This document provides information about writing a narrative essay. It defines a narrative essay as a story that can be fictional or true, depending on whether it is based on real-life experience or made up. The document discusses the key components of a narrative essay, including characters, plot, point of view, organization, and descriptive details. It provides a sample prompt and analyzes a brief response, noting that it lacks important details. Finally, it discusses chronological organization and the importance of setting and character introduction in drawing the reader into the story.

1. Narrative Essay

2. NARRATIVE ESSAY
You have been asked to write stories throughout
your entire educational career. There have been
numerous prompts that you have been given from
numerous teachers. However, what exactly is a
narrative essay and how do I write a fantastic
narrative essay?

3. NARRATIVE ESSAY
A narrative essay is a type of writing that tells a
story. If you make the story up, then it is considered
fictional or not true. If the story is from a real-life
experience, then it is considered nonfictional or
true.

4. NARRATIVE ESSAY
Narrative works are seen in the following:
• Short Stories
• Novels
• Biographies
• News Articles
• Personal Accounts

5. NARRATIVE ESSAY
We are just going to focus on writing a narrative essay. It
will still contain characters, a plot line with a beginning,
middle and end, a point of view, organization, and details
that engage a reader.
Not thinking about the details (including descriptions,
dialogue, setting) is going to result in a poor narrative
essay. The details are what make a reader want to keep
reading.

6. NARRATIVE ESSAY
Practice Prompt:
People often say “Don’t judge a book by its cover.”
Describe a time when you misjudged someone based on
his or her appearance OR when someone misjudged you.
As you read through this prompt, you mind is already
registering if you have been through a situation like this or
if you haven’t. If you have, your mind is recalling details
about the event.

7. NARRATIVE ESSAY
It would be easy to just write…
Yes, I judged someone based upon their looks. Sarah had
purple hair and the first time I saw her, I thought she was
weird. Now I know that she is unique and I love that
about her. We are best friends.
This answers the prompt, but is very basic and doesn’t
give the reader much of an interesting story.

8. NARRATIVE ESSAY
In order to understand how to write an engaging narrative
essay, lets consider how we would organize a narrative
essay. This will give you a better idea of all the parts that
you (as the writer) need to consider.

9. CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER
A common way to organize a narrative essay is to put the
events in chronological order. Just like with any story that
you read, the essay will open up with introducing the
setting and characters. Then, proceed to take the reader
on a journey from event to event until the story is done.
Introduction
(Characters and
Setting)
Event 1 Event 2
Conclusion
(Show why the events
were important)

10. NARRATIVE ESSAY
As a writer, you are able to introduce different writing
techniques, such as a flashback, to add more to your
writing. It is not always needed, but if you decide to do
this, then the organization of your essay might change.

11. NARRATIVE ESSAY
You can see from the introduction that you will need to
introduce your setting and the characters. In my short response
to the practice prompt, I really didn’t do that. I mentioned
myself, a girl named Sarah, and purple hair. I didn’t mention
where we were the first time that we met, or how we became
friends. These are HIGHLY important questions that the reader is
asking themselves as they are reading. As the writer, I did not do
a good job giving the DETAILS to paint the story in my reader’s
mind.

12. NARRATIVE ESSAY
Let’s look at some 9th grade narrative examples in Canvas.