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50 Engaging Narrative Essay Topics for High Schoolers

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What’s Covered:

Narrative essays vs. analytical essays, how to pick the right narrative essay topic, elements of a strong narrative essay, engaging narrative essay topics for high schoolers, where to get your narrative essay edited for free.

Narrative essays are an extensive form of writing that gives readers the opportunity to follow along as a person goes through a journey or sets of experiences. Rather than providing analytic insight, narrative essays simply share a story and offer a first-person account. These essays may seem easy to write at first, but it takes a certain finesse to write a narrative essay that is interesting, cohesive, and well-researched. Whether you’re looking for a unique topic to write about, or just want some new inspiration, CollegeVine is here to help! These 50 narrative essay topics are engaging, unique and will have you writing in no time.

A narrative essay is a great way to express your personal experiences and opinions, but it is important to remember that this type of essay is different from an analytical paper. In a narrative essay, you do not need to provide background information or explain your thoughts and feelings; instead, you simply tell a story. It’s important to avoid too much telling in your writing; instead, use creative details and vivid imagery to make readers feel as if they are actually right there with you.

Where You Will Encounter Narrative Essays

This type of essay is typically encountered in high school, where students may be required to write personal statements to prepare for their Common App essay . Narrative essays are also commonly seen in AP Language and Composition. Therefore, it’s important you are aware of the style because you are bound to have a narrative essay assignment.  

Of course, before you start writing, it is important to pick the right essay topic. There are many factors involved in the process of picking the perfect narrative essay topic for your story.

You should always choose a topic that you are passionate about, since writing on something you care about will make the process much easier. Not only will it be more interesting to create your paper around something that truly interests you, but it will also allow you to fully express yourself in your essay. You also want to be sure that the topic has enough material to work with. If your chosen topic is too short, you will not have enough content to write a complete paper. For example, if you are writing about your experience getting lost at the mall, make sure that you have enough information to work with to craft an engaging narrative. 

The best topic for an engaging narrative essay is one that focuses on showing versus telling, has a clear structure, and provides a dialogue. These elements come together to form an engaging narrative essay. Regardless of what subject you pick, any topic may be turned into a fascinating, A+ worthy narrative using the tips below.

Show, Don’t Tell

To write a good narrative essay, it’s important to show, not tell. Instead of simply informing your audience, show them what you mean. For example, instead of saying “I was nervous,” you could say “My heart began to race and my stomach filled with butterflies.” Also make sure to use sensory details, such as sights, sounds and tastes, and include a personal reflection at the end of your narrative. 

Begin with a Strong Opening Line

A good narrative essay will begin with an attention-grabbing opening line. But make sure to avoid common clichés, such as “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Instead, come up with something original and specific to you and your situation. For example: “My pre-calc teacher was obsessed with circles. I mean, he even used circular note cards.” Or, “It all started the day my mom brought home a guinea pig.”

Follows a Three-Act Structure

A strong narrative essay follows the same three-act structure as other essays. But in order to make it interesting, you’ll need to come up with a creative way to break things down into sections. For example, using the guinea pig example from above, you could write the following:

• Act 1 – Introduction: The day my mom brought home a guinea pig.
• Act 2 – Conflict: The day I had to say goodbye to my beloved pet.
• Act 3 – Conclusion: Looking back at how much I miss him now that he’s gone.

Conclude with Personal Reflection

To conclude your narrative essay, you’ll want to explain what this specific experience taught you or how you’ve changed. For example, upon realizing that her pre-calc teacher was obsessed with circles, the writer of the previous example begins to notice circular shapes everywhere. Another way to conclude your narrative essay is by touching on how this experience impacted you emotionally. For example, after losing his guinea pig, the writer explains how much he missed it.

Use Dialogue

Include a conversation in your essay to make it come alive. For example, instead of simply saying that you met a new friend, talk about how you introduced yourselves or what they were wearing when you met them.

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The following list of 50 narrative essay topics is divided into categories. This will make it easier to find a topic that fits your writing style.

1. What is a childhood song that still sticks with you today?

2. Your first day of Kindergarten

3. Talk about a time when you’re siblings looked up to you

4. Describe the best birthday party you’ve ever had

5. Talk about the best day you ever spent with a childhood friend

6. Explain your first childhood hobby

7. Describe your first halloween costume

8. A family vacation gone wrong

9. Your first family reunion

10. Describe a tradition that is unique to your family

11. Describe your family to a person who’s never met them before

12. What frustrates you most about your family

13. If you could only keep one memory of your family, what would it be and why?

14. Describe a time your family embarrassed you in public

15. The most beautiful place in the world

16. Your favorite season and why

17. If you were a part of nature, what element would you be? Why?

18. When you go outside, which of your senses are you most thankful to have?

19. Describe the first time you witnessed a tornado 

20. Write a poem about your favorite season

21. Describe yourself as one of the four seasons

22. Describe a time in which you felt connected with nature

23. Describe the first time you played an instrument and how you felt

24. What major event would be much worse if music was removed, and why?

25. If you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?

26. What would a life without music look like?

27. If you could master one instrument, what would it be and why?

Relationships

28. What if you had never met your best friend?

29. Describe a time when you fixed a broken relationship

30. Talk about a movie that defined a relationship for you

31. Describe your first date

32. Describe the first time you made a friend

33. Describe your relationship with your parents

Self Reflection

34. Have you ever fooled someone? If so, describe what happened and how you felt about it

35. What is the worst thing you’ve done to someone else?

36. Write about the difference between how things seem and how they really are. 

37. Have you ever been embarrassed in some way? If so, describe the situation and how it affected you as well as those around you

38. Have you ever witnessed something really beautiful? Describe it

39. Is your glass half empty or half full?

Overcoming Adversity 

40. Have you ever been very afraid of something but tried your hardest to appear fearless? If so, describe that experience

41. When have you ever succeeded when you thought you might fail

42. What are your secret survival strategies?

43. Describe the last time you were stressed and why?

44. Describe a time when you were discriminated against

45. The most memorable class you’ve had and why

46. Your favorite study abroad memory

47. Describe your kindergarten classroom

48. Describe your first teacher

49. The first time you experienced detention

50. Your first field trip

Hopefully these topics will get you thinking about a personal experience that could make for a thoughtful and engaging narrative essay. Remember, a strong narrative essay must contain relatable details and a clear flow that keeps the reader entertained and engaged to read all the way to the end.

If you need some additional guidance on your narrative essay, use CollegeVine’s free peer review essay tool to get feedback for free!

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

General Education

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

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

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

What Is a Narrative Essay?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

3 Great Narrative Essay Examples

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

A Ticket to the Fair by David Foster Wallace

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Death of a Moth by Virginia Woolf

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

5 Key Tips for Writing Narrative Essays

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

Develop Strong Motifs

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

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

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

Use First-Person Perspective

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

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

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

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

Stick to the Truth

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

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

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

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

Use Sensory Descriptions

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

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

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

What’s Next?

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

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

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

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

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13 Personal Narrative Ideas for High School to Kickstart Your Essay

Table of contents

A narrative essay is a story you tell about yourself, your experiences, and your thought processes.

The purpose of writing a narrative essay isn’t just to tell a tale but to figure out a deeper meaning behind each experience. Students are encouraged to find a moral or a theme that they can pull out from their experiences that changed their lives, even in the slightest possible manner.

In this article, we enlist personal narrative ideas for high school to get you started.

3 Personal Narrative Ideas for High School Students

Personal narrative essays are common writing assignments. However, the biggest roadblock high school students face is not being able to come up with interesting personal narrative ideas.

If your idea is weak, there’s no way you can write a high-scoring personal narrative essay. To make your lives easier, we’ve put together 13 personal narrative ideas for high school you can take inspiration from and kickstart your essay.

Experiences

When writing about experiences, you have to look at both the positive and negative experiences you’ve come across in your life and write them in a professional and literary manner.

To come up with an interesting and appropriate topic for your essay, reflect on your thoughts concerning your life experiences, then expand on why the memory you’ve chosen as your topic is important to you and how it has left an imprint in your life.

Flow with your words and describe appropriately but in detail to make your narrative catchy and attention-grabbing for your professors.

Here are a few topic ideas you can use to write about:

• an experience that taught you life lessons;
• a frightening experience;
• a life-changing experience;
• success story experiences;
• an experience that taught you to survive on your own;
• an unpleasant experience;
• an almost-death experience.

Most of the time, there are very few chances of remembering all or most of your childhood memories.

However, there must be a few that left a lasting mark, like a memory that was significant to you or your loved ones, a first-time experience that imprinted in your mind, or happy or fun days that still bring a smile to your face.

As a child, your imagination is very vivid and vast, and there could be scenarios that were dreamt or imagined. These memories are still considered a part of your childhood. Use them to write a great and fascinating narrative essay.

• your favorite cartoon or animation show;
• a memorable summer vacation;
• what did you want to be when you grew up, and why;
• a memorable birthday party and what made it memorable;
• a childhood best friend.

Here’s an interesting video on how to talk about your childhood by Nessa Palmer .

School life

Your school years are your formative and developmental years. It’s the first step toward adulthood. During this period of your life, you learn and experience a lot of things, as well as get essential knowledge through teachings and life lessons that play a big role in the development of your behavior, cognitive thinking, and personality.

Everyone remembers their school years, be it a positive or a negative experience, and that is why it is the perfect topic example for writing a narrative essay that is funny, relatable, and makes you go back to one of the most important, unique but challenging times of your life.

• What was your most favorite or least favorite subject, and why?
• A teacher you idolized?
• What was your first day at school like?
• Describe the time you went on a school trip.
• What was the funniest thing that happened in your class?
• What was your worst school memory?
• Did any of your teachers or peers influence you into becoming who you are today?

Relationships

As you grow older, your relationship with your parents and siblings gets stronger; you make more friends -- new friends who become inseparable and get into deep relationships, casual affairs, and strong bonds.

Writing about your relationships and what they teach you, how they affected you, what mistakes you made, and what you learned through them will branch out into a variety of topic ideas that you can use to craft your narrative essay.

• your relationship with your sibling(s);
• the person who you’re most afraid to lose;
• the friendship breakup that devastated you;
• what is the worst argument you’ve had with your loved one;
• your best friend;
• a time you faced rejection.

Interests and hobbies

Everyone has a hobby or is interested in specific things, such as music, surfing, dancing, and art. Additionally, people can have multiple hobbies or can be very skilled at a couple of things they are interested in.

Through your interests and hobbies, people can understand you as a person and can relate to your interests as theirs. It causes your readers to get more hooked on your narrative and helps them correlate with your experiences and how you dealt with them.

• If you were a TV character, who would you be?
• What is that one talent you’ve always had?
• Talk about your favorite hobby and why you enjoy it.
• My favorite musician or band.
• What movie impacted you greatly?
• How do you know if your interests made you who you are?
• A sporting event you attended or participated in.

High school life

High school is an interesting time in everyone’s lives.

You get to create amazing stories as you’ll meet new people, you’ll learn new subjects, you’ll have a new routine, you’ll get a new sense of independence and a set of new expectations that need to be met.

• The first day you moved into your dorm room;
• The toughest exam you gave;
• Most embarrassing moment in class;
• A lecture or a seminar that left a lasting impression on you;
• What challenges did I face while writing a research paper or a thesis in high school?

Imaginative (Imagine if..)

Brainstorming topics like these need your full-fledged imagination so that you can come up with interesting, hypothetical, and quirky topic ideas for your narrative essays.

This is one of the more popular topic ideas because you can make up anything.

• Imagine if you won the lottery. How are you going to spend it?
• Imagine if you experience something paranormal. What would you do?
• Imagine if you were a superhero. What would you do?
• Imagine if you had a time machine. Where would you travel to?
• Imagine if, one day, your favorite character came to your home. What would happen?

This subtopic is also a favorite amongst students as they can write about themselves, delve into deeper meanings and understand the experiences they went through.

• what is the weirdest thing about you;
• what is your biggest fear, and what was your first encounter with it;
• what unique talent do you have that very few people have;
• what do you do when you spend your time alone;
• what is the worst/best day of your life;
• things you love about yourself;
• things you could tell your younger self.

Travel experiences

Travel experiences are a big hit for narrative writing topic ideas. You can write about local places that you’ve been to, countries or cities you have visited, different cultures that you have experienced, or even places that you would like to visit in the future.

In these topics, you can expand using excerpts from your memories or use photographs to think about your experience and write it down in a narrative structure.

Keep in mind to focus on one event or experience, as writers usually make the mistake of writing about their entire travel experience which your readers may stray their attention from your essay when they get less interested in the subject.

Some topic ideas that you can include in this section are:

• What is your ideal vacation?
• Have you ever been pick-pocketed? Describe your experience.
• Would you like to live in another country? Where and why?
• What was your impression when you visited a major historical site?
• Describe a day you were traveling, and something terrible happened.
• Write about your favorite summer vacation trip.
• What was your first flight experience on a trip abroad?
• Have you ever gotten lost in a city? How did you find your way back?
• How is food different in your country than in your favorite foreign country?

Moments of inspiration

Have you ever had a moment in your life that inspired you to do great things? Whatever your source of inspiration is, whether it's about a trip, a beautiful view with a backstory, a classic literature novel, your peers and friends, or an unexpected incident -- you can always use these to frame an interesting piece of writing.

Moments that cause you to be inspired about something always have a significant meaning behind them. It may help you succeed in something you were nervous about, it may help you face your fears, it may help you to feel motivated to work toward yourself, or it can just make you feel happy about the life you’re living.

• Write about a person who inspired you to keep trying and never fall back.
• What’s your favorite inspirational movie?
• Have you ever felt like you could do better? Write about what inspired you to do better.
• Have you been inspired by a character in a novel? How do you empathize with this character?
• Who is your role model outside your family members?
• What is the best advice that you’ve gotten from someone? Expand on how it changed you.
• Write about the teacher in your life who has played a major role in inspiring you.

Personality traits

Every person has their own personality, and every personality is unique, varied, and has its own story to tell. You can write a narrative essay about your strengths, weaknesses, your different moods, characteristics, important traits, etc.

There are many topics that you can use when writing about your personality and you can expand on them thoroughly using your own experiences, memories, other perspectives, and how you define your personality. Some of them include the following:

• What makes you happy?
• How much self-control do you have?
• How well do you take criticism?
• Do you have any personal rituals?
• Do you perform better when you’re competing or when you’re collaborating?
• How competitive are you?
• How often do you cry?
• What is an irrational fear of yours?
• What is your experience in solving a dilemma?
• Discuss what assumptions people make about you.
• List and discuss your personal superstitions.
• Have you been a leader all your life, or are you a follower?
• Do you take risks? Are you a daredevil or just spontaneous?
• Do you have a phobia? Describe an incident where you faced your fears.

Music is a very vital part of human life. It spreads happiness, soothes your soul, it can make you feel relaxed, motivated, peaceful, and emotional. It can also be your escape, your only method to working without being distracted, your way to take off the entire day’s energy. Music is therapy for a lot of people who use it to feel calm and joy.

You must have turned to your favorite song or genre whenever you needed a helping hand with your troubles or influenced your friends to listen to a song that you relate to on another level.

Music is a part of people’s journeys, and multiple experiences and stories can take place in your life because of it. Here are some topics on music that you can write your narrative essay on:

• Who in your life introduces you to new music?
• Is there a music composition that cheers you up instantly?
• What’s your go-to music genre for work?
• Do you prefer listening to lyrical or instrumental music? Why?
• Who is your guilty pleasure music artist/band? List out reasons why.
• What’s your favorite karaoke song?
• Which pop star inspires or fascinates you?
• How much is your taste in music similar to or different from your friends?
• Do you have specific songs which always remind you of a memory?
• Write about the most exciting experience you’ve had in your life related to music.

Sports and games

Sports and games are both essential for the mental health of students. It increases your immunity, increases blood flow in the body, and makes you adaptable to exertion. Sports are generally played outdoors, whereas games can be played indoors.

Through sports and games, your mind recharges and starts thinking of strategies to succeed. It helps you become more creative and makes your body and mind agile. It helps you keep your body fit and increases stamina.

Similarly, through sports and games, you can learn team spirit, leadership skills, ambitions, and competitiveness. You also develop analytic and strategic thinking. You learn to work toward your goals and build character.

Here are a few topics for a sports or games-related narrative essay:

• What was your first sports event like?
• List out the sports you are good at and why?
• Have you ever had a bad accident while playing a sport?
• How has your favorite sport changed your life?
• Is there a board game that you always win? Which one is it and why?
• What is your one go-to game or sport for any weather, any mood?
• Who is your favorite sports player? Why and what makes them stand out?
• How have you changed since you started playing a sport?
• Are you good at card games? Describe one experience where you were outstanding.
• Write about sports that don’t interest you. Explain why you do not enjoy them.
• If you could play for any team in any sport, which team would you pick and why?
• Write about a friend you made by being involved in athletics.

To conclude, personal narrative essays are in a league of their own. They are simple, engaging, relatable, and always have a moral or learning behind each story or each experience.

These personal narrative ideas for high school and college students will initiate their imagination to write a top-grade quality essay that their professors will come to love and remember through their way of transforming experiences into thought-provoking content.

If you find yourself stuck, reach out to Writers Per Hour. Our expert essay writers will help you write a compelling personal narrative essay that will not only bring out personal experiences but will also get you the grades you desire.

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• How to write a narrative essay | Example & tips

How to Write a Narrative Essay | Example & Tips

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

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

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Table of contents

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Narrative essays in college applications

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Caulfield, J. (2023, July 23). How to Write a Narrative Essay | Example & Tips. Scribbr. Retrieved March 25, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/academic-essay/narrative-essay/

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Narrative Essay Writing

Personal Narrative Essay

Personal Narrative Essay - Easy Guide & Examples

16 min read

Published on: Apr 18, 2020

Last updated on: Mar 24, 2024

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

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

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

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

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

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Personal Narrative Essay Definition

What is a Personal Narrative Essay? 

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

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

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

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

Sample Personal Narrative Essay (PDF)

How to Start a Personal Narrative Essay?  

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

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

1. Choose the Right Topic 

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

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

2. Choose a Theme 

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

3. Create a Thesis Statement 

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

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

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

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

4. Create an Outline 

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

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

Personal Narrative Essay Outline

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

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

Introduction

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

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

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

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

Personal Narrative Introduction Example

Body Paragraphs 

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

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

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

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

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

Personal Narrative Body Example

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

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

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

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

Personal Narrative Conclusion Example

How to Write a Personal Narrative Essay

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

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

Here is how you can write a personal narrative essay:

• Start With a Good Hook 

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

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

• Vivid Description 

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

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

• Use Transition Words 

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

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

• Add Emotions 

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

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

• Be Consistent 

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

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

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

• Prove the Significance of Your Experience 

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

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

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

• Use Dialogue

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

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

• Show, Don't Tell

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

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

• Reflect on the Experience

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

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

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

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

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Free Personal Narrative Essay Examples

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

Personal Narrative Essay 750 words

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

750 Words Personal Narrative Essay (PDF)

Personal Narrative Essay Examples for High School Students

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

Best Summer Memory of My Childhood (PDF)

Near-Death Experience (PDF)

Personal Narrative Essay Examples for College Students

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

Climbing a Mountain (PDF)

My First Job (PDF)

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

Personal Narrative Essay Topics

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

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

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

Personal Narrative Essay Writing Tips

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

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

In conclusion,

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

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

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

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10 Personal Narrative Examples to Inspire Your Writing

Personal narratives are short pieces of creative nonfiction that recount a story from someone’s own experiences. They can be a memoir, a thinkpiece, or even a polemic — so long as the piece is grounded in the writer's beliefs and experiences, it can be considered a personal narrative.

Despite the nonfiction element, there’s no single way to approach this topic, and you can be as creative as you would be writing fiction. To inspire your writing and reveal the sheer diversity of this type of essay, here are ten great examples personal narratives from recent years: 

1. “Only Disconnect” by Gary Shteyngart

Personal narratives don’t have to be long to be effective, as this thousand-word gem from the NYT book review proves. Published in 2010, just as smartphones were becoming a ubiquitous part of modern life, this piece echoes many of our fears surrounding technology and how it often distances us from reality.

In this narrative, Shteyngart navigates Manhattan using his new iPhone—or more accurately, is led by his iPhone, completely oblivious to the world around him. He’s completely lost to the magical happenstance of the city as he “follow[s] the arrow taco-ward”. But once he leaves for the country, and abandons the convenience of a cell phone connection, the real world comes rushing back in and he remembers what he’s been missing out on. 

The downfalls of technology is hardly a new topic, but Shteyngart’s story remains evergreen because of how our culture has only spiraled further down the rabbit hole of technology addiction in the intervening years.

What can you learn from this piece?

Just because a piece of writing is technically nonfiction, that doesn’t mean that the narrative needs to be literal. Shteyngart imagines a Manhattan that physically changes around him when he’s using his iPhone, becoming an almost unrecognizable world. From this, we can see how a certain amount of dramatization can increase the impact of your message—even if that wasn’t exactly the way something happened. 

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2. “Why I Hate Mother's Day” by Anne Lamott

The author of the classic writing text Bird by Bird digs into her views on motherhood in this piece from Salon. At once a personal narrative and a cultural commentary, Lamott explores the harmful effects that Mother’s Day may have on society —how its blind reverence to the concept of motherhood erases women’s agency and freedom to be flawed human beings. 

Lamott points out that not all mothers are good, not everyone has a living mother to celebrate, and some mothers have lost their children, so have no one to celebrate with them. More importantly, she notes how this Hallmark holiday erases all the people who helped raise a woman, a long chain of mothers and fathers, friends and found family, who enable her to become a mother. While it isn’t anchored to a single story or event (like many classic personal narratives), Lamott’s exploration of her opinions creates a story about a culture that puts mothers on an impossible pedestal. 

In a personal narrative essay, lived experience can be almost as valid as peer-reviewed research—so long as you avoid making unfounded assumptions. While some might point out that this is merely an opinion piece, Lamott cannily starts the essay by grounding it in the personal, revealing how she did not raise her son to celebrate Mother’s Day. This detail, however small, invites the reader into her private life and frames this essay as a story about her —and not just an exercise in being contrary.

3. “The Crane Wife” by CJ Hauser 

Days after breaking off her engagement with her fiance, CJ Hauser joins a scientific expedition on the Texas coast r esearching whooping cranes . In this new environment, she reflects on the toxic relationship she left and how she found herself in this situation. She pulls together many seemingly disparate threads, using the expedition and the Japanese myth of the crane wife as a metaphor for her struggles. 

Hauser’s interactions with the other volunteer researchers expand the scope of the narrative from her own mind, reminding her of the compassion she lacked in her relationship. In her attempts to make herself smaller, less needy, to please her fiance, she lost sight of herself and almost signed up to live someone else’s life, but among the whooping cranes of Texas, she takes the first step in reconnecting with herself.

With short personal narratives, there isn’t as much room to develop characters as you might have in a memoir so the details you do provide need to be clear and specific. Each of the volunteer researchers on Hauser’s expedition are distinct and recognizable though Hauser is economical in her descriptions. 

For example, Hauser describes one researcher as “an eighty-four-year-old bachelor from Minnesota. He could not do most of the physical activities required by the trip, but had been on ninety-five Earthwatch expeditions, including this one once before. Warren liked birds okay. What Warren really loved was cocktail hour.” 

In a few sentences, we get a clear picture of Warren's fun-loving, gregarious personality and how he fits in with the rest of the group.

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4. “The Trash Heap Has Spoken” by Carmen Maria Machado

The films and TV shows of the 80s and 90s—cultural touchstones that practically raised a generation—hardly ever featured larger women on screen. And if they did, it was either as a villain or a literal trash heap. Carmen Maria Machado grew up watching these cartoons, and the absence of fat women didn’t faze her. Not until puberty hit and she went from a skinny kid to a fuller-figured teen. Suddenly uncomfortable in her skin, she struggled to find any positive representation in her favorite media.

As she gets older and more comfortable in her own body, Machado finds inspiration in Marjory the Trash Heap from Fraggle Rock and Ursula, everyone’s favorite sea witch from The Little Mermaid —characters with endless power in the unapologetic ways they inhabit their bodies. As Machado considers her own body through the years, it’s these characters she returns to as she faces society’s unkind, dismissive attitudes towards fat women.

Stories shape the world, even if they’re fictional. Some writers strive for realism, reflecting the world back on itself in all its ugliness, but Carmen Maria Machado makes a different point. There is power in being imaginative and writing the world as it could be, imagining something bigger, better, and more beautiful. So, write the story you want to see, change the narrative, look at it sideways, and show your readers how the world could look. 

5. “Am I Disabled?” by Joanne Limburg 

The titular question frames the narrative of Joanne Limburg’s essay as she considers the implications of disclosing her autism. What to some might seem a mundane occurrence—ticking ‘yes’, ‘no’, or ‘prefer not to say’ on a bureaucratic form—elicits both philosophical and practical questions for Limburg about what it means to be disabled and how disability is viewed by the majority of society. 

Is the labor of disclosing her autism worth the insensitive questions she has to answer? What definition are people seeking, exactly? Will anyone believe her if she says yes? As she dissects the question of what disability is, she explores the very real personal effects this has on her life and those of other disabled people. 

Limburg’s essay is written in a style known as the hermit crab essay , when an author uses an existing document form to contain their story. You can format your writing as a recipe, a job application, a resume, an email, or a to-do list – the possibilities are as endless as your creativity. The format you choose is important, though. It should connect in some way to the story you’re telling and add something to the reader’s experience as well as your overall theme. 

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6. “Living Like Weasels” by Annie Dillard

While out on a walk in the woods behind her house, Annie Dillard encounters a wild weasel. In the short moment when they make eye contact, Dillard takes an imaginary journey through the weasel’s mind and wonders if the weasel’s approach to life is better than her own. 

The weasel, as Dillard sees it, is a wild creature with jaws so powerful that when it clamps on to something, it won’t let go, even into death. Necessity drives it to be like this, and humanity, obsessed with choice, might think this kind of life is limiting, but the writer believes otherwise. The weasel’s necessity is the ultimate freedom, as long as you can find the right sort, the kind that will have you holding on for dear life and refusing to let go. 

Make yourself the National Geographic explorer of your backyard or neighborhood and see what you can learn about yourself from what you discover. Annie Dillard, queen of the natural personal essay, discovers a lot about herself and her beliefs when meeting a weasel.

What insight can you glean from a blade of grass, for example? Does it remind you that despite how similar people might be, we are all unique? Do the flights of migrating birds give you perspective on the changes in your own life? Nature is a potent and never-ending spring of inspiration if you only think to look. 

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7. “Love In Our Seventies” by Ellery Akers

“ And sometimes, when I lift the gray hair at the back of your neck and kiss your shoulder, I think, This is it.”

In under 400 words, poet Ellery Akers captures the joy she has found in discovering romance as a 75-year-old . The language is romantic, but her imagery is far from saccharine as she describes their daily life and the various states in which they’ve seen each other: in their pajamas, after cataract surgeries, while meditating. In each singular moment, Akers sees something she loves, underscoring an oft-forgotten truth. Love is most potent in its smallest gestures.  

Personal narrative isn’t a defined genre with rigid rules, so your essay doesn’t have to be an essay. It can be a poem, as Akers’ is. The limitations of this form can lead to greater creativity as you’re trying to find a short yet evocative way to tell a story. It allows you to focus deeply on the emotions behind an idea and create an intimate connection with your reader. 

8. “What a Black Woman Wishes Her Adoptive White Parents Knew” by Mariama Lockington

Mariama Lockington was adopted by her white parents in the early 80s, long before it was “trendy” for white people to adopt black children. Starting with a family photograph, the writer explores her complex feelings about her upbringing , the many ways her parents ignored her race for their own comfort, and how she came to feel like an outsider in her own home. In describing her childhood snapshots, she takes the reader from infancy to adulthood as she navigates trying to live as a black woman in a white family. 

Lockington takes us on a journey through her life through a series of vignettes. These small, important moments serve as a framing device, intertwining to create a larger narrative about race, family, and belonging. 

With this framing device, it’s easy to imagine Lockington poring over a photo album, each picture conjuring a different memory and infusing her story with equal parts sadness, regret, and nostalgia. You can create a similar effect by separating your narrative into different songs to create an album or episodes in a TV show. A unique structure can add an extra layer to your narrative and enhance the overall story.

9. “Drinking Chai to Savannah” by Anjali Enjeti

On a trip to Savannah with her friends, Anjali Enjeti is reminded of a racist incident she experienced as a teenager . The memory is prompted by her discomfort of traveling in Georgia as a South Asian woman and her friends’ seeming obliviousness to how others view them. As she recalls the tense and traumatic encounter she had in line at a Wendy’s and the worry she experiences in Savannah, Enjeti reflects on her understanding of otherness and race in America. 

Enjeti paints the scene in Wendy’s with a deft hand. Using descriptive language, she invokes the five senses to capture the stress and fear she felt when the men in line behind her were hurling racist sentiments. 

She writes, “He moves closer. His shadow eclipses mine. His hot, tobacco-tinged breath seeps over the collar of my dress.” The strong, evocative language she uses brings the reader into the scene and has them experience the same anxiety she does, understanding why this incident deeply impacted her. 

10. “Siri Tells A Joke” by Debra Gwartney

One day, Debra Gwartney asks Siri—her iPhone’s digital assistant—to tell her a joke. In reply, Siri recites a joke with a familiar setup about three men stuck on a desert island. When the punchline comes, Gwartney reacts not with laughter, but with a memory of her husband , who had died less than six months prior.

In a short period, Gwartney goes through a series of losses—first, her house and her husband’s writing archives to a wildfire, and only a month after, her husband. As she reflects on death and the grief of those left behind in the wake of it, she recounts the months leading up to her husband’s passing and the interminable stretch after as she tries to find a way to live without him even as she longs for him. 

A joke about three men on a deserted island seems like an odd setup for an essay about grief. However, Gwartney uses it to great effect, coming back to it later in the story and giving it greater meaning. By the end of her piece, she recontextualizes the joke, the original punchline suddenly becoming deeply sad. In taking something seemingly unrelated and calling back to it later, the essay’s message about grief and love becomes even more powerful.

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65 Engaging Personal Narrative Ideas for Kids and Teens

Tell a story to engage the reader.

Personal narrative essays are all about telling stories. Engage your reader with lots of descriptive language, and ensure you have a beginning, middle, and end. ( Get more tips about teaching narrative writing here. ) Try these personal narrative ideas to inspire kids and teens to tell meaningful stories from their own lives, no matter what they’ve experienced.

“Describe a Time When You …” Personal Narrative Ideas

Firsts and bests personal narrative ideas, general personal narrative essay ideas, college essay personal narrative ideas.

These personal narrative ideas urge students to dig into their past experiences and share them with their audience. Be sure to share the details, including what took place and how it made you feel, and anything you learned from the experience.

Describe a time when you:

• Were scared
• Overcame a big challenge
• Learned an important life lesson
• Had to make a difficult decision

• Were proud of a friend or family member
• Did something you didn’t want to and ended up liking it
• Met a celebrity or someone you really admire
• Tried something new
• Made a mistake and had to apologize and/or fix the mistake
• Were in danger
• Helped someone in need
• Had a dream come true
• Felt inspired
• Had a really terrible day

• Were a leader
• Made someone else laugh
• Did something you later regretted
• Set a goal and achieved it

These essay topics explore the times you did something for the first time ever, or when you were the best version of yourself.

• Write about meeting your best friend for the first time and how your relationship developed.

• Tell about learning to ride a bike or drive a car.
• Tell about your proudest moment.
• What is your happiest memory?
• What is your earliest memory?
• Explain what it’s like to move to a new town or start a new school.
• What’s the best (or worst!) vacation you’ve ever taken?
• Tell the story of the time you got your first pet.
• Describe your favorite field trip of all time.
• Tell the story of your first day of kindergarten.
• What’s the best meal you’ve ever eaten?
• Describe the best party or celebration you’ve ever attended.
• Tell about the first time someone ever paid you for work (first job, chores for a neighbor, babysitting, etc.) and how it made you feel.

• Describe the first time you spent a night away from home without your family.
• What’s the best gift you’ve ever been given?

Here are more personal narrative topics to inspire young writers.

• Describe a performance or sporting event you took part in.
• Explain the process of cooking and eating your favorite meal.
• Write about a time when you or someone you know displayed courage.
• Share the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to you.
• Describe a time when you or someone you know experienced prejudice or oppression.

• Explain a family tradition, how it developed, and its importance today.
• What is your favorite holiday? How does your family celebrate it?
• Describe your morning routine from the time you wake up until the moment the school bell rings to start the day.
• Share what you do on a typical non-school day.
• Tell about a time when you were injured. How did it happen?
• Describe an argument you and a friend had and how you resolved it.
• Tell about what you think your life will be like when you’re 25 years old.
• Explore a time when you felt you were treated unfairly.
• What makes your family different from everyone else’s family?
• If you could relive any day in your life, what would it be? Would you want it to be the same or different?

These personal narrative essay topics all come from real 2022–2023 college applications. ( See more college essay prompts here. )

• Discuss a time when reflection or introspection led to clarity or understanding of an issue that is important to you.
• Share an example of how you have used your own critical-thinking skills on a specific subject, project, idea, or interest.

• Using your personal, academic, or volunteer/work experiences, describe the topics or issues that you care about and why they are important to you.
• Reflect on a personal experience where you intentionally expanded your cultural awareness.
• When was the last time you questioned something you had thought to be true?
• Reflect on a time when you or someone you observed had to make a choice about whether to act with integrity and honesty.
• Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively influenced others, helped resolve disputes, or contributed to group efforts over time.
• Describe a time when you were challenged by a perspective that differed from your own. How did you respond?
• Elaborate on an activity or experience you have had that made an impact on a community that is important to you.

• Describe any meaningful travel experiences you’ve had.
• Choose one of the communities to which you belong, and describe that community and your place within it.
• What is the greatest compliment you have ever been given? Why was it meaningful to you?
• What has been your best academic experience in the last two years, and what made it so good?
• Describe a time when you’ve felt empowered or represented by an educator.
• Describe how you have taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity or worked to overcome an educational barrier you have faced.

What are your favorite personal narrative ideas? Come share on the WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook.

Plus, check out the big list of essay topics for high school (100+ ideas) ., you might also like.

15 Inspiring Personal Narrative Examples for Writers

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Personal Narrative Essay Examples for High School Students

High school is a pivotal time in every young person’s life. It is a time of self-discovery, personal growth, and academic exploration. During this time, students are faced with the challenge of finding their place within a complex and ever-changing society. It is a time of forming lasting friendships, developing interests and hobbies, and learning important life skills. For many high school students, writing personal narrative essays is a way of reflecting on their journey and sharing powerful experiences with others.

One of the most impactful aspects of writing personal narrative essays is the freedom it gives students to explore a wide range of topics. Whether they choose to write about their relationships, their interests and hobbies, or their experiences within different cultures, personal narrative essays provide a platform for students to reflect on and explore the world around them. This type of writing allows students to delve deep into their own thoughts and emotions, and to express themselves in a way that is meaningful and cathartic.

In a personal narrative essay, students can use various tactics to hook the reader and keep them engaged throughout the essay. This can include incorporating vivid imagery, powerful language, and compelling examples. By using these techniques, students are able to transport the reader into their world and leave a lasting impression.

When writing a personal narrative essay, it is important to include both the details of the events and the reflection on those events. This allows the reader to gain a deeper understanding of the impact that these experiences have had on the student’s life. By reflecting on their experiences and analyzing their own thoughts and feelings, students are able to gain a greater sense of self-awareness and personal growth.

Personal narrative essays also provide an opportunity for students to practice their writing skills in a more informal and creative way. While academic writing often requires a certain style and structure, personal narrative essays allow students to break free from these constraints and express themselves in a more personal and authentic way. This can be particularly beneficial for students who may feel nervous or intimidated by the formalities of academic writing.

Examples of Personal Narrative Essays for High School Students

Personal narrative essays are a form of writing that allows high school students to share their own experiences, stories, and reflections. These essays provide insight into the lives and perspectives of the students, offering a glimpse into their personal journeys and the lessons they have learned along the way.

One example of a personal narrative essay written by a high school student is titled “A Journey into Literacy.” In this essay, the student, Mackenzie, reflects on her struggles with reading and writing in school. She explains how she initially felt nervous and overwhelmed by the educational system’s expectations, but gradually found her own style of learning and writing that worked for her. Mackenzie also discusses how her interest in media and storytelling helped her develop her literacy skills, and how these skills have impacted her life both inside and outside of school.

Another example of a personal narrative essay is titled “Reflections on Cultural Identity.” In this essay, the student reflects on their experiences growing up in a diverse society with multiple cultures and traditions. They discuss the challenges of navigating between different cultures and the importance of embracing their own cultural heritage. The student also explores the concept of cultural identity and how it shapes their relationships and interactions with others. They conclude by discussing the need for cultural understanding and appreciation in our society.

Personal narrative essays for high school students can cover a wide range of topics. Some students may choose to write about difficult life experiences, such as the loss of a loved one or overcoming personal challenges. Others may focus on their interests and passions, such as sports, music, or art. The key is for the student to choose a topic that they feel passionate about and that allows them to reflect on their personal growth and development.

Types of Personal Narrative Essays

There are several types of personal narrative essays that high school students can choose to write. One type is the school-personal narrative essay, which focuses on a specific event or experience that occurred within the school environment. This could be a memorable field trip, a difficult test, or a meaningful interaction with a teacher or classmate.

Another type is the reflective-high personal narrative essay, which involves reflecting on a significant life event or personal journey outside of school. This could include topics such as travel experiences, volunteer work, or family traditions.

Writing Tactics for Personal Narrative Essays

When writing a personal narrative essay, it is important to engage the audience and hook them in from the beginning. This could be done through the use of vivid imagery, an intriguing question, or a powerful anecdote. The essay should also include a clear and concise thesis statement that states the main point or purpose of the essay.

Importance of Personal Narrative Essays in High School

Develop personal and reflective writing skills.

Personal narrative essays allow students to explore their own lives and engage in reflective writing. By reflecting on their personal experiences, students can develop a deeper understanding of themselves and the world around them. Writing about their emotions, reactions, and thoughts helps students process and make sense of their experiences, while also improving their self-awareness and emotional intelligence.

Enhance Literacy and Communication

Writing personal narrative essays helps high school students improve their literacy and communication skills. By organizing their thoughts and ideas, selecting appropriate language, and conveying their messages effectively, students become more proficient in written communication. This skill is essential for success in college, careers, and everyday life.

Foster Creativity and Imagination

Personal narrative essays give students the freedom to express themselves creatively and imaginatively. They can choose different writing styles and employ various literary techniques, such as imagery and sensory details, to make their essays engaging and vivid. This fosters their creativity and imagination, allowing them to develop their unique voice and style as writers.

Promote Empathy and Understanding

Personal narrative essays allow students to share their personal stories, perspectives, and struggles. By reading and writing personal narratives, students develop empathy and understanding towards others, as they realize that everyone has their own unique experiences and challenges. This promotes a more inclusive and compassionate society.

Provide a Captivating Audience

High school students often face challenges when it comes to engaging their audience. Personal narrative essays offer an opportunity for students to captivate their readers by sharing their personal stories and experiences. By finding a personal connection with their readers, students can create a powerful impact and leave a lasting impression.

Expand Interest in Writing

For some high school students, writing may be a daunting task. Personal narrative essays, however, can spark an interest in writing by allowing students to choose topics they are passionate about and feel connected to. By exploring their hobbies, interests, and relationships, students can tap into their creativity and find joy in the writing process.

Personal Narrative Essay Topics for High School Students

• How Academic Education Impacted My Life
• My Most Powerful Personal Experience
• Overcoming Difficulties in High School
• The Impact of Bullying on My Mental Health
• Exploring Different Cultures Through Reading
• My Hobbies and Their Influence on My Life
• Keeping Up with Relationships: Friends, Family, and More
• My Reflections on Literacy and its Power
• The Role of Language in Shaping Society
• An Imagery-filled Trip to a Foreign Country
• Explaining the Definition of Personal Narrative
• What High School was Like for Me: Trials and Triumphs
• The Life of Xavier: My Alter Ego
• Getting Creative: Ideas for Writing a Personal Narrative
• How Having Minarets in Our Streets is Making a Difference
• The Existence of Villains and Heroes in Real Life
• Impressions Left Behind: A Moving Narrative about Leaving it All
• My Thoughts on the Power of Education
• 4 Years of High School: A Journey of Growth
• Personal Narrative Essay Topics That Get the Audience Hooked
• Inspired by the Most Difficult Paper I Ever Had to Write
• Within the Lines: Personal Narrative Essay Topics About Drawing
• My Experience with Different Styles of Personal Narrative Writing
• Exploring the Lives of Famous Personal Narrative Essay Writers
• How My Interests in Personal Narrative Helped me Understand Myself
• The Impact of Personal Narrative Writing on High School Students
• Including Emotional Details in Personal Narrative Essays
• Writing a Personal Narrative Essay: From Draft to Final Paper
• The Influence of Music on Personal Narrative Writing
• My Exploration of Different Types of Personal Narrative Essays

Tips for Writing Personal Narrative Essays in High School

Writing personal narrative essays in high school can be an exciting and rewarding experience. It allows you to explore your own experiences, reflect on your journey, and share your unique perspective with others. To help you create compelling and effective personal narratives, here are some valuable tips:

1. Choose a topic that interests you

The key to writing a successful personal narrative essay is choosing a topic that genuinely interests you. Select a story or experience that has had a significant impact on your life or has taught you valuable lessons. By selecting a topic that you are passionate about, you will be more motivated to write an engaging and heartfelt essay.

2. Start with a captivating hook

A good personal narrative essay starts with a captivating hook that grabs the reader’s attention. You can begin with a thought-provoking question, an intriguing anecdote, or a vivid description that sets the scene for your story. The hook should entice the reader to continue reading and discover what happens next in your narrative.

3. Use descriptive language and imagery

When writing a personal narrative essay, it’s important to use descriptive language and imagery to bring your story to life. Use vivid sensory details to paint a picture in your reader’s mind and make your narrative more engaging. This will help your audience connect with your experiences and emotions on a deeper level.

4. Reflect on your experiences

A personal narrative essay is not just about recounting events; it’s also about reflecting on their significance and what you have learned from them. Take the time to reflect on the experiences you are writing about and share your thoughts and insights with your readers. This reflection adds depth and meaning to your essay.

5. Keep your audience in mind

While writing your personal narrative essay, consider your audience and their interests. Tailor your language, style, and tone to appeal to your intended readers. By understanding your audience, you can ensure that your essay resonates with them and effectively communicates your message.

6. Create a well-structured essay

7. revise and edit your draft.

After completing your initial draft, take the time to revise and edit your essay. Check for grammatical errors, sentence structure, and clarity of expression. Make sure your ideas flow logically and cohesively, and ensure that your essay is concise and focused. This step is essential to improve the overall quality of your personal narrative essay.

By following these tips, you can write personal narrative essays that are compelling, insightful, and impactful. Remember to stay true to your own voice and experiences, and have confidence in your storytelling abilities. Happy writing!

Features of Personal Narrative Essays in Minarets High School

When it comes to personal narrative essays in Minarets High School, there are several key features that make them unique and engaging. These essays go beyond the typical assignments and require students to tap into their creativity while reflecting on their own personal experiences.

One of the defining characteristics of personal narrative essays in Minarets High School is the emphasis on making the reader feel connected to the story. This is achieved by keeping the narrative personal and including vivid details that bring the story to life. By incorporating descriptive language and imagery, students are able to transport the reader into their own experiences.

Another important feature of these essays is the inclusion of personal reflections. Students are encouraged to reflect on the events and experiences they write about, providing insights and lessons learned. This adds depth to the narrative and allows the audience to gain a deeper understanding of the writer’s thoughts and emotions.

In addition, personal narrative essays in Minarets High School often explore social and educational topics. Students are given the freedom to choose topics that reflect their own interests and experiences, enabling them to explore issues that are meaningful to them. This allows for a more engaging and authentic writing experience.

When it comes to structuring these essays, students are encouraged to use a variety of tactics. They can start with a hook to grab the reader’s attention, dive into the main topic of the essay, and use examples and details to support their ideas. By giving these essays a clear structure, students are able to effectively convey their thoughts and experiences.

Personal narrative essays in Minarets High School are not solely focused on personal experiences, however. They also explore the impact of these experiences on society and the larger world. Students are encouraged to consider the broader implications of their narratives, reflecting on how their experiences have shaped them and how they relate to the world around them.

Lastly, personal narrative essays in Minarets High School often include a concluding episode. This is where students wrap up their story and provide a resolution. The concluding episode helps to tie everything together and provide closure for the reader.

Overall, personal narrative essays in Minarets High School offer students a unique opportunity to explore their own personal journeys and reflect on their lives. These essays not only improve students’ writing and literacy skills, but also provide them with a platform to express themselves and share their stories. Through personal narrative essays, students are able to engage with their own experiences in a profound way, connecting with others and gaining a deeper understanding of themselves and the world around them.

What is a personal narrative essay?

A personal narrative essay is a type of essay in which the writer tells a story of a personal experience or event. It involves the writer sharing their thoughts, feelings, and insights about the experience, making it more personal and engaging for the reader.

What are some good topic ideas for a personal narrative essay for high school students?

There are many interesting topic ideas for personal narrative essays for high school students. Some examples include: a memorable vacation, a life-changing event, overcoming a fear or challenge, a special friendship, an important lesson learned, or a personal achievement. These topics allow students to reflect on their own experiences and share meaningful stories.

By Alex Koliada, PhD

Alex Koliada, PhD, is a well-known doctor. He is famous for studying aging, genetics, and other medical conditions. He works at the Institute of Food Biotechnology and Genomics. His scientific research has been published in the most reputable international magazines. Alex holds a BA in English and Comparative Literature from the University of Southern California , and a TEFL certification from The Boston Language Institute.

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The Lasting Value of the Personal Essay

This writing form has a value that goes beyond the college application as it nurtures self-reflection and inspires creativity.

I still remember my own personal essay that I wrote decades ago during my college admissions process. My essay focused on movies and how movies were a conduit of curiosity. It was also about the death of my father and how movies, in part, had provided a common ground for us—a connection. Although my essay, of course, was not the sole determining factor in my admission, it’s a predominant memory from that time of my life. To this day, I feel it had a persuasive effect on my admittance.

In fact, now looking back, I can’t recall my grade point average or my class rank or the final grade that my English teacher gave me on my literary analysis of Heart of Darkness. Even my exact SAT score, back then a real measure of academic aptitude, remains fuzzy to me all these years later, “shaded in wistful half-lights,” as described by Norman Maclean. I can, however, remember nearly every sentence, if not quite every word, of the personal essay I submitted to my first-choice college, which has undoubtedly, for me, over the years remained one of the most important pieces of writing I have ever produced.

The personal essay is an enduring literary genre and an art form that provides often-challenging material in English classes. In my Advanced Placement Language and Composition course, we frequently read works from an array of authors from various eras, including Michel de Montaigne, Virginia Woolf, E. B. White, Joan Didion, André Aciman, Brian Doyle, Dr. Oliver Sacks. These writers function as exemplars for my students to both analyze and model not only for their rhetorical value but also for their stylistic technique and philosophical ruminations.

Power of Personalization

One of the most predominant rhetorical strategies we recognize in these texts is personalization. And so Woolf’s “The Death of the Moth” has impacted my students throughout the years with its frank depiction of psychological tension, addressing philosophical themes on an existential level that never fail to capture their attention—so much so, that a group of students painted a mural on the wall outside my classroom, a visual interpretation of Woolf’s essay that they titled Memento Mori .

The candor and intimacy of Dr. Oliver Sacks’s depiction of his final days before his death from cancer have engendered numerous touching and insightful comments from my students during our Socratic seminars analyzing his almost unendurably moving personal essay, “My Periodic Table.” 

Students respond viscerally, it seems, to the personal. Sadly, many students have been touched by some of the same tragic subject matter that we analyze through these texts. During our seminars and journal assignments, my students have revealed their own personal connections to some of the personal essays we read in class, connecting, I think, to the shared experiences that we have all had throughout human history. 

Our students often find themselves facing a vortex of standardized tests, AP exams, and benchmarks throughout the school year, which often emphasize the formulaic. The active process of personal choice on topic and subject seems lost. So often my students ask me questions when writing an essay, seeking a particular answer, as if literary analysis were calculus. Missing is the creativity, the exploration of writing free from academic constraints like rubrics and scoring guides. Writer-editor Steve Moyer asserts in  Edsitement , “Nuanced thought... requires a greater gestation period than the nearly instant gratification made possible on Twitter.” I have witnessed this impatience from my own students.

There can be a restlessness in the writing process, a hesitancy for revision or drafting. Personal essays require self-reflection and a free-flowing freedom from rigid form that my students embrace in a way that they don’t with an argument or research-based essay. On more than one occasion during parent-teacher conferences, I have had parents tell me that their child used to love creative writing, but somewhere along the way, the rigor of school seemed to have killed it.

Personal essays, then, restore that creativity, since they encourage a freedom from form. Students can experiment with style and figurative language and syntax in ways that the traditional academic five-paragraph essay often thwarts.

Personal essays also allow teachers to really get to know our students, too. The inherent intimacy of a personal essay, the connection between the writer and the reader—in this case, a student and a teacher—provides insight into the concerns, the dreams, the emotions of our students in addition to allowing us to assess how they exercise their compositional skills, including imagery, syntax, diction, and figurative language. Here, then, a teacher has the best of both worlds. We’re able to both connect to our students on an emotional level and evaluate their learning on an academic level. Personal essays also serve as an emotional outlet. 

There seems to be a common assumption that personal essays for high school students serve only the college application process, so the process begins during their senior year. Personal writing, however, should occur throughout a student’s academic experience. The narrative essays that most elementary school students encounter evolve into the more ruminative, philosophical, and reflective personal writing they will encounter during their senior year from many of Common App essay prompts.

Many teachers implement journal writing in their classrooms that provides a firm foundation for the type of personal writing that the college admissions essay requires. In my own class of juniors, the last assignment we complete for the year is a personal essay. My intent is to help prepare them for the college essay they will write, hopefully, during the summer so that they will have a solid draft before the application process begins. 

Teaching our students this strategy in their own writing benefits them in their futures, not only for the imminent college application process but also for job interviews. For example, I was mentoring a student, a senior who had no desire to go to college, about the job interview process he would soon face after graduation. We rehearsed and practiced the types of questions he might encounter from a future employer. I encouraged him to remember the personal details of his experience, personalizing everything in a way that would allow him to ideally stand out as a job candidate.

Through personal essay writing, my overarching, grand ambition is to instill in my students ultimately a love of reflection, looking back on their experience, reminiscing on significant memories that linger, carefully considering the seemingly little moments that, only upon reflection, have an enormous impact on us.

narrativeessays.org

The Best Personal Narrative Ideas For High School Students

Writing a  narrative essay  is like telling a little story from your life. Close people become the characters of your essay, and you become both a writer and the main hero. If you have received a personal narrative essay as your high school assignment, don’t worry if you have no idea what to write about — this article has got some great personal narrative ideas for high school.

What Is a Personal Narrative Essay and How to Write It

Essays of this type require a vivid plot filled with sincere emotions and memories.

Here are a few tips on how to write a personal narrative essay:

• The most important step is to find a  narrative essay topic  that will be interesting for both you and your potential reader. Make a short research to see what suits you — it has to be something personal and important to you.
• Use a descriptive language in your essay. It means that your story has to be written with the help of various expressions and words that you don’t often use. Read examples of an author you like if you are not sure how to do that.
• Make a strong point. The purpose of your narrative essay is not only to share your thoughts but to teach others something new. Your story should teach others something you’ve learned from your own experience. Try to make the lesson of your narrative both fun and useful.
• Make sure to work on the plot of your narrative essay.  Use an outline . It has to reach the climax, the highest point of emotional intensity, and give the story a great turn. Add a little twist to surprise your readers.

Top High School Personal Narrative Essay Topics

Here are  some great topics  for the personal narrative essay for high school students. Choose the one that you like the most and get your straight A in class!

• What was the most unpleasant experience of your life?
• Describe an experience when someone has told you a secret information about them. How did it make you feel?
• Describe the worst and the best day in details.
• How did the first day of high school go for you? Include a detailed description of your feelings.
• How did you meet your best high school friends? Where did it happen?
• What is the best person that you have met? How did he or she influence you?
• Which music inspires you? How often do you listen to it?
• What teacher inspired you? How do you like his or her classes?
• Tell about a time when you took part in any school event.
• Describe a situation when you and your parents misunderstood each other or didn’t agree with your opinion. How did you solve this situation?

Other Personal Narrative Essay Topics

Narrative essay topics from that list will be both  great for high school  students and those who are already in colleges or university. Even if you are not a student, you can use these  narrative topics  to practice your writing skills and put your memories and emotions on a paper.

• Describe the hardest decision of your life that you had to make.
• Tell about words or phrases that annoy you when someone uses them.
• Which talent do you have that you are proud of?
• Describe problems that you face every day. How do you cope with them?
• What movies have inspired you? When did you watch them?
• Describe the trip when you traveled to another city or country. What did you do?
• What animal would like to be?
• How did you overcome your biggest fear?
• What is your biggest loss in life?
• Which failures did you experience in your life and what did they teach you?

These were the most popular topics that are great for a personal narrative essay.  Start your writing  as soon as possible. If these topics are not what you were looking for, try to look for some more essay topics online — and you will find the one that is perfect for you.

Step By Step Guide To Write a Personal Narrative Essay for High School

Are you searching for a killer formula on how to write a personal narrative essay for high school? Haven’t got any help even though the deadline is approaching? Then you gotta check this out!

When it comes to writing an essay, it is a must task for students to do. Personal narrative essay is something which is a very enjoyable task to the students. Because it is something that students love to do, it never confines you to specific boundaries. It is something that a student writes about themselves. We also have an example of a personal narrative essay for you at the end. So keep on reading.

Stated here are the steps to guide into personal narrative essay writing for high school, so let’s begin:

Table of Contents

What is a personal narrative essay?

A narrative essay is a form of story in which we state about:

Our experiences

Our thought processes

Personality types etc.

The story that a writer wants to tell the audience depends on him as to tell what sort of story

It is usually written in first person “I” form

It helps to provide a dive into the student’s life

It has maximum creativity of the students because of their own stories

How to Write a personal narrative essay?

Like every other essay a personal narrative essay does require some certain steps in writing. Before one even starts writing, they have to focus on a few other things that are extremely necessary. Keep reading and get to know what steps are involved in writing a personal essay.

Start with Deciding a Suitable Topic

Many students avoid the significance of deciding a topic. Writing a good essay is highly dependent upon the type of topic you have chosen. If you select one you are absolutely sure about, chances of getting a refined and well-written essay automatically increase.

In a personal narrative essay you can decide what aspect you want to discuss in your essay. There are so many kinds of things associated with us that can be described, so it’s up to you which one you choose.

The best approach would be to check out different narrative personal essay examples and note down how the author has picked up a topic

Do Your Complete Research to Write Well

It’s impossible to write a good essay unless you have completed the research work. Authentic facts are always a must have element in an essay and if your piece of writing lacks true facts then it’s surely going to be a poor one. What you can do after selecting a topic is take your time and do thorough research before you move to the next stage.

In a narrative essay you can see what areas you need to study for proper research. The sources could be taken from anywhere, just the research process has to be performed.

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Create an Essay Outline to Stay Focused

Many students think it’s not necessary but it actually is. Not creating an outline will cost you a lot of time and provide you endless confusion. It is always better to know what you are writing in advance, so you never have to stop midway and think about your next heading. Having this road map results in a perfect essay that absolutely stands out.

Start Introduction with an Interesting Question 

A narrative essay can be started with an interesting question. As per the topic you can set a particular question that you think can attract the attention of the readers in the very first line.

Make Use of Heart Touching Quotes to Trigger Readers’ Emotions

Did you know that quotes are a great  hook for essay  and can quickly grab a lot of attention? Readers love to read something inspirational, emotional, or relatable. Using quotes will make your essay even more interesting, which is why it is suggested to write a beautiful, heart-touching quote in the beginning, to provide your readers with some background to the actual story.

Tell a Story to Engage Readers

It is never too old to tell a story and make a lot of fans in an instant. You can start your narrative essay with a creative story that relates with your personal experience you’re about to share in your essay. It will help readers make up their mind and be ready to read something fun. Again studying an example of narrative essay can help you grasp this concept easily. 

Personal narrative essay topics

Following are some of the best  personal narrative essay topics :

Why do I always stay quiet?

My biggest inspiration

The toughest decision of my life

How did I overcome my fears?

A library in my room

My favorite activities during vacations

How did I survive the crash?

How do I keep my work life balance?

The rules of my life

Personal advices on some current issues

Outline for Personal Narrative Essay

We have talked about the  writing process  of the essay, but the most important thing for writing that process is the outline. Here is the outline for a personal narrative essay:

Introduction

The Introduction

It is the most important part of the essay which leaves an everlasting impression on the reader

Insert an attention-grabbing thesis and a hood statement to attract the audience

A thesis can help implement the whole idea of the essay, that is the reason why you have to write a strong

Logically, transit from one sentence to the other for better understanding

Your entire discussion of personal narrative essay lies in the body of the essay

Explain the topic from all the sides, in whatever possible perspective.

Make sure to add topic sentence in each paragraph you write because that is what makes rest of the paragraph representable

It is advisable to use chronological order for presenting your details

The Conclusion

Wrap up the whole discussion of the essay into the conclusion part

Provide a summarize form of essay in the conclusion and do not add a new discussion into this part

It should be at least a paragraph long

Personal Narrative Essay Example for High School

This is one of the comprehensive personal narrative essay examples to help you with writing one:

Remember that it’s one of the many personal narrative examples high school students can find online. The pro tip is to get through as many as you can for getting familiar with how to start a personal narrative essay like a pro.  

Writing tips for personal narrative essay

There are certain significant tips that will help write an essay in an effective manner. These tips are as follows:

State your personal experience and not an imaginary story so as to write

Have pre-planning while going for a write up.

Remember to add hook statements because that will leave an everlasting impact on the readers

Describe and make an image that represents the originality of your story and the readers. imagine that he/she is watching the story happen.

Use good descriptive language.

Use good vocabulary and build a good structure of the sentences.

Secure Your Custom Essay Writing Solution

Writing a personal narrative essay might not be easy, but we have the solution. We hope that our guidelines have provided a decent explanation of what you required in the first place. However, if you still need help, professional essay writers  are always here to provide you best assignment writing service.

For writing a good personal narrative essay follow the phases of writing that is Pre-writing; including choosing a topic and recalling your memorial, writing; involving outlining, drafting, writing essay, and significance, and post writing phase; involving proofreading and review.

To write a personal narrative essay for high school, follow three phases of writing i.e., Pre-writing; including choosing a topic and recalling your memorial, writing; involving outlining, drafting, writing essay, and significance, and post writing phase; involving proofreading and review.

To write a good personal essay, choose a topic, write a good introduction, body including your personal experience and discussion, use of good literary tools, and review.

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Narrative Essay

Narrative Essay Examples

10+ Interesting Narrative Essay Examples Plus Writing Tips!

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Narrative Essay - A Complete Writing Guide with Examples

Writing a Personal Narrative Essay: Everything You Need to Know

Best Narrative Essay Topics 2023 for Students

Crafting a Winning Narrative Essay Outline: A Step-by-Step Guide

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

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

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

So, keep reading and find our expertly written examples!

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

Narrative Essay Definition

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

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

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

The Essentials of Narrative Essays

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here is a how to start a narrative essay example:

Sample Narrative Essay

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

Here is another narrative essay examples 500 words:

Narrative Essay Examples for Students

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

Here are some helpful narrative essay examples:

Narrative Essay Examples Middle School

Narrative Essay Examples for Grade 7

Narrative Essay Examples for Grade 8

Grade 11 Narrative Essay Examples

Narrative Essay Example For High School

Narrative Essay Example For College

Personal Narrative Essay Example

Descriptive Narrative Essay Example

3rd Person Narrative Essay Example

Narrative Essay Topics

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

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

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

Narrative Essay Writing Tips

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

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

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

However, if storytelling isn't your forte, you can always turn to our essay writing service for help.

Our writers are specialists that can tackle any type of essay with great skill. With their experience, you get a top-quality, 100% plagiarism free essay everytime.

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Writing Curriculum

Teach Narrative Writing With The New York Times

This teaching guide, part of our eight-unit writing curriculum, includes daily writing prompts, lessons based on selected mentor texts, and an invitation for students to participate in our 100-word personal narrative contest.

By The Learning Network

Stories can thrill, wound, delight, uplift and teach. Telling a story vividly and powerfully is a vital skill that is deeply valued across all cultures, past and present — and narrative writing is, of course, a key genre for literacy instruction at every level.

When your students think “New York Times,” they probably think of our 172-year history of award-winning journalism, and may not even realize that The Times today is full of personal narratives — on love and family , but also on how we relate to animals , live with disabilities or navigate anxiety . If you flip or scroll through sections of the paper, you’ll see that personal writing is everywhere, and often ranks among the most popular pieces The Times publishes each week.

At The Learning Network, we’ve been posting writing prompts every school day for over a decade now, and many of them invite personal narrative. Inspired by Times articles of all kinds, the prompts ask students to tell us about their passions and their regrets, their most embarrassing moments and their greatest achievements. Thousands of students around the world respond each month, and each week during the school year we call out our favorite responses .

In this unit we’re taking it a step further and turning our narrative-writing opportunities into a contest that invites students to tell their own stories. Below, you’ll find plenty of ideas and resources to get your students reading, writing and thinking about their own stories, including:

✔ New narrative-writing prompts every week.

✔ Daily opportunities for students to have an authentic audience for their writing via posting comments to our forums.

✔ Guided practice with mentor texts that include writing exercises.

✔ A clear, achievable end-product (our contest) modeled on real-world writing.

✔ The chance for students to have their work published in The New York Times.

Here’s how it works.

Start with personal-narrative prompts for low-stakes writing.

Related Article | Related Picture Prompt

Every week during the school year we publish new narrative writing prompts on a vast array of topics via our Student Opinion and Picture Prompts columns. These prompts can be a starting point to help your students start reflecting on their lives and the stories they have to tell.

Each prompt is inspired by a Times article, which is free if you access it through our site, and all are open for comment for students 13 and up. Every comment is read by Learning Network editors before it is approved.

Teachers have told us they use our prompts as an opportunity for daily writing practice, a communal space where students can practice honing voice, trying new techniques and writing for a real audience. And if students are writing formal personal narrative essays, whether for college applications, for our contest or for any other reason, our prompts might serve as inspiration to help them find topics.

Student Opinion Questions

We publish a new Student Opinion question every school day, including many that invite personal writing. Students will read a related Times article and then respond to questions that help them think about how it applies to their own lives, like these:

“ What Cultural Traditions Are Important to You? ” “ Has Forgiving Someone Ever Made You Feel Better? ” “ How Do You Get Over Rejection? ”

You can find them all, as they publish, here . Or check out our collection of 445 Prompts for Narrative and Personal Writing for years-worth of evergreen questions, organized into categories like family, school, personality and childhood memories.

Picture Prompts

These accessible, image-driven prompts inspire a variety of kinds of writing and we publish them Tuesday through Friday during the school year. Each week we post at least one prompt that asks students to share experiences from their lives, such as this one that invites students to write about memories of their childhood homes , and one that asks them to tell a story about a moment from their lives inspired by an image, such as this one .

You can find all of our Picture Prompts, as they publish, here . At the end of each school year, we round them all up and categorize them by genre of writing. Take a look at our collections from 2017 , 2018 , 2019 , 2020 , 2021 , 2022 and 2023 and scroll down to look for the categories like “What story does this image inspire for you?” and “Share experiences from your own life” to find many prompts that can inspire narratives.

A special “rehearsal space” for teenagers to experiment writing 100-word narratives.

To help with our Tiny Memoir contest, we posted a student forum last year asking, “ What Story From Your Life Can You Tell in 100 Words? ” In it, we lead students through a few questions, and provide a few examples, to show them how. It is still open for comment. We hope that as they search for topics and try out techniques, students will post their drafts here for others to read and comment on.

Read mentor texts and try some of the “writer’s moves” we spotlight.

The Times is full of wonderful writing that can serve as mentor texts for helping students look at the various elements of the genre and think about how to weave specific craft moves into their own writing. We have a couple of ways students can use them for narrative writing.

Mentor Texts Lessons

For our 2023 Tiny Memoir Contest for Students, in which students are invited to describe a meaningful true moment from their lives in 100 words or fewer, we have a set of mentor texts, all of which can be found in our step-by-step guide: How to Write a 100-Word Narrative: A Guide for Our Tiny Memoir Contest . The 25 texts we use can also be found in this PDF .

During the years when we ran a Personal Narrative Contest that allowed students 600 words to tell a story, we broke narrative writing into several key elements and spotlighted a mentor text that does a particularly good job at each. All of them are still applicable to our new contest, which spotlights the same qualities, just in miniature. They have also been woven in to our step-by-step guide :

Tell a story about a small but memorable event or moment in your life.

Use details to show, not tell.

Write from your own point of view, in your real voice.

Use dialogue effectively.

Drop the reader into a scene.

Tell a complete story, with a true narrative arc.

Reflect on the experience and give the reader a take-away.

After students read each of the mentor texts on this list and focus on a specific technique, we invite them to “Now Try This” via an exercise that helps them practice that element. Then, we provide additional mentor text examples, as well as a list of questions to consider while reading any of them. The goal is to demystify what good writing looks like, and encourage students to practice concrete exercises to use those techniques.

Annotated by the Author

But our favorite mentor texts to assign? The work of the teenage winners of our narrative contests. Here are the 2019 , 2020 and 2021 collections of our Personal Narrative Contest. And here are the winners of our first-ever 100-Word Narrative Contest . Which of these pieces do your students like best? What “writer’s moves” might they emulate in their own work?

We also invited three teenagers who won our 2019 contest to annotate their winning narratives for our “Annotated by the Author” series. In these pieces, they demystify their writing process and share ideas other students can try in their own essays.

Annotated by the Author: ‘Speechless’

Annotated by the Author: ‘Pants on Fire’

Annotated by the Author: ‘Cracks in the Pavement’

In addition, we have a piece annotated by the college-aged author of a winning Modern Love piece. In Annotated by the Author: ‘Why Can’t Men Say “I Love You” to Each Other?’ Ricardo F. Jaramillo tells us how to make your reader want to keep reading, how to balance scenes and ideas, why you can’t write a personal essay without “looking inside,” and much more.

Enter our “ Tiny Memoir” Personal Narrative Essay Contest .

At this point in the unit, your students will have practiced writing about their lives using our many prompts. They will also have read several mentor texts, and practiced elements of personal writing with each one. Now, we hope, they can produce a polished piece of writing that brings it all together.

For three years, we ran a personal narrative contest that asked for a “short, powerful story about a meaningful life experience” in 600 words or less. But last year, we debuted our Tiny Memoir Contest that challenged students to tell us a story from their lives in just 100 words. The results blew us away. Teachers told us it was one of the most engaging assignments they gave all year and that the word limit made students’ writing much more focused and powerful. So this year, we’re running it again. We hope this contest will be fun for your students, and a useful exercise if they are going on to write longer pieces, such as a college essay.

Beyond a caution to write no more than 100 words, our contest is fairly open-ended. We’re not asking students to write to a particular theme or use a specific structure or style; instead, we encourage them to experiment and produce something that they feel represents their real voice, telling a tale that matters to them.

All student work will be read by Times editors or journalists and/or by educators from around the country. Winners will have their work published on our site and, perhaps, in the print New York Times.

Though our 100-word contest is slightly different than the original, we still recommend that before students submit, they watch this two-minute video in which student winners from past years share advice on the writing, editing and submission process. Ask students:

What techniques did these students employ that helped make their entries successful?

What did these students gain from having entered this contest? What were some of the challenges they encountered?

What advice can your students use as they work on their own submissions?

This contest will run from Oct. 4 to Nov. 1, 2023. We will link the official announcement here when it publishes, but in the meantime, here are last year’s rules and guidelines , which will remain largely the same.

Additional Resources

While the core of our unit is the prompts, mentor texts and contest, we also offer additional resources to inspire and support teachers, including lesson plans and great ideas from our readers around personal narrative writing.

Lesson Plans

“ From ‘Lives’ to ‘Modern Love’: Writing Personal Essays With Help From The New York Times ”

“ I Remember: Teaching About the Role of Memory Across the Curriculum ”

“ Creative State of Mind: Focusing on the Writing Process ”

“ Writing Narratives With ‘Tiny Love Stories’ ”

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Home — Essay Samples — Education — Academic Challenges — Personal Narrative: Moving To A New School

Personal Narrative: Moving to a New School

• Categories: Academic Challenges

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Words: 686 |

Published: Mar 25, 2024

Words: 686 | Pages: 2 | 4 min read

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