Top 30 Narrative Essay Topics

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Choosing a personal narrative essay topic can be pretty tricky, especially since you want it to reflect who you are. But don’t worry. We have put together thirty great topics that will make your decision much easier. These essay topics range from funny to serious and everything in between. So please take a look through our list of top 30 narrative essay topics and let us know which one inspires you the most.

Narrative Essay writing

Writing narrative essays is an excellent way to explore your thoughts and feelings on an event.

A narrative essay is usually written from the perspective of personal experience, about things that have happened in someone’s life or what they feel strongly about. You will start with one idea and then try to convince readers by using facts, emotions, memories and opinions.

The essential component of writing a narrative essay is voice – you want it to be as honest and authentic as possible so that the reader can connect with your story.

How to Choose Narrative Essay Topics?

There are specific steps that you should take to choose an essay narrative topic. First, you should come up with a list of topics that have meaning for you and appeal to your passions or interests.

Next, narrow down the list by considering personal experience level – this is how long ago the event happened or what type of situation it was in (very recent events are not recommended).

You should also consider a topic where you have interest and passion, but you’re not sure what to write about. This is because your essay should be personal and show who you are as a person.

If you are writing an essay about something that happened to you in the past, you should also consider how it has shaped your life and its lessons. You might want a topic with an open ending as this will allow for creativity and reader interpretation by having room for discussion or opinion.

Finally, narrow down the list by choosing an event or topic with some drama in it – this could be funny memories (even if they happened recently) or something with conflict such as bullying, for example. The Essay topics are divided into four groups: narrative essay topics, essay topics for a grade, personal narrative essay topics, and argumentative essays.

Narrative Essays examples

A time you disagreed with a friend

In a story like this, the protagonist might be a child who is friends with someone and then has an argument.

He or she will remember how they felt during the event, what happened when they got angry, and any other emotions that went through them at this time. They can also include memories from their past of times where they had disagreements with people.

The story should be short, and in the narrative essay, it should be written in a way that makes readers feel as if they are going through events with the protagonist. It is one of many narrative essay topics out there for college students.

A time you had to deal with bullying

Bullying is one of the worst experiences for a child in school. The essay should provide an account, from the protagonist’s point of view, about what happened when they were bullied and how it made them feel.

It is important to remember that bullying can happen at any time during one’s life, whether they are young or old. It doesn’t mean someone was always young at bullying time. You should highlight how you tried to handle the bullying and if you got help or not. The essay should be written in a narrative style, which means it tells what happened as if it is happening now.

It can come across as an informative piece of writing that is also emotional.

Someone committing suicide

There exist many suicidal cases in our society.

The narrative essay should be about your personal experience of committing suicide. It is essential to highlight how you felt, what led up to the point where you were considering it, and why you ended up not doing so.

You can also explore if there was a particular thing that stopped you from taking your life. It’s important to know that suicide is not caused by one thing. It can be a culmination of many things, such as feeling like they don’t have control over their life or feel like an outcast in society.

The day you graduated from high school

To many, this day is one of the most memorable days in their life. It’s a day where we are all dressed up for a momentous occasion, and with that adrenaline rushing through our system, it is easy to feel euphoric.

The narrative essay should be about your personal experience when you graduated from high school or college.

How you felt after leaving the institution, what you did, and where your life is going. The story should describe the emotions and feelings you had at the time. It’s recommended that this narrative essay be written in the first person to connect with the reader on a more personal level.

A time someone got caught cheating

Cheating is on the rise as it has become more and more common.

In a society where success is measured in materialistic items, we are never happy with what we have achieved because there will always be someone else who is better. College students are constantly under pressure from family members to get the best grades possible. This makes them susceptible to seeking help through cheating and eventually turning into full-blown cheaters themselves.

People often cheat for many different reasons: some want recognition, others need money or power, while others do so simply because they can’t resist temptation.

A narrative essay on this topic should be about an event that happened when you were caught cheating by your parents or teacher – how did you feel? How was school after that?

A time in which your doctor perceived to be, or was, negligent

There are times when doctors are negligent in their duties. This negligence is not apparent at first, but eventually, it becomes more visible when the situation gets worse, and there are no signs of improvement even though a lot of time has passed.

This can happen for many reasons: because they have been overworked or underpaid or just simply don’t care enough.

A narrative essay on this topic should be about an incident where your doctor was negligent. What did you notice? How long had this situation gone undetected before you noticed anything wrong?

A car accident you were in

Creating a story about your car accident can be challenging, but it becomes much easier if you have the correct information and resources.

Many people involved in a car crash don’t realize their injuries until hours or days later when they finally start feeling pain. This is usually because adrenaline kicks in during an incident like this and masks any pain that may arise from an injury sustained while driving.

You should probably spend time gathering all of the details before writing on this topic: what happened with regards to the weather? How were other drivers acting before the collision? What did you do after realizing there was something wrong with your vehicle? Who helped you get out of your vehicle once it became clear things weren’t going well for it?

A time when you were humiliated

Humiliation is one of the worst feelings to feel. It’s that sinking feeling when you know people are judging you, and they’re right about it.

In this kind of narrative essay, you might want to describe the event or incident that humiliated you. You may also want to talk about how it made you feel and your response in light of being judged by others.

Stating how you coped with a humiliating experience and what you learned from it could come in handy when writing this narrative essay. Mentioning how being humiliated can affect your self-esteem is a good idea, too, if appropriate to the situation

Finally, coming up with something humorous about your humiliation or including a funny anecdote might be worth considering as well. This act of humility will make people more sympathetic towards you, which means they’ll listen to what else you have to say with an open mind.

You may also want to discuss how humiliating moments led to personal breakthroughs for yourself later on in life that helped you grow. You may even want to include some sense of triumph by discussing where these experiences led you eventually (i.e., college acceptance letter.)

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An act of charity you undertook

Charity works are one of the most popular topics for narrative essays. Giving to a cause you believe in is not only good karma, but it also makes a great story on its own.

You can talk about how your act of kindness motivated others and helped build hope within communities that have been affected by tragedy or disaste

This essay will be more than just an ode to charity; it should focus on both the act itself and why people might want to do such things themselves. In this way, readers may be encouraged to emulate your actions and share their thoughts with like-minded souls who are looking for similar outlets for charitable acts.

A problem you helped a friend with

Many are the times that we find ourselves in a difficult situation, but not all of us can always help out.

We’re there for our friends when they need emotional support or advice and often then ask the same of them in return.

But what if you saw your friend struggling with something that required some physical intervention? Would you be able to step up to the plate and give just enough assistance on their behalf to get them through it?

This essay should explore how many people can do so without hesitation; it is an act of love, after all. It may also look at different sorts of situations where small acts could have changed someone’s life from others who were willing to offer their time and energy even though they had no obligation or direct connection to that person.

A time someone got beat up at the school

School memories created by taunting, bullying and getting beat up are not going to be happy ones. But if the narrative essay can show how this person could make it through those painful experiences with a sense of dignity intact, that becomes a fantastic story worth telling.

It’s also crucial for such essays to look at how people found help from others when they needed it most; there is strength in numbers after all!

Essay topics for grade

In the set curative narrative essay topics, students are encouraged to think about the times they’ve failed and then examine what they have learned from those failures. In many cases, such essays will conclude with a lesson or an idea that is worth passing on so readers can be reminded of its value.

At different educational levels, narrative essays can help students explore how they have changed and grown as people or focus on a specific theme such as achievement. In this way, students can create narratives about themselves that express their hopes for the future.

Such writing enables them to take control over who they want others like teachers and counselors to see them as – it’s time for kids to tell their own stories!

Topics for college students

In college, you are expected to write many narrative essays. The professor will assign a topic for you, or you can choose your narrative essay topic, such as:

1. What was the best day of my life?
2. How has growing up in poverty affected me, and how might it have impacted other people’s lives?
3. Describe an event that changed you as a person. What are the implications of this change on your future career choices/life decisions?
4. The creativity portrayed in essays is a way to show your appreciation for the world and what it has brought into your life. What are some creative things you have done in your lifetime?
5. What is one of the most embarrassing moments that you would never want anyone else to know about but still think reflects who you are as a person?
6. How did being raised by two mothers influence the decisions you make now or might affect future choices/decisions on your part?

Personal narrative essay topics

Personal narrative essays are a way to explore the narrative of your life and how it has shaped you as a person. What are some things that have impacted who I am now?

Do I have any regrets about my decisions or choices in life, no matter how small they may be?

What is one thing that only people close to me would know about me – but nobody else? Why do they know this information/detail about my life?”

They are depicted as personal essays since they involve you telling a story of your life.

Any information provided in the narrative essay should be true and not fabricated. What are some things I may have done in my life that others would consider shameful or embarrassing?

It’s a story of how you’ve felt at one point, but what about now? What has changed for me today?”

For example, “I was born on July 18th, 1999” – this is an opening sentence to your narrative essay topic, which establishes time and place. It also can set up a theme such as “being different from everyone else.” You might discuss discrimination based on age later in your paper. Or maybe you mention being younger than most people when it comes to the driving experience, which could lead to another writing prompt: do cars make us feel more grown-up?”

Summary

The 30 topics we’ve shared here are just a few of the many possibilities. We hope they inspire you to start brainstorming your narrative essay topic and that our list helps narrow down some ideas for you. If you need any help getting started, contact us. Our team is ready to provide feedback on your idea, so it becomes one of the best college essays ever written.