gratitude narrative essay

Gratitude Essay

500 words essay on gratitude.

Gratitude is a beautiful way of enriching our lives. It refers to the feeling and attitude of appreciation and thankfulness for the good which we receive in life. It has been proven scientifically that when we express our gratefulness to other people, we feel happier and calmer. Thus, it allows goodness to enter our lives. For instance, when a stranger holds the door for you or greets you, it makes you feel happy. Thus, a gratitude essay will teach us how advantageous gratitude is.

Advantages of Gratitude

Gratitude can have a lot of advantages to our personal as well as social life. First of all, it strengthens our relationship with others. When you have a thankful feeling, it will strengthen the bond with the other party and enhance the trust factor and feeling of respect and love .

Moreover, it also makes us happy. When we express gratitude or receive it, we feel happy either way. As a result, people who have gratitude do not stress out a lot. Similarly, being full of gratitude makes society sensible.

In other words, people become considerate and never leave a chance to say thank you to others. Thus, it helps society to progress in the right direction with the right tools needed for the development of it.

Most importantly, gratitude reduces comparisons and promotes acknowledgement. When we become thankful, we do not compare ourselves to others. Thus, it helps us acknowledge our own achievements and blessings and remain content.

How to Practice Gratitude

There are a lot of ways through which we can practice gratitude. Some of the most effective ones include making a note of every good thing which happens to us every day. Moreover, also note the people behind it.

This will help you to return the favour at an appropriate time. Never forget to return this favour as they deserve it too. Moreover, always make sure to appreciate everything in life ranging from nature to animals .

We are lucky enough to have animals, green plants, fresh air and much more. Thus, never stop acknowledging the importance of these essential things. Moreover, always remember to say thank you to different community helpers.

It can be anyone, whether your gardener or sweeper or even the police officers. Make sure you thank them for their service whenever it is possible for you. Remember that to wake up every day is no less than a blessing itself.

So, make sure to be grateful for a new day and thank the almighty for making you wiser and stronger with each passing day. Most importantly, try to avoid complaining about things when they don’t go your way. You don’t know about the blessing behind it.

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Conclusion of Gratitude Essay

All in all, gratitude is the most essential human expression which proves that humans are sensible and have emotions. Moreover, this emotion does not just limit to humans but also animals. Often, we see then express their gratitude and return the favour. Thus, we must always express our gratitude.

FAQ of Gratitude Essay

Question 1: Why is gratitude important?

Answer 1: Gratitude is strongly and constantly connected with greater happiness. It is what helps people feel more positive emotions, appreciate good experiences, advance their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships.

Question 2: How can gratitude change your life?

Answer 2: Gratitude can change your life as it makes you appreciate what you have rather than what you don’t have. It can change your life  because it is the single most powerful source of inspiration that any individual can tap into if they simply stop and pay attention to the simplistic beauty and miracle of life.

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Essay About Being Grateful: 5 Examples Plus Prompts

Looking at life in a more appreciative way is key to success and happiness. Read this guide if you want to write an essay about being grateful.

Keeping a positive outlook on life can be challenging in a world where we constantly hear bad news. However, it is important to stop focusing on the negative and become more grateful for what we have.

Being grateful is a principal practice to follow to live a healthy, productive life. Even when you feel like nothing good has happened, think of the simpler aspects of life, things as commonplace as having a meal, a bed to sleep on, and even waking up to another day. Being grateful can help you focus your energy on something more positive, lightening your load when life gets too heavy. 

If you want to write an essay about being grateful, here are some essay examples for inspiration. 

For help with your essay, check our round-up of best essay writing apps .

1. 7 Things That I Am Grateful For. What About You? by Steve Spring

2. how gratitude can help you through hard times by robert emmons, 3. feel and express gratitude by dr. hyder zahed, 4. the importance of being grateful by deborah jepsen, 5. choose to be grateful. it will make you happier. by arthur c. brooks, 1. what is gratitude to you, 2. what are you grateful for, 3. why should you be more grateful, 4. is gratitude still “good” even if you don’t mean it, 5. why has gratitude become such a hot topic.

“I have a lot to be grateful for. If I had been born in another time or place my life might have been very different. I might not have had been blessed with the life I have now. I have an amazing life. It is great to be focused on my goals and trying to improve my life…But, I need to make sure that I am taking some time to be grateful for everything and everyone that I have in my life. If you want to be happy you need to learn to be grateful. What are you grateful for today?”

Spring lists seven things he is grateful for and explains why he is thankful for each. These include his home, food, and, most significantly, the mistakes he has made in the past. He provides excellent insight into why he is grateful for these seemingly basic items and does an excellent job of justifying his points. Ultimately, the takeaway from this article is that while life is not perfect, we always have a lot to be grateful for. Gratitude is a choice.

“Being grateful is a choice, a prevailing attitude that endures and is relatively immune to the gains and losses that flow in and out of our lives. When disaster strikes, gratitude provides a perspective from which we can view life in its entirety and not be overwhelmed by temporary circumstances. Yes, this perspective is hard to achieve—but my research says it is worth the effort.”

This essay reflects on being grateful even when experiencing tough times. It is easy to be grateful when all is well in our lives.

Robert Emmons suggests performing a comparison between good times and bad times. You may then realize that your situation is better than you thought. He also says that rather than thinking about a difficult time or a particular challenge in a negative light, we can think about it in the sense that it has helped us grow, making it something to be grateful for. 

Embracing gratitude can be a challenge in itself, but it is ultimately self-serving. Being grateful makes you count your blessings and makes you feel good.

“For, whatever you genuinely feel grateful for, you will have multiply in your life. Think about it, if you gave a gift to another and that person told you, ‘I am so grateful for the gift. I can’t believe how kind you were to give it to me. You have made me so very happy,’ you’d want to give that person another gift. So you could be feeling genuinely appreciated while at the same time bring a little happiness to another.”

Zahed, in his essay, reminds us to be grateful for everything that contributes to our happiness and wellbeing, no matter how small. Similar to Emmons, he also discusses turning sorrow and disaster into something to be grateful for, in a sense. Being grateful is a commitment that we must choose to enhance our lives. It’s all about how you measure your success.

“Gratitude promotes optimism and helps us to develop a more positive outlook. It lets us pause for a moment to reflect on something we have in our life right now instead of always striving for more … the next goal, the new dress, the new toy, the new car, or the house renovation …Gratitude is simply cultivating a genuine appreciation for what we already have.”

From a more scientific perspective, Jepsen discusses the health benefits of gratitude, both psychological and physical. Gratitude makes us more optimistic and helps us reflect on what we have rather than constantly wanting more. She also encourages readers to share their appreciation with others, even through something as simple as a smile. 

“Be honest: When was the last time you were grateful for the spots on a trout? More seriously, think of the small, useless things you experience — the smell of fall in the air, the fragment of a song that reminds you of when you were a kid. Give thanks.”

This opinion piece by Arthur C is similar to the other works on this list. Brooks encourages readers to choose gratitude. He says that acting grateful can help you feel grateful and that being grateful can uplift the mood of those around us. Gratitude offers benefits for the individual and the collective. Finally, he says to find gratitude in everything, no matter how small it is. 

Essay Prompts About Being Grateful

Consider how you were introduced to the concept of gratitude as a child. Was it discussed with you, and were you encouraged to express gratitude, or is it something you have come to understand and appreciate in adulthood? How do you personally feel about being grateful? Are there any experiences in which you wish you acted more gratefully? Explore gratitude through your own experience.

As illustrated by Steve Spring, it can be beneficial to list the things you are grateful for and maybe discover a few more you had not considered along the way. Categorize aspects of your life and the parts for which you are grateful. You could then perform a comparison with someone from a different background or country and speculate on how your lists may differ. Finally, consider how quickly a person’s life can change. Should tragedy befall you, would you still be able to find things to be grateful for?

This angle allows you to showcase inspirational examples of the benefits of gratitude. Why is it important to be grateful and maintain a positive outlook on life? And what do people get out of it? The essay examples above offer excellent sources for this prompt. There are measurable benefits.

Some would say it is important to show gratitude even if you don’t mean it sincerely. Others argue that it would be worse to be insincere. What do you think? Does insincerity qualify as gratitude, even if you try to be polite or act kindly to spare someone’s feelings? Or is genuine gratitude something else altogether? If we cannot offer sincere thanks, are we actually being grateful?

In recent times people are talking more about the benefits of gratitude and researching to prove its merits. The popularity of gratitude journaling is vast; you can purchase bespoke gratitude journals to record your thoughts on the topic daily and even take a course to learn how to do it. Investigate where this trend originated and examine how it has been embraced throughout society.  

If you’d like to learn more, in this guide our writer explains how to write an argumentative essay .

Martin is an avid writer specializing in editing and proofreading. He also enjoys literary analysis and writing about food and travel.

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Greater Good Science Center • Magazine • In Action • In Education

How Gratitude Can Help You Through Hard Times

A decade’s worth of research on gratitude has shown me that when life is going well, gratitude allows us to celebrate and magnify the goodness. But what about when life goes badly? In the midst of the economic maelstrom that has gripped our country, I have often been asked if people can—or even should—feel grateful under such dire circumstances.

My response is that not only will a grateful attitude help—it is essential . In fact, it is precisely under crisis conditions when we have the most to gain by a grateful perspective on life. In the face of demoralization, gratitude has the power to energize. In the face of brokenness, gratitude has the power to heal. In the face of despair, gratitude has the power to bring hope. In other words, gratitude can help us cope with hard times.

Don’t get me wrong. I am not suggesting that gratitude will come easily or naturally in a crisis. It’s easy to feel grateful for the good things. No one “feels” grateful that they have lost a job or a home or good health or has taken a devastating hit on their retirement portfolio.

But it is vital to make a distinction between feeling grateful and being grateful. We don’t have total control over our emotions. We cannot easily will ourselves to feel grateful, less depressed, or happy. Feelings follow from the way we look at the world, thoughts we have about the way things are, the way things should be, and the distance between these two points.

But being grateful is a choice, a prevailing attitude that endures and is relatively immune to the gains and losses that flow in and out of our lives. When disaster strikes, gratitude provides a perspective from which we can view life in its entirety and not be overwhelmed by temporary circumstances. Yes, this perspective is hard to achieve—but my research says it is worth the effort.

Remember the bad

Trials and suffering can actually refine and deepen gratefulness if we allow them to show us not to take things for granted. Our national holiday of gratitude, Thanksgiving, was born and grew out of hard times. The first Thanksgiving took place after nearly half the pilgrims died from a rough winter and year. It became a national holiday in 1863 in the middle of the Civil War and was moved to its current date in the 1930s following the Depression.

Why? Well, when times are good, people take prosperity for granted and begin to believe that they are invulnerable. In times of uncertainty, though, people realize how powerless they are to control their own destiny. If you begin to see that everything you have, everything you have counted on, may be taken away, it becomes much harder to take it for granted.

The Gratitude Project

What if we didn't take good things for granted? Learn how gratitude can lead to a better life—and a better world—in this new GGSC book.

So crisis can make us more grateful—but research says gratitude also helps us cope with crisis. Consciously cultivating an attitude of gratitude builds up a sort of psychological immune system that can cushion us when we fall. There is scientific evidence that grateful people are more resilient to stress, whether minor everyday hassles or major personal upheavals. The contrast between suffering and redemption serves as the basis for one of my tips for practicing gratitude: remember the bad.

It works this way: Think of the worst times in your life, your sorrows, your losses, your sadness—and then remember that here you are, able to remember them, that you made it through the worst times of your life, you got through the trauma, you got through the trial, you endured the temptation, you survived the bad relationship, you’re making your way out of the dark. Remember the bad things, then look to see where you are now.

This process of remembering how difficult life used to be and how far we have come sets up an explicit contrast that is fertile ground for gratefulness. Our minds think in terms of counterfactuals—mental comparisons we make between the way things are and how things might have been different. Contrasting the present with negative times in the past can make us feel happier (or at least less unhappy) and enhance our overall sense of well-being. This opens the door to coping gratefully.

Try this little exercise. First, think about one of the unhappiest events you have experienced. How often do you find yourself thinking about this event today? Does the contrast with the present make you feel grateful and pleased? Do you realize your current life situation is not as bad as it could be? Try to realize and appreciate just how much better your life is now. The point is not to ignore or forget the past but to develop a fruitful frame of reference in the present from which to view experiences and events.

There’s another way to foster gratitude: confront your own mortality. In a recent study, researchers asked participants to imagine a scenario where they are trapped in a burning high rise, overcome by smoke, and killed. This resulted in a substantial increase in gratitude levels, as researchers discovered when they compared this group to two control conditions who were not compelled to imagine their own deaths.

In these ways, remembering the bad can help us to appreciate the good. As the German theologian and Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said, “Gratitude changes the pangs of memory into a tranquil joy.” We know that gratitude enhances happiness, but why? Gratitude maximizes happiness in multiple ways, and one reason is that it helps us reframe memories of unpleasant events in a way that decreases their unpleasant emotional impact. This implies that grateful coping entails looking for positive consequences of negative events. For example, grateful coping might involve seeing how a stressful event has shaped who we are today and has prompted us to reevaluate what is really important in life.

Reframing disaster

To say that gratitude is a helpful strategy to handle hurt feelings does not mean that we should try to ignore or deny suffering and pain.

The field of positive psychology has at times been criticized for failing to acknowledge the value of negative emotions. Barbara Held of Bowdoin College in Maine, for example, contends that positive psychology has been too negative about negativity and too positive about positivity. To deny that life has its share of disappointments, frustrations, losses, hurts, setbacks, and sadness would be unrealistic and untenable. Life is suffering. No amount of positive thinking exercises will change this truth.

So telling people simply to buck up, count their blessings, and remember how much they still have to be grateful for can certainly do much harm. Processing a life experience through a grateful lens does not mean denying negativity. It is not a form of superficial happiology. Instead, it means realizing the power you have to transform an obstacle into an opportunity. It means reframing a loss into a potential gain, recasting negativity into positive channels for gratitude.

A growing body of research has examined how grateful recasting works. In a study conducted at Eastern Washington University, participants were randomly assigned to one of three writing groups that would recall and report on an unpleasant open memory—a loss, a betrayal, victimization, or some other personally upsetting experience. The first group wrote for 20 minutes on issues that were irrelevant to their open memory. The second wrote about their experience pertaining to their open memory.

Researchers asked the third group to focus on the positive aspects of a difficult experience—and discover what about it might now make them feel grateful. Results showed that they demonstrated more closure and less unpleasant emotional impact than participants who just wrote about the experience without being prompted to see ways it might be redeemed with gratitude. Participants were never told not to think about the negative aspects of the experience or to deny or ignore the pain. Moreover, participants who found reasons to be grateful demonstrated fewer intrusive memories, such as wondering why it happened, whether it could have been prevented, or if they believed they caused it to happen. Thinking gratefully, this study showed, can help heal troubling memories and in a sense redeem them—a result echoed in many other studies.

Some years ago, I asked people with debilitating physical illnesses to compose a narrative concerning a time when they felt a deep sense of gratitude to someone or for something. I asked them to let themselves re-create that experience in their minds so that they could feel the emotions as if they had transported themselves back in time to the event itself. I also had them reflect on what they felt in that situation and how they expressed those feelings. In the face of progressive diseases, people often find life extremely challenging, painful, and frustrating. I wondered whether it would even be possible for them to find anything to be grateful about. For many of them, life revolved around visits to the pain clinic and pharmacy. I would not have been at all surprised if resentment overshadowed gratefulness.

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As it turned out, most respondents had trouble settling on a specific instance—they simply had so much in their lives that they were grateful for. I was struck by the profound depth of feeling that they conveyed in their essays, and by the apparent life-transforming power of gratitude in many of their lives.

It was evident from reading these narrative accounts that (1) gratitude can be an overwhelmingly intense feeling, (2) gratitude for gifts that others easily overlook most can be the most powerful and frequent form of thankfulness, and (3) gratitude can be chosen in spite of one’s situation or circumstances. I was also struck by the redemptive twist that occurred in nearly half of these narratives: out of something bad (suffering, adversity, affliction) came something good (new life or new opportunities) for which the person felt profoundly grateful.

If you are troubled by an open memory or a past unpleasant experience, you might consider trying to reframe how you think about it using the language of thankfulness. The unpleasant experiences in our lives don’t have to be of the traumatic variety in order for us to gratefully benefit from them. Whether it is a large or small event, here are some additional questions to ask yourself:

• What lessons did the experience teach me?
• Can I find ways to be thankful for what happened to me now even though I was not at the time it happened?
• What ability did the experience draw out of me that surprised me?
• How am I now more the person I want to be because of it? Have my negative feelings about the experience limited or prevented my ability to feel gratitude in the time since it occurred?
• Has the experience removed a personal obstacle that previously prevented me from feeling grateful?

Remember, your goal is not to relive the experience but rather to get a new perspective on it. Simply rehearsing an upsetting event makes us feel worse about it. That is why catharsis has rarely been effective. Emotional venting without accompanying insight does not produce change. No amount of writing about the event will help unless you are able to take a fresh, redemptive perspective on it. This is an advantage that grateful people have—and it is a skill that anyone can learn.

About the Author

Robert Emmons

University of california, davis.

Robert A. Emmons, Ph.D. , is the world's leading scientific expert on gratitude. He is a professor of psychology at the University of California, Davis, and the founding editor-in-chief of The Journal of Positive Psychology . He is the author of the books Gratitude Works!: A 21-Day Program for Creating Emotional Prosperity and Thanks! How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier .

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Common Application Essay Option 4—Gratitude

Tips and Strategies for the 2021-22 Common App

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• Ph.D., English, University of Pennsylvania
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One major change to the Common Application in the 2021-22 admissions cycle is the addition of a new essay prompt. Option #4 now reads, "Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?"

This new prompt replaces the earlier question about solving a problem : "Describe a problem you've solved or a problem you'd like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma--anything that is of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution." Keep in mind that colleges and universities still want to learn about students interested in solving significant problems, and you still have the "Topic of Your Choice" option if you feel your essay would fit well under the former option #4.

According to Common App , the new prompt serves a couple purposes. First, it replaces a prompt that wasn't very popular among college applicants. More importantly, it gives applicants the opportunity to write about something positive at a difficult time in world history. Rather than write about significant problems, challenges, and anxieties, the new prompt #4 invites you to share something heartfelt and uplifting.

The Importance of Gratitude and Kindness

During the college application process, it's easy and tempting to focus entirely on your personal accomplishments: good grades, challenging AP courses, leadership experiences, athletic ability, musical talent, and so on. Even community service can sometimes come across as focused on your self—hours spent to bolster your application credentials.

Gratitude, however, is a largely selfless feeling. It's about your appreciation for someone else. It's recognizing that your growth and success wouldn't be possible without others. When you express gratitude, you aren't saying "look at me!" Rather, you are appreciating those who have helped you become you.

The folks at Common App have expressed that the new prompt allows students to write about something positive. This is true, but the prompt serves a bigger purpose in the admissions selection process. Highly selective schools end up rejecting thousands of well-qualified applicants, and those decisions will often come down to questions of character rather than GPA and SAT scores.

Think of it this way: when a college is choosing between two students who are academically strong and impressive on the extracurricular front, they will choose the student who seems to be the most kind and generous. Admissions officers are building a campus community with their admissions decisions, and they want to create a community filled with students who appreciate others, build each other up, and recognize the contributions of peers, staff, and professors. They want to admit students who will be kind roommates, collaborative lab partners, and supportive team members.

Chris Peterson, an assistant director of admissions at MIT, wrote a blog post in which he identified three essential qualities for getting into one of the world's most selective schools: do well in school, pursue your passion, and be nice. He notes that this last quality "cannot be overstated." MIT is not a Common Application member, but the point applies perfectly to the value of prompt #4. A winning essay doesn't say "me, me, me!" It shows that you are not only an accomplished person, but also someone who knows how to say "thank you."

Breaking Down the Essay Prompt

Before crafting your essay on prompt #4, it's essential to understand everything that the prompt is asking you to do as well as what it is not asking. The prompt is just 28 words long:

Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?

The prompt has several important elements to consider.

"Reflect"

The very first word in the prompt is one of the most significant. "Reflect" means much more than "write about" or "describe." When you reflect on something, you look inward and reveal self-awareness. You employ critical thinking skills to explain why something is important. Reflection is an act of self-discovery as you examine what you have learned and why it was meaningful.

Here's a quick example:

Unreflective writing: Coach Strauss always taught the team the value of hard work. We practiced hours every day regardless of the weather. The coach's strategy paid off when we won the state championship. The effort we put in wasn't always enjoyable, but the team's success showed that the path to success requires sacrifices.

Reflective writing: I used to resent those miserable and seemingly endless soccer practices in the rain or even snow. Looking back, I now recognize the value of what Coach Strauss was teaching the team. To succeed, we need to work through small obstacles. We need to persevere even when motivation is hard to find. We need to recognize that we always have room for improvement, and we need to support each other as we work towards that goal. I can now see that her lessons were about much more than soccer, and thanks to her I am not just a better athlete, but a better student, peer, sister, and community member.

The first example describes the writer's soccer experience. Nothing in the passage looks inward to analyze the importance of Coach Strauss to the writer's personal awareness and development. The second passage succeeds on this front—it expresses gratitude for Coach Strauss and the way that her lessons helped the writer grow.

"Something" and "Someone"

A nice feature of the Common Application is that all of the essay prompts are designed to give you a lot of latitude in how you respond. The words "something" and "someone" in the new prompt #4 are deliberately vague. You can write about anyone and anything. Possible choices for the person you focus on include

• A teacher who helped you realize your potential or see the world in a new way.
• A coach who taught you valuable skills.
• A family member whose support, love, or guidance helped you become the person you are today.
• A peer who was always there for you in challenging times.
• A student you mentored or tutored who ended up teaching you something valuable in the process.
• A member of your church or community who had a meaningful and positive impact on your life.

The wording of the prompt implies that the "someone" is a living person, so you'll want to avoid writing about an author, God, a pet, or a historical figure (but feel free to use prompt #7 for these topics).

As you think about the "something" that the person did for you, make sure it is meaningful. It needs to be something that has changed you in a positive way.

"Surprising"

When the prompt states that you should write about something that has made you "happy or thankful in a surprising way," don't get too hung up on that word "surprising." This doesn't mean that you need to be shocked or overwhelmed by whatever it is that a person did for you. Don't think of the term "surprising" as something that made you speechless and caused an adrenalin rush. It does not need to be something earth-shattering or even unusual. Rather, the "surprise" can simply be something that expanded your world view, made you think about something you hadn't considered before, or caused you to appreciate something new. Some of the best essays focus on something small or subtle that changed you in a meaningful way.

"Gratitude"

The essay's focus on "gratitude" and thankfulness means that you absolutely must show appreciation for someone other than yourself. One main purpose of this essay, in fact, is to show that you recognize the contributions that others have made to your personal journey. Be generous. Be kind. Show that you value the people who have made you into the person you are.

"Affected" and "Motivated"

Here's the tricky part. Essay #4 is all about recognizing someone else and showing gratitude for the way in which that person has enriched your life. That said, every college application essay needs to be about you. The admissions folks aren't really interested in learning about someone else. They are interested in learning about the student they are considering for admission.

This means you have a careful balancing act to perform with essay option #4. You need to write about the person who contributed to your life in a meaningful and surprising way, but you also need to be introspective and present why that person was so important to you. What did you learn from the person? How did you grow? How did that person change your world view, strengthen your convictions, help you overcome an obstacle, or give you a new sense of direction?

When you answer questions like these, you are writing about yourself. The true goal of this essay is to show that you are a grateful, kind, thoughtful, introspective, and generous person. The focus isn't so much on the person you are writing about, but your ability to cherish that person.

Avoid These Mistakes

You can write about anyone who was important to you, and your gratitude can be for something large or small as long as it affected you in a meaningful way. There are, however, several mistakes you want to avoid when responding to the prompt:

Don't display ego . Prompt #4 is about acknowledging the important contributions others have made to your life, so a boastful or egotistical tone will be entirely out of place. If at its heart your essay says "Coach Strauss helped make me into the award-winning national champion I am today," you've missed the mark.

Do more than describe . Make sure you "reflect" and explore how the person "affected" and "motivated" you. A winning essay needs to be thoughtful and introspective. If you spend the entire essay describing the person who has made you grateful, the admissions folks won't get to know you better and your essay won't have done its job.

Don't be clever with the "someone." Write about a real living human being who has enriched your life in a direct way. Don't write about yourself, God, Abe Lincoln, or Harry Potter. You also don't want to write about a sports idol or musician—while they may have influenced you, they didn't actually do something specifically "for you."

Attend to the Writing

Never forget that your Common Application serves not just to help the admissions folks get to know you, but also to show that you are a capable writer. No matter what your major is, a significant part of your college GPA is going to stem from writing. Successful college students can write clear, engaging, error-free prose. You'll want to pay careful attention to your essay's style , tone, and mechanics. At a highly selective university with more qualified applicants than can be admitted, the difference between an acceptance and rejection can come down to some glaring grammatical errors in the essay.

If you aren't confident in your writing ability, seek help. Have multiple people read your essay. Get feedback from parents and peers, Even more valuable will probably be feedback from your high school counselor and English teacher, for they have more experience with personal essays.

A Final Note for Common Application Option #4

This essay prompt can be approached is so many different ways, but at its heart, the essay needs to accomplish one thing: it needs to show that you are the type of person the college wants to join their campus community. Make sure you come across as someone who is kind, generous, and thoughtful. Show that you care about good writing by crafting an engaging essay that is free of any significant errors. Finally, don't be afraid to let your personality shine. Don't hold back (within reason) if you are a quirky or humorous person. The essay needs to sound like you.

• The 2021-22 Common Application Essay Prompts
• Tips for Writing an Essay on an Event That Led to Personal Growth
• 2020-21 Common Application Essay Option 4—Solving a Problem
• Common Application Essay Option 3 Tips: Challenging a Belief
• Common Application Essay Option 6: Losing Track of Time
• Common Application Essay on a Meaningful Place
• "Grandpa's Rubik's Cube"—Sample Common Application Essay, Option #4
• Common Application Essay Option 2 Tips: Learning from Failure
• Common Application Essay, Option 1: Share Your Story
• Topic of Your Choice: Common Application Essay Tips
• Ideal College Application Essay Length
• Tips for an Admissions Essay on an Influential Person
• How to Ace Your University of Wisconsin Personal Statements
• 5 Tips for a College Admissions Essay on an Important Issue
• A Sample Essay for Common Application Option #7: Topic of Your Choice
• Tips for the Pre-2013 Personal Essay Options on the Common Application

Gratitude Essay

500+ words essay on be grateful.

During difficult times, it’s easy to feel frustrated or drained by life. Negative feelings and thoughts can creep in, which can make it difficult to see the positive things in life. However, one simple practice of gratitude can help to eliminate these feelings. We take a look at the importance of being grateful through this being grateful essay. Students can also use this essay to practise more essays on similar topics like gratitude, being grateful, being grateful etc. Doing so will improve their writing section and increase their scores in the English exam.

What is Gratitude?

The word gratitude is derived from the Latin word gratia, which means grace, graciousness, or gratefulness. The word gratitude encompasses all of these meanings. Gratitude is a feeling of appreciation or thanks. It is defined as “a sense of thankfulness and joy in response to receiving a gift, whether the gift is a tangible benefit from a specific other or a moment of peaceful bliss evoked by natural beauty”. With gratitude, people acknowledge the goodness in their lives.

There are different ways of expressing one’s thanks. Gratitude is one such emotion. People feel and express gratitude in multiple ways. Some of them apply it to the past by retrieving positive memories and being thankful for elements of childhood or past blessings. Some people are grateful for the present as they do not take good fortune for granted. Some people show gratitude for the future as they hope for a better future and maintain an optimistic attitude.

Importance of Gratitude

Gratitude enhances the quality of life and makes existence more worth living. It opens the human heart and carries the urge to give back-to do something good in return, either for the person who helped us or for someone else. It establishes social harmony and creates an environment where everyone is appreciating and providing support to each other. It also improves the quality of personal lives and strengthens the bond with family and friends. Expressing gratitude keeps us happy, healthy and stress-free.

Feeling grateful reminds people of a joyous event, and expressing gratitude to others often strengthens relationships. Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships. When we are grateful for others, we do not compare ourselves with others based on their financial situation or other factors, we simply appreciate their achievements. Thus, it helps in elevating the feeling of comparison, jealousy and hate. Being grateful also helps people connect to something larger than themselves as individuals — whether to other people, nature, or supreme power.

How to Practise Gratitude

Everyone can benefit from making an effort to practise gratitude in day-to-day life. It can be achieved simply by paying attention to the good things that happen to us. We must appreciate and accept the importance of everything in nature and our surroundings. Also, we should not forget to return the favour at an appropriate time. Whenever possible, we should thank the people around us, who make our lives comfortable, such as washermen, gardeners, security guards, sweepers, delivery men, etc. We should make a habit of thanking God when we wake up in the morning and before sleeping at night.

Gratitude is the best way to return the favour to God, nature, society, friends and relatives for the thousands of good deeds that they do for us.

We hope students must have found this “Essay on Gratitude” useful for their studies. To access more study material and get the latest updates on CBSE/ICSE/State Board/Competitive exams, keep visiting BYJU’S. Also, download the BYJU’S App for interactive study videos.

Frequently asked Questions on Gratitude Essay

How to show gratitude towards others.

You can show gratitude by thanking people who help you and being courteous and friendly. You can iInvite people over for lunch/dinner to thank them for something they did for you. Always listen intently to what others are saying to show appreciation and care.

Why is showing gratitude so important?

Psychologists show that there is a positive impact on the brain and body of people who show gratitude.

What are the benefits of showing gratitude?

Showing gratitude helps in emotional regulation by reducing stress and burnout. It also increases your mental resilience because you are able to build meaningful relations with others.

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Gratitude Essay Examples

An essay on gratitude can be an excellent opportunity to reflect on the things in life that we often take for granted. It’s a chance to acknowledge the people, experiences, and things that have made a positive impact on our lives. If you’re struggling to get started, here are some gratitude essay examples and tips to help you craft a perfect essay on gratitude.

One way to approach an essay on gratitude is to reflect on specific instances where you’ve experienced gratitude in your life. For example, you might write about a time when someone went out of their way to help you or when you received unexpected kindness from a stranger. These examples can help you illustrate the power of gratitude in our lives and show how it can change our perspective on the world.

Another approach is to write about the benefits of gratitude. Research has shown that practicing gratitude can improve mental health, boost happiness, and even enhance physical health. You can explore these benefits in your essay and provide examples of how you’ve experienced them in your own life.

If you’re a college student, consider writing a gratitude college essay. In this essay, you can reflect on how college has shaped you and the opportunities it has provided. You might write about a professor who inspired you or a project that challenged you in new ways. By expressing gratitude for your college experience, you’ll be able to showcase your growth and appreciation for the opportunities you’ve had.

Overall, an essay on gratitude can be a powerful tool for personal growth and reflection. By exploring gratitude in your life, you’ll be able to recognize the good things that are often overlooked and find ways to cultivate more gratitude in your daily life. Use the gratitude essay examples and tips above to craft a perfect essay on gratitude and let your gratitude shine through your words.

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The Magical Power of Gratitude and Saying 'Thank You!'

• Categories: Gratitude Life Changing Experience Thank You

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Published: Aug 30, 2022

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How to write a Compelling Personal Narrative Essay

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

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

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

What is a personal narrative essay?

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

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

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

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

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

What is the purpose of a personal narrative essay?

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

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

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

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

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

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

Who is the audience of a Personal Narrative?

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

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

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

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

Related: How to write a descriptive essay.

Steps to take when writing your Personal Narrative

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

1. Choose a befitting topic

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

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

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

2. Brainstorm and develop ideas for your essay

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

3. Write your essay outline/structure

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

4. Begin your essay with a good hook

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

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

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

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

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

6. Edit your essay

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

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

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

7. Proofread your essay

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

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

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

8. Submit for marking/publishing

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

Tips for writing a resounding Personal Narrative Essay

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

Related: T ricks and tips for good narrative writing.

Features of an excellent personal narrative essay

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

1. Proper Essay Organization

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

2. Description of characters

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

3. Use Transitions

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

4. Dialogue

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

5. Sensory Details

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

6. Thesis Statement

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

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

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

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

Format of a Personal Narrative Essay

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

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

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

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

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

Outline of a Personal Narrative

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

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

Introduction

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

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

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

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

Body Paragraphs

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Anatomy/Structure of a Personal Narrative Essay

INTRODUCTION PARAGRAPH

Setting the scene.

BODY PARAGRAPHS

Body Paragraph #1

Topic sentence.

Closing sentence.

Body Paragraph #2

Body Paragraph #3

CLOSING PARAGRAPH, aka. CONCLUSION.

State your thesis differently.

Close with an interesting parting shot.

How to choose a personal narrative topic

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Some valuable tips for choosing the topics

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

51 Personal Narrative Topics to Consider in your assignment

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

5 Examples of Personal Narrative Essay Prompts

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

1. Experiencing Gratitude

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

2. A Favorite School Memory

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

3. Unresolved personal experience

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

4. Family Story

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

5. The Memorable Journey

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

6. An International or National Event or Incident

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

7. Meaningful Life Experience

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

8. Accident

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

Personal Statement Examples

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Parting Shot

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

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

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

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

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Home / Essay Samples / Life / Emotion / Gratitude

Gratitude Essay Examples

The power of small acts: exploring the importance of kindness.

There are different emotions and feeling that people like to see in other people. It is huge list but today we are focusing one of the main one which is kindness. We can pretty much say Kindness is one of the most important human qualities....

The Best Advice I've Ever Received

Throughout our lives, we often encounter moments when a few words of wisdom resonate deeply and guide us through challenges and decisions. Reflecting on such instances, the question "What is the best advice you've ever received?" stands out as a beacon of guidance that has...

How to Find Gratitude During Difficult Times

Gratitude. Probably not the first word that comes to mind when you’re going through something rough in life. It was not the word that crossed my mind anytime I went through something difficult. So why am I writing about finding gratitude in the midst of...

Gratitude in Relationship to Happiness

Expressing gratitude on an everyday basis positively impacts an individual's well-being immensely. The act of being thankful can decrease one’s tendencies to feel or exhibit entitlement, excessive amounts of guilt, and narcissism. Despite the negative characteristics that all humans have that prevent a state of...

The Importance of Gratitude and How Materialism Brings Unhappiness in Life

Numerous individuals around the world are endeavoring for an incredible duration towards one objective, joy. A person's earning and achievements doesn't matter if he is not happy. Every person has set his own standard of happiness, but for some the road to happiness never ends...

Defining the Importance of Gratitude and Happiness in the Life

Imagine you’re a pirate and you’ve just found a treasure. You wipe the sand off the treasure chest and break the lock. When you open it, a feeling of pure contentment and peace overwhelms you. You have become perfectly happy. Happiness is a treasure all...

Analysis of the Ross Gay’s Book Catalogue of Unabashed Gratitude

How company culture shapes employee motivation. Harvard Business Review. Hood, C. (1991). A public management for all seasons? The Ross Gay’s book Catalogue of unabashed gratitude consists of several poems with rich content. The report analysis herein will cover three poems from the book such...

How to Be Happy: Cultivate Thankfulness

‘I was 70 million dollars and I was depressed because I wanted to have 100', a friend told me a few years ago when we had eaten after a conference in New York. He had literally collected tens of millions of dollars, but he thought...

Understanding of Gun Control Issue

Gun control and the right to carry arms has been a controversial, and incredibly serious issue around the world since the very origin of gun usage. There are various stances that different individuals, countries, constitutions, communities, and political parties take on it and they have...

Marriage in Jane Austen and Charles Dickens’ Novels

Jane Austen’s and Charles Dickens’ novel passages are both proposals from upperclassmen settling for marriage. Austen’s character poorly proposes to his cousin with the intent of marriage as a social obligation, while Dicken’s character proposes by describing the challenges he has and will overcome if...

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