How to Write a Thesis for a Narrative Essay

PDF download Download Article
PDF download Download Article

In a narrative essay, your thesis will be a bit different than in an argumentative or explanatory paper. A narrative essay is basically you writing a story for the reader. The purpose of a narrative essay is to make a certain point, using personal experiences or life events to convey your main point or theme. [1] However, just as in a standard paper, your thesis will still appear in the introduction of your narrative essay.

Method 1
Method 1 of 2:

Creating Your Thesis

PDF download Download Article
  1. [2] For example, if you are discussing your grandmother's death in the first section, you could write something like: “discuss grandmother's sickness.”
  2. [3] A possible beginning may be: “In this essay, I will discuss the issue of grief.”
    Advertisement
  3. Start by composing the simplest, most direct thesis and then edit it.
    • For example: “In this essay, I will discuss the issue of grief by discuss my grandmother's sickness, discuss my grandmother's death, talk about what happened afterwards.”
    • Adjust your first attempt so it is grammatically correct: “In this essay, I will discuss the issue of grief by discussing my grandmother's sickness, my grandmother's death, and what happened afterward.”
  4. Remove any repetitive phrases or words. [4] “In this essay, I will discuss the issue of grief by describing one of my personal life experiences, when my grandmother became sick and died and how I dealt with her death.”
    • You may want to create a thesis that is a bit more sophisticated and less stilted by removing the more formal phrase, “I will discuss”.
    • For example: “Grief affects everyone's life at one point or another, and it certainly has affected mine; when my grandmother became sick and passed away, I had to learn how to deal with the aftermath of her death.”
  5. Think about how you can convey the main theme of your essay, as well as what you are planning to cover in each section, in your thesis sentence.
    • Avoid packing too many ideas into one sentence. Your thesis should help ease the reader into your essay, not confuse them.
    6. Advertisement
Method 2
Method 2 of 2:

Preparing to Write the Thesis

PDF download Download Article
  1. Ask yourself what idea or ideas you want to convey to your readers? Maybe you want to tell an uplifting story about achieving your goals or maybe you want to talk about the effects of grief on a person's psyche. [5]
    • Come up with a topic that is important to you and that you feel you can talk about in a personal way.
  2. Look through old photographs of your life, or read through your old journals to help find a personal event that relates to your topic. [6]
    • Another way to find a personal event is to look through your old social media posts, as they often chronicle important or meaningful events in your life.
  3. Use your five senses to help you tell your story. What did you see? What did you smell? What did you taste, hear, feel? All of those details will eventually make your story more vivid, even if you don't include every single detail.
    • Remembering the details of the event through your five senses will also help to trigger other details or images you may have forgotten.
    • For example, maybe you remember the taste of coconut after your grandmother's funeral, which will then help you remember that you all ate your grandmother's favorite coconut cake at the gathering after the funeral. You can then try to find that recipe and use it as a way to jog other memories of your grandmother.
  4. Write down a rough idea of how you will tell the story. What will you begin with? What details or scenes will go in the middle? What scenes will go in the ending? [7]
    5. Advertisement

Community Q&A

Search
Add New Question
  • Question
    Can your thesis statement be a question?
    Community Answer
    A typical thesis statement is not a question. Often it is the answer to a question or prompt, in fact! However, you can consult an expert or a teacher, as each teacher may have different rules for essays.
    Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
    Thank you for your feedback.
    If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
    Yes No
    Not Helpful 4 Helpful 9
Ask a Question
200 characters left
Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.
Submit
      Advertisement

      Tips

      Submit a Tip
      All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published
      Name
      Please provide your name and last initial
      Submit
      Thanks for submitting a tip for review!

      You Might Also Like

      How to
      Write a Reflection Paper: An Easy-to-Follow Guide
      How to
      Write an Essay
      How to
      Put a Quote in an Essay
      How to
      Conclude an Essay (with Examples)
      How to
      Write an English Essay
      How to
      Write an Essay Introduction
      How to
      Write an Outline
      Everything You Need to Know to Write an A+ Term Paper
      How to
      Write Any High School Essay (With Examples!)
      How to
      Reference Essays
      How to
      Start an Essay With a Quote
      How to
      Write a DBQ Essay
      How to
      Write a Persuasive Essay
      How to
      Draft and Write a Reaction Paper
      Advertisement

      Expert Interview

      Thanks for reading our article! If you’d like to learn more about writing essays, check out our in-depth interview with Alicia Cook .

      References

      1. ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/academic_writing/essay_writing/narrative_essays.html
      2. ↑ http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/thesis-statements/
      3. ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/the_writing_process/thesis_statement_tips.html
      4. ↑ https://writing.wisc.edu/handbook/process/thesis/
      5. ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/brainstorming/
      6. ↑ https://www.grammarly.com/blog/narrative-writing/
      7. ↑ https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/how-to-write-narrative-essay

      About This Article

      Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 114,420 times.

      Did this article help you?

      Advertisement