Top Narrative Essay Topics and Ideas

Top Narrative Essay Topics and Ideas

We have a few words about the narrative definition before we move on – a narrative essay is a type of academic assignment that tells a story about the writer’s personal experience while making a point. The goal is not just to share an entertaining story. Narrative essays rely on settings, character growth, dialogue, conflicts & resolutions, and turning points.

The other purpose of such writing is to stress reasons for sharing the episode and the significance of the experience provided. Unlike the heavily-structured persuasive essay, the narrative essay is more free-form. Every narrative has a beginning, middle, and end.

Mind that 4 types of such paper exist, and you should make a difference:

• Exposition
• Description
• Narrative
• Argument

How to Choose Narrative Essay Topics?

1. Keep in mind that narratives tell stories

The theme you choose should make it possible for the audience to connect to your personal experience, skills, and the valuable life lessons.

2. Pick useful ideas to discuss

If you have a passion for something, select issues that you have struggled with. This is a unique chance to avoid writing about things that make you yawn.

3. Be ready – don’t miss the planning stage

Your paper has to prove a particular point, so be sure to check how much information you need to collect on different topics.

4. Keep experimenting throughout

Experiment by, for instance, mixing various episodes from your life with different topics. Think of the subject that will guarantee the best emotional experience for your readers.

5. Recall the essay’s structure

An academic paper always requires a golden formula in terms of its structure. For the list of ideas you may choose from, consider whether it is possible to develop relevant, logical sections according to the intro-body-conclusion organization. As the body section of your paper will require at least three paragraphs, decide whether or not you will be able to come up with at least three claims (topic sentences) to support your thesis statement.

Our college essay writing service has compiled a whole list of narrative essay topics with descriptions to help you. Scroll down to find some excellent narrative essay topics for college students.

Narrative Essay Topic Ideas

Experience Is a Teacher

Grab a pen and paper and jot down experiences that spring to mind. Your experience could be something negative that eventually turns out to be positive or vice-versa. The most intriguing part of a negative experience is how you handled it and, hopefully, came out on top. Give your reader a setting to help them feel like they’re a part of your story and experience this moment of change with you.

• Fear is a sincere and relatable emotion. Describe the moment you overcame your biggest concern.
• Heroism takes bravery… or stupidity in different situations. Write about your experience of courage.
• Nobody is perfect and everybody makes mistakes. Talk about a mistake you’ve made and the lessons you’ve learned.
• When life gets too boring, it’s always good to get out of your comfort zone. Share memories of the time you’ve experienced something new.
• First work experiences teach responsibility and give students a glimpse into adulthood. Write about your first work experience.

Personal Narrative Essay Topics

A personal narrative essay is about your personal experience. It needs to have an emotional effect on the reader. In order to do so, the picture you are creating (with words) has to be vivid and appeal to the reader’s emotions. Using a lot of details is a great way to achieve this goal. Some personal narrative topics include:

• A teacher you will never forget
• An experience that put you in danger
• A funny story that happened to you
• A story from your childhood
• Your first trip abroad
• An episode from your school life
• A story of losing a friend
• A story of learning a new skill (like playing a musical instrument or surfing)
• An embarrassing story that happened to you
• A story of you participating in an extracurricular activity, such as playing football or doing gymnastics
• An experience attending a concert or sporting event
• A story of you helping people in need
• A time when you discovered a secret
• Talk about a family member who you are bonded to the most
• Talk about a class you have taken that was inspirational
• A moment when you felt alone and scared
• A story when you got lost
• The time when you saved someone
• The first time you cooked a meal by yourself

40 Best Narrative Essay Topics

Narrative essays aim for the reader to see exactly what the writer has been through. Since you cannot show your readers a picture, you need to create one with words. Make sure you pick something that you remember well—as providing all of the details for the reader is essential.

• Your favorite vacation with your family
• A trip you will never forget
• A time you made friends in an unusual circumstance
• Your first day at a new school
• Talk about something that scared you a lot
• Your most enjoyable Christmas
• The best birthday party you’ve ever had
• A life lesson you have learned
• A time someone you did not expect helped you
• Talk about the best day of your life
• A tragic event in your life
• The story of how you got your first pet
• Your best friend and how you met
• A story of how you lost something
• Talk about helping someone in need
• A story of how you dealt with a natural disaster
• A time you were called to the dean’s office
• A story of you going to a summer camp
• Your first time riding a bicycle
• A moment when you felt depressed
• A time when you had a serious argument with someone
• A story of someone treating you unfairly
• Your first time skiing
• Helping a stranger
• A time when you faced racial prejudice
• A time you misjudged someone and felt ashamed
• The most memorable day at the beach
• The best present you have ever received
• A story of you getting injured
• Your first time driving
• Ending a relationship
• Starting a relationship
• Your first plane trip and the experience of flying
• Meeting a stranger
• A story from a trip
• A time you were punished
• A time when you discovered the truth about someone
• Learning a life lesson
• Getting in a car accident
• Your favorite time hiking

Cultural Narrative Essay Topics

Cultural narrative essays allow you to show an aspect of culture to the reader yet make it informative and entertaining. Culture is a very vast and complicated system, therefore avoid touching upon several aspects at one time in the same story. Cultural narratives are great discussion starters as people get to ask questions about culture and explain what kind of prejudice they might have towards a culture or certain aspects of that culture. Here are some examples of cultural narrative essays:

• Unique family traditions
• A tradition that surprised you
• Your favorite holiday and how you celebrate it in your culture
• Why knowing your culture is important
• A time when you felt embarrassed because you did not know a certain aspect of a group of people’s culture
• How culture changes upon circumstances
• The influence of media on culture
• Food traditions in your family
• How culture defines a person
• Your cultural identity

Narrative Argument Essay Topics

A narrative argument essay examines something that has intrigued you or has had a big impact on your life—through the form of a story. It also needs to include a point that has come from your narrative that is persuasive or argumentative. Your story acts as your argument and an example with which you persuade the reader.

• A time you had a disagreement with a friend
• A story of you having a conflict
• A time you had to deal with bullying
• Someone committing suicide
• The day you graduated from high school
• A time someone got caught cheating
• A time in which your doctor perceived to be, or was, negligent
• A car accident you were in
• A time when you were humiliated
• An act of charity you undertook
• A problem you helped a friend with
• A time someone got beat up at the school

Interesting Narrative Essay Topics

• Looking for a topic with a twist? Look no further. Here are some unusual and great topics for your narrative essay
• A tough decision you had to make
• A person that changed your life forever
• A time when you flooded your neighbor’s apartment
• A day that you wish to relive
• A time when you failed a class
• The scariest moment of your life
• A time you got very sick
• The time you saved someone’s life
• The time you ventured into a haunted house
• The time you won a prize
• Your first job
• The time you got a flat tire
• The things you do in your alone time
• The first time you were in the emergency room
• Your first encounter with the police

Childhood Memories

Take a trip down memory lane to your sincere and younger years and find a crazy story to share. If you have a setting, an idea, but no story, you can always make one up. Make it convincing, and people will think that your life is fascinating! Write about a childhood experience that showed the importance of teamwork.

• Remember when parties didn’t need alcohol to be fun? Recall the craziest party from your childhood.
• Write about your first experience of physical or emotional pain. How did you overcome it?
• Kids often have role models who are like superheroes in their eyes (from Hollywood actors to rock band players). Who was your role model and why?
• Write about a dream you remember from your childhood.