Select the video below to see a presentation which will provide you with a basic outline for developing a narration essay.
In a basic five paragraph narration essay, you will follow a traditional structure common to most academic essays. You will have an introduction, plus body paragraphs, plus your conclusion.
In this example outline for a narration essay, we will use the topic My Experiences Going Back to School.
Remember, a good thesis in a traditional essay, even in a narration essay, always makes some sort of assertion. A good thesis that might work well within this topic would be: After being away for many years, going back to school was both a frightening and exhilarating experience.
Now we will take a look at how we could outline our introduction using our thesis with the goal of writing a narration essay. A good introduction provides background on a topic, transitions to the thesis, and then presents the thesis.
In this example, we would first provide some context and discuss the time away from school and then the need to return. After discussing the decision, we would present our thesis which focuses on what it has been like returning to school.
Remember, writing a narration essay is a little different than just telling a story. You will frame your essay with a traditional introduction (with thesis) and conclusion.
The body paragraphs in a narration essay will generally follow a chronological order and the content within the paragraphs will tend to follow a chronological order.
In this example, our body paragraphs will explore our educational goals and then focus on making the decision to return to school despite the fear.
The final body paragraph will focus on how those fears have been overcome to lead to an enjoyable college experience.
Remember to be aware of your verb tenses when you write in the narrative. If you shift from past tense to present tense, make sure it makes sense to do so.
A good conclusion will generally reinforce information from the body of the essay and remind readers of the thesis. In the outline for our conclusion, we will remind our audience of making the decision and how the fears have been overcome. We will leave our readers with a reminder of our thesis, which relates to the positive experiences of returning to school.
Remember, you should not repeat the exact words of your thesis in your conclusion, but you should emphasize the main idea.