creativity. These examples show how to effectively structure and present personal stories for education.

Here are some helpful narrative essay examples:

Narrative Essay Examples Middle School

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Grade 11 Narrative Essay Examples

Narrative Essay Example For High School

Narrative Essay Example For College

Personal Narrative Essay Example

Descriptive Narrative Essay Example

3rd Person Narrative Essay Example

Narrative Essay Topics

Here are some narrative essay topics to help you get started with your narrative essay writing.

• When I got my first bunny
• When I moved to Canada
• I haven’t experienced this freezing temperature ever before
• The moment I won the basketball finale
• A memorable day at the museum
• How I talk to my parrot
• The day I saw the death
• When I finally rebelled against my professor

Need more topics? Check out these extensive narrative essay topics to get creative ideas!

Narrative Essay Writing Tips

Narrative essays give you the freedom to be creative, but it can be tough to make yours special. Use these tips to make your story interesting:

• Share your story from a personal viewpoint, engaging the reader with your experiences.
• Use vivid descriptions to paint a clear picture of the setting, characters, and emotions involved.
• Organize events in chronological order for a smooth and understandable narrative.
• Bring characters to life through their actions, dialogue, and personalities.
• Employ dialogue sparingly to add realism and progression to the narrative.
• Engage readers by evoking emotions through your storytelling.
• End with reflection or a lesson learned from the experience, providing insight.

Now you have essay examples and tips to help you get started, you have a solid starting point for crafting compelling narrative essays.

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Beneficial Narrative Essay

Beneficial narrative essay generator.

Most of us have experienced writing essays example , especially in school is where we had our formal theme book to write about our favorite literary works. Those were elementary days. During high school and even college days, essay writing continued haunting us. College essays are everywhere and we can’t hide from it. But why should we hide from it? It’s a great opportunity to enhance our writing. We should never be afraid if we commit common essay mistakes because through that, learning can be developed and we become keener next time we write an essay. It is also a way our speed and accuracy can be developed, and challenges like creating your last-minute essay  can be a piece of cake. Commonly, institutions would let us write a narrative essay. What is a narrative essay then?

Narrative Essay Samples

10 sample narrative essays.

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Narrative Essay

Creating a narrative essay is like telling a story. It allows writers to freely express their creativeness while telling a story. The writer conveys his thoughts, feelings, and emotions to the readers through the use of vivid and precise words that are seemingly taking you to the exact happening of the event—the time, place, sensation, fragrance, weather, etc. It often relies on personal experiences; thus, the first person pronoun “I” is used. The story should be well-detailed and organized to explain the whole story and connect the different parts of it. Here are the key points in making a narrative essay.

• It is told from a particular point of view.
• The parts are interconnected and support each other.
• The details are vivid and precise.
• It may use a dialogue.

College Essay Example

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Conventions of Narrative Essays

• It is generally written in the first person, but third person pronouns such as he, she and it can also be used. Always remember that although the first person pronoun is commonly used, it should not be overused. However, note that the author’s perspective should be clear to the readers.
• It relies on sensory details. This means that the author should use clear and precise words to describe the narration in the story. The details should be very specific and concrete enough that will take the readers to the intended spot and will let the readers feel the same sensation as that of the author’s perspective.
• It should include a plot, a climax, and an ending.

Guidelines for Writing a Narrative Essay

• Plot – The plot is the basic structure of a literary work. It encompasses the chain of events and character actions. In writing a plot, decide your focus for the whole story. You might write first the outline for your essay.
• Climax – While the writer is taking you on a journey, the highest peak of the story is the climax. The climax should have the ability to draw the reader in and to continue reading the story. It should have an increasing conflict that can grab the attention of the reader.
• Ending – Your ending should wrap up the events of your story and should link the details to the story. A good ending is when it is linked to the first part of the beginning of the story, and it should be correlated to the whole parts of the story. Conclude with a sense of closure and not with another detail or discussion.
• Establish a purpose. Do not be like a clanging cymbal. If you are saying something, make sure you are making any sense. Have a purpose in your narrative—recounting your own or other person’s history. You have to let your readers engage in your writing by giving them a very interesting purpose that they will wonder what will happen next and what is the ending of your story. You have to keep the readers entertained and curious throughout the story and keep that curiosity firing and addictive. Whether your story is a fact or a fiction, make sure you relay a series of events in an emotionally engaging way. The clearer you tell your story and the more specific words you incorporate into your writing, the more the audience will get an emotional impact and be drawn into the depths of your sea of emotions.
• Specify the point of view.  Narrative essays usually use the first-person point of view but a third-person point of view can also be established. Just make sure that you are consistent with your usage especially with the pronouns I, me, my, myself, mine, they, he, she it, etc. so that the readers won’t get confused. Make the point of view clear but do not be too boring in using those pronouns. Use appealing words that would keep the audience reading.
• Be clear and concise.  In writing your narrative, be careful in selecting words, and be appropriate in your usage. It is more appealing and understandable if the words you are using are interconnected and are very appropriate for the subject matter. Be clear in your description such that the audience can picture the thing out of his mind or the reader can create an image inside his mind through your description. It is wise if you will lay out and describe not only the events but also the surroundings, the reactions, the temperature, the mood, and everything that can take the reader to the very spot you are describing. For example, in describing a seashore, you might not only including in the description of the scorching heat of the sun but also the smell of the breeze, the touch of the sand, the whooshing wind that brush your hair off your face, the calming stringed music, and other things that are very specific enough for the reader’s senses to feel.
• Be organized. In your write up, if you have already included the parts of the story, establishes a purpose, specified the point of view, and being clear and concise, the other thing you must bear in your mind is to organize your thoughts. Even though you already have the aforementioned items, if you are not organized, then your point will be in vain. You have to keep your narration in sequence so the readers can fully be guided to your narration. Do not skip from topic to topic; establish a smooth flow in your story and let the readers go along with your flow.

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Narrative Essay Sample: The Rescue

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List of Interesting Topics

Selecting a topic is important since this is your main idea and the point where you will explain everything in detail. The key in choosing a topic is to make you sure that you have experienced that topic enough or you knew someone who has experienced the topic and the topic is appealing to a wide range of readers. If you are looking for one, below is a list of topic that may help you in your narrative essay. What makes these topics interesting is that almost everyone can relate to the topic, and the topics can be expounded into details that are very specific for the readers to understand what the writer is going through.

• First crush – Almost everyone had their first crush. It is usually the first time we feel an indescribable emotion and a little tingle in our ears. We can always say something about this, and almost everyone can still recall the moment they had their first crush. Hence, this topic can be very attractive to almost all people.
• My high school graduation day –  They say graduation day is a day of triumph, but it is also a day of parting—parting from our friends whom we shared so many memories with, parting from our beloved school that we sometimes hate during the lazy days, and parting from our teachers who helped us not only academically but also spiritually. Writing one’s graduation day can bring back someone to that event where you held your head high and wave your togas proudly to your parents. It is easy to write something like this since graduation, for most people, is one of the days that you cannot easily forget. So everything is still clear in your head; thus, you can also transfer it clearly into the paper.
• First day at college –  For some, the universities they are entering in college is the same as that in their high school, but for most, it is a whole lot different picture. A writer can share his experience during his first day, whether he is alone or with a friend, being serious to academics or not, and everything that he might be feeling and noticing at that time.
• What I love about my city –  Some people just love their cities so much that they noticed everything in sight around their city. If you are proud of your city, you might also consider featuring the city in your narrative, the places you have visited, the aura of the city, the air, the people, the food, the streets, the buildings, and anything that caught your eyes that you might wanna share.
• My biggest fear –  You can also share your biggest fear or fears. We all have different fears, but not everyone has the courage to share it with anyone. Who knows? You are sharing a common fear and you are not alone! You might even inspire anyone, the reader, in conquering that fear or on how to become strong to face your fears confidently. You can even include your deepest emotions in your writing.

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Write a Beneficial Narrative Essay on the benefits of teamwork.

Create a Beneficial Narrative Essay about the importance of perseverance.