true event essay

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• Citation Styles

How to write a narrative essay [Updated 2024]

A narrative essay is an opportunity to flex your creative muscles and craft a compelling story. In this blog post, we define what a narrative essay is and provide strategies and examples for writing one.

What is a narrative essay?

Similarly to a descriptive essay or a reflective essay, a narrative essay asks you to tell a story, rather than make an argument and present evidence. Most narrative essays describe a real, personal experience from your own life (for example, the story of your first big success).

Alternately, your narrative essay might focus on an imagined experience (for example, how your life would be if you had been born into different circumstances). While you don’t need to present a thesis statement or scholarly evidence, a narrative essay still needs to be well-structured and clearly organized so that the reader can follow your story.

When you might be asked to write a narrative essay

Although less popular than argumentative essays or expository essays, narrative essays are relatively common in high school and college writing classes.

The same techniques that you would use to write a college essay as part of a college or scholarship application are applicable to narrative essays, as well. In fact, the Common App that many students use to apply to multiple colleges asks you to submit a narrative essay.

How to choose a topic for a narrative essay

When you are asked to write a narrative essay, a topic may be assigned to you or you may be able to choose your own. With an assigned topic, the prompt will likely fall into one of two categories: specific or open-ended.

Examples of specific prompts:

• Write about the last vacation you took.
• Write about your final year of middle school.

Examples of open-ended prompts:

• Write about a time when you felt all hope was lost.
• Write about a brief, seemingly insignificant event that ended up having a big impact on your life.

A narrative essay tells a story and all good stories are centered on a conflict of some sort. Experiences with unexpected obstacles, twists, or turns make for much more compelling essays and reveal more about your character and views on life.

If you’re writing a narrative essay as part of an admissions application, remember that the people reviewing your essay will be looking at it to gain a sense of not just your writing ability, but who you are as a person.

In these cases, it’s wise to choose a topic and experience from your life that demonstrates the qualities that the prompt is looking for, such as resilience, perseverance, the ability to stay calm under pressure, etc.

It’s also important to remember that your choice of topic is just a starting point. Many students find that they arrive at new ideas and insights as they write their first draft, so the final form of your essay may have a different focus than the one you started with.

How to outline and format a narrative essay

Even though you’re not advancing an argument or proving a point of view, a narrative essay still needs to have a coherent structure. Your reader has to be able to follow you as you tell the story and to figure out the larger point that you’re making.

You’ll be evaluated on is your handling of the topic and how you structure your essay. Even though a narrative essay doesn’t use the same structure as other essay types, you should still sketch out a loose outline so you can tell your story in a clear and compelling way.

To outline a narrative essay, you’ll want to determine:

• how your story will start
• what points or specifics that you want to cover
• how your story will end
• what pace and tone you will use

In the vast majority of cases, a narrative essay should be written in the first-person, using “I.” Also, most narrative essays will follow typical formatting guidelines, so you should choose a readable font like Times New Roman in size 11 or 12. Double-space your paragraphs and use 1” margins.

To get your creative wheels turning, consider how your story compares to archetypes and famous historical and literary figures both past and present. Weave these comparisons into your essay to improve the quality of your writing and connect your personal experience to a larger context.

How to write a narrative essay

Writing a narrative essay can sometimes be a challenge for students who typically write argumentative essays or research papers in a formal, objective style. To give you a better sense of how you can write a narrative essay, here is a short example of an essay in response to the prompt, “Write about an experience that challenged your view of yourself.”

Narrative essay example

Even as a child, I always had what people might call a reserved personality. It was sometimes framed as a positive (“Sarah is a good listener”) and at other times it was put in less-than-admiring terms (“Sarah is withdrawn and not very talkative”). It was the latter kind of comments that caused me to see my introverted nature as a drawback and as something I should work to eliminate. That is, until I joined my high school’s student council.

The first paragraph, or introduction, sets up the context, establishing the situation and introducing the meaningful event upon which the essay will focus.

The other four students making up the council were very outspoken and enthusiastic. I enjoyed being around them, and I often agreed with their ideas. However, when it came to overhauling our school’s recycling plan, we butted heads. When I spoke up and offered a different point of view, one of my fellow student council members launched into a speech, advocating for her point of view. As her voice filled the room, I couldn’t get a word in edgewise. I wondered if I should try to match her tone, volume, and assertiveness as a way to be heard. But I just couldn’t do it—it’s not my way, and it never has been. For a fleeting moment, I felt defeated. But then, something in me shifted.

In this paragraph, the writer goes into greater depth about how her existing thinking brought her to this point.

I reminded myself that my view was valid and deserved to be heard. So I waited. I let my fellow council member speak her piece and when she was finished, I deliberately waited a few moments before calmly stating my case. I chose my words well, and I spoke them succinctly. Just because I’m not a big talker doesn’t mean I’m not a big thinker. I thought of the quotation “still waters run deep” and I tried to embody that. The effect on the room was palpable. People listened. And I hadn’t had to shout my point to be heard.

This paragraph demonstrates the turn in the story, the moment when everything changed. The use of the quotation “still waters run deep” imbues the story with a dash of poetry and emotion.

We eventually reached a compromise on the matter and concluded the student council meeting. Our council supervisor came to me afterward and said: “You handled that so well, with such grace and poise. I was very impressed.” Her words in that moment changed me. I realized that a bombastic nature isn't necessarily a powerful one. There is power in quiet, too. This experience taught me to view my reserved personality not as a character flaw, but as a strength.

The final paragraph, or conclusion, closes with a statement about the significance of this event and how it ended up changing the writer in a meaningful way.

Narrative essay writing tips

1. pick a meaningful story that has a conflict and a clear “moral.”.

If you’re able to choose your own topic, pick a story that has meaning and that reveals how you became the person your are today. In other words, write a narrative with a clear “moral” that you can connect with your main points.

2. Use an outline to arrange the structure of your story and organize your main points.

Although a narrative essay is different from argumentative essays, it’s still beneficial to construct an outline so that your story is well-structured and organized. Note how you want to start and end your story, and what points you want to make to tie everything together.

3. Be clear, concise, concrete, and correct in your writing.

You should use descriptive writing in your narrative essay, but don’t overdo it. Use clear, concise, and correct language and grammar throughout. Additionally, make concrete points that reinforce the main idea of your narrative.

4. Ask a friend or family member to proofread your essay.

No matter what kind of writing you’re doing, you should always plan to proofread and revise. To ensure that your narrative essay is coherent and interesting, ask a friend or family member to read over your paper. This is especially important if your essay is responding to a prompt. It helps to have another person check to make sure that you’ve fully responded to the prompt or question.

Frequently Asked Questions about narrative essays

A narrative essay, like any essay, has three main parts: an introduction, a body and a conclusion. Structuring and outlining your essay before you start writing will help you write a clear story that your readers can follow.

The first paragraph of your essay, or introduction, sets up the context, establishing the situation and introducing the meaningful event upon which the essay will focus.

In the vast majority of cases, a narrative essay should be written in the first-person, using “I.”

The 4 main types of essays are the argumentative essay, narrative essay, exploratory essay, and expository essay. You may be asked to write different types of essays at different points in your education.

Most narrative essays will be around five paragraphs, or more, depending on the topic and requirements. Make sure to check in with your instructor about the guidelines for your essay. If you’re writing a narrative essay for a college application, pay close attention to word or page count requirements.

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• Scriptwriting

Adapting a True Story: Examples of Writing Fiction Based on True Events

T hink back to the last movie you saw whose characters were real people, or whose story was based on true events. Did it surprise you? Enrage you? Straight-forward biopics might cut corners here and there but what happens with truth is bent even further? When writers and directors play fast and loose with the truth, interesting things can happen. So, let’s take a look at writing fiction based on true events. Where the truth can be used in creative ways with Tarantino, Charlie Kaufman, and the Safdie Bros. as our guides.

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven’t seen  Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood ,  Adaptation , or  Uncut Gems , we are about to discuss major plot points in detail. You’ve been warned!

Page to Picture: Fact Meets Fiction

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Writing A True Story

Tarantino's revisionist history.

When Quentin Tarantino premiered Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood   at the Cannes Film Festival, he was faced with immediate backlash. Some questioned why Sharon Tate, played by Margot Robbie, spoke so few words in the film’s 161-minute runtime.

Others praised the writer-director for allowing Sharon to live out her life on-screen and reclaiming her story from only ever being about her tragic death at the hands of the Manson Family.

Writing fiction based on true events is always tricky but it gets even trickier when you tackle such high-profile and such tragic events.

But almost no one assumed that the real people and true events in the film would be free from a creative license. Audiences anticipated a story that would toy with our ideas about the “real” Sharon and the “real” Manson Family, and that’s a huge reason why the film elicited such sharply divided reactions.

A real tragedy turned into real fiction

Everyone has their own idea of “the truth,” and most people are savvy enough to know that any film that represents reality is exactly that — a representation .

In our video essay, we turn to Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood as our quintessential example of “revisionist history.” Tarantino’s technique taps into a range of emotions about the Manson murders that remain ingrained in our collective consciousness.

As ever, the effectiveness of this approach comes from Tarantino’s dialogue . In the film’s climax, the script combines real quotes with fictional action to create tension and comic relief in equal measure.

On the night of the murders, Tex Watson infamously told Tate’s friend, Wojciech Frykowski, “I’m the devil, and I’m here to do the devil’s business.” In Tarantino’s version, Tex (played by Austin Butler) delivers this line verbatim. But when Cliff (Brad Pitt) is allowed to retort, the dialogue treats Tex’s words like a setup to a punchline.

Watch how the scene plays out below:

Tarantino's revisionist ending

Once this confrontation erupts, Cliff and Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio), defend Rick’s home from the invading cultists, saving Sharon from the doom she met in real life.

Some viewers may find Tarantino’s resolution to the story cathartic. Others may scoff at its alleged insensitivity toward a tragedy.

This is by design.

Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood ’s wish-fulfillment fantasy is built to stir the pot of cultural discourse. By making a new myth out of an already mythological true crime, Tarantino inserts himself in an ongoing conversation about a uniquely American horror story. The end result ranks amongst the best Tarantino films to date.

Of course, sparking heated debate isn’t the only purpose that writing fiction based on true events serves. Sometimes, it's much more personal.

Writing About Yourself

Kaufman's meta-memoir.

Tarantino is comfortable courting controversy but other screenwriters tweak the truth for entirely different reasons. To embellish an autobiography, to drive the plot, or simply to give the world a lived-in look and feel.

Consider Adpatation , from director Spike Jonze and writer Charlie Kaufman. Our video essay refers to Kaufman’s screenplay as a “meta- memoir .” In movies like this, the narrator heightens audiences’ awareness of a story’s creation, while offering a subjective account of how its true events took place.

Here's Kaufman briefly explaining how his early attempts at faithful adaptations inspired him to "leap into insanity" with  Adaptation , a script high on the list of Kaufman's best screenplays .

Kaufman on the evolution of his adaptations

Kaufman wrote himself, and a fictitious twin brother named Donald, into the film as major characters. The story depicts a crippling case of writer’s block that Charlie experienced in real life. Specifically, his failed bid to adapt Susan Orlean’s The Orchid Thief into a screenplay.

Donald, a mirror image of Charlie, is a figment of Kaufman’s imagination. But in Adaptation , he’s depicted as real — a constant reminder of the career Charlie could have and whose presence only intensifies Charlie’s insecurity and self-doubt.

Let’s take a closer look at how Kaufman pulls this off on the page. We’ve added the script to StudioBinder’s screenwriting software :

Adaptation  •  Charlie's insecurities  •   Read Full Scene

By riffing on the twin personalities, Cage’s performance at once captures voices of eternal optimism (Donald) and perpetual self-doubt (Charlie). Voice that compete for attention in the real Kaufman’s head.

Unlike Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood , Adaptation doesn’t revise historical events to affect audiences. Instead, the film’s meta-memoir framework presents its narrator’s perspective as an authoritative account of what it’s like to have writer’s block. Kaufman uses creative license to dramatize the reality of his personal experience, rather than alter the outcome of someone else’s.

What if a screenwriter sees reality as something that isn’t up for debate? Isn’t a matter of perspective?

Working The System

The safdie brothers' docufiction.

In  Uncut Gems , writers Josh and Benny Safdie and Ronald Bronstein treat writing fiction based on true events as cold, hard facts. And yet, the results are still extremely creative — not in spite of their approach, but because of it.

Before we jump into adapting a true story like the Safdie Brothers, let's watch them and their crew explain the challenges behind making such an audacious film.

The Safdies on how they pulled off Uncut Gems

The taut chronology of Uncut Gems unfolds throughout the month of May 2012. Why? Because one of the film’s most important characters is NBA superstar Kevin Garnett. A key plot point is centered around the seven-game playoff series he played in at that time.

Here’s where it gets tricky. The Safdies and Bronstein made Uncut Gems without an NBA licensing agreement.

Under Fair Use laws, a screenwriter can use copyrighted material without permission from the copyright holders. So, the Safdies and Bronstein could legally use any NBA footage they wanted…but only a limited amount, and it couldn’t be altered in any way.

This is a massively creative way of writing fiction based on true events that circumvents the usual red tape involved with obtaining the rights. 

These parameters proved to be one of the script’s greatest strengths. After all, Howard is a character less defined by words than by actions. The Safdies and Bronstein could write his compulsive gambling to directly correspond to Garnett’s real performance in the games.

When Howard lends Garnett a rare black opal from his store — the “gem” of the film’s title — Garnett is convinced that the stone’s magic aura will make him unstoppable in the next game he plays.

Naturally, Howard senses that the gem’s effect on Garnett may give him a betting advantage.

Uncut Gems  •  Getting a Betting Advantage  •   Read Full Scene

By putting their fictitious gem in the hands of KG, they create opportunities to use actual footage of Garnett dominating the court.

Uncut Gems  •  Garnett Court Domination  •   Read Full Scene

And each time Howard watches footage of the real Garnett playing at his best, he’s further emboldened to ramp up his reckless gambling spree.

Uncut Gems  •  Howard’s Gambling Spree  •   Read Full Scene

Uncut Gems ’ nesting of historical events inside scripted drama is what we might call “docufiction.” The Safdies and Bronstein are no strangers to this narrative and visual style.

Their 2014 feature Heaven Knows What , for instance, features real-life heroin addict Arielle Holmes in its lead role to elevate its aura of authenticity. In Uncut Gems , they take the technique to new heights, using audiences’ familiarity with famous figures to immerse us in the film’s fictional universe.

How to Write an Adaptation

Bring the truth to your writing.

What twist will you put on your true-ish story?

Using revisionist history, you’re free to appropriate and alter the words and actions of an important historical event.

With the meta-memoir, you can engender empathy from your audience by aligning them with your narrator’s perspective of a true story.

In docufiction, you can let true events as they actually happened steer the course of your characters’ narrative trajectory.

With any of these three approaches in your artistic arsenal, you’ll be ready to blend fact and fiction in a world of your own making.

Academy rules on adapted scripts

After covering such creative adapted screenplays, you might be inspired to actually write on yourself. Despite Tarantino, Kaufman and the Safdie Brothers' redefining "creative license," there are other factors that go into writing an adapted screenplay. We'll cover the Academy rules, tips on obtaining rights and advice from some of today's top screenwriters.

Up Next: Adapted screenplays explained →

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The Ultimate Narrative Essay Guide for Beginners

A narrative essay tells a story in chronological order, with an introduction that introduces the characters and sets the scene. Then a series of events leads to a climax or turning point, and finally a resolution or reflection on the experience.

Speaking of which, are you in sixes and sevens about narrative essays? Don’t worry this ultimate expert guide will wipe out all your doubts. So let’s get started.

Table of Contents

Everything You Need to Know About Narrative Essay

What is a narrative essay.

When you go through a narrative essay definition, you would know that a narrative essay purpose is to tell a story. It’s all about sharing an experience or event and is different from other types of essays because it’s more focused on how the event made you feel or what you learned from it, rather than just presenting facts or an argument. Let’s explore more details on this interesting write-up and get to know how to write a narrative essay.

Elements of a Narrative Essay

Here’s a breakdown of the key elements of a narrative essay:

A narrative essay has a beginning, middle, and end. It builds up tension and excitement and then wraps things up in a neat package.

Real people, including the writer, often feature in personal narratives. Details of the characters and their thoughts, feelings, and actions can help readers to relate to the tale.

It’s really important to know when and where something happened so we can get a good idea of the context. Going into detail about what it looks like helps the reader to really feel like they’re part of the story.

Conflict or Challenge 

A story in a narrative essay usually involves some kind of conflict or challenge that moves the plot along. It could be something inside the character, like a personal battle, or something from outside, like an issue they have to face in the world.

Theme or Message

A narrative essay isn’t just about recounting an event – it’s about showing the impact it had on you and what you took away from it. It’s an opportunity to share your thoughts and feelings about the experience, and how it changed your outlook.

Emotional Impact

The author is trying to make the story they’re telling relatable, engaging, and memorable by using language and storytelling to evoke feelings in whoever’s reading it.

Narrative essays let writers have a blast telling stories about their own lives. It’s an opportunity to share insights and impart wisdom, or just have some fun with the reader. Descriptive language, sensory details, dialogue, and a great narrative voice are all essentials for making the story come alive.

The Purpose of a Narrative Essay

A narrative essay is more than just a story – it’s a way to share a meaningful, engaging, and relatable experience with the reader. Includes:

Sharing Personal Experience

Narrative essays are a great way for writers to share their personal experiences, feelings, thoughts, and reflections. It’s an opportunity to connect with readers and make them feel something.

Entertainment and Engagement

The essay attempts to keep the reader interested by using descriptive language, storytelling elements, and a powerful voice. It attempts to pull them in and make them feel involved by creating suspense, mystery, or an emotional connection.

Conveying a Message or Insight

Narrative essays are more than just a story – they aim to teach you something. They usually have a moral lesson, a new understanding, or a realization about life that the author gained from the experience.

Building Empathy and Understanding

By telling their stories, people can give others insight into different perspectives, feelings, and situations. Sharing these tales can create compassion in the reader and help broaden their knowledge of different life experiences.

Inspiration and Motivation

Stories about personal struggles, successes, and transformations can be really encouraging to people who are going through similar situations. It can provide them with hope and guidance, and let them know that they’re not alone.

Reflecting on Life’s Significance

These essays usually make you think about the importance of certain moments in life or the impact of certain experiences. They make you look deep within yourself and ponder on the things you learned or how you changed because of those events.

Demonstrating Writing Skills

Coming up with a gripping narrative essay takes serious writing chops, like vivid descriptions, powerful language, timing, and organization. It’s an opportunity for writers to show off their story-telling abilities.

Preserving Personal History

Sometimes narrative essays are used to record experiences and special moments that have an emotional resonance. They can be used to preserve individual memories or for future generations to look back on.

Cultural and Societal Exploration

Personal stories can look at cultural or social aspects, giving us an insight into customs, opinions, or social interactions seen through someone’s own experience.

Format of a Narrative Essay

Narrative essays are quite flexible in terms of format, which allows the writer to tell a story in a creative and compelling way. Here’s a quick breakdown of the narrative essay format, along with some examples:

Introduction

Set the scene and introduce the story.

Engage the reader and establish the tone of the narrative.

Hook: Start with a captivating opening line to grab the reader’s attention. For instance:

Example:  “The scorching sun beat down on us as we trekked through the desert, our water supply dwindling.”

Background Information: Provide necessary context or background without giving away the entire story.

Example:  “It was the summer of 2015 when I embarked on a life-changing journey to…”

Thesis Statement or Narrative Purpose

Present the main idea or the central message of the essay.

Offer a glimpse of what the reader can expect from the narrative.

Thesis Statement: This isn’t as rigid as in other essays but can be a sentence summarizing the essence of the story.

Example:  “Little did I know, that seemingly ordinary hike would teach me invaluable lessons about resilience and friendship.”

Body Paragraphs

Present the sequence of events in chronological order.

Develop characters, setting, conflict, and resolution.

Story Progression : Describe events in the order they occurred, focusing on details that evoke emotions and create vivid imagery.

Example : Detail the trek through the desert, the challenges faced, interactions with fellow hikers, and the pivotal moments.

Character Development : Introduce characters and their roles in the story. Show their emotions, thoughts, and actions.

Example : Describe how each character reacted to the dwindling water supply and supported each other through adversity.

Dialogue and Interactions : Use dialogue to bring the story to life and reveal character personalities.

Example : “Sarah handed me her last bottle of water, saying, ‘We’re in this together.'”

Reach the peak of the story, the moment of highest tension or significance.

Turning Point: Highlight the most crucial moment or realization in the narrative.

Example:  “As the sun dipped below the horizon and hope seemed lost, a distant sound caught our attention—the rescue team’s helicopters.”

Provide closure to the story.

Reflect on the significance of the experience and its impact.

Reflection : Summarize the key lessons learned or insights gained from the experience.

Example : “That hike taught me the true meaning of resilience and the invaluable support of friendship in challenging times.”

Closing Thought : End with a memorable line that reinforces the narrative’s message or leaves a lasting impression.

Example : “As we boarded the helicopters, I knew this adventure would forever be etched in my heart.”

Example Summary:

Imagine a narrative about surviving a challenging hike through the desert, emphasizing the bonds formed and lessons learned. The narrative essay structure might look like starting with an engaging scene, narrating the hardships faced, showcasing the characters’ resilience, and culminating in a powerful realization about friendship and endurance.

Different Types of Narrative Essays

There are a bunch of different types of narrative essays – each one focuses on different elements of storytelling and has its own purpose. Here’s a breakdown of the narrative essay types and what they mean.

Personal Narrative

Description : Tells a personal story or experience from the writer’s life.

Purpose: Reflects on personal growth, lessons learned, or significant moments.

Example of Narrative Essay Types:

Topic : “The Day I Conquered My Fear of Public Speaking”

Focus: Details the experience, emotions, and eventual triumph over a fear of public speaking during a pivotal event.

Descriptive Narrative

Description : Emphasizes vivid details and sensory imagery.

Purpose : Creates a sensory experience, painting a vivid picture for the reader.

Topic : “A Walk Through the Enchanted Forest”

Focus : Paints a detailed picture of the sights, sounds, smells, and feelings experienced during a walk through a mystical forest.

Autobiographical Narrative

Description: Chronicles significant events or moments from the writer’s life.

Purpose: Provides insights into the writer’s life, experiences, and growth.

Topic: “Lessons from My Childhood: How My Grandmother Shaped Who I Am”

Focus: Explores pivotal moments and lessons learned from interactions with a significant family member.

Experiential Narrative

Description: Relays experiences beyond the writer’s personal life.

Purpose: Shares experiences, travels, or events from a broader perspective.

Topic: “Volunteering in a Remote Village: A Journey of Empathy”

Focus: Chronicles the writer’s volunteering experience, highlighting interactions with a community and personal growth.

Literary Narrative

Description: Incorporates literary elements like symbolism, allegory, or thematic explorations.

Purpose: Uses storytelling for deeper explorations of themes or concepts.

Topic: “The Symbolism of the Red Door: A Journey Through Change”

Focus: Uses a red door as a symbol, exploring its significance in the narrator’s life and the theme of transition.

Historical Narrative

Description: Recounts historical events or periods through a personal lens.

Purpose: Presents history through personal experiences or perspectives.

Topic: “A Grandfather’s Tales: Living Through the Great Depression”

Focus: Shares personal stories from a family member who lived through a historical era, offering insights into that period.

Digital or Multimedia Narrative

Description: Incorporates multimedia elements like images, videos, or audio to tell a story.

Purpose: Explores storytelling through various digital platforms or formats.

Topic: “A Travel Diary: Exploring Europe Through Vlogs”

Focus: Combines video clips, photos, and personal narration to document a travel experience.

How to Choose a Topic for Your Narrative Essay?

Selecting a compelling topic for your narrative essay is crucial as it sets the stage for your storytelling. Choosing a boring topic is one of the narrative essay mistakes to avoid . Here’s a detailed guide on how to choose the right topic:

Reflect on Personal Experiences

• Significant Moments:

Moments that had a profound impact on your life or shaped your perspective.

Example: A moment of triumph, overcoming a fear, a life-changing decision, or an unforgettable experience.

• Emotional Resonance:

Events that evoke strong emotions or feelings.

Example: Joy, fear, sadness, excitement, or moments of realization.

• Lessons Learned:

Experiences that taught you valuable lessons or brought about personal growth.

Example: Challenges that led to personal development, shifts in mindset, or newfound insights.

Explore Unique Perspectives

• Uncommon Experiences:

Unique or unconventional experiences that might captivate the reader’s interest.

Example: Unusual travels, interactions with different cultures, or uncommon hobbies.

• Different Points of View:

Stories from others’ perspectives that impacted you deeply.

Example: A family member’s story, a friend’s experience, or a historical event from a personal lens.

Focus on Specific Themes or Concepts

• Themes or Concepts of Interest:

Themes or ideas you want to explore through storytelling.

Example: Friendship, resilience, identity, cultural diversity, or personal transformation.

• Symbolism or Metaphor:

Using symbols or metaphors as the core of your narrative.

Example: Exploring the symbolism of an object or a place in relation to a broader theme.

Consider Your Audience and Purpose

• Relevance to Your Audience:

Topics that resonate with your audience’s interests or experiences.

Example: Choose a relatable theme or experience that your readers might connect with emotionally.

• Impact or Message:

What message or insight do you want to convey through your story?

Example: Choose a topic that aligns with the message or lesson you aim to impart to your readers.

Brainstorm and Evaluate Ideas

• Free Writing or Mind Mapping:

Process: Write down all potential ideas without filtering. Mind maps or free-writing exercises can help generate diverse ideas.

• Evaluate Feasibility:

The depth of the story, the availability of vivid details, and your personal connection to the topic.

Imagine you’re considering topics for a narrative essay. You reflect on your experiences and decide to explore the topic of “Overcoming Stage Fright: How a School Play Changed My Perspective.” This topic resonates because it involves a significant challenge you faced and the personal growth it brought about.

Narrative Essay Topics

50 easy narrative essay topics.

• Learning to Ride a Bike
• My First Day of School
• A Surprise Birthday Party
• The Day I Got Lost
• Visiting a Haunted House
• An Encounter with a Wild Animal
• My Favorite Childhood Toy
• The Best Vacation I Ever Had
• An Unforgettable Family Gathering
• Conquering a Fear of Heights
• A Special Gift I Received
• Moving to a New City
• The Most Memorable Meal
• Getting Caught in a Rainstorm
• An Act of Kindness I Witnessed
• The First Time I Cooked a Meal
• My Experience with a New Hobby
• The Day I Met My Best Friend
• A Hike in the Mountains
• Learning a New Language
• An Embarrassing Moment
• Dealing with a Bully
• My First Job Interview
• A Sporting Event I Attended
• The Scariest Dream I Had
• Helping a Stranger
• The Joy of Achieving a Goal
• A Road Trip Adventure
• Overcoming a Personal Challenge
• The Significance of a Family Tradition
• An Unusual Pet I Owned
• A Misunderstanding with a Friend
• Exploring an Abandoned Building
• My Favorite Book and Why
• The Impact of a Role Model
• A Cultural Celebration I Participated In
• A Valuable Lesson from a Teacher
• A Trip to the Zoo
• An Unplanned Adventure
• Volunteering Experience
• A Moment of Forgiveness
• A Decision I Regretted
• A Special Talent I Have
• The Importance of Family Traditions
• The Thrill of Performing on Stage
• A Moment of Sudden Inspiration
• The Meaning of Home
• Learning to Play a Musical Instrument
• A Childhood Memory at the Park
• Witnessing a Beautiful Sunset

Narrative Essay Topics for College Students

• Discovering a New Passion
• Overcoming Academic Challenges
• Navigating Cultural Differences
• Embracing Independence: Moving Away from Home
• Exploring Career Aspirations
• Coping with Stress in College
• The Impact of a Mentor in My Life
• Balancing Work and Studies
• Facing a Fear of Public Speaking
• Exploring a Semester Abroad
• The Evolution of My Study Habits
• Volunteering Experience That Changed My Perspective
• The Role of Technology in Education
• Finding Balance: Social Life vs. Academics
• Learning a New Skill Outside the Classroom
• Reflecting on Freshman Year Challenges
• The Joys and Struggles of Group Projects
• My Experience with Internship or Work Placement
• Challenges of Time Management in College
• Redefining Success Beyond Grades
• The Influence of Literature on My Thinking
• The Impact of Social Media on College Life
• Overcoming Procrastination
• Lessons from a Leadership Role
• Exploring Diversity on Campus
• Exploring Passion for Environmental Conservation
• An Eye-Opening Course That Changed My Perspective
• Living with Roommates: Challenges and Lessons
• The Significance of Extracurricular Activities
• The Influence of a Professor on My Academic Journey
• Discussing Mental Health in College
• The Evolution of My Career Goals
• Confronting Personal Biases Through Education
• The Experience of Attending a Conference or Symposium
• Challenges Faced by Non-Native English Speakers in College
• The Impact of Traveling During Breaks
• Exploring Identity: Cultural or Personal
• The Impact of Music or Art on My Life
• Addressing Diversity in the Classroom
• Exploring Entrepreneurial Ambitions
• My Experience with Research Projects
• Overcoming Impostor Syndrome in College
• The Importance of Networking in College
• Finding Resilience During Tough Times
• The Impact of Global Issues on Local Perspectives
• The Influence of Family Expectations on Education
• Lessons from a Part-Time Job
• Exploring the College Sports Culture
• The Role of Technology in Modern Education
• The Journey of Self-Discovery Through Education

Narrative Essay Comparison

Narrative essay vs. descriptive essay.

Here’s our first narrative essay comparison! While both narrative and descriptive essays focus on vividly portraying a subject or an event, they differ in their primary objectives and approaches. Now, let’s delve into the nuances of comparison on narrative essays.

Narrative Essay:

Storytelling: Focuses on narrating a personal experience or event.

Chronological Order: Follows a structured timeline of events to tell a story.

Message or Lesson: Often includes a central message, moral, or lesson learned from the experience.

Engagement: Aims to captivate the reader through a compelling storyline and character development.

First-Person Perspective: Typically narrated from the writer’s point of view, using “I” and expressing personal emotions and thoughts.

Plot Development: Emphasizes a plot with a beginning, middle, climax, and resolution.

Character Development: Focuses on describing characters, their interactions, emotions, and growth.

Conflict or Challenge: Usually involves a central conflict or challenge that drives the narrative forward.

Dialogue: Incorporates conversations to bring characters and their interactions to life.

Reflection: Concludes with reflection or insight gained from the experience.

Descriptive Essay:

Vivid Description: Aims to vividly depict a person, place, object, or event.

Imagery and Details: Focuses on sensory details to create a vivid image in the reader’s mind.

Emotion through Description: Uses descriptive language to evoke emotions and engage the reader’s senses.

Painting a Picture: Creates a sensory-rich description allowing the reader to visualize the subject.

Imagery and Sensory Details: Focuses on providing rich sensory descriptions, using vivid language and adjectives.

Point of Focus: Concentrates on describing a specific subject or scene in detail.

Spatial Organization: Often employs spatial organization to describe from one area or aspect to another.

Objective Observations: Typically avoids the use of personal opinions or emotions; instead, the focus remains on providing a detailed and objective description.

Comparison:

Focus: Narrative essays emphasize storytelling, while descriptive essays focus on vividly describing a subject or scene.

Perspective: Narrative essays are often written from a first-person perspective, while descriptive essays may use a more objective viewpoint.

Purpose: Narrative essays aim to convey a message or lesson through a story, while descriptive essays aim to paint a detailed picture for the reader without necessarily conveying a specific message.

Narrative Essay vs. Argumentative Essay

The narrative essay and the argumentative essay serve distinct purposes and employ different approaches:

Engagement and Emotion: Aims to captivate the reader through a compelling story.

Reflective: Often includes reflection on the significance of the experience or lessons learned.

First-Person Perspective: Typically narrated from the writer’s point of view, sharing personal emotions and thoughts.

Plot Development: Emphasizes a storyline with a beginning, middle, climax, and resolution.

Message or Lesson: Conveys a central message, moral, or insight derived from the experience.

Argumentative Essay:

Persuasion and Argumentation: Aims to persuade the reader to adopt the writer’s viewpoint on a specific topic.

Logical Reasoning: Presents evidence, facts, and reasoning to support a particular argument or stance.

Debate and Counterarguments: Acknowledge opposing views and counter them with evidence and reasoning.

Thesis Statement: Includes a clear thesis statement that outlines the writer’s position on the topic.

Thesis and Evidence: Starts with a strong thesis statement and supports it with factual evidence, statistics, expert opinions, or logical reasoning.

Counterarguments: Addresses opposing viewpoints and provides rebuttals with evidence.

Logical Structure: Follows a logical structure with an introduction, body paragraphs presenting arguments and evidence, and a conclusion reaffirming the thesis.

Formal Language: Uses formal language and avoids personal anecdotes or emotional appeals.

Objective: Argumentative essays focus on presenting a logical argument supported by evidence, while narrative essays prioritize storytelling and personal reflection.

Purpose: Argumentative essays aim to persuade and convince the reader of a particular viewpoint, while narrative essays aim to engage, entertain, and share personal experiences.

Structure: Narrative essays follow a storytelling structure with character development and plot, while argumentative essays follow a more formal, structured approach with logical arguments and evidence.

In essence, while both essays involve writing and presenting information, the narrative essay focuses on sharing a personal experience, whereas the argumentative essay aims to persuade the audience by presenting a well-supported argument.

Narrative Essay vs. Personal Essay

While there can be an overlap between narrative and personal essays, they have distinctive characteristics:

Storytelling: Emphasizes recounting a specific experience or event in a structured narrative form.

Engagement through Story: Aims to engage the reader through a compelling story with characters, plot, and a central theme or message.

Reflective: Often includes reflection on the significance of the experience and the lessons learned.

First-Person Perspective: Typically narrated from the writer’s viewpoint, expressing personal emotions and thoughts.

Plot Development: Focuses on developing a storyline with a clear beginning, middle, climax, and resolution.

Character Development: Includes descriptions of characters, their interactions, emotions, and growth.

Central Message: Conveys a central message, moral, or insight derived from the experience.

Personal Essay:

Exploration of Ideas or Themes: Explores personal ideas, opinions, or reflections on a particular topic or subject.

Expression of Thoughts and Opinions: Expresses the writer’s thoughts, feelings, and perspectives on a specific subject matter.

Reflection and Introspection: Often involves self-reflection and introspection on personal experiences, beliefs, or values.

Varied Structure and Content: Can encompass various forms, including memoirs, personal anecdotes, or reflections on life experiences.

Flexibility in Structure: Allows for diverse structures and forms based on the writer’s intent, which could be narrative-like or more reflective.

Theme-Centric Writing: Focuses on exploring a central theme or idea, with personal anecdotes or experiences supporting and illustrating the theme.

Expressive Language: Utilizes descriptive and expressive language to convey personal perspectives, emotions, and opinions.

Focus: Narrative essays primarily focus on storytelling through a structured narrative, while personal essays encompass a broader range of personal expression, which can include storytelling but isn’t limited to it.

Structure: Narrative essays have a more structured plot development with characters and a clear sequence of events, while personal essays might adopt various structures, focusing more on personal reflection, ideas, or themes.

Intent: While both involve personal experiences, narrative essays emphasize telling a story with a message or lesson learned, while personal essays aim to explore personal thoughts, feelings, or opinions on a broader range of topics or themes.

A narrative essay is more than just telling a story. It’s also meant to engage the reader, get them thinking, and leave a lasting impact. Whether it’s to amuse, motivate, teach, or reflect, these essays are a great way to communicate with your audience. This interesting narrative essay guide was all about letting you understand the narrative essay, its importance, and how can you write one.

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• Knowledge Base
• 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.

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

• Ad hominem fallacy
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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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• How To Write a Narrative Essay: Guide With Examples
• Learn English
• James Prior
• No Comments
• Updated December 12, 2023

Welcome to the creative world of narrative essays where you get to become the storyteller and craft your own narrative. In this article, we’ll break down how to write a narrative essay, covering the essential elements and techniques that you need to know.

Table of Contents

What is a Narrative Essay?

A narrative essay is a form of writing where the author recounts a personal experience or story. Unlike other types of essays, a narrative essay allows you to share a real-life event or sequence of events, often drawing from personal insights and emotions.

In a narrative essay, you take on the role of a storyteller, employing vivid details and descriptive language to transport the reader into the world of your story. The narrative often unfolds in chronological order, guiding the audience through a journey of experiences, reflections, and sometimes, a lesson learned.

The success of a narrative essay lies in your ability to create a compelling narrative arc. This means establishing a clear beginning, middle, and end. This structure helps build suspense, maintain the reader’s interest, and deliver a cohesive and impactful story. Ultimately, a well-crafted narrative essay not only narrates an event but also communicates the deeper meaning or significance behind the experience, making it a powerful and memorable piece of writing and leaving a lasting impression on the reader.

Types of Narrative Essays

Narrative essays come in various forms, each with unique characteristics. The most common type of narrative essay are personal narrative essays where you write about a personal experience. This can cover a whole range of topics as these examples of personal narrative essays illustrate. As a student in school or college, you’ll often be asked to write these types of essays. You may also need to write them later in life when applying for jobs and describing your past experiences.

However, this isn’t the only type of narrative essay. There are also fictional narrative essays that you can write using your imagination, and various subject specific narrative essays that you might have come across without even realizing it.

So, it’s worth knowing about the different types of narrative essays and what they each focus on before we move on to how to write them.

Here are some common types of narrative essays:

• Focus on a personal experience or event from the author’s life.
• Use the first-person perspective to convey the writer’s emotions and reflections.
• Can take many forms, from science fiction and fantasy to adventure and romance.
• Spark the imagination to create captivating stories.
• Provide a detailed account of the author’s life, often covering a significant timespan.
• Explore key life events, achievements, challenges, and personal growth.
• Reflect on the writer’s experiences with language, reading, or writing.
• Explore how these experiences have shaped the writer’s identity and skills
• Document the author’s experiences and insights gained from a journey or travel.
• Describe places visited, people encountered, and the lessons learned during the trip.
• Explore historical events or periods through a personal lens.
• Combine factual information with the writer’s perspective and experiences.

The narrative essay type you’ll work with often depends on the purpose, audience, and nature of the story being told. So, how should you write narrative essays?

How To Write Narrative Essays

From selecting the right topic to building a captivating storyline, we explore the basics to guide you in creating engaging narratives. So, grab your pen, and let’s delve into the fundamentals of writing a standout narrative essay.

Before we start, it’s worth pointing out that most narrative essays are written in the first-person. Through the use of first-person perspective, you get to connect with the reader, offering a glimpse into your thoughts, reactions, and the significance of the story being shared.

Let’s get into how to create these stories:

Write your plot

If you want to tell a compelling story you need a good plot. Your plot will give your story a structure. Every good story includes some kind of conflict. You should start with setting the scene for readers. After this, you introduce a challenge or obstacle. Readers will keep reading until the end to find out how you managed to overcome it.

Your story should reach a climax where tension is highest. This will be the turning point that leads to a resolution. For example, moving outside of your comfort zone was difficult and scary. It wasn’t easy at first but eventually, you grew braver and more confident. Readers should discover more about who you are as a person through what they read.

A seasoned writer knows how to craft a story that connects with an audience and creates an impact.

Hook readers with your introduction

In your introduction, you will introduce the main idea of your essay and set the context. Ways to make it more engaging are to:

• Use sensory images to describe the setting in which your story takes place.
• Use a quote that illustrates your main idea.
• Pose an intriguing question.
• Introduce an unexpected fact or a statement that grabs attention.

Develop your characters

You need to make readers feel they know any characters you introduce in your narrative essay. You can do this by revealing their personalities and quirks through the actions they take. It is always better to show the actions of characters rather than giving facts about them. Describing a character’s body language and features can also reveal a great deal about the person. You can check out these adjectives to describe a person to get some inspiration.

Use dialogue

Dialogue can bring your narrative essay to life. Most fiction books use dialogue extensively . It helps to move the story along in a subtle way. When you allow characters to talk, what they have to say seems more realistic. You can use similes , metaphors, and other parts of speech to make your story more compelling. Just make sure the dialogue is written clearly with the right punctuation so readers understand exactly who is talking.

Work on the pace of the story

Your story must flow along at a steady pace. If there’s too much action, readers may get confused. If you use descriptive writing, try not to overdo it. The clear, concise language throughout will appeal to readers more than lengthy descriptions.

Build up towards a climax

This is the point at which the tension in your story is the highest. A compelling climax takes readers by surprise. They may not have seen it coming. This doesn’t mean your climax should come out of left field. You need to carefully lead up to it step by step and guide readers along. When you reveal it they should be able to look back and realize it’s logical.

Cut out what you don’t need

Your story will suffer if you include too much detail that doesn’t move your story along. It may flow better once you cut out some unnecessary details. Most narrative essays are about five paragraphs but this will depend on the topic and requirements.

In a narrative essay, you share your experiences and insights. The journey you take your readers on should leave them feeling moved or inspired. It takes practice to learn how to write in a way that causes this reaction. With a good plot as your guide, it’s easier to write a compelling story that flows toward a satisfying resolution.

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What is a Narrative Essay? How to Write It (with Examples)

Narrative essays are a type of storytelling in which writers weave a personal experience into words to create a fascinating and engaging narrative for readers. A narrative essay explains a story from the author’s point of view to share a lesson or memory with the reader. Narrative essays, like descriptive essays , employ figurative language to depict the subject in a vivid and creative manner to leave a lasting impact on the readers’ minds. In this article, we explore the definition of narrative essays, list the key elements to be included, and provide tips on how to craft a narrative that captivates your audience.

Table of Contents

What is a narrative essay, choosing narrative essay topics, key elements in a narrative essay, creating a narrative essay outline, types of narrative essays, the pre-writing stage, the writing stage, the editing stage, narrative essay example, frequently asked questions.

Narrative essays are often based on one’s personal experience which allows the author to express himself/herself in compelling ways for the reader. They employ storytelling elements to convey the plot and captivate the reader while disclosing the story’s theme or purpose. The author must always have a purpose or theme in mind when writing a narrative essay. These essays may be assigned to high school students to assess their ability to create captivating stories based on personal experiences, or they may be required as part of a college application to assess the applicant’s personal traits. Narrative essays might be based on true events with minor tweaks for dramatic purposes, or they can be adapted from a fictional scenario. Whatever the case maybe, the goal is to tell a story, a good story!

In narrative essays, the emphasis is not so much on the narrative itself as it is on how you explain it. Narrative essay topics cover a range of experiences, from noteworthy to mundane, but when storytelling elements are used well, even a simple account can have weight. Notably, the skills required for narrative writing differ significantly from those needed for formal academic essays, and we will delve deeper into this in the next section.

You can talk about any narrative, but consider whether it is fascinating enough, has enough twists and turns, or teaches a lesson (It’s a plus if the story contains an unexpected twist at the end). The potential topics for a narrative essay are limitless—a triumphant story, a brief moment of introspection, or a voyage of self-discovery. These essays provide writers with the opportunity to share a fragment of their lives with the audience, enriching both the writer’s and the reader’s experiences. Narrative essay examples could be a write-up on “What has been your biggest achievement in life so far and what did it teach you?” or “Describe your toughest experience and how you dealt with it?”.

While narrative essays allow you to be creative with your ideas, language, and format, they must include some key components to convey the story clearly, create engaging content and build reader interest. Follow these guidelines when drafting your essay:   

• Tell your story using the first person to engage users.
• Use sufficient sensory information and figurative language.
• Follow an organized framework so the story flows chronologically.
• Include interesting plot components that add to the narrative.
• Ensure clear language without grammar, spelling, or word choice errors.

Narrative essay outlines serve as the foundational structure for essay composition, acting as a framework to organize thoughts and ideas prior to the writing process. These outlines provide writers with a means to summarize the story, and help in formulating the introduction and conclusion sections and defining the narrative’s trajectory.

Unlike conventional essays that strictly adhere to the five-paragraph structure, narrative essays allow for more flexibility as the organization is dictated by the flow of the story. The outline typically encompasses general details about the events, granting writers the option to prioritize writing the body sections first while deferring the introduction until later stages of the writing process. This approach allows for a more organic and fluid writing process. If you’re wondering how to start writing a narrative essay outline, here is a sample designed to ensure a compelling and coherent narrative:

Introduction

• Hook/Opening line: The introduction should have an opening/hook sentence that is a captivating quote, question, or anecdote that grabs the reader’s attention.
• Background: Briefly introduce the setting, time, tone, and main characters.
• Thesis statement: State clearly the main theme or lesson acquired from the experience.
• Event 1 (according to occurrence): Describe the first major event in detail. Introduce the primary characters and set the story context; include sensory elements to enrich the narrative and give the characters depth and enthusiasm.
• Event 2: Ensure a smooth transition from one event to the next. Continue with the second event in the narrative. For more oomph, use suspense or excitement, or leave the plot with cliffhanger endings. Concentrate on developing your characters and their relationships, using dialog to bring the story to life.
• Event 3: If there was a twist and suspense, this episode should introduce the climax or resolve the story. Keep the narrative flowing by connecting events logically and conveying the feelings and reactions of the characters.
• Summarize the plot: Provide a concise recap of the main events within the narrative essay. Highlight the key moments that contribute to the development of the storyline. Offer personal reflections on the significance of the experiences shared, emphasizing the lasting impact they had on the narrator. End the story with a clincher; a powerful and thought-provoking sentence that encapsulates the essence of the narrative. As a bonus, aim to leave the reader with a memorable statement or quote that enhances the overall impact of the narrative. This should linger in the reader’s mind, providing a satisfying and resonant conclusion to the essay.

There are several types of narrative essays, each with their own unique traits. Some narrative essay examples are presented in the table below.

How to write a narrative essay: Step-by-step guide

A narrative essay might be inspired by personal experiences, stories, or even imaginary scenarios that resonate with readers, immersing them in the imaginative world you have created with your words. Here’s an easy step-by-step guide on how to write a narrative essay.

• Select the topic of your narrative

If no prompt is provided, the first step is to choose a topic to write about. Think about personal experiences that could be given an interesting twist. Readers are more likely to like a tale if it contains aspects of humor, surprising twists, and an out-of-the-box climax. Try to plan out such subjects and consider whether you have enough information on the topic and whether it meets the criteria of being funny/inspiring, with nice characters/plot lines, and an exciting climax. Also consider the tone as well as any stylistic features (such as metaphors or foreshadowing) to be used. While these stylistic choices can be changed later, sketching these ideas early on helps you give your essay a direction to start.

• Create a framework for your essay

Once you have decided on your topic, create an outline for your narrative essay. An outline is a framework that guides your ideas while you write your narrative essay to keep you on track. It can help with smooth transitions between sections when you are stuck and don’t know how to continue the story. It provides you with an anchor to attach and return to, reminding you of why you started in the first place and why the story matters.

• Compile your first draft

A perfect story and outline do not work until you start writing the draft and breathe life into it with your words. Use your newly constructed outline to sketch out distinct sections of your narrative essay while applying numerous linguistic methods at your disposal. Unlike academic essays, narrative essays allow artistic freedom and leeway for originality so don’t stop yourself from expressing your thoughts. However, take care not to overuse linguistic devices, it’s best to maintain a healthy balance to ensure readability and flow.

• Use a first-person point of view

One of the most appealing aspects of narrative essays is that traditional academic writing rules do not apply, and the narration is usually done in the first person. You can use first person pronouns such as I and me while narrating different scenarios. Be wary of overly using these as they can suggest lack of proper diction.

• Use storytelling or creative language

You can employ storytelling tactics and linguistic tools used in fiction or creative writing, such as metaphors, similes, and foreshadowing, to communicate various themes. The use of figurative language, dialogue, and suspense is encouraged in narrative essays.

• Follow a format to stay organized

There’s no fixed format for narrative essays, but following a loose format when writing helps in organizing one’s thoughts. For example, in the introduction part, underline the importance of creating a narrative essay, and then reaffirm it in the concluding paragraph. Organize your story chronologically so that the reader can follow along and make sense of the story.

• Reread, revise, and edit

Proofreading and editing are critical components of creating a narrative essay, but it can be easy to become weighed down by the details at this stage. Taking a break from your manuscript before diving into the editing process is a wise practice. Stepping away for a day or two, or even just a few hours, provides valuable time to enhance the plot and address any grammatical issues that may need correction. This period of distance allows for a fresh perspective, enabling you to approach the editing phase with renewed clarity and a more discerning eye.

One suggestion is to reconsider the goals you set out to cover when you started the topic. Ask yourself these questions:

• Is there a distinct beginning and end to your story?
• Does your essay have a topic, a memory, or a lesson to teach?
• Does the tone of the essay match the intended mood?

Now, while keeping these things in mind, modify and proofread your essay. You can use online grammar checkers and paraphrase tools such as Paperpal to smooth out any rough spots before submitting it for publication or submission.

It is recommended to edit your essay in the order it was written; here are some useful tips:

• Revise the introduction

After crafting your narrative essay, review the introduction to ensure it harmonizes with the developed narrative. Confirm that it adeptly introduces the story and aligns seamlessly with the conclusion.

• Revise the conclusion and polish the essay

The conclusion should be the final element edited to ensure coherence and harmony in the entire narrative. It must reinforce the central theme or lesson outlined initially.

• Revise and refine the entire article

The last step involves refining the article for consistent tone, style, and tense as well as correct language, grammar, punctuation, and clarity. Seeking feedback from a mentor or colleague can offer an invaluable external perspective at this stage.

Narrative essays are true accounts of the writer’s personal experiences, conveyed in figurative language for sensory appeal. Some narrative essay topic examples include writing about an unforgettable experience, reflecting on mistakes, or achieving a goal. An example of a personal narrative essay is as follows:

Title: A Feline Odyssey: An Experience of Fostering Stray Kittens

Introduction:

It was a fine summer evening in the year 2022 when a soft meowing disrupted the tranquility of my terrace. Little did I know that this innocent symphony would lead to a heartwarming journey of compassion and companionship. Soon, there was a mama cat at my doorstep with four little kittens tucked behind her. They were the most unexpected visitors I had ever had.

The kittens, just fluffs of fur with barely open eyes, were a monument to life’s fragility. Their mother, a street-smart feline, had entrusted me with the care of her precious offspring. The responsibility was sudden and unexpected, yet there was an undeniable sense of purpose in the air , filling me with delight and enthusiasm.

As the days unfolded, my terrace transformed into a haven for the feline family. Cardboard boxes became makeshift cat shelters and my once solitary retreat was filled with purrs and soothing meows. The mother cat, Lily, who initially observ ed me from a safe distance, gradually began to trust my presence as I offered food and gentle strokes.

Fostering the kittens was a life-changing , enriching experience that taught me the true joy of giving as I cared for the felines. My problems slowly faded into the background as evenings were spent playing with the kittens. Sleepless nights turned into a symphony of contented purring, a lullaby filled with the warmth of trust and security . Although the kittens were identical, they grew up to have very distinct personalities, with Kuttu being the most curious and Bobo being the most coy . Every dawn ushered in a soothing ritual of nourishing these feline companions, while nights welcomed their playful antics — a daily nocturnal delight.

Conclusion:

As the kittens grew, so did the realization that our paths were destined to part. Finally, the day arrived when the feline family, now confident and self-reliant, bid farewell to my terrace. It was a bittersweet moment, filled with a sense of love and accomplishment and a tinge of sadness.

Fostering Kuttu, Coco, Lulu, and Bobo became one of the most transformative experiences of my life. Their arrival had brought unexpected joy, teaching me about compassion and our species’ ability to make a difference in the world through love and understanding. The terrace, once a quiet retreat, now bore the echoes of a feline symphony that had touched my heart in ways I could have never imagined.

The length of a narrative essay may vary, but it is typically a brief to moderate length piece. Generally, the essay contains an introductory paragraph, two to three body paragraphs (this number can vary), and a conclusion. The entire narrative essay could be as short as five paragraphs or much longer, depending on the assignment’s requirements or the writer’s preference.

You can write a narrative essay when you have a personal experience to share, or a story, or a series of events that you can tell in a creative and engaging way. Narrative essays are often assigned in academic settings as a form of writing that allows students to express themselves and showcase their storytelling skills. However, you can also write a narrative essay for personal reflection, entertainment, or to communicate a message.

A narrative essay usually follows a three-part structure: – Introduction (To set the stage for the story) – Body paragraphs (To describe sequence of events with details, descriptions, and dialogue) – Conclusion (To summarize the story and reflect on the significance)

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

By 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

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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Your chance of acceptance, your chancing factors, extracurriculars, how should i describe a life event in my essay that prepared me for college.

So I'm drafting my college essay and I've got this life event that really impacted me and I think it shows I'm ready for college. But how do I describe it in a way that's compelling and not just telling a story? Any advice from those who tackled something similar?

When you're describing a life event in your college essay, it's important to focus on reflection, rather than merely recounting the event. Think about how this experience has shaped your perspective, influenced your goals, or contributed to your character development.

Start by setting the scene to engage the reader, then swiftly move to express how this event was pivotal in your personal growth. Show rather than tell; for example, if you're writing about how you overcame a challenge, detail the steps you took and the resourcefulness or resilience you displayed with active descriptions and action rather than a passive explanation. You want to make it clear why this event makes you a strong candidate for college by connecting it to attributes like determination, leadership, or a passion for learning. Remember to close your essay by looking forward; explain how the event has prepared you for the challenges of college and beyond, and how it will inform your contributions to the college community.

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True Event Adaptation: Scripting Real Lives

These essays all—in various ways—address the relationship between adaptation, “true events,” and cultural memory. They ask (and frequently answer) the question: how do we script stories about real events that are often still fresh in our memories and may involve living people? True Event Adaptation: Scripting Real Lives contains essays from scholars committed to interrogating historical and current hard-hitting events, traumas, and truths through various media. Each essay goes beyond general discussion of adaptation and media to engage with the specifics of adapting true life events—addressing pertinent and controversial questions around scriptwriting, representation, ethics, memory, forms of history, and methodological interventions. Written for readers interested in how memory works on culture as well as screenwriting choices, the collection offers new perspectives on historical media and commercial media that is currently being produced, as well as on media created by the book’s contributors themselves.

Related Papers

Rethinking History

Esin Paça-Cengiz

In film scholarship, historical film has been identified as a form that portrays events and experiences that took place in the past. By building on Caruth’s concept of indirect representation, however, this article identifies a new historical film form that is not necessarily set in the past, but engages with questions regarding history, memory and historical representation. It conceptualizes this new form of ‘historical essay film’, and by analysing Voice of My Father, argues that rather than manifesting a desire to represent traumatic events directly, historical essay films refrain from the presumption that the medium of film can represent the reality of past events. To this end, they engage with past traumas indirectly through narratives that are set in the present day. The study further contends that the main thrust of historical essay films is to probe the discursive fields in which certain moments of the past are fixed, narrated and become predominant while others remain overlooked and unaccounted for. The article concludes with the claim that, as a consequence of their unconventional formal structures, historical essay films diminish the temporal distance between the past, present and future while also opening up new possibilities for rethinking what historical representation means.

Jouko Aaltonen

There has been a significant increase in the number of history programmes and documentary films about history shown on television since the 1990s. This is due to technological and institutional changes in international television but also to the wider commodification of history. The new technological means and approaches have also provided new opportunities for filmmakers in the field of history documentaries. In this article, we are interested in the role of history in television and documentary filmmaking in general, and in how developments in television and documentary filmmaking have affected the nature of historical documents on television. We explore new forms of film, such as re-enactments, reality-experiential history documentaries, mockumentaries and counterfactualities. What is the relationship between history documentaries and academic historical research? What do these changes mean from the point of view of both academics and filmmakers? We approach the question from the...

Ilha do Desterro A Journal of English Language, …

Fernando Vugman

Rasool Rahmanzadeh

The essay film, as a separate entity yet still as part of the nonfiction genre, presents an argument by examining the three concepts of history, subjectivity, and collective memory. This article seeks to study the roots of the essay film through a theoretical and historical overview to assess how essay films represent the traumatic events and how they create traumatic images in order to remove the passivity from their audience to make them socially active.

Alea Ibrahim

Academia Letters

Julia Meyer Gross

Leidschrift : Verleden in beeld. Geschiedenis en mythe in film

Robert Burgoyne

Hacettepe University Journal of Faculty of Letters

Focusing on major differences between nostalgic and documentary memory in contemporary plays, this paper argues how The Laramie Project (2001) by Moises Kaufmann and The Exonerated (2002) by Jessica Blank and Eric Jensen reinvigorate the concept of memory as an alternative political stand on stage. Memory plays use historical documentation as a forerunner of their dramatic material. In this respect, The Exonerated tells the story of six wrongfully convicted death row inmates through testimonies of the freed convicts, court recordings, and other documents. The Laramie Project belongs to another category of verbatim plays, which is still centered on edited interviews and testimonies but it is characterized by the elimination of the protagonist. It reconstructs and rewrites the story of brutally murdered Matthew Shepard to question this tragedy and disclose the reasons for his murder, but Shepard himself is not represented as a character on stage. The Laramie Project is similar to The Exonerated, but their methodology and construction have fundamentally different incentives and elements. Their emphasis on identity politics and insistence upon a more extended public discussion of politics and social issues separates them from other genres and trends. The way memory is stripped of its nostalgic layers in these documentary plays aims to foster a new understanding of dramatic constructions while challenging mainstream accounts and shifting to side of the silenced figures. Although there is little overlap between the contents and messages of the plays, a key point in both of these works is their emphasis on current issues through a variety of memory forms. Their accent on harsh realities of history is especially pronounced when audience members are invited to witness the flaws of our society. It might be a wrongfully convicted person, a screened and scrutinized life of a transvestite, or a brutally murdered homosexual, but in the end, documentary drama shows us the urgent need to look back to understand the present. Our mistakes are all buried in the magical box of the past. They can be our guides for tomorrow as long as we do not glorify them.

University of Cape Town

Madeleine Bazil

My short documentary, Grandpa Ernest Speaks (2021), is the creative research portion of my master's degree submission. The film is heavily influenced by post-structuralist theory regarding the archive as an experiential entity as well as posttraumatic cinema discourse (in particular, Joshua Hirsch's phases of posttraumatic cinema). This critical reflection therefore investigates the intersection of these two theoretical paradigms: looking at how archival materials may specifically be used in personal documentary films dealing with family/ancestral trauma and posttraumatic memory, and positing that these films' engagement with the archive fits into the larger framework of posttraumatic cinema. I reflect on Grandpa Ernest Speaks in conversation with two other personal posttraumatic documentaries, The Imam and I (dir. Khalid Shamis, South Africa, 2011) and Stories We Tell ( dir. Sarah Polley, Canada, 2012). I conduct a semiotic and content analysis of portions of all three films in order to both situate them within the posttraumatic imaginary-specifically, within Hirsch's second phase-and examine the role of the archive and artefacts in each. In doing so, I confront the question of record vs. representation in documentary, and argue that-in the archival-based posttraumatic documentary-the distinction between the two lies in the way that the artefact is interpreted or contextualised via meta-textual captioning. This study demonstrates that posttraumatic memory may be nonlinear and non-chronological. The analysis of my film and the two additional case study films examines how this complication of past and present, archival and contemporary, is articulated onscreen: conveying the transmutation of memory as well as the ongoing and self-reflexive act of contributing to the familial archive.

Ofer Ashkenazi

In the past three decades, due to the work of some distinguished historians, the discussion of film is being slowly integrated into Western historiography. However, while relatively few academic historians would deny today film’s ability to instigate awareness to and enrich the understanding of historical experiences, many fewer are willing – and able – to incorporate film analysis in their own research and teaching. This impasse is particularly apparent in the case of “historical films,” in which past events and experiences are reconstructed, invented and framed in varying degrees of sophistication. The convincing arguments that established film as a “legitimate” narrator of historical reality often fell short of explicating how film should be integrated into academic history discourse. This article reads Rosenstone and Parvulescu’s recent collection of essays A Companion to Historical Film as a demonstration of different approaches taken by contemporary historians in an attempt to meet this challenge. Within this context, it identifies four paradigms, each involves different premises about the nature of film’s realism, its role as an agent of social change, and its dialog with “conventional” (national, institutional, etc.) narration of the past. The analysis of these paradigms – and the ways they have been implemented by the contributors to A Companion to Historical Film – shows their potential contribution to the study of historical realities, as well as their weaknesses and limitations. Insightfully presenting and discussing these approaches, I argue, Rosenstone and Parvulescu’s volume is an important step forward in the ongoing endeavor to methodologically incorporate film analysis in the academic research of history.

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True Event Adaptation

Scripting Real Lives

• © 2018
• Davinia Thornley 0

Department of Media, Film and Communication, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

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• Marks an original contribution because it investigates a previously under-examined area of adaptation: that of stories based on true events
• Employs a cross-disciplinary approach, by offering insights into history, theatre studies, film and media studies, organizational analysis, and literary/aesthetic theory
• Offers useful and practical findings on the relationship between real life events and cultural memory

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Adaptation and Visual Culture (PSADVC)

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Alternate History

• screenwriting
• representation
• true stories
• real life events
• visual culture
• cultural memory

Table of contents (10 chapters)

Front matter, scripting real lives in the past, introduction: scripting real lives.

Davinia Thornley

The Study of Historical Films as Adaptation: Some Critical Reflections

• Patrick Cattrysse

Waiting for the Great Swell of ‘74: John Milius and Autobiographical Self-Projection in Big Wednesday

• Alfio Leotta

Making Robert Sarkies’ Film Out of the Blue : Adaptation and Indigenization in Aotearoa New Zealand

Scripting real lives in the present, when the truth becomes too hard to tell: jocelyne saab & dunia (2005).

• Margaret McVeigh

Making It “Real”/“Reel”: Truth, Trauma, and American Exceptionalism in Zero Dark Thirty

• Jennifer L. Gauthier

(The Facts Before) The Fiction Before the Facts: Suburra from Novel (to Trial) to Feature to TV Serial

• Paolo Russo

Reaching Young Audiences Through Research: Using the NABC Method to Create the Norwegian Web Teenage Drama SKAM/Shame

• Eva Novrup Redvall

Scripting Real Lives for the Future

An adaptation of life: ethnographically grounded fiction as a method of inquiry into personal accounts of traumatic events.

• Ester T. Roura

Writing the Screenplay for the History Film: A Case Study Featuring the Historical Figure, C. Y. O’Connor

• Nadia Meneghello

Back Matter

Editors and affiliations, about the editor, bibliographic information.

Book Title : True Event Adaptation

Book Subtitle : Scripting Real Lives

Editors : Davinia Thornley

Series Title : Palgrave Studies in Adaptation and Visual Culture

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97322-7

Publisher : Palgrave Macmillan Cham

eBook Packages : Literature, Cultural and Media Studies , Literature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)

Copyright Information : The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018

Hardcover ISBN : 978-3-319-97321-0 Published: 09 October 2018

Softcover ISBN : 978-3-030-07334-3 Published: 26 January 2019

eBook ISBN : 978-3-319-97322-7 Published: 26 September 2018

Series ISSN : 2634-629X

Series E-ISSN : 2634-6303

Edition Number : 1

Number of Pages : XIII, 237

Number of Illustrations : 3 illustrations in colour

Topics : Adaptation Studies , Genre , Memory Studies

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Mentor texts

Telling Short, Memorable Stories From Your Life: ‘My Secret Pepsi Plot’

An invitation to students to tell a meaningful story in a limited number of words, with an example from The Times’s Lives column to help.

By Katherine Schulten

Our new Mentor Text series spotlights writing from The Times that students can learn from and emulate.

This entry, like several others we are publishing, focuses on an essay from The Times’s long-running Lives column to consider skills prized in narrative writing. We are starting with this genre to help support students participating in our 2020 Personal Narrative Essay Contest .

Our Personal Narrative Essay Contest is inspired by The New York Times’s Lives column, which ran from 1996 to 2017 and featured “short, powerful stories about meaningful life experiences .”

The editor of the column once posted some advice on “How to Write a Lives Essay” to guide those who submitted to the column annually. Much of that advice applies to our contest as well.

For example, several points boil down to reminders to keep it simple, including tips like:

Don’t try to fit your whole life into one “Lives.”

Don’t try to tell the whole story.

Tell a small story — an evocative, particular moment.

Better to start from something very simple that you think is interesting (an incident, a person) and expand upon it, rather than a large idea that you then have to fit into a short essay. For example, start with “the day the Santa Claus in the mall asked me on a date” rather than “the state of affairs that is dating in an older age bracket.”

This advice is similar to advice often given to high school seniors writing college essays : You have only 650 words to show admissions officers something important, interesting or memorable about who you are and what matters to you. A list of awards you’ve won won’t do it, but an engaging story about making brownies with your stepbrother just might.

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How to Write a Current Event Essay: Tips, Structure, Topics, Example

Students are often tasked with the responsibility of how to write a current events essay paper. This paper assesses their research, writing, and editing skills. It also helps them keep tabs on the occurrences in the world and draw a relationship between them and their possible effects.

When writing this kind of paper, reflecting on a situation and exercising your critical thinking and creativity is essential. This writing also develops your argumentative and persuasive skills .

What Is a Current Events Essay?

Unlike most papers, a current events essay focuses on clearly and effectively outlining a particular phenomenon, situation, or happening. The event has to be interesting enough to draw most people’s attention and evoke different emotions from them. On rare occasions, this kind of writing could also describe an event that has yet to occur.

This kind of writing requires you to address the phenomenon’s historical context, current state, and potential effects. As a result, your topics will relate to concepts in fields such as technology, politics, medicine and health, sociology, science, international relations, law, and controversial societal issues and standards.

Current Event Paper Format

Having defined what this kind of paper is about, how about diving into details about its format? Before getting into intricate details about event paper writing, how about taking a detour to learn more about EssayAxe ? We are a cheap essay writing service you can confidently rely on. These are the reasons why you should hire us to work on your assignment:

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How Do You Write a Summary of an Event?

Back to the format of writing current events papers, these steps will help you better approach this kind of essay. They will also help you avoid writer’s block and develop a well-structured essay. Follow these steps on how to write a current events report:

1. Select an Exciting Topic

Your tutor may provide a specific topic or instructions for this essay. On other occasions, they might ask you to select a topic and write an essay about it. The latter might sound easy, even though most students fail at approaching it. Therefore, you must be very careful when choosing a topic for your writing.

Before settling on a topic, go through the tutor’s instructions to establish the constraints of your essay’s topic. Some tutors specify the timeframe of the events they want to write about. Others limit the subject or field they want the writing to be about. Some instructions will also dictate the tone of your paper. For instance, an analytical essay should not have a descriptive tone.

Current Events Essay Topics

How do I make my current event article engaging and interesting? The first step is to choose the right topic. Focus on your notes or news outlets for ideas on what to write about. Ask for insights from your mates or tutor. Alternatively, consult our team for information on what to write about.

Meanwhile, here are examples of current events to write about:

• How can we control inflation?
• Should college be free?
• Should all college debt be forgiven?
• Is the U.S. going to go into recession?
• Was the defunding of police departments a good idea?
• What should be the rules for the repayment of college loans?
• Is the U.S. economy becoming stronger or weaker?
• How important is it to reduce the Federal budget deficit?
• Should the death penalty be outlawed throughout the U.S.?
• Should the United States raise the minimum wage for workers?
• How is COVID-19 changing working in America? Around the world?
• Does it make sense to give U.S. citizenship to all babies born in the United States?
• What is causing the increasingly high cost of healthcare in the United States?
• Does better health care for everyone make a better and stronger economy in the U.S.?
• How should the U.S. respond to cyber hacking by Russia, China, and other countries?

2. Choose a Reputable News Source and Select an Article

What are some good sources for finding current events to write about? You could base your essay on sources like media publications. Some of them include:

• National News
• Sports News
• The Atlantic
• The Economist
• The Guardian
• Investopedia
• TIME Magazine
• The Harvard Business Review
• National Public Radio (NPR)
• The Wall Street Journal
• The Washington Post

Remember, your source should be credible, reliable, and reputable. It should have a history of writing trustworthy news. You could also base your essay on publications on empirical journal articles, government documents, scholarly books, and peer-reviewed articles.

3. Read the Selected Article Keenly and Take Notes

After specifying the article you want to write about, read through it carefully, jotting down important details. If you are unsure about the vocabulary used in the article, look it up and note the contextual meaning of words. Identify the five Ws in the article:

• What happened?
• Where did it happen?
• When did it happen?
• Who was involved?
• Why did it happen?
• How did it happen?

Answers to these questions will help develop an angle for your analysis. It will also help build key sections of your essay like the lead sentences, thesis statement, title, claims, and arguments.

Read Also: Can You Plagiarize Yourself and What Are the Consequences?

4. Develop a Thesis Statement and Hook for Your Essay

How do you start an event essay? Using your notes, develop a thesis statement for your essay. Ensure you are creative enough to come up with a unique statement. In the same breath, it should be strong enough to form the basis of your arguments.

For instance, if you are writing about human trafficking during the COVID-19 pandemic, here is an example of a thesis statement and hook statement.

Thesis Statement

It is time for world leaders, law enforcement agencies, and investigative agencies to team up and develop structures and measures to curb human trafficking, especially during natural disasters and pandemics.

A study by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic had dire effects on the victims and survivors of human trafficking; there was an increased targeting exploitation of women and children.

5. Choose the Sources You Wish to Use to Support the Thesis

How do I make sure my current event article is accurate and unbiased? Establish the sources you wish to use to determine the scope of your essay. They have to be credible. If your instructions specify the sources for your paper, bear that in mind. When researching, highlight the specific pages with information you will use to support your arguments.

How do I cite my sources in a current event article? The style depends on the instructions specified by your tutor.

READ ALSO: Best Conclusion Generator Top 5 Ones That Work

6. Create an Outline

Your current events essay should follow the five-paragraph essay format:

Introduction

• 3 body paragraphs

The three body paragraphs should include arguments backing up the thesis statement.

How do I write a strong introduction for my current event article? The introduction paragraph should brief the reader on the event’s details by answering the five Ws. Remember not to make it too long; five to six sentences should work.

Body Paragraphs

The details of the first body paragraphs should explain the factors that led to the event and how they influenced it. The second paragraph should highlight the two sides people can take regarding the event and provide adequate reasons for it. The third paragraph should explain the significance of the event and who it will impact.

How do I conclude my current event article effectively? The conclusion should summarize the crucial details of the writing. It should also discuss the possibility of bias in the article, reflect on how bias informs how the article was created and why it was essential to highlight the event’s significance.

What Are Some Common Mistakes to Avoid When Writing a Current Event Article?

These are the most commonly highlighted mistakes students make with this kind of writing:

• Spelling errors
• Pronoun errors
• Using irrelevant images
• •Direct rewriting of original news
• Lack of clarity
• Too much or little details

If you were wondering how to write a current events essay, these details help you write your paper. If you need help, reach out to us.

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Practical Guide on How to Format a Current Event Essay 2024

• Rachel R.N.
• February 22, 2024
• How to Guides

Writing a current events essay can be tough if you’re not well-prepared.

It involves a lot of work, especially when choosing a current event, coming up with a topic, planning, writing, and polishing your essay within a tight deadline.

No professor will teach you how to write one as thoroughly as our detailed guide will in less than twenty minutes.

You usually present clear points or solid arguments about the event. You need to use your planning, research, writing, critical thinking, and creativity skills.

For example, good analysis, organization, and presentation are crucial when writing a synthesis or expository essay.

Now, let’s figure out how to do it. Read this article to get ideas on the elements that make a good current events paper, even if you’re doing it for the first time.

What You'll Learn

How to Format a Current Event Essay

What is a current events essay.

A current events essay is a type of writing that discusses and analyzes recent or ongoing events, issues, or developments worldwide. These essays are typically written in response to current news or topics that are of public interest.

A current events essay aims to provide readers with information, analysis, and insights into the chosen topic, offering an informed and up-to-date perspective.

The content of a current events essay can cover a wide range of subjects, including politics, economics, social issues, technology, science, culture, and more. Writers often include facts, statistics, and quotes from relevant sources to support their arguments and provide a well-rounded view.

Additionally, these essays may express the author’s opinions and interpretations, making them a blend of factual reporting and personal analysis.

Current events essays are valuable for staying informed about the world, fostering critical thinking, and encouraging discussions about contemporary issues. They can be assigned in academic settings or written for publication in newspapers, magazines, or online platforms.

Now that we have understood what a current events essay or the paper is let’s explore the various steps you should take to write one successfully.

Are you working on a Current Event Essay?

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Steps to Writing an Excellent Current Events Essay with Examples

Writing a current events essay involves analyzing and discussing recent news or issues in a clear and organized manner. When writing a current events essay, the best approach is to follow your teacher’s instructions to the latter. However, there is no proven record of anyone who has handled this essay topic better.

Here are steps to guide you through the process:

1. Choose a Relevant Topic

If your professor or educator has not provided specific instructions about what topic to choose or write about, start by considering your interests and the context of your assignment or class. Look for recent, pertinent topics, and societal or global significance. Use reputable news sources, academic journals, or government reports to identify potential subjects.

Example: Let’s say you’re interested in writing about the recent electric vehicle (EV) adoption surge. This topic is relevant because it addresses current trends in technology and sustainability.

2. Conduct a Thorough Research

After you select the topic you want to focus on, dive into primary and secondary sources to comprehensively understand the chosen topic. Utilize databases , official reports, expert analyses, and news articles. Take notes on key facts, statistics, and expert opinions.

Some of the best and trusted sites to get the most recent and legitimate articles for your current events essay include BBC News, Investopedia, Forbes, CNN News, TIME Magazine, Sports News, and other ranking news outlets.

From these research articles, you will gather information on the growth of EV sales, advancements in EV technology, government policies promoting EV adoption, and challenges the EV industry faces.

3. Make sure you understand the Context

Explore the historical background of the event or issue. Identify the key players, historical developments, and relevant contexts that contribute to the current situation. Understanding the context will help you present a well-informed analysis in your essay.

For example, in the above case, understand the historical context by researching the evolution of EVs, including milestones in battery technology and government initiatives to reduce carbon emissions. Identify key players such as Tesla, Nissan and government agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Some of the things you need to ask yourself while exploring an event include:

• What happened?
• Where did it happen?
• When did it happen?
• Who was involved?
• Why did it happen?
• How did it happen?

4. Create an Outline

Develop a detailed outline with clear sections for the introduction, body, and conclusion. Each body paragraph should have a specific focus or argument related to the current event. This structure helps maintain a logical flow and ensures that you cover all essential aspects of your chosen topic.

5. Write a Strong Introduction

Craft an introduction that captivates your reader. Start with a compelling hook, providing context for the current event. Clearly state the main thesis or purpose of your essay. Your introduction should highlight the following points:

• What is the event?
• What happened or is yet to happen?
• What are the consequences?
• Which media has covered the event, and when did it do so?

Example: Your hook can be: In recent years, electric vehicles have emerged as a promising solution to combat climate change and reduce reliance on fossil fuels . Provide an overview of the topic and your thesis statement: This essay will explore the factors driving the surge in electric vehicle adoption, including technological advancements, government incentives, and environmental concerns.

Read more on how to write a strong introduction for your paper

6. Develop Clear Body Paragraphs

Each body paragraph should begin with a topic sentence introducing the main idea. Provide evidence, examples, or quotes from your research to support your arguments . Ensure smooth transitions between paragraphs to maintain a coherent flow of ideas.

7. Consider Multiple Perspectives

Acknowledge various viewpoints surrounding the current event. Discuss contrasting opinions and analyze the reasons behind them. This demonstrates your ability to think critically and present a well-rounded understanding of the issue.

Example: Acknowledge different viewpoints on EV adoption, such as concerns about the environmental impact of manufacturing EV batteries and the need for infrastructure development to support widespread EV usage

8. Write a Coherent Conclusion

Summarize the main points discussed in your essay. Emphasize the significance of the current event and its potential implications. Offer insights into possible future developments or actions. Craft a conclusion that leaves a lasting impression on the reader.

Example: Summarize the main points discussed in the essay, highlighting the key factors contributing to the surge in EV adoption. Discuss the potential impact of EVs on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the need for continued innovation and government support in the EV industry.

9. Cite Your Sources:

Follow the citation style specified by your instructor (e.g., APA, MLA, Chicago). Ensure proper citation for all information, quotes, and ideas borrowed from other sources. This enhances the credibility of your essay and avoids issues of plagiarism.

Tips when writing a current events paper

Use the following tips to write the best-scoring current events essay paper:

1. Develop a Strategic Essay Plan

Begin your essay journey by creating a well-thought-out plan. This not only aids in preventing writer’s block but also helps break down the writing process into manageable components. By concentrating on each part, you can achieve greater focus and success.

Get more insights

2. Understanding the Essay Question

Before diving into the writing process, always read, understand, and analyze the essay question or prompt. Identify limiting terms, content terms, and directive terms that shape the scope and focus of your essay. This initial step is crucial for setting the foundation of your essay.

3. Define Your Arguments Early

Define your arguments as part of your planning process. Ensure your essay incorporates strong claim statements, compelling thesis statements, and engaging hooks relevant to the main topic. Develop an informed opinion, position, or point of view to guide your writing.

4. Utilize Evidence, Reasoning, and Scholarship

Incorporate evidence, reasoning, and scholarship effectively in your essay. Use data, statistics, examples, and quotations to support your claims. Employ reasoning to connect evidence to your central argument, showcasing its relevance. Highlight scholarly insights to emphasize alignment with cited sources.

5. Maintain Excellent Organization

Organize your essay meticulously to enhance its overall quality. Create captivating hooks and thesis statements in the introduction, strategically structure body paragraphs for a seamless flow, and conclude in a way that leaves readers eager for more. Address the broader context of your discipline and emphasize the significance of your findings.

6. Employ an Essay Checklist

Utilize an essay checklist to refine and polish your paper. If a rubric or marking scheme is provided, incorporate it into your checklist. Otherwise, create a checklist based on critical factors for a successful essay. This ensures a thorough evaluation of your work against predefined criteria.

7. Cite Sources and Evidence

Pay careful attention to citing sources and evidence. Ensure in-text citations adhere to formatting requirements such as MLA, APA, Chicago, or Harvard. Verify the accuracy of your references list to maintain academic integrity.

8. Avoid Plagiarism

Emphasize the importance of avoiding plagiarism. Acknowledge and cite every piece of information used, attributing credible sources. Rely on authoritative newspapers, government journals, company data, images, and scholarly articles.

9. Maintain Impartiality

Strive for impartiality in your writing. Objectively describe events without taking a subjective stance. Analyze causes, factors, and background details critically, avoiding guesswork or misrepresentation. For future events, base your predictions on evidence, offering rationale or justifications.

10. Refine Essential Skills

Focus on refining essential skills, including writing, reading, comprehension, analytical, and organizational skills. Embrace simplicity in scholarly writing by avoiding complicated vocabulary. Collectively, these tips form the foundation for achieving excellence in your current events essay and securing the best possible grade.

50 Current Event Essay Topics to write about

Our team of professional writers and educators have brainstormed, researched, and developed various current event essay topics you can choose and write about. Moreover, these topics can be a great starting point for brainstorming and developing an appropriate topic

• Global response to COVID-19
• Climate change and environmental policies
• Political developments in various countries
• Economic impact of the pandemic
• Vaccine distribution and accessibility
• Cybersecurity threats
• Technology and artificial intelligence advancements
• Social justice movements and protests
• International relations and conflicts
• Space exploration and developments
• Healthcare reforms
• Brexit and its implications
• Trade tensions between major economies
• Immigration policies and border control
• Rise of populism around the world
• Gun control debates
• Education reforms and challenges
• Impact of social media on society
• Global economic recovery post-pandemic
• Advances in renewable energy
• Natural disasters and their aftermath
• Geopolitical tensions in the Middle East
• Nuclear proliferation concerns
• Rise of nationalist movements
• Challenges in the pharmaceutical industry
• Developments in 5G technology
• Ongoing conflicts and humanitarian crises
• Rise of digital currencies and blockchain
• Gender equality and women’s rights
• Impact of remote work on the workforce
• Aging population and healthcare challenges
• Global efforts to combat terrorism
• Political instability in specific regions
• Space tourism industry developments
• Artificial intelligence ethics and regulations
• Autonomous vehicles and their implications
• Sports events and controversies
• Global efforts to address poverty
• Developments in quantum computing
• Mental health awareness and policies
• Corporate social responsibility initiatives
• Challenges in the global supply chain
• Cultural heritage preservation efforts
• International response to humanitarian crises
• Nuclear energy policies and developments
• Food security and agriculture challenges
• Advances in medical research and treatments
• LGBTQ+ rights and legislation
• Impact of the gig economy on employment
• Global efforts to address plastic pollution

Now that you have an understanding of how to write and what to include in a current events paper. We hope that you now have the courage and inspiration to craft your own paper and get the best grades.

Here are examples of some of the essays on current events that have been written in the past.

Comprehensive Current Essay Paper on the Green Revolution 2.0

Current Event Essay Example on the Rise of Digital Currencies and the Future of Finance

Do not hesitate to contact us and ask us to write your current events paper if you are not satisfied or confident with your research and writing skills, you are welcome to seek the help of our essay writing experts. We offer 24/7 professional support that can help you when stuck.

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Free Event Essay Examples & Topics

An essay describing certain events that happened to you or other people is called an event essay. It doesn’t matter if the situation you’re writing about happened to you or not since your overall task does not change. This task can be a challenging one. You need to include the illustrative details of the event to make the readers feel like they’re experiencing the event firsthand. It needs to be more than a mere description of an event and contain elements of the narrative style.

Two paper types are the most common for the task.

A narrative essay is designed to tell a story; think of it as a review of an event. It will try to persuade rather than describe a situation. Such papers are written in first-person, which is usually not acceptable for essay writing.

A descriptive essay should convey a description of an event. You can start by sharing some details of the situation, providing colorful characterizations. That is to say, you draw an illustrative picture of the event but in words.

On this page, our writers have combined a list of event essay examples on various topics. You will find the guidelines for writing papers about current situations and issues. Besides, you’ll discover what events can lay the foundation for a great essay.

Neither narrative nor descriptive essays can be simply subjective. You have to research the event you’re trying to convey, not mess the facts and details. Of course, there is no way to represent an event in a completely objective manner, but fact-checking never hurt anyone.

To write an excellent event essay, follow these steps:

Step 1: Choose the event.

Look for an event that you can describe in the form of an essay. You can do that by looking at reputable news sources. Ensure that the articles you are examining are fresh and up-to-date.

Step 2: Do your research.

Start your research by reading the picked articles several times. Ask yourself questions about the events such as:

• What happened?
• When did the situation occur?
• Where did it happen?
• Who was involved?
• What was the result?

Make sure not to plagiarize when you write your essay. If you use direct or indirect quotes, don’t forget to include proper citations.

Step 3: Describe the event.

After you are done with the initial research, you can start by describing the event. Answer all the questions you have come up with. If you think you don’t have enough information, consult other sources: documentaries, journals, diaries, etc. Present several points of view and perspectives to make your description more accurate.

Step 4: Outline your essay.

By writing an outline, you can effectively prepare your thoughts and ideas. Creating a structure is an excellent way to logically connect the information from different sources and your own story.

Step 5: Write and cite.

At this point, you have done all the needed research and outlined your arguments. It’s time to create a description of the event. So, the last step is to compose it and cite your sources.

If you are assigned to elaborate on current events, here are some notorious occasions happening today. We’ve selected a few, but there are many more that you can find.

So, here are current events to write about:

• Is the US economy becoming stronger or weaker in 2021?
• How will COVID-19 affect the labor market around the world?
• Can China take over the world economically in the next decade?
• Does international aid hurt African countries?
• What sport should be introduced to the 2022 Olympics?
• Can India become the next superpower in the post-COVID world?
• Is racism a problem in sports in American colleges?

As you could imagine, any good paper starts with a good idea. Additionally, any good idea for an event essay begins with the properly picked situation. We’ve selected fifteen topic ideas that are designed to inspire and encourage.

Check this list and find a perfect event essay topic:

• Describe a life-changing event or experience that impacted you or your behavior in a significant way.
• Tell about an experience when you overcame a fear or phobia and how it happened.
• Remember a school event you are ashamed of.
• Describe your experience attending a concert, a cultural event, or a festival and your emotions.
• Try to think about your childhood heroes and how they changed your life.
• Describe your feelings during the moment you understood someone lied to you.
• Retell your experience solving a problem or a dilemma.
• Recall some of the lessons you learned by helping others.
• Do you remember how you found out you will have a sibling? Describe your feelings, thoughts, and how your parents told you.
• Write a paper about the first time you went abroad.
• What is the most famous person you have ever met, and how did it happen?
• In this essay, write about a memorable event that broke your heart.
• What was the saddest day of your life so far? What upset you that day?
• What about the happiest day of your life? What significant event has happened?
• Describe an unexpected event or a day you have felt humiliated and ashamed.

Thank you for reading the article till the end. We hope you find it helpful, and it will inspire you to write the event essay in the best way possible. Share it with those who may need our advice, and check the samples below.

61 Best Essay Examples on Events

Event planning and implementation: wedding.

• Words: 1620

Attend a Cultural Event: Different Ethnic Communities’ Identities

Festivals and their importance for modern culture, ramadan celebration: the religious festival.

• Words: 2238

Arts and Crafts Festival Event

The negative social impacts of “tomorrowland music festival”, organising a new year party.

• Words: 1385

Wedding planning project

• Words: 4267

Event Management: Organizing a Sporting Event

• Words: 1011

Planning a Birthday Party for a Girl Child

Melbourne food and wine festival in australia.

• Words: 3686

Charity Race Event Organization

Lantern festival and rice ball.

• Words: 1131

Sarah Kwon’s and Alicia Batice Speech: Critique

Woodstock: peace, love and rock n’ roll.

• Words: 1653

Hallmark Events Analysis and Discussion

• Words: 2086

Black Friday: Positive and Negative Sides

Henna night event cost estimation, retailing event concept plan.

• Words: 1512

Jazz Music Concert and Theatrical Performance

The power of vulnerability event by brené brown.

• Words: 1094

Corporate Hospitality Event Planning

• Words: 1708

Will Smith vs. Chris Rock at the Academy Awards

Expo 2020 dubai: the event of global scale, school fundraiser event: conventional foodservice, “newport jazz 2021”: the art event, virtual event venues: benefits and challenges, the grand opening of the new university library: in different media sources, the woodstock music festival’s organizational challenges, tour de france: production of a creative event.

• Words: 1000

The Orange F.O.O.D Week Festival in Australia

• Words: 2082

Planning the Banquet in the Cape Bretoner Room

• Words: 2614

Different Types of Modern Awards Review

Wedding in seattle: event feasibility study.

• Words: 1006

Flavours of Chittering Food & Wine Festival: Analysis

• Words: 1777

Greenpeace Foundation’s Creative Events Management

Strategic approaches for global events.

• Words: 3787

Business Plan: Event Management in Bottaccio

• Words: 3011

Entertaining Process and Requirements

“the world of dance” event, richmond folk festival performances, made in america musical festival planning, event management in the uk and russia.

• Words: 1947

Public and Private Sector Events Organization

Salford christmas land project and event management.

• Words: 2476

Festival Organization Service Operations

• Words: 1776

The World Expo 2020 in Dubai: Pros and Cons

The 2014 joondalup festival details, event planning: “portfolio in motion uncut”, national day of the uae at zayed university, international cultural, sports and business events.

• Words: 1390

Events: E3’s and Comic-con’ Conventions

• Words: 1900

Events: Expo 2020 in Dubai

• Words: 2235

Music Event: Eurovision Song Contest 2014

Woodstock music festival.

• Words: 2313

The Washington DC Auto Show: Brightest Event in Automotive Industry

• Words: 1085

Winchester’s Bid to Host the 7th World Summit on Art & Culture 2017: A Critical Analyses of Strengths & Weaknesses

• Words: 4187

The Geneva International Motor Show

• Words: 1965

Third Annual Bay Area Travel and Adventure Show

Festival in greektown, chicago:.

14 True Events That Made People Question Everything and Everyone

Our brains sometimes play tricks on us, filling our heads with lingering questions. While some of life’s mysteries remain unsolved no matter how hard we try to rationalize them, other times, we may interpret them in our own way and quickly jump to false conclusions. In this article, we’ve compiled eerie and sometimes hair-raising experiences that left people pondering for some time.

• Dad lost his job at the bank when I was 13. We were so poor that some days, I'd go to school without food. One day, on my way home, I saw Dad in a really nice red car with a blonde girl beside him. The next day, I waited at the same spot and saw them again, in the same car. This time, I followed them, and to my horror, they stopped, and I saw the woman hugging my dad. That night, I confronted him. He turned to me, and suddenly I saw his eyes become teary. He said, "Son, I’ve been working as a driving instructor to help pay for our family ." I asked him and Mom why they hadn’t told me. She explained that they didn’t want to add to my worries. Ever since Dad lost his job, I knew he’d been working double shifts at a fast food joint, and I was always concerned about his health, which was already fragile. They knew I’d worry even more if I found out he was taking on another job. My parents were trying to protect me. I’ll always remember them as the most devoted Mom and Dad a kid could ask for, both for me and my four siblings. It taught me an unforgettable lesson: never be quick to judge and never jump to conclusions.

Whenever I finish using my earbuds, I can still hear whatever I was listening to very clearly. It sounds as if I never took out my earbuds. Whenever this happens, I always put my finger in my ear to make sure I took them out. © LordofCalamity / Reddit

I was throwing my dog's chew toy, and it landed behind the couch. I leaned the couch like normal to look for it, but it was nowhere to be found. I looked so much that I eventually lifted the whole couch, took apart the cushions, and checked everywhere I could. For years now, that thing has been lost, and I can only assume there is a wormhole or glitch in the matrix behind that couch. © SmurfSawce / Reddit

One time several years ago, I was walking home from the train station. Then suddenly, I saw myself from above—just casually walking for about 100 meters. I couldn't see what was in front of me; it was like GTA 3 . When I realized it, I was back in my body. It was really weird. It felt like someone was watching over me, and for a moment, I took their place. © FunnyButWeird / Reddit

As adults, we often overanalyze things, but kids are the opposite. They say things without really thinking or fully understanding, which can sometimes put their parents in mortifying situations—just like in this compilation .

Said Son How Old Was She When He Attempted to send her and her Only friend up to Fly? And You Never Even Knew That Was You. 🍁👩‍❤️‍👩👱

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An Important Event In Your Life (Essay Sample)

Table of Contents

Introduction

What experiences changed your life for the better (or worse)?

The sample paper below shares an author’s take on a memorable event (or two) that transpired in his own life. He describes how these experiences made him feel and what he took away from them. He emphasizes that even though these were brief moments from the past, he continues to apply the lessons he learned from them to this day.

Do you have a happy event from your own memory bank that you want to write about? Let us help you with your paper with our essay writing services .

An Important Event in Your Life Essay

We don’t really make it a point to remember every detail of our day. When the next day comes, the previous 24 hours become a blur. But if something unexpected or remarkable happens, it can be memorable for the rest of their lives.

I am sure that everyone has an event that is unforgettable, some so much so that they would rather forget the memory because it triggers old wounds. There are good memories that regularly make us happy when we talk about or share them with people. On a more positive note, there are events that teach a certain lesson and end up becoming a fundamental life conviction for someone.

Life has so many twists and turns. We don’t always know what’s around the corner. This paper seeks to narrate two important events that happened in my life, which continue to have a significant impact on me to this day.

Recalling a Significant Event in My Life

I remember spending 10 days in Missouri Relationship of Understudy Chamber’s late spring authority camp in 2005. I consider it one of my most life-shaping experiences. Those ten days were a series of the most helpful experiences of my journey.

The opportunity came through our Understudy Committee at school, which I joined during my senior year. When I first attended as a Level 1 camper, I was overpowered by other very dominant and outspoken campers. I didn’t know how I would fit in since I was slow to warm up around new individuals.

We were then assigned to one of 26 unique chambers. I was in Chamber ‘M’. That week transformed me from a new shy student board member to a person who was confident and assured, even in my first year in student council.

The most highly-awaited event that we mounted was the Olympics. Each chamber met up and took part in various recreations. This was the point at which our council first empowered me to step outside my comfort zone. I was able to discover, from that experience, how powerful collaboration can be, and how to best maximize people’s skill sets. A highlight of that day was also the show. Every committee performed their comedic version of a well-known song before the whole camp.

While I am, by nature, an intensely competitive person when motivated, I understood that night that it did not make a difference who won. All that mattered were the memories made and stories that would be told years from now.

Another Very Important Event

I also remember how I longed to ride a plane for the first time when I was in high school. I wanted to know how it felt to be suspended in mid-air and not have control over the trajectory. I also admired the structure of a plane. To me, it resembled an enormous hawk with its huge wings extended.

I finally got my chance one day. After entering the airport, purchasing a ticket, and checking in, I boarded the plane. The seats were very comfortable. We were taught how to put on our seatbelts and were instructed to do so before take-off. When the plane took off, several passengers shrieked in delight. A flight attendant distributed lemon juice to avoid nausea, which I eagerly accepted.

After an hour, it was announced that we were about the land. It was so exciting to see the landscape from up in the clouds. When we touched down, I was even more eager to tour my destination. I left the airport happy and grateful. It was indeed one of the most unforgettable firsts of my life.

I have many more cherished life experiences, but these two top the list. What’s in your top two?

Regardless of how long ago they happened, our fond moments will always be in our core memory bank. They will bring to mind joy, nostalgia, and happiness; and we’ll remember them as if they just happened yesterday. Take time to revisit the significant events in your life today. Such things will inspire you to make more beautiful memories that will make for grand anecdotes one day. May your memories bring you joy, life, and peace.

Interesting Event In My Life (Short Essay Sample)

While I can think of many events that I can remember and narrate by heart, one stands out to me as an experience that taught me a very crucial life lesson.

During my freshman year, I had to move to a new school. The thought of making new friends excited me, but the idea that some of the students may not find me likable also made me extremely nervous.

On my first day, I kept my head down and focused on my school work, out of fear that I might make a mistake. Surprisingly, over the next few days, several people from class made the effort to befriend me. It gave me the confidence boost I needed to be myself around them.

These people eventually became like family to me, and we spent our free time together all the way until senior year. Parting ways for college was heartbreaking because we didn’t know when we would see each other again.

I will always be grateful for the moment these people initiated a friendship with me. Most people wouldn’t spare the new kid a second glance, but they took the leap of faith.

What Are Examples Of Life-Changing Events?

An important event in your life can range from light and funny to deep and profound. It could be the day you meet your best friend or the person you want to spend the rest of your life with. It could also be the day you chose your university or when you figured out what you want to focus on for your future. It could also be that summer you finally learned how to bake or when your parents surprised you with a graduation trip as a gift. On the other end of the spectrum, it could also revolve around the death of someone you held dearly to your heart, or when you stopped talking to a close friend for two years after falling out.

What Are 3 Important Life Events?

• Getting that pivotal grade that will bring up your total average is a momentous occasion for students as it makes graduating a certainty. It also marks a valuable accomplishment in your season of being a learner.
• Finishing university is a feat that changes you for the better because it fuels you towards an exciting yet unknown future. The fact that you are about to enter the real world as a prepared person is thrilling and nerve-wracking.
• The death of a loved one is a bittersweet experience because it will make you miss the dearly departed terribly. It is a time of understanding and embracing grief.

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What Are Event Essays? Explained With Examples!

Table of Contents

An event essay is one in which you or another person describes specific events. The fact that you experienced the situation you’re penning about has no bearing on the task. This undertaking may be complex.

To give the readers the impression that they are experiencing the event firsthand, you must include illustrative details of the event. It must go beyond a straightforward account of what happened and incorporate aspects of the narrative style.

Creating an essay about a particular event can be difficult. Because, the reader should be given the impression that he is there experiencing it firsthand by the way the essay describes it. It is necessary to word a strong, well-balanced narrative essay that recounts the event’s history. And it offers sufficient analysis because the essay must be more than just descriptive.

In today’s post, we’re going to look what is an event essay and how to create one. Sounds exciting? Keep reading!

What Is an Event Essay?

A current events essay discusses a recent problem, circumstance, phenomenon, or event that is noteworthy , grabs public attention, is shocking, or is fascinating.

Essays on current events may occasionally describe events that have not yet occurred. It aids in connecting what you have learned in class to the events taking place in the outside world. The majority of essays on current events have five paragraphs.

You must discuss the historical background, the present situation, and any potential short- and long-term effects of a specific topic. In a current events essay that has a significant global impact. The majority of the time, the topics will be debatable social issues. Issues that are related to law, politics, international relations, technology, science, sociology, medicine, and health. You’ll present a recent occurrence or problem in the proper context.

The assignment, which is frequently given to students enrolled in English writing courses, is designed to evaluate their writing, editing, and research abilities. Additionally, it educates students on significant events taking place around the globe.

You must consider social justice, form opinions about it, and learn to recognize publication bias as you write one. Additionally, you get to improve your summary, reading comprehension, creative thinking, and critical thinking abilities as you write it.

Additionally, writing an essay about current events aids in the development of your persuasive and argumentative abilities.

We can now better understand the various steps you must take to write a successful current events essay or paper.

How to Write an Event Essay?

You need to help people picture the event as an idea . A good opening sentence that introduces the reader to the topic includes a description of a component or facet of the actual event.

For example, let’s say if your essay is about your experience at the National Firearms Convention. You would want to quickly draw the reader into the convention by describing the details. Buzz of the crowd, the cool, crisp night air of the stadium. Don’t forget the faint scent of popcorn wafting down through the bleacher seats from the concession stand above.

The introduction should subtly inform the reader about the described event and demonstrate the experience’s integrity.

Make a decision regarding your essay’s purpose. Instead of just describing, a good narrative essay will make an effort to convince or instruct. Perhaps your intention in sharing your experience at the National Firearms Convention is to encourage readers to get involved in politics. Or to educate them on the flaws of the system.

The action should then be introduced gradually in your essay. Readers will be ready to take action or recognize flaws in party politics by the end of the story. This shouldn’t necessarily happen due to logical argument. You should not have to explain the event and its significance in detail so that it will produce the desired outcome.

Put yourself in the other person’s shoes. This technique is frequently disapproved of in essays. However, it can occasionally be the most effective means of engaging the reader in a narrative essay’s description of an event. If you are writing the essay for a class assignment, you should ask your professor or teacher if this is okay.

We hope our guide on what is an event essay was able to help you come to a conclusion with your work. You can plan your essay by using the information you can find on this page.

If you liked this page, make sure you share it with other people who need it to save some time.

Abir Ghenaiet

Abir is a data analyst and researcher. Among her interests are artificial intelligence, machine learning, and natural language processing. As a humanitarian and educator, she actively supports women in tech and promotes diversity.

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