150+ Great Narrative Essay Topics and Ideas

narrative essay topics

Often during the education process in school or university, we are asked to write an essay. Let’s talk about essays, in particular narrative ones. In a narrative essay, the author tells a story from real life. In this form of essay, the presentation of events in chronological order will not be enough. The authors’ thesis should interest the reader and make the story as vivid as possible so that the reader wants to become a part of the events described and can easily "transfer" to the story. More often such an essay is written in the 1st person in the present or past tense.

There are also other types of essays, such as:

• Description essays. In such an essay, we describe an object.
• Definition essays. Here we have one goal - to reveal this or that concept.
• Illustration essays. Your goal is to prove a statement.
• Argument essays. Here we give examples of persuasive facts that support your assertion.

Now let's look at the most popular narrative essay topics that we can board you with.

How to Know What Topic You Need?

If you were given a list of essay topics at schools or colleges, it would be logical if you choose a topic that is closer to you, on which you are not averse to reflecting.

If there is no list of topics, and you have only indicated the direction in which you should choose a problem for the essay, you will have to formulate the topic for narrative writing yourself.

Here are some tips on how to choose a topic for your essay:

• Before defining a narrative essay topic, it is worth finding the author's position. This is the moral instruction of the author, which can be written directly or encrypted in the words or thoughts of the hero-narrator. To find it, one should single out the topic and all the micro-themes in the text, and then formulate moralizing within their framework, that is, the author's position.
• From the author's position, it is worth asking a special question, that is, a question that requires a general answer, and not a short "yes" or "no". This question will be a problem.
• It is necessary to find two examples in the text that illustrate the transition from the question to the author's position, that is, to help answer the question posed. This will prove that such a problem is indeed raised by the author.

Narrative Essay Topic Ideas

Now, let’s take a closer look at topics for narrative essay examples you can choose. 

Personal Narrative Essay Topics 

Personal narrative essay examples and ideas are needed when you describe something that you experienced in your life.

1. How To Be a Defensive Driver.
2. A Personal Narrative about Fear Of Heights.
3. My Fear of Failure.
4. The Narrative about Losing My Dad.
5. A Day I Lost My Best Friend.
6. Narrative on Precious Time.
7. What I Did This Summer.
8. Personal Narrative: I Am a Perfectionist.
9. Why Softball Is Important in My Life.
10. Narrative on Vocation.
11. My First Rock Concert.
12. How I Learned to Accept Myself the Way I am.
13. I Helped a Person in Need.
14. My Last Day at School.
15. The Character I Associate Myself with.

Cultural Narrative Essay Topics

Cultural topics for narratives allow you to highlight the topic of culture and at the same time present the story in an interesting way for the reader.

1. Narrative about Mexican Culture.
2. What traditions are unique in your family?
3. Which tradition surprised you the most?
4. How does the media influence our perception of culture?
5. How does culture define a person's personality?
6. What culture do you identify with?
7. What is your favorite holiday?
8. How does your family celebrate Christmas?
9. The Impact of Narrative in English Language and Culture.
10. What holiday has the most sacred meaning for you?
11. What traditions does your family observe on the Easter holidays?
12. Which of the cultural events you attended did you remember the most?
13. What foreign tradition do you like the most?
14. Holiday traditions in your family.
15. Which festival do you like the most?

Narrative Argument Essay Topics 

This type of narrative topics for an essay implies that you need to write about something that has had a big impact on you.

1. Conflict case from your life.
2. What disagreements did you have together with your friend?
3. The case when someone deceived you.
4. Has there been a choice in your life that you regret?
5. Have you been in conflict with other people?
6. A situation where you have to make a difficult decision between right and wrong.
7. Have you been caught doing something bad?
8. Have you ever had to win friends following the rules?
9. Have you ever blamed another person for what you did?
10. Have you helped someone for personal gain?
11. Have you ever played pranks on your friends?
12. What experience can you call the most difficult but important in life?
13. Have you ever been in a car accident?
14. Have you ever been humiliated?
15. Have you ever helped a friend solve his problem?

Interesting Narrative Essay Topics 

1. Have you had to make a difficult decision in life?
2. Have you ever flooded a neighbor's house?
3. Has there ever been a person in your life who has changed it drastically?
4. Would you like to relive any of those days again?
5. Have you ever failed an exam?
6. What was the scariest moment in your life?
7. Have you ever been really sick?
8. Have you ever saved another person's life?
9. Have you ever worked up the courage to visit a haunted house?
10. Have you ever won a prize?
11. What was your first job in life?
12. Have you ever participated in educational student exchange programs?
13. What do you do when you are all alone?
14. What was your first meeting with the police?
15. Have you ever been to the emergency room?

Personal Experience Narrative Essay Topics 

Here you can describe people or events that influenced you in one way or another.

1. How have you met a special person in your life?
2. The person you enjoy the most.
3. The best place in the neighborhood.
4. The place you'd like to live your whole life.
5. A productive art, you enjoy.
6. What is your first job search?
7. Your biggest disappointment.
8. Do you remember your first birthday?
9. Narrative on Earthquake: An Earth-Shattering Experience.
10. Have you ever encountered a wild animal?
11. Tell about the first time you got home alone.
12. How did you cook food for the first time?
13. Tell how you helped someone.
14. How did you overcome your fear?
15. Narrative about Video Games.

Relationship Narrative Essay Topics

Relationship narrative stories ideas help to describe our relationship and how our experience has influenced certain events in life.

1. Have you ever fallen in love?
2. What advice would you give to a couple who are just starting their relationship?
3. How would you define family?
4. If you have a best friend, how did you meet?
5. Do you think that your parents are more sensitive than others?
6. What is your attitude towards marriage?
7. Have you ever experienced gender bias?
8. How do you remember deceased family members?
9. What do you know about the origins of your family?
10. Narrative about Friendship.
11. How did you meet your best friend?
12. What can make you end a romantic relationship?
13. Is the community in your area important?
14. Do you think hatred can destroy a relationship?
15. Have you ever experienced intergenerational conflict?
16. What does honesty mean in a relationship?

Childhood Memories

In this type of essay, you need to describe the events and memories of childhood.

1. What was my first pet?
2. What are my first memories?
3. Whom did I look up to as a child?
4. How did I first go to the hospital?
5. My first meeting with my uncle/aunt.
6. The Impact of a Funeral.
7. My first terrible incident.
8. What are my childhood fears?
9. What was the happiest day of my childhood?
10. My first time at the stadium.

Growing Up in High School 

Here you need to recall the most vivid impressions from high school.

1. What lessons were my favorites?
2. Who was my favorite teacher?
3. What role in the school theater did I remember the most?
4. How I lost a sports match.
5. Topics forbidden to me.
6. How did I feel when I failed the exam?
7. How did I feel when I passed the exam with excellent marks?
8. Is commuting to school a routine for me?
9. My best adventure in school.
10. What kind of extracurricular activities do I enjoy the most?

Moral & Ethical Dilemmas

In this type of essay, you have to describe the ideas of the complexity of moral choice.

1. What is your attitude towards pro-life movement: argumentative essay on abortion?
2. How can we influence the fight against racism?
3. How should a work ethic deal with sexism?
4. Do you think euthanasia should be legal?
5. Why can't war be ethical?
6. What moral issues does workplace automation cause?
7. The Missing Climate Change Narrative Analysis.
8. Is it ethical to have a lot of money?
9. If drugs were legal, would their use be ethical?
10. Is it possible to justify eating meat in the modern world?

College Student Life

Try to describe events and memories from your student's life.

1. Narrative about Reading.
2. My last day with my schoolmates.
3. My favorite course.
4. Meeting my better half.
5. The story of my split-up.
6. My brightest high school moment.
7. How I met my old friend.
8. My favorite professor.
9. Narrative on a Trip: The Wonders of Rome.
10. The most symbolic episode from my college life.
11. The day I moved.
12. Narrative on a Road Trip to Remember.
13. My first impressions of the college campus.
14. How I met my roommate.
15. My first friends at college.

Narrative Essay Topics for Different Grades 

Let’s look at the narrative speech topics for different grades.

Narrative Essay Topics for Grade 5

1. My first bicycle ride.
2. My dad is my hero.
3. A day with my grandmother.
4. My first day at school.
5. My best friend.
6. My favorite teacher.
7. A school trip to the zoo.
8. My grandpa’s hands.
9. The most exciting day of school.
10. The best summer vacation.

Narrative Essay Topics for Grade 6

1. A memorable teacher.
2. My first trip abroad.
3. A sad story from my childhood.
4. My favorite vacation with my family.
5. A fight with my best friend.
6. My best birthday party.
7. How we celebrate our parents’ wedding anniversary.
8. My first day at a new school.
9. Last Christmas was an interesting story.
10. How I lost my sister.

Narrative Essay Topics for Grade 7

1. Something that scared me the most.
2. The best day of my life.
3. Helping a stranger.
4. How I met my best friend.
5. My brother’s wedding.
6. How I got my first pet.
7. Once I called the dean's office.
8. Conflict with my father.
9. Helping a stranger.
10. Unique family tradition.

Narrative Essay Topics for Grade 8

1. School trip to the museum.
2. My best day at school.
3. The most exciting day of summer vacation.
4. How I met my best friend.
5. Worst day at school.
6. The day I got my first pet.
7. The hour we spent looking at our baby's album.
8. My first attempt at cooking.
9. My first Japanese pastry.
10. My first foreign friend.

Narrative Essay Topics for Grade 9

1. A visit to the countryside.
2. How I lost my faith in humanity.
3. A car accident.
4. My friend had an accident.
5. A trip I will never forget.
6. The most enjoyable Christmas.
7. A bad experience that completely changed my behavior.
8. How I used to spend my summer vacations.
9. My experience with a tornado.
10. I got lost in the streets of venus.

Narrative Essay Topics for O Levels

1. A special moment when I got my first bike.
2. A disappointing birthday party.
3. The most embarrassing thing that happened to me.
4. A disastrous date.
5. The moment of success.
6. Growing up in New York.
7. A sporting experience.
8. A random act of kindness.
9. The first six months of COVID-19.
10. The end of my relationship.

Narrative Essay Topics for High School Students

Personal narrative ideas in high school include the classic moments that are stereotypical of the secondary school experience.

1. Special homecoming court moment.
2. A friendship that started long before high school.
3. Prom dress shopping and your self-esteem.
4. Anticipation for graduation.
5. An award or scholarship you received.
6. Participating in a school musical.
7. Coming to America: A Narrative of a Journey of Hope.
8. Your first love.
9. A moment you stood up for what you believed in.
10. How your relationship with your parents changed for the better.

Narrative Essay Topics for Middle School

Middle school is a great time of self-discovery that’s filled with firsts and memorable moments. Use these milestones as the topic for your narrative essay.

1. Making an unlikely friend.
2. How bad relationships help you become a better person.
3. The first time you opened your locker.
4. The teacher that makes you feel smart.
5. Moving from elementary school to middle school.
6. A social media post that inspired you.
7. A news story about a kid/teen that was uplifting.
8. A comment from a teacher that made you feel good.
9. A comment from someone you’re not friends with that made you feel good.
10. Being yourself.

Narrative Essay Topics for College Students

College is another time in your life that’s wrought with self-discovery and seeing the world as it truly is.

1. Frederick Douglass Narrative.
2. Frame Narrative in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.
3. Narrative on The Definition of Bravery in Beowulf.
4. A Critical Examination of Social Commentary and Narrative Execution.
5. Examples of community on campus.
6. A test experience that boosts your self-esteem.
7. The moment you realized you were going into the right field.
8. What does a college degree mean to you?
9. College is a microcosm of the world.
10. The feeling of independence.

Conclusion 

Teachers and students are very fond of narrative essay topics, as they are flexible enough that everyone can find a topic that is close to them. If you can’t decide on a topic yourself, then the list that we presented in our material will help you. We sincerely wish you good luck and inspiration for writing the best essay. And the topics we have suggested will help you with this!