Narrative Essays

Narration means you're telling a story from a certain viewpoint, and there is usually a reason for the
telling. All narrative essays have characters, setting, a climax, and most importantly, a plot.
The plot is the focus of the story and is usually revealed chronologically, but there are sometimes
flash-forwards and flashbacks. If you're looking to write a personal narrative essay, here are some
tips to get you started.
When writing a narrative essay, remember to:
 Include sensory and emotional details, so the reader will experience the story, not just read about
it.
 Allow the story to support the point you're making, and make reference to that point in the first
sentence.
 Write in the first or third person.

Examples of Narrative Essays

Ready for a little storytelling? Here are four excerpts to light your creative fire.
"Looking back on a childhood filled with events and memories, I find it rather difficult to pick one
that leaves me with the fabled "warm and fuzzy feelings." As the daughter of an Air Force major, I
had the pleasure of traveling across America in many moving trips. I have visited the monstrous trees
of the Sequoia National Forest, stood on the edge of the Grand Canyon and have jumped on the beds
at Caesar's Palace in Lake Tahoe."
"The day I picked my dog up from the pound was one of the happiest days of both of our lives. I had
gone to the pound just a week earlier with the idea that I would just "look" at a puppy. Of course, you
can no more just look at those squiggling little faces so filled with hope and joy than you can stop the
sun from setting in the evening. I knew within minutes of walking in the door that I would get a
puppy… but it wasn't until I saw him that I knew I had found my puppy."
"Looking for houses was supposed to be a fun and exciting process. Unfortunately, none of the ones
that we saw seemed to match the specifications that we had established. They were too small, too
impersonal, too close to the neighbors. After days of finding nothing even close, we began to
wonder: was there really a perfect house out there for us?"

The following is an example of a famous narrative written by John Updike, Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu.
"The afternoon grew so glowering that in the sixth inning the arc lights were turned on--always a
wan sight in the daytime, like the burning headlights of a funeral procession. Aided by the gloom,
Fisher was slicing through the Sox rookies, and Williams did not come to bat in the seventh. He was
second up in the eighth. This was almost certainly his last time to come to the plate in Fenway Park,
and instead of merely cheering, as we had at his three previous appearances, we stood, all of us, and
applauded."

Descriptive Essays
Descriptive essays describe the traits and characteristics of people, objects, events, and feelings in
intricate detail. What's being described will be thoroughly examined. For example, if you were
describing roses, you might want to detail:
 Their origin
 Their appearance
 Their color
 Their fragrance
When you write a descriptive essay, you want to involve the reader's senses and emotions. For
example, you could say, "I got sleepy." Or, you could write, "While I waited for Santa, my eyelids
grew heavy, the lights on the tree began to blur, and my head began to droop." The second excerpt
provides vivid detail, allowing readers to feel like they're there.