THE NARRATIVE
ESSAY
ASSIGNMENT
CREATIVE WRITING VS.
ACADEMIC WRITING
Creative writing:
 Strives for beauty, art

Tries to capture interest

Uses flowing/creative language

Judged by literary standards

Read for personal enjoyment
BUT . . .
Academic writing:

Has a goal (to persuade, inform, recommend, etc.)

Places emphasis on information, not beauty

Audience reads for information
This course focuses on academic
writing (essay writing).
However, the narrative essay mixes
creative writing features and
academic writing features.
Note: Love creative writing? Consider a creative
writing class at BC!
IS A NARRATIVE ESSAY DIFFERENT
FROM OTHER ESSAYS?
A narrative is like other essays:
 Still uses “hamburger form”
An introduction
 Examples
 A conclusion


Still needs a thesis statement
A narrative is different from other essays:
Tells a story
 Has characters, setting, conflict
 May have dialogue
 Is about YOU

The narrative is still an essay, but it is the
most creative assignment we will discuss in
this course.
TO HAVE A
NARRATIVE, YOU MUST
INCLUDE THE
FOLLOWING:
1 - A CONFLICT/ACTION
If there isn’t conflict or action, you don’t have a
story that will keep your reader’s attention.
Note: When you look at the student sample
narrative essay, see if you can find the
central conflict/point of action.
POTENTIAL CONFLICTS/ACTION
First driving experience  Skydiving experience
 A bad vacation
 A car wreck
 A bad experience with
 First day of school
a pet
 Evacuating from a storm
 A surfing lesson that
 Losing/Finding
went poorly
something
 A good day fishing
 Meeting someone
 A bad date
 A “first” experience
 Losing a loved one

2 – NARROWED CONFLICT (IS
ONE SPECIFIC MOMENT IN TIME)
As with any topic, make sure your focus is
very narrow. For example, you can’t write
an essay about your entire freshman year of
high school or a week-long vacation.
Like an idea but it’s
too large?
Cut it!
3 – CHARACTERS, SETTING
Make your story come alive! Add characters
and lots of description so your reader
connects with your narrative. You might
even add dialogue.
4 – IS FOCUSED ON YOU
I always have students who ask if they can
write their narrative about someone else.
Please write about yourself.
NARRATIVE EXAMPLES
Ready to see a few narrative essay
examples?
 Reread
 Read
the student essay “Skydive!”
“Momma the Dentist and Me” in
your Resourceful Reader.
 Read
the student essay “A Second Date is
out of the Question”
RECAP
A narrative essay needs:
- Conflict/Point of action
- Conflict/action that only covers 1 moment
in time (narrowed topic)
- Includes characters, setting
- Focus on you