Narrative Essay

"Creating a relatable narrative means digging deep, asking hard questions and potentially airing some uncomfortable truths."¹ Though it follows the same structure as other essay types, the purpose of a narrative essay is to entertain the audience while making them think. Emotive and sensory language is featured in narrative essays to connect with the reader and discuss an idea in a somewhat more informal style than other types of essays.

Narrative Essay Definition

Another word for narrative is "story." At its foundation, a narrative tells its audience about something, whether through a book report, personal experience, or news story. A narrative essay uses a personal account to examine a theme, such as a moral question or universal truth. Writing a narrative essay involves some creative adventure, as its descriptive nature allows you to write an essay that stretches your creative writing muscles.

Structure of a Narrative Essay

A narrative essay follows the standard essay structure with an introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion.

Introduction

The introduction is where you begin to relate the personal story that illustrates the theme of the narrative essay. Immerse the reader in your experience using crisp details. Be sure to balance your introduction evenly by connecting your personal account to your thesis statement.

Body Paragraphs

The body paragraphs are the part of the structure where you weave between expressing your story and discussing how it fits into the significant theme. Be mindful of the transitions in your narrative essay to avoid jarring the audience's attention.

Conclusion

The conclusion brings everything full circle for the reader. Remind the reader of your narrative essay's thesis and main points by summarizing them.

Fig. 1 - Branch out and explore your narrative world.

Features of Narrative Essays

There are three significant features of narrative essays you'll want to include in your paper: characters, dialogue, theme, setting, plot, and conflict.

Characters

The characters are the people in your narrative essay (yourself and anyone else involved). Write your characters in a way that makes them seem authentic. Focus on behavior more than physical description. Another way to flesh out your characters is through the second feature, dialogue.

Dialogue

Dialogue is a valuable tool to describe people in a way that "shows" rather than "tells." You can learn a lot about a person's character by their words and how they say them. The dialogue in your narrative essay can be direct (exact words) or indirect (a paraphrase of the conversation).

Theme

The theme is one of the most important features of your narrative essay, as the purpose of the essay is to explore it. Your theme should illustrate some part of the human experience.

Setting

The setting of the narrative essay will be where your personal experience took place. When writing about a location, include details about its timeframe, social environment, and physical characteristics. Depending on the length of your essay, it may be best to only feature setting details that support the theme.

Plot

The plot is the way things happened. The narrative essay is a dance between your personal story and theme. Allow them to work together as you share and expand on the main points.

Conflict

The conflict is the struggle that characters come up against. The conflict in your narrative essay gives it a purpose. Use the theme to discuss the conflict and show personal development.

A feature unique to narrative essays is that they are not "just the facts" and invite personal reflections. However, lest we invite anarchy, let's discuss the rules.

• Do use emotional language in narrative essays, but don't be melodramatic. Use the emotions you felt while living your story to help the audience relate to the topic of your paper. Exaggerated emotions come across as insincere and will disengage the audience.

• Do include sensory details in narrative essays, but don't drown the reader. The sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and how things feel are essential parts of a story and bring the reader into that moment. However, it is best to focus on the primary senses used in the situation so you can explore them more deeply.