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The Perfect Ending: Concluding the Narrative Essay

Concluding a narrative essay can be a challenge for experienced and beginning writers alike. Writers often fall into the trap of tying the narrative up too  neatly, telling the readers what they are supposed to take away from their story instead of letting the reader come to their own conclusions. Study a few essays from some of the great writers and notice how they conclude their stories. Often the ending to their narratives is left ambiguous; the reader isn’t exactly sure how everything will turn out. The reader should be left with a sense of closure, without being told how or what to feel. 

Conclude with an Image

Have you ever heard the phrase, “Show, don’t tell”? Showing an image puts a visual in the reader’s mind, an effective way to conclude without telling too much. Showing an image prevents you from telling  your feelings, which, in most cases, you want to avoid. In the essay “Buckeye,” Scott Russell Sanders uses the image of a grazing deer to conclude his narrative:

. . . within a few paces of a grazing deer, close enough to see the delicate lips, the twitching nostrils, the glossy, fathomless eyes.

This lyrical conclusion comes from “Bathing,” as writer Kathryn Winograd shows the last moments of her bath:

The wind sings through the window like a siren, and the steam floats from my skin like milk.

Conclude in the Action

Show yourself in action. Move. Do something, anything, to avoid telling the reader how happy, or sad, or hopeful you are in the end. Look at something, and walk away, as Edward Hoagland does in “The Courage of Turtles”: But since, short of diving in after him, there was nothing I could do, I walked away.

Or look at something, and become mesmerized. A chapter from the classic memoir, Stop Time by Frank Conroy, “Yo-Yo Going Down, a Mad Squirrel Coming Up,” shows a young Conroy as he watches a girl through a window:

That same night, hidden in the greenery under the window, I watched a naked girl let down her long red hair.

Conclude with Dialogue

Dialogue can be tricky to conclude with, but can work if it avoids a message or moral. You’ll only want to use this concluding technique if it has been maintained in the narrative; you probably don’t want to throw in spoken word if we haven’t heard anyone speak up until that point.

David Sedaris, in his essay, “Cyclops,” ends with the voice of his father, who is the main character in this essay: “I don’t know where you got it from, but in the end, it’s going to kill you.”

The following brief reply, taken from Jo Ann Beard’s “The Fourth State of Matter,” shows an image, followed by unquoted dialogue. Beard uses italics instead:

Around my neck is the stone he brought me from Poland. I hold it out. Like this? I ask. Shards of fly wings, suspended in amber. Exactly , he says.

Another example below comes again from Scott Russell Sanders, this from “Cloud Crossing,” as his toddler son babbles:

“Moon,” he is piping from the back seat, “moon, moon!”

Conclude by Reflecting

When used well, reflection is a great way to convey feelings without telling the reader how you felt – or how they should feel. Reflection offers the writer’s thoughts about what is happening or has happened. Reflection can include thoughts about the moment or thoughts looking back, about the experience. Reflection can add clarity, as we see the writer thinking through the experience. This concluding moment is from James Baldwin’s, “Notes of a Native Son”:

. . . I wished that he had been beside me so that I could have searched his face for the answers which only the future would give me now.

Bret Lott, in his short essay, “Brothers,” reflects on childhood memories of his family, taking him into the present with his own two sons:

What I believe is this: That pinch was entry into our childhood; my arm around him, our smiling, is the proof of us two surfacing, alive but not unscathed. And here are my own two boys, already embarked.

In Conclusion

When writing your own conclusion, think about what you want your readers to take away from your story. Then think about how best you can show it. You seldom can go wrong with images. Dialogue is a great way to let a character have the last word. Ending with reflection, sharing thoughts or feelings, works when a bit more needs to be said. Think about what feeling, emotion, or question you want to leave your readers with, the take-away, then choose the type of conclusion that best suits the narrative. It’s not unusual to actually write the conclusion first, and it often serves as a road map to get the narrative where it needs to go. Taking time to carefully craft a conclusion can make or break your narrative.

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The Ultimate Narrative Essay Guide for Beginners

A narrative essay tells a story in chronological order, with an introduction that introduces the characters and sets the scene. Then a series of events leads to a climax or turning point, and finally a resolution or reflection on the experience.

Speaking of which, are you in sixes and sevens about narrative essays? Don’t worry this ultimate expert guide will wipe out all your doubts. So let’s get started.

Table of Contents

Everything You Need to Know About Narrative Essay

What is a narrative essay.

When you go through a narrative essay definition, you would know that a narrative essay purpose is to tell a story. It’s all about sharing an experience or event and is different from other types of essays because it’s more focused on how the event made you feel or what you learned from it, rather than just presenting facts or an argument. Let’s explore more details on this interesting write-up and get to know how to write a narrative essay.

Elements of a Narrative Essay

Here’s a breakdown of the key elements of a narrative essay:

A narrative essay has a beginning, middle, and end. It builds up tension and excitement and then wraps things up in a neat package.

Real people, including the writer, often feature in personal narratives. Details of the characters and their thoughts, feelings, and actions can help readers to relate to the tale.

It’s really important to know when and where something happened so we can get a good idea of the context. Going into detail about what it looks like helps the reader to really feel like they’re part of the story.

Conflict or Challenge 

A story in a narrative essay usually involves some kind of conflict or challenge that moves the plot along. It could be something inside the character, like a personal battle, or something from outside, like an issue they have to face in the world.

Theme or Message

A narrative essay isn’t just about recounting an event – it’s about showing the impact it had on you and what you took away from it. It’s an opportunity to share your thoughts and feelings about the experience, and how it changed your outlook.

Emotional Impact

The author is trying to make the story they’re telling relatable, engaging, and memorable by using language and storytelling to evoke feelings in whoever’s reading it.

Narrative essays let writers have a blast telling stories about their own lives. It’s an opportunity to share insights and impart wisdom, or just have some fun with the reader. Descriptive language, sensory details, dialogue, and a great narrative voice are all essentials for making the story come alive.

The Purpose of a Narrative Essay

A narrative essay is more than just a story – it’s a way to share a meaningful, engaging, and relatable experience with the reader. Includes:

Sharing Personal Experience

Narrative essays are a great way for writers to share their personal experiences, feelings, thoughts, and reflections. It’s an opportunity to connect with readers and make them feel something.

Entertainment and Engagement

The essay attempts to keep the reader interested by using descriptive language, storytelling elements, and a powerful voice. It attempts to pull them in and make them feel involved by creating suspense, mystery, or an emotional connection.

Conveying a Message or Insight

Narrative essays are more than just a story – they aim to teach you something. They usually have a moral lesson, a new understanding, or a realization about life that the author gained from the experience.

Building Empathy and Understanding

By telling their stories, people can give others insight into different perspectives, feelings, and situations. Sharing these tales can create compassion in the reader and help broaden their knowledge of different life experiences.

Inspiration and Motivation

Stories about personal struggles, successes, and transformations can be really encouraging to people who are going through similar situations. It can provide them with hope and guidance, and let them know that they’re not alone.

Reflecting on Life’s Significance

These essays usually make you think about the importance of certain moments in life or the impact of certain experiences. They make you look deep within yourself and ponder on the things you learned or how you changed because of those events.

Demonstrating Writing Skills

Coming up with a gripping narrative essay takes serious writing chops, like vivid descriptions, powerful language, timing, and organization. It’s an opportunity for writers to show off their story-telling abilities.

Preserving Personal History

Sometimes narrative essays are used to record experiences and special moments that have an emotional resonance. They can be used to preserve individual memories or for future generations to look back on.

Cultural and Societal Exploration

Personal stories can look at cultural or social aspects, giving us an insight into customs, opinions, or social interactions seen through someone’s own experience.

Format of a Narrative Essay

Narrative essays are quite flexible in terms of format, which allows the writer to tell a story in a creative and compelling way. Here’s a quick breakdown of the narrative essay format, along with some examples:

Introduction

Set the scene and introduce the story.

Engage the reader and establish the tone of the narrative.

Hook: Start with a captivating opening line to grab the reader’s attention. For instance:

Example:  “The scorching sun beat down on us as we trekked through the desert, our water supply dwindling.”

Background Information: Provide necessary context or background without giving away the entire story.

Example:  “It was the summer of 2015 when I embarked on a life-changing journey to…”

Thesis Statement or Narrative Purpose

Present the main idea or the central message of the essay.

Offer a glimpse of what the reader can expect from the narrative.

Thesis Statement: This isn’t as rigid as in other essays but can be a sentence summarizing the essence of the story.

Example:  “Little did I know, that seemingly ordinary hike would teach me invaluable lessons about resilience and friendship.”

Body Paragraphs

Present the sequence of events in chronological order.

Develop characters, setting, conflict, and resolution.

Story Progression : Describe events in the order they occurred, focusing on details that evoke emotions and create vivid imagery.

Example : Detail the trek through the desert, the challenges faced, interactions with fellow hikers, and the pivotal moments.

Character Development : Introduce characters and their roles in the story. Show their emotions, thoughts, and actions.

Example : Describe how each character reacted to the dwindling water supply and supported each other through adversity.

Dialogue and Interactions : Use dialogue to bring the story to life and reveal character personalities.

Example : “Sarah handed me her last bottle of water, saying, ‘We’re in this together.'”

Reach the peak of the story, the moment of highest tension or significance.

Turning Point: Highlight the most crucial moment or realization in the narrative.

Example:  “As the sun dipped below the horizon and hope seemed lost, a distant sound caught our attention—the rescue team’s helicopters.”

Provide closure to the story.

Reflect on the significance of the experience and its impact.

Reflection : Summarize the key lessons learned or insights gained from the experience.

Example : “That hike taught me the true meaning of resilience and the invaluable support of friendship in challenging times.”

Closing Thought : End with a memorable line that reinforces the narrative’s message or leaves a lasting impression.

Example : “As we boarded the helicopters, I knew this adventure would forever be etched in my heart.”

Example Summary:

Imagine a narrative about surviving a challenging hike through the desert, emphasizing the bonds formed and lessons learned. The narrative essay structure might look like starting with an engaging scene, narrating the hardships faced, showcasing the characters’ resilience, and culminating in a powerful realization about friendship and endurance.

Different Types of Narrative Essays

There are a bunch of different types of narrative essays – each one focuses on different elements of storytelling and has its own purpose. Here’s a breakdown of the narrative essay types and what they mean.

Personal Narrative

Description : Tells a personal story or experience from the writer’s life.

Purpose: Reflects on personal growth, lessons learned, or significant moments.

Example of Narrative Essay Types:

Topic : “The Day I Conquered My Fear of Public Speaking”

Focus: Details the experience, emotions, and eventual triumph over a fear of public speaking during a pivotal event.

Descriptive Narrative

Description : Emphasizes vivid details and sensory imagery.

Purpose : Creates a sensory experience, painting a vivid picture for the reader.

Topic : “A Walk Through the Enchanted Forest”

Focus : Paints a detailed picture of the sights, sounds, smells, and feelings experienced during a walk through a mystical forest.

Autobiographical Narrative

Description: Chronicles significant events or moments from the writer’s life.

Purpose: Provides insights into the writer’s life, experiences, and growth.

Topic: “Lessons from My Childhood: How My Grandmother Shaped Who I Am”

Focus: Explores pivotal moments and lessons learned from interactions with a significant family member.

Experiential Narrative

Description: Relays experiences beyond the writer’s personal life.

Purpose: Shares experiences, travels, or events from a broader perspective.

Topic: “Volunteering in a Remote Village: A Journey of Empathy”

Focus: Chronicles the writer’s volunteering experience, highlighting interactions with a community and personal growth.

Literary Narrative

Description: Incorporates literary elements like symbolism, allegory, or thematic explorations.

Purpose: Uses storytelling for deeper explorations of themes or concepts.

Topic: “The Symbolism of the Red Door: A Journey Through Change”

Focus: Uses a red door as a symbol, exploring its significance in the narrator’s life and the theme of transition.

Historical Narrative

Description: Recounts historical events or periods through a personal lens.

Purpose: Presents history through personal experiences or perspectives.

Topic: “A Grandfather’s Tales: Living Through the Great Depression”

Focus: Shares personal stories from a family member who lived through a historical era, offering insights into that period.

Digital or Multimedia Narrative

Description: Incorporates multimedia elements like images, videos, or audio to tell a story.

Purpose: Explores storytelling through various digital platforms or formats.

Topic: “A Travel Diary: Exploring Europe Through Vlogs”

Focus: Combines video clips, photos, and personal narration to document a travel experience.

How to Choose a Topic for Your Narrative Essay?

Selecting a compelling topic for your narrative essay is crucial as it sets the stage for your storytelling. Choosing a boring topic is one of the narrative essay mistakes to avoid . Here’s a detailed guide on how to choose the right topic:

Reflect on Personal Experiences

• Significant Moments:

Moments that had a profound impact on your life or shaped your perspective.

Example: A moment of triumph, overcoming a fear, a life-changing decision, or an unforgettable experience.

• Emotional Resonance:

Events that evoke strong emotions or feelings.

Example: Joy, fear, sadness, excitement, or moments of realization.

• Lessons Learned:

Experiences that taught you valuable lessons or brought about personal growth.

Example: Challenges that led to personal development, shifts in mindset, or newfound insights.

Explore Unique Perspectives

• Uncommon Experiences:

Unique or unconventional experiences that might captivate the reader’s interest.

Example: Unusual travels, interactions with different cultures, or uncommon hobbies.

• Different Points of View:

Stories from others’ perspectives that impacted you deeply.

Example: A family member’s story, a friend’s experience, or a historical event from a personal lens.

Focus on Specific Themes or Concepts

• Themes or Concepts of Interest:

Themes or ideas you want to explore through storytelling.

Example: Friendship, resilience, identity, cultural diversity, or personal transformation.

• Symbolism or Metaphor:

Using symbols or metaphors as the core of your narrative.

Example: Exploring the symbolism of an object or a place in relation to a broader theme.

Consider Your Audience and Purpose

• Relevance to Your Audience:

Topics that resonate with your audience’s interests or experiences.

Example: Choose a relatable theme or experience that your readers might connect with emotionally.

• Impact or Message:

What message or insight do you want to convey through your story?

Example: Choose a topic that aligns with the message or lesson you aim to impart to your readers.

Brainstorm and Evaluate Ideas

• Free Writing or Mind Mapping:

Process: Write down all potential ideas without filtering. Mind maps or free-writing exercises can help generate diverse ideas.

• Evaluate Feasibility:

The depth of the story, the availability of vivid details, and your personal connection to the topic.

Imagine you’re considering topics for a narrative essay. You reflect on your experiences and decide to explore the topic of “Overcoming Stage Fright: How a School Play Changed My Perspective.” This topic resonates because it involves a significant challenge you faced and the personal growth it brought about.

Narrative Essay Topics

50 easy narrative essay topics.

• Learning to Ride a Bike
• My First Day of School
• A Surprise Birthday Party
• The Day I Got Lost
• Visiting a Haunted House
• An Encounter with a Wild Animal
• My Favorite Childhood Toy
• The Best Vacation I Ever Had
• An Unforgettable Family Gathering
• Conquering a Fear of Heights
• A Special Gift I Received
• Moving to a New City
• The Most Memorable Meal
• Getting Caught in a Rainstorm
• An Act of Kindness I Witnessed
• The First Time I Cooked a Meal
• My Experience with a New Hobby
• The Day I Met My Best Friend
• A Hike in the Mountains
• Learning a New Language
• An Embarrassing Moment
• Dealing with a Bully
• My First Job Interview
• A Sporting Event I Attended
• The Scariest Dream I Had
• Helping a Stranger
• The Joy of Achieving a Goal
• A Road Trip Adventure
• Overcoming a Personal Challenge
• The Significance of a Family Tradition
• An Unusual Pet I Owned
• A Misunderstanding with a Friend
• Exploring an Abandoned Building
• My Favorite Book and Why
• The Impact of a Role Model
• A Cultural Celebration I Participated In
• A Valuable Lesson from a Teacher
• A Trip to the Zoo
• An Unplanned Adventure
• Volunteering Experience
• A Moment of Forgiveness
• A Decision I Regretted
• A Special Talent I Have
• The Importance of Family Traditions
• The Thrill of Performing on Stage
• A Moment of Sudden Inspiration
• The Meaning of Home
• Learning to Play a Musical Instrument
• A Childhood Memory at the Park
• Witnessing a Beautiful Sunset

Narrative Essay Topics for College Students

• Discovering a New Passion
• Overcoming Academic Challenges
• Navigating Cultural Differences
• Embracing Independence: Moving Away from Home
• Exploring Career Aspirations
• Coping with Stress in College
• The Impact of a Mentor in My Life
• Balancing Work and Studies
• Facing a Fear of Public Speaking
• Exploring a Semester Abroad
• The Evolution of My Study Habits
• Volunteering Experience That Changed My Perspective
• The Role of Technology in Education
• Finding Balance: Social Life vs. Academics
• Learning a New Skill Outside the Classroom
• Reflecting on Freshman Year Challenges
• The Joys and Struggles of Group Projects
• My Experience with Internship or Work Placement
• Challenges of Time Management in College
• Redefining Success Beyond Grades
• The Influence of Literature on My Thinking
• The Impact of Social Media on College Life
• Overcoming Procrastination
• Lessons from a Leadership Role
• Exploring Diversity on Campus
• Exploring Passion for Environmental Conservation
• An Eye-Opening Course That Changed My Perspective
• Living with Roommates: Challenges and Lessons
• The Significance of Extracurricular Activities
• The Influence of a Professor on My Academic Journey
• Discussing Mental Health in College
• The Evolution of My Career Goals
• Confronting Personal Biases Through Education
• The Experience of Attending a Conference or Symposium
• Challenges Faced by Non-Native English Speakers in College
• The Impact of Traveling During Breaks
• Exploring Identity: Cultural or Personal
• The Impact of Music or Art on My Life
• Addressing Diversity in the Classroom
• Exploring Entrepreneurial Ambitions
• My Experience with Research Projects
• Overcoming Impostor Syndrome in College
• The Importance of Networking in College
• Finding Resilience During Tough Times
• The Impact of Global Issues on Local Perspectives
• The Influence of Family Expectations on Education
• Lessons from a Part-Time Job
• Exploring the College Sports Culture
• The Role of Technology in Modern Education
• The Journey of Self-Discovery Through Education

Narrative Essay Comparison

Narrative essay vs. descriptive essay.

Here’s our first narrative essay comparison! While both narrative and descriptive essays focus on vividly portraying a subject or an event, they differ in their primary objectives and approaches. Now, let’s delve into the nuances of comparison on narrative essays.

Narrative Essay:

Storytelling: Focuses on narrating a personal experience or event.

Chronological Order: Follows a structured timeline of events to tell a story.

Message or Lesson: Often includes a central message, moral, or lesson learned from the experience.

Engagement: Aims to captivate the reader through a compelling storyline and character development.

First-Person Perspective: Typically narrated from the writer’s point of view, using “I” and expressing personal emotions and thoughts.

Plot Development: Emphasizes a plot with a beginning, middle, climax, and resolution.

Character Development: Focuses on describing characters, their interactions, emotions, and growth.

Conflict or Challenge: Usually involves a central conflict or challenge that drives the narrative forward.

Dialogue: Incorporates conversations to bring characters and their interactions to life.

Reflection: Concludes with reflection or insight gained from the experience.

Descriptive Essay:

Vivid Description: Aims to vividly depict a person, place, object, or event.

Imagery and Details: Focuses on sensory details to create a vivid image in the reader’s mind.

Emotion through Description: Uses descriptive language to evoke emotions and engage the reader’s senses.

Painting a Picture: Creates a sensory-rich description allowing the reader to visualize the subject.

Imagery and Sensory Details: Focuses on providing rich sensory descriptions, using vivid language and adjectives.

Point of Focus: Concentrates on describing a specific subject or scene in detail.

Spatial Organization: Often employs spatial organization to describe from one area or aspect to another.

Objective Observations: Typically avoids the use of personal opinions or emotions; instead, the focus remains on providing a detailed and objective description.

Comparison:

Focus: Narrative essays emphasize storytelling, while descriptive essays focus on vividly describing a subject or scene.

Perspective: Narrative essays are often written from a first-person perspective, while descriptive essays may use a more objective viewpoint.

Purpose: Narrative essays aim to convey a message or lesson through a story, while descriptive essays aim to paint a detailed picture for the reader without necessarily conveying a specific message.

Narrative Essay vs. Argumentative Essay

The narrative essay and the argumentative essay serve distinct purposes and employ different approaches:

Engagement and Emotion: Aims to captivate the reader through a compelling story.

Reflective: Often includes reflection on the significance of the experience or lessons learned.

First-Person Perspective: Typically narrated from the writer’s point of view, sharing personal emotions and thoughts.

Plot Development: Emphasizes a storyline with a beginning, middle, climax, and resolution.

Message or Lesson: Conveys a central message, moral, or insight derived from the experience.

Argumentative Essay:

Persuasion and Argumentation: Aims to persuade the reader to adopt the writer’s viewpoint on a specific topic.

Logical Reasoning: Presents evidence, facts, and reasoning to support a particular argument or stance.

Debate and Counterarguments: Acknowledge opposing views and counter them with evidence and reasoning.

Thesis Statement: Includes a clear thesis statement that outlines the writer’s position on the topic.

Thesis and Evidence: Starts with a strong thesis statement and supports it with factual evidence, statistics, expert opinions, or logical reasoning.

Counterarguments: Addresses opposing viewpoints and provides rebuttals with evidence.

Logical Structure: Follows a logical structure with an introduction, body paragraphs presenting arguments and evidence, and a conclusion reaffirming the thesis.

Formal Language: Uses formal language and avoids personal anecdotes or emotional appeals.

Objective: Argumentative essays focus on presenting a logical argument supported by evidence, while narrative essays prioritize storytelling and personal reflection.

Purpose: Argumentative essays aim to persuade and convince the reader of a particular viewpoint, while narrative essays aim to engage, entertain, and share personal experiences.

Structure: Narrative essays follow a storytelling structure with character development and plot, while argumentative essays follow a more formal, structured approach with logical arguments and evidence.

In essence, while both essays involve writing and presenting information, the narrative essay focuses on sharing a personal experience, whereas the argumentative essay aims to persuade the audience by presenting a well-supported argument.

Narrative Essay vs. Personal Essay

While there can be an overlap between narrative and personal essays, they have distinctive characteristics:

Storytelling: Emphasizes recounting a specific experience or event in a structured narrative form.

Engagement through Story: Aims to engage the reader through a compelling story with characters, plot, and a central theme or message.

Reflective: Often includes reflection on the significance of the experience and the lessons learned.

First-Person Perspective: Typically narrated from the writer’s viewpoint, expressing personal emotions and thoughts.

Plot Development: Focuses on developing a storyline with a clear beginning, middle, climax, and resolution.

Character Development: Includes descriptions of characters, their interactions, emotions, and growth.

Central Message: Conveys a central message, moral, or insight derived from the experience.

Personal Essay:

Exploration of Ideas or Themes: Explores personal ideas, opinions, or reflections on a particular topic or subject.

Expression of Thoughts and Opinions: Expresses the writer’s thoughts, feelings, and perspectives on a specific subject matter.

Reflection and Introspection: Often involves self-reflection and introspection on personal experiences, beliefs, or values.

Varied Structure and Content: Can encompass various forms, including memoirs, personal anecdotes, or reflections on life experiences.

Flexibility in Structure: Allows for diverse structures and forms based on the writer’s intent, which could be narrative-like or more reflective.

Theme-Centric Writing: Focuses on exploring a central theme or idea, with personal anecdotes or experiences supporting and illustrating the theme.

Expressive Language: Utilizes descriptive and expressive language to convey personal perspectives, emotions, and opinions.

Focus: Narrative essays primarily focus on storytelling through a structured narrative, while personal essays encompass a broader range of personal expression, which can include storytelling but isn’t limited to it.

Structure: Narrative essays have a more structured plot development with characters and a clear sequence of events, while personal essays might adopt various structures, focusing more on personal reflection, ideas, or themes.

Intent: While both involve personal experiences, narrative essays emphasize telling a story with a message or lesson learned, while personal essays aim to explore personal thoughts, feelings, or opinions on a broader range of topics or themes.

A narrative essay is more than just telling a story. It’s also meant to engage the reader, get them thinking, and leave a lasting impact. Whether it’s to amuse, motivate, teach, or reflect, these essays are a great way to communicate with your audience. This interesting narrative essay guide was all about letting you understand the narrative essay, its importance, and how can you write one.

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How to Write a Narrative Essay Conclusion

Students typically experience panic attacks or feelings of hopelessness just by hearing the word “essay.” It takes a lot of effort to write an extended, thoughtful essay. This is regardless of whether you are writing a descriptive, argumentative, expository, or narrative essay. Nothing, however, might be more stressful than finishing your piece only to struggle with your conclusion.

For seasoned authors and brand-new writers alike, concluding a narrative essay can be problematic. Remember, the essay’s subject must have emotional resonance for the writer to make it meaningful and for the readership to appreciate why it is essential to them. The conclusion must serve this purpose excellently too.

Therefore, there is a dire need to understand how to write a compelling conclusion for your narrative. Please read on to learn how to write a narrative essay conclusion.

One might envision narrating a story when composing a narrative essay. These articles frequently use personal, experiential, and observational experiences. Contrary to most academic writing, this form of composition and a descriptive essay allows you to express yourself creatively and personally.

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Your capacity to convey experiences in a unique and captivating way, and adhere to the proper narrative structure, will be put to the test in a narrative essay. Such articles are typical in composition classes at universities or in high schools.

Also see: How long should a conclusion be in an essay? 

The ending of a narrative essay is similar to that of other pieces in that it conveys a sense of awakening, a flash of inspiration, understanding, insight, and enlightenment. It ensures the audience can relate to the revelation you are trying to impart. Therefore, such a conclusion must ultimately persuade the reader to follow your sentiments.

Tips on how to write a narrative essay conclusion

Below are essential tips to guide you in composing an impactful and persuasive conclusion for your narrative essay. Please take note and benefit from them.

Capture Emotion

In the same way you draw the reader in with an intriguing hook, you should maintain their interest throughout your conclusion. Nobody enjoys reading a good narrative that ends poorly! A strong ending leaves your reader thrilled and gives your narrative essay a sense of completion.

Capturing feelings or emotions is one method of concluding a narrative essay. To get your reader emotionally invested in your story, you can either reflect on your feelings over an experience or appeal to their sense of compassion.

If you are penning about a devastating thing you learnt, don’t be a frigid fish. If you learnt a lesson regarding uncomfortable situations, don’t forget to include the shame (or comedy). What effects did your activities have on you? Similarly, include your character’s feelings if you’re creating fiction.

A Summary of your Main Ideas

Writing a summary is among the most popular ways to end a narrative essay. Summaries of the important points are included. This does not imply that you redo the entire narrative throughout the paper in conclusion. This would be pointless and would divert attention from your message. Instead, cite a few of the crucial incidents and learnings from the article.

For example, consider the scenario of writing a narrative essay outlining your first day of college. Summarize some of the lessons you learnt from what transpired that day in your concluding paragraph, to sum up. Make sure you summarize how that first day of college went in just a few phrases. Additionally, describe the insight you received from the event.

Showcase the Moral of the Narrative

Every narrative, whether real or made up, has a moral that the writer or one of the characters discovers through meditation. If you are drafting one paragraph, your concluding comment should clarify that point abundantly. The thesis statement in a paper or the hook in a news piece would be analogous to the moral lesson in a narrative.

Your argument or point is made clear with a moral lesson. But it must have all of the previously listed components, including reflection, emotion, and analysis. The ending to your narrative essay should be outstanding if you have observed these recommendations.

Review the Narrative’s Significance

You definitely care about the story you’ve written since; otherwise, you would have penned about another subject. That does not necessarily imply that other individuals are interested as well. Take into account the so what question, which every reader has the right to ask.

Examine the significance of the events for yourself, and determine why anyone else could be interested. Is this a shared experience that we have all had? Is it a storyline with multiple layers of meaning that can be told? Is that a humorous example of proverbial common sense?

Conclude With a Reflection

You can consider reflecting on the story as a whole if you feel like a summary of events doesn’t fit well with the rest of your article. Reflection entails seriously considering and giving careful thought to the story.

Consider a reflection of a more powerful version of the understanding provided in summary. If you’re thinking back on the entire story, you should elaborate more than just saying you learnt how to overcome challenges. Take it a step further and state your resolutions or a basic life philosophy that you have come to that might shape your future undertakings.

Finish by describing the things you’d do differently if the circumstance arose again. Furthermore, you may offer recommendations to individuals who experience a similar issue.

Remember, never dictate to the reader how to feel. A narrative essay’s conclusion ought to be resonant rather than prescriptive. You’ll notice that the scriptwriter or director does not instruct the audience to feel joy or sadness after a movie. Similar principles apply to the conclusion of a narrative essay.

Consider what you wish your audience to learn from your narrative when composing an essay. It is why it’s vital to learn how to write a narrative essay conclusion. Note that it is common to start writing the ending first, which frequently acts as a roadmap for the story.

So much is at stake in writing a conclusion. This is, after all, your last chance to persuade your readers to your point of view, to impress yourself upon them as a writer and thinker. And the impression you create in your conclusion will shape the impression that stays with your readers after they've finished the essay.

The end of an essay should therefore convey a sense of completeness and closure as well as a sense of the lingering possibilities of the topic, its larger meaning, its implications: the final paragraph should close the discussion without closing it off.

To establish a sense of closure, you might do one or more of the following:

• Conclude by linking the last paragraph to the first, perhaps by reiterating a word or phrase you used at the beginning.
• Conclude with a sentence composed mainly of one-syllable words. Simple language can help create an effect of understated drama.
• Conclude with a sentence that's compound or parallel in structure; such sentences can establish a sense of balance or order that may feel just right at the end of a complex discussion.

To close the discussion without closing it off, you might do one or more of the following:

• Conclude with a quotation from or reference to a primary or secondary source, one that amplifies your main point or puts it in a different perspective. A quotation from, say, the novel or poem you're writing about can add texture and specificity to your discussion; a critic or scholar can help confirm or complicate your final point. For example, you might conclude an essay on the idea of home in James Joyce's short story collection,  Dubliners , with information about Joyce's own complex feelings towards Dublin, his home. Or you might end with a biographer's statement about Joyce's attitude toward Dublin, which could illuminate his characters' responses to the city. Just be cautious, especially about using secondary material: make sure that you get the last word.
• Conclude by setting your discussion into a different, perhaps larger, context. For example, you might end an essay on nineteenth-century muckraking journalism by linking it to a current news magazine program like  60 Minutes .
• Conclude by redefining one of the key terms of your argument. For example, an essay on Marx's treatment of the conflict between wage labor and capital might begin with Marx's claim that the "capitalist economy is . . . a gigantic enterprise of dehumanization "; the essay might end by suggesting that Marxist analysis is itself dehumanizing because it construes everything in economic -- rather than moral or ethical-- terms.
• Conclude by considering the implications of your argument (or analysis or discussion). What does your argument imply, or involve, or suggest? For example, an essay on the novel  Ambiguous Adventure , by the Senegalese writer Cheikh Hamidou Kane, might open with the idea that the protagonist's development suggests Kane's belief in the need to integrate Western materialism and Sufi spirituality in modern Senegal. The conclusion might make the new but related point that the novel on the whole suggests that such an integration is (or isn't) possible.

Finally, some advice on how not to end an essay:

• Don't simply summarize your essay. A brief summary of your argument may be useful, especially if your essay is long--more than ten pages or so. But shorter essays tend not to require a restatement of your main ideas.
• Avoid phrases like "in conclusion," "to conclude," "in summary," and "to sum up." These phrases can be useful--even welcome--in oral presentations. But readers can see, by the tell-tale compression of the pages, when an essay is about to end. You'll irritate your audience if you belabor the obvious.
• Resist the urge to apologize. If you've immersed yourself in your subject, you now know a good deal more about it than you can possibly include in a five- or ten- or 20-page essay. As a result, by the time you've finished writing, you may be having some doubts about what you've produced. (And if you haven't immersed yourself in your subject, you may be feeling even more doubtful about your essay as you approach the conclusion.) Repress those doubts. Don't undercut your authority by saying things like, "this is just one approach to the subject; there may be other, better approaches. . ."

Copyright 1998, Pat Bellanca, for the Writing Center at Harvard University

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• How to write a narrative essay | Example & tips

How to Write a Narrative Essay | Example & Tips

Published on July 24, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on July 23, 2023.

A narrative essay tells a story. In most cases, this is a story about a personal experience you had. This type of essay , along with the descriptive essay , allows you to get personal and creative, unlike most academic writing .

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Table of contents

What is a narrative essay for, choosing a topic, interactive example of a narrative essay, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about narrative essays.

When assigned a narrative essay, you might find yourself wondering: Why does my teacher want to hear this story? Topics for narrative essays can range from the important to the trivial. Usually the point is not so much the story itself, but the way you tell it.

A narrative essay is a way of testing your ability to tell a story in a clear and interesting way. You’re expected to think about where your story begins and ends, and how to convey it with eye-catching language and a satisfying pace.

These skills are quite different from those needed for formal academic writing. For instance, in a narrative essay the use of the first person (“I”) is encouraged, as is the use of figurative language, dialogue, and suspense.

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Narrative essay assignments vary widely in the amount of direction you’re given about your topic. You may be assigned quite a specific topic or choice of topics to work with.

• Write a story about your first day of school.
• Write a story about your favorite holiday destination.

You may also be given prompts that leave you a much wider choice of topic.

• Write about an experience where you learned something about yourself.
• Write about an achievement you are proud of. What did you accomplish, and how?

In these cases, you might have to think harder to decide what story you want to tell. The best kind of story for a narrative essay is one you can use to talk about a particular theme or lesson, or that takes a surprising turn somewhere along the way.

For example, a trip where everything went according to plan makes for a less interesting story than one where something unexpected happened that you then had to respond to. Choose an experience that might surprise the reader or teach them something.

Narrative essays in college applications

When applying for college , you might be asked to write a narrative essay that expresses something about your personal qualities.

For example, this application prompt from Common App requires you to respond with a narrative essay.

In this context, choose a story that is not only interesting but also expresses the qualities the prompt is looking for—here, resilience and the ability to learn from failure—and frame the story in a way that emphasizes these qualities.

An example of a short narrative essay, responding to the prompt “Write about an experience where you learned something about yourself,” is shown below.

Hover over different parts of the text to see how the structure works.

Since elementary school, I have always favored subjects like science and math over the humanities. My instinct was always to think of these subjects as more solid and serious than classes like English. If there was no right answer, I thought, why bother? But recently I had an experience that taught me my academic interests are more flexible than I had thought: I took my first philosophy class.

Before I entered the classroom, I was skeptical. I waited outside with the other students and wondered what exactly philosophy would involve—I really had no idea. I imagined something pretty abstract: long, stilted conversations pondering the meaning of life. But what I got was something quite different.

A young man in jeans, Mr. Jones—“but you can call me Rob”—was far from the white-haired, buttoned-up old man I had half-expected. And rather than pulling us into pedantic arguments about obscure philosophical points, Rob engaged us on our level. To talk free will, we looked at our own choices. To talk ethics, we looked at dilemmas we had faced ourselves. By the end of class, I’d discovered that questions with no right answer can turn out to be the most interesting ones.

The experience has taught me to look at things a little more “philosophically”—and not just because it was a philosophy class! I learned that if I let go of my preconceptions, I can actually get a lot out of subjects I was previously dismissive of. The class taught me—in more ways than one—to look at things with an open mind.

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If you’re not given much guidance on what your narrative essay should be about, consider the context and scope of the assignment. What kind of story is relevant, interesting, and possible to tell within the word count?

The best kind of story for a narrative essay is one you can use to reflect on a particular theme or lesson, or that takes a surprising turn somewhere along the way.

Don’t worry too much if your topic seems unoriginal. The point of a narrative essay is how you tell the story and the point you make with it, not the subject of the story itself.

Narrative essays are usually assigned as writing exercises at high school or in university composition classes. They may also form part of a university application.

When you are prompted to tell a story about your own life or experiences, a narrative essay is usually the right response.

The key difference is that a narrative essay is designed to tell a complete story, while a descriptive essay is meant to convey an intense description of a particular place, object, or concept.

Narrative and descriptive essays both allow you to write more personally and creatively than other kinds of essays , and similar writing skills can apply to both.

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How to Write a Conclusion for an Essay - Tips and Examples

The conclusion of your essay is like the grand finale of a fireworks display. It's the last impression you leave on your reader, the moment that ties everything together and leaves them with a lasting impact. 

But for many writers, crafting a conclusion can feel like an afterthought, a hurdle to jump after the excitement of developing the main body of their work. Fear not! This article will equip you with the tools and techniques regarding how to write a conclusion for an essay that effectively summarizes your main points, strengthens your argument, and leaves your reader feeling satisfied and engaged.

What Is a Conclusion

In an essay, the conclusion acts as your final curtain call. It's where you revisit your initial claim (thesis), condense your main supporting arguments, and leave the reader with a lasting takeaway. 

Imagine it as the bridge that connects your ideas to a broader significance. A well-crafted conclusion does more than simply summarize; it elevates your points and offers a sense of closure, ensuring the reader leaves with a clear understanding of your argument's impact. In the next section, you will find conclusion ideas that you could use for your essay.

Please note that our online paper writing service can provide you not only with a stand-alone conclusion but with a fully new composition as well!

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Types of Conclusion

Here's a breakdown of various conclusion types, each serving a distinct purpose:

How Long Should a Conclusion Be

The ideal length of a conclusion depends on the overall length of your essay, but there are some general guidelines:

• Shorter Essays (500-750 words): Aim for 3-5 sentences. This ensures you effectively wrap up your points without adding unnecessary content.
• Medium Essays (750-1200 words): Here, you can expand to 5-8 sentences. This provides more space to elaborate on your concluding thought or call to action.
• Longer Essays (1200+ words): For these, you can have a conclusion of 8-10 sentences. This allows for a more comprehensive summary or a more nuanced exploration of the future implications or broader significance of your topic.

Here are some additional factors to consider:

• The complexity of your argument: If your essay explores a multifaceted topic, your conclusion might need to be slightly longer to address all the points adequately.
• Type of conclusion: A call to action or a hypothetical scenario might require a few extra sentences for elaboration compared to a simple summary.

Remember: The most important aspect is ensuring your conclusion effectively summarizes your main points, leaves a lasting impression, and doesn't feel rushed or tacked on.

Here's a helpful rule of thumb:

• Keep it proportional: Your conclusion should be roughly 5-10% of your total essay length.

How many sentences should a conclusion be?

Conclusion Transition Words

Transition words for conclusion act like signposts for your reader. They smoothly guide them from the main body of your essay to your closing thoughts, ensuring a clear and logical flow of ideas. Here are some transition words specifically suited for concluding your essay:

Remember, the best transition word will depend on the specific type of conclusion you're aiming for.

How to Write a Conclusion

Every essay or dissertation writer knows that the toughest part of working on a conclusion can be striking the right balance. You want to effectively summarize your main points without redundancy, leaving a lasting impression that feels fresh and impactful, all within a concise and focused section. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you write a stunning essay conclusion:

Restate Your Thesis

Briefly remind your reader of your essay's central claim. This doesn't have to be a word-for-word repetition but a concise restatement that refreshes their memory.

Summarize Key Points

In a few sentences, revisit the main arguments you used to support your thesis. When writing a conclusion, don't get bogged down in details, but offer a high-level overview that reinforces your essay's focus.

Leave a Lasting Impression

This is where your knowledge of how to write a good conclusion can shine! Consider a thought-provoking question, a call to action, or a connection to a broader truth—something that lingers in the reader's mind and resonates beyond the final sentence.

Avoid Introducing New Information

The conclusion paragraph shouldn't introduce entirely new ideas. Stick to wrapping up your existing arguments and leaving a final thought.

Ensure Flow and Readability

Transition smoothly from the main body of your essay to the conclusion. Use transition words like "in conclusion," "finally," or "as a result," and ensure your closing sentences feel natural and well-connected to the rest of your work.

Note that you can simply buy essay at any time and focus on other more important assignments or just enjoy your free time.

Conclusion Paragraph Outline

Here's an outline to help you better understand how to write a conclusion paragraph:

• Tailor the length of your conclusion to your essay's overall length (shorter essays: 3-5 sentences, longer essays: 8-10 sentences).
• Ensure a smooth transition from the main body using transition words.
• Avoid introducing new information; focus on wrapping up your existing points.
• Proofread for clarity and ensure your conclusion ties everything together and delivers a final impactful statement.

Read more: Persuasive essay outline . 

Do’s and Don’ts of Essay Conclusion Writing

According to professional term paper writers , a strong conclusion is essential for leaving a lasting impression on your reader. Here's a list of action items you should and shouldn’t do when writing an essay conclusion:

Conclusion Examples

A strong conclusion isn't just an afterthought – it's the capstone of your essay. Here are five examples of conclusion paragraphs for essays showcasing different techniques to craft a powerful closing to make your essay stand out.

1. Call to Action: (Essay About the Importance of Recycling)

In conclusion, the environmental impact of our waste is undeniable. We all have a responsibility to adopt sustainable practices. We can collectively make a significant difference by incorporating simple changes like recycling into our daily routines. Join the movement – choose to reuse, reduce, and recycle.

2. Provocative Question: (Essay Exploring the Potential Consequences of Artificial Intelligence)

As artificial intelligence rapidly evolves, it's crucial to consider its impact on humanity. While AI holds immense potential for progress, will it remain a tool for good, or will it eventually surpass human control? This question demands our collective attention, as the decisions we make today will shape the future of AI and its impact on our world.

3. Universal Insight: (Essay Analyzing a Historical Event)

The study of history offers valuable lessons that transcend time. The events of the [insert historical event] remind us that even small acts of defiance can have a ripple effect, inspiring change and ultimately leading to a brighter future. Every voice has the power to make a difference, and courage can be contagious.

4. Future Implications: (Essay Discussing the Rise of Social Media)

Social media's explosive growth has transformed how we connect and consume information. While these platforms offer undeniable benefits, their long-term effects on social interaction, mental health, and political discourse require careful consideration. As social media continues to evolve, we must remain vigilant and ensure it remains a tool for positive connection and not a source of division.

5. Hypothetical Scenario: (Essay Arguing for the Importance of Space Exploration)

Imagine a world where our understanding of the universe is limited to Earth. We miss out on the potential for groundbreaking discoveries in physics, medicine, and our place in the cosmos. By continuing to venture beyond our planet, we push the boundaries of human knowledge and inspire future generations to reach for the stars.

Recommended for reading: Nursing essay examples .

Difference Between Good and Weak Conclusions

Not all conclusions are created equal. A weak ending can leave your reader feeling stranded, unsure of where your essay has taken them. Conversely, writing a conclusion that is strong acts as a landing pad, summarizing your key points and leaving a lasting impression.

Nailed that essay? Don't blow it with a lame ending! A good conclusion is like the mic drop at the end of a rap song. It reminds the reader of your main points but in a cool new way. Throw in a thought-provoking question, a call to action, or a connection to something bigger, and you'll leave them thinking long after they turn the page.

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How To Write A Conclusion For An Essay?

How to write a good conclusion, how to write a conclusion for a college essay.

Daniel Parker

is a seasoned educational writer focusing on scholarship guidance, research papers, and various forms of academic essays including reflective and narrative essays. His expertise also extends to detailed case studies. A scholar with a background in English Literature and Education, Daniel’s work on EssayPro blog aims to support students in achieving academic excellence and securing scholarships. His hobbies include reading classic literature and participating in academic forums.

is an expert in nursing and healthcare, with a strong background in history, law, and literature. Holding advanced degrees in nursing and public health, his analytical approach and comprehensive knowledge help students navigate complex topics. On EssayPro blog, Adam provides insightful articles on everything from historical analysis to the intricacies of healthcare policies. In his downtime, he enjoys historical documentaries and volunteering at local clinics.

• Updated writing tips.
• Added informative tables.
• Added conclusion example.
• Added an article conclusion.
• Essay Conclusions | UMGC. (n.d.). University of Maryland Global Campus. https://www.umgc.edu/current-students/learning-resources/writing-center/writing-resources/writing/essay-conclusions
• How to Write a Conclusion for an Essay | BestColleges. (n.d.). BestColleges.com. https://www.bestcolleges.com/blog/how-to-write-a-conclusion/
• Ending the Essay: Conclusions | Harvard College Writing Center. (n.d.). https://writingcenter.fas.harvard.edu/pages/ending-essay-conclusions

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Condensing a 1,000-plus-word essay into a neat little bundle may seem like a Herculean task. You must summarize all your findings and justify their importance within a single paragraph. 

But, when you discover the formula for writing a conclusion paragraph, things get much simpler! 

But, how to write a conclusion paragraph for an essay, and more importantly, how to make it impactful enough? Through this article, we will walk you through the process of constructing a powerful conclusion that leaves a lingering impression on readers’ minds. We will also acquaint you with essay conclusion examples for different types of essays. 

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Let’s start from the beginning: How can you write a conclusion for an essay?

How to write a conclusion for an essay

In order to write an effective conclusion, you must first understand what is a conclusion in an essay. It is not just the summary of the main points of your essay. A well-written conclusion effectively ties together the main ideas of your essay and also pays heed to their broader implications. The objectives of your concluding paragraph are as follows:

• Highlight the significance of your essay topic
• Tie together the key points of your essay
• Leave the reader with something to ponder about

A good essay conclusion begins with a modified thesis statement that is altered on the basis of the information stated throughout the essay. It then ties together all the main points of the essay and ends with a clincher that highlights the broader implications of your thesis statement. 

Now that we’ve understood the basics of how to conclude an essay, let’s understand the key aspects of a good conclusion paragraph. 

1. Restating your thesis statement

If you want to understand how to start a conclusion, you must realize that involves more than just restating the thesis statement word for word. Your thesis statement needs to be updated and expanded upon as per the information provided in your essay. 

There are many ways to start a conclusion. One such method could be to start with the revised version of your thesis statement that hints to the significance of your argument. After this, your conclusion paragraph can organically move on to your arguments in the essay. 

Let’s take a look at an effective way of writing a conclusion for an essay:

If the following claim is your thesis statement:

Virtual reality (VR) is undeniably altering the perception of reality by revolutionizing various industries, reshaping human experiences, and challenging traditional notions of what is real.

The restated thesis statement will be as follows: 

Our analysis has substantiated the claim that virtual reality (VR) is significantly transforming the way we perceive reality. It has revolutionized industries, reshaped human experiences, and challenged traditional notions of reality.

2. Tying together the main points

Tying together all the main points of your essay does not mean simply summarizing them in an arbitrary manner. The key is to link each of your main essay points in a coherent structure. One point should follow the other in a logical format.

The goal is to establish how each of these points connects to the message of your essay as a whole. You can also take the help of powerful quotes or impactful reviews to shed a unique light on your essay. 

Let’s take a look at an example:

VR presents a new paradigm where the distinction between the real and the virtual becomes increasingly blurred. As users dive into immersive virtual worlds, they are confronted with questions about the nature of reality, perception, and the boundaries of human consciousness. 

3. Constructing an impactful conclusion

Most of us are confused about how to end an essay with a bang. The answer is quite simple! The final line of your essay should be impactful enough to create a lasting impression on the reader. More importantly, it should also highlight the significance of your essay topic. This could mean the broader implications of your topic, either in your field of study or in general.

Optionally, you could also try to end your essay on an optimistic note that motivates or encourages the reader. If your essay is about eradicating a problem in society, highlight the positive effects achieved by the eradication of that problem. 

Here’s an example of how to end an essay:

In a world where virtual boundaries dissolve, VR is the catalyst that reshapes our perception of reality, forever altering the landscape of the human experience.

Here’s a combined version of all three aspects:

Our analysis has substantiated the claim that Virtual Reality (VR) is significantly transforming how we perceive reality. It has revolutionized industries, reshaped human experiences, and challenged traditional notions of reality. It presents a new paradigm where the distinction between the real and the virtual becomes increasingly blurred. As users dive into immersive virtual worlds, they are confronted with questions about the nature of reality, perception, and the boundaries of human consciousness. In a world where virtual boundaries dissolve, it is the catalyst that reshapes our perception of reality, forever altering the landscape of the human experience.

Now that we’ve understood the structure of a concluding paragraph, let’s look at what to avoid while writing a conclusion. 

What to avoid in your conclusion paragraph

When learning how to write a conclusion for an essay, you must also know what to avoid. You want to strengthen your argument with the help of a compelling conclusion paragraph, and not undermine it by confusing the reader. 

Let’s take a look at a few strategies to avoid in your essay conclusion:

1. Avoid including new evidence

The conclusion should not introduce new information but rather strengthen the arguments that are already made. If you come across any unique piece of information regarding your essay topic, accommodate it into your body paragraphs rather than stuffing it into your conclusion.

Including new, contradictory information in the concluding paragraph not only confuses the reader but also weakens your argument. You may include a powerful quote that strengthens the message of your essay, or an example that sheds light on the importance of your argument. However, this does not include introducing a completely new argument or making a unique point.

2. Avoid the use of concluding phrases

Your conclusion should hint towards your essay coming to an end, instead of blatantly stating the obvious. Blatant concluding statements undermine the quality of your essay, making it clumsy and amateurish. They also significantly diminish the quality of your arguments. 

It is a good idea to avoid the following statements while concluding your essay:

• In conclusion,
• In summary,

While using these statements may not be incorrect per se, hinting towards a conclusion creates a better impression on the reader rather than blatantly stating it. 

Here are more effective statements you could use:

• Let this essay serve as a catalyst for…
• As we navigate the intricacies of this multifaceted topic, remember…
• As I bid farewell to this subject…

3. Don’t undermine your argument

Although there might be several points of view regarding your essay topic, it is crucial that you stick to your own. You may have stated and refuted other points of view in your body paragraphs. 

However, your conclusion is simply meant to strengthen your main argument. Mentioning other points of view in your essay conclusion, not only weakens your argument but also creates a poor impression of your essay.

Here are a few phrases you should avoid in your essay conclusion:

• There are several methods to approach this topic.
• There are plenty of good points for both sides of the argument.
• There is no clear solution to this problem.

Examples of essay conclusions

Different types of essays make use of different forms of conclusions. The critical question of “how to start a conclusion paragraph” has many different answers. To help you further, we’ve provided a few good conclusions for essays that are based on the four main essay types.

1. Narrative essay conclusion

The following essay conclusion example elaborates on the narrator’s unique experience with homeschooling.

• Restated thesis statement
• Body paragraph summary
• Closing statement

My experience with homeschooling has been a journey that has shaped me in profound ways. Through the challenges and triumphs, I have come to appreciate the unique advantages and personal growth that homeschooling can offer. As I reflect on my journey, I am reminded of the transformative power of this alternative education approach. It has empowered me to take ownership of my education, nurture my passions, and develop skills that extend far beyond the confines of academic achievement. Whether in traditional classrooms or homeschooling environments, it is through embracing and nurturing the unique potential within each of us that we can truly thrive and make a lasting impact on the world.

2. Descriptive essay conclusion

The following essay conclusion example elaborates on the narrator’s bond with their cat.

The enchanting presence that my cat has cannot be ignored, captivating my heart with her grace, charm, and unconditional love. Through the moments of playfulness, companionship, and affection, she has become an irreplaceable member of my family. As I continue to cherish the memories and lessons learned from her, I am reminded of the extraordinary power of the human-animal bond. In their company, we find solace, companionship, and a love that transcends words. In a world that can be challenging and tumultuous, never underestimate the profound impact that animals can have on our lives. In their presence, not only do we find love but also a profound sense of connection.

3. Argumentative essay conclusion

Here’s an essay conclusion example that elaborates on the marginalization of, and acute intolerance towards, LGBTQ+ individuals. 

The journey toward equality for LGBTQ+ individuals is an ongoing battle that demands our unwavering commitment to justice and inclusion. It is evident that while progress has been made, the journey toward equality for these individuals is far from complete. It demands our continued advocacy, activism, and support for legislative change, societal acceptance, and the creation of inclusive environments. The struggle for LGBTQ+ equality is a fight for the very essence of human dignity and the recognition of our shared humanity. It is a battle that requires our collective efforts, determination, and an unyielding belief in the fundamental principles of equality and justice.

4. Expository essay conclusion

This example of an essay conclusion revolves around a psychological phenomenon named the bandwagon effect and examines its potential ill effects on society:

The bandwagon effect in psychology is a fascinating phenomenon that sheds light on the powerful influence of social conformity on individual behavior and decision-making processes. This effect serves as a reminder of the inherently social nature of human beings and the power of social influence in shaping our thoughts, attitudes, and actions. It underscores the importance of critical thinking, individual autonomy, and the ability to resist the pressure of conformity. By understanding its mechanisms and implications, we can guard against its potential pitfalls and actively foster independent thought and decision-making, also contributing to a more enlightened and progressive society.

Now that you’ve taken a closer look at different conclusions for essays, it’s time to put this knowledge to good use. If you need to take your essay up a notch and score high, professional essay editing services are your best bet.

Happy writing!

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How to Write Narrative Conclusions

In the conclusion of a narrative essay, you impart your takeaway message, a lesson or a reflection -- a new discovery of meaning in life -- to your reader. A narrative essay is one of the many rhetorical modes in writing, such as description, comparison and contrast, definition, argument, evaluation, illustration, classification, cause and effect, process and analysis. But, for the conclusion to work, all parts of the narrative essay must build toward it.

Explore this article

• Narrative Essay
• Organizing Body Paragraphs
• Transitional Devices
• Closing Narrative Essays

1 Narrative Essay

Open your introduction with the overall background information about the significant event, person or object, explaining why you have decided to write about it. A narrative essay often opens with a time-signaling device, such as “Once upon a time,” “When I graduated from high school” or “Last night.” Typically, you will provide the background information of the event in journalistic details: who, what, where, when, why and how. You can further enhance your background information by using sensory perceptions -- such as visual, tactile, olfactory, and auditory images -- to enhance the description of the event.

2 Organizing Body Paragraphs

In the ensuing body paragraphs, organize the content according to how the event occurred chronologically -- such as first, second and third -- or by what the event has taught you in three significant areas of your life. For example, you can say your auto accident taught you the following three important lessons: never drive drunk, accidents can happen to anyone anywhere and life is more valuable than a few drinks. Use these three lessons as your topic sentences in each body paragraph, supported by real life examples based on your personal observation and experience, again, using personal details. For example, your first topic sentence might read, “The car wreck taught me never to drive drunk again,” followed by supporting arguments based on your real-life experience of having actually had a car wreck.

3 Transitional Devices

Ordering your narrative essay chronologically in the sequence of how the event has unfolded makes your story flow better. But by ordering your body paragraphs with the lessons you have learned, you are showing your critical ability to describe an event in the introduction -- a simple task -- and then taking off from that simple event to a critical thinking, such as lessons learned -- a more complex task. However, either way of organizing your narrative will be fine as long as you offer a takeaway message in your conclusion.

4 Closing Narrative Essays

The conclusion of narrative essays is not different from others types of essays: it provides a sense of awakening, a moment of sudden realization, inspiration, recognition, insight and comprehension so that the readers will take away this epiphany you are trying to share. You might say something like: "I realized that drinking and driving do not mix and that my life -- and the lives of others -- may depend on my remembering this." Such a conclusion should ultimately lead the reader to act according to your persuasion, such as not to drive drunk in this case.

• 1 Evergreen, A Guide to Writing with Reading; Susan Fawcett

About the Author

Dr. Yoon Kim earned a Ph. D. in English from Oklahoma State University. His editing experience includes Ph.D. dissertations (English), and senior professor’s research articles (Psychology and Education) that are published in peer-reviewed professional journals.

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Transitions For Essays

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17 Essay Conclusion Examples (Copy and Paste)

Chris Drew (PhD)

Dr. Chris Drew is the founder of the Helpful Professor. He holds a PhD in education and has published over 20 articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. [Image Descriptor: Photo of Chris]

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Essay conclusions are not just extra filler. They are important because they tie together your arguments, then give you the chance to forcefully drive your point home.

I created the 5 Cs conclusion method to help you write essay conclusions:

I’ve previously produced the video below on how to write a conclusion that goes over the above image.

The video follows the 5 C’s method ( you can read about it in this post ), which doesn’t perfectly match each of the below copy-and-paste conclusion examples, but the principles are similar, and can help you to write your own strong conclusion:

💡 New! Try this AI Prompt to Generate a Sample 5Cs Conclusion This is my essay: [INSERT ESSAY WITHOUT THE CONCLUSION]. I want you to write a conclusion for this essay. In the first sentence of the conclusion, return to a statement I made in the introduction. In the second sentence, reiterate the thesis statement I have used. In the third sentence, clarify how my final position is relevant to the Essay Question, which is [ESSAY QUESTION]. In the fourth sentence, explain who should be interested in my findings. In the fifth sentence, end by noting in one final, engaging sentence why this topic is of such importance.

Remember: The prompt can help you generate samples but you can’t submit AI text for assessment. Make sure you write your conclusion in your own words.

Essay Conclusion Examples

Below is a range of copy-and-paste essay conclusions with gaps for you to fill-in your topic and key arguments. Browse through for one you like (there are 17 for argumentative, expository, compare and contrast, and critical essays). Once you’ve found one you like, copy it and add-in the key points to make it your own.

1. Argumentative Essay Conclusions

The arguments presented in this essay demonstrate the significant importance of _____________. While there are some strong counterarguments, such as ____________, it remains clear that the benefits/merits of _____________ far outweigh the potential downsides. The evidence presented throughout the essay strongly support _____________. In the coming years, _____________ will be increasingly important. Therefore, continual advocacy for the position presented in this essay will be necessary, especially due to its significant implications for _____________.

Version 1 Filled-In

The arguments presented in this essay demonstrate the significant importance of fighting climate change. While there are some strong counterarguments, such as the claim that it is too late to stop catastrophic change, it remains clear that the merits of taking drastic action far outweigh the potential downsides. The evidence presented throughout the essay strongly support the claim that we can at least mitigate the worst effects. In the coming years, intergovernmental worldwide agreements will be increasingly important. Therefore, continual advocacy for the position presented in this essay will be necessary, especially due to its significant implications for humankind.

As this essay has shown, it is clear that the debate surrounding _____________ is multifaceted and highly complex. While there are strong arguments opposing the position that _____________, there remains overwhelming evidence to support the claim that _____________. A careful analysis of the empirical evidence suggests that _____________ not only leads to ____________, but it may also be a necessity for _____________. Moving forward, _____________ should be a priority for all stakeholders involved, as it promises a better future for _____________. The focus should now shift towards how best to integrate _____________ more effectively into society.

Version 2 Filled-In

As this essay has shown, it is clear that the debate surrounding climate change is multifaceted and highly complex. While there are strong arguments opposing the position that we should fight climate change, there remains overwhelming evidence to support the claim that action can mitigate the worst effects. A careful analysis of the empirical evidence suggests that strong action not only leads to better economic outcomes in the long term, but it may also be a necessity for preventing climate-related deaths. Moving forward, carbon emission mitigation should be a priority for all stakeholders involved, as it promises a better future for all. The focus should now shift towards how best to integrate smart climate policies more effectively into society.

Based upon the preponderance of evidence, it is evident that _____________ holds the potential to significantly alter/improve _____________. The counterarguments, while noteworthy, fail to diminish the compelling case for _____________. Following an examination of both sides of the argument, it has become clear that _____________ presents the most effective solution/approach to _____________. Consequently, it is imperative that society acknowledge the value of _____________ for developing a better  _____________. Failing to address this topic could lead to negative outcomes, including _____________.

Version 3 Filled-In

Based upon the preponderance of evidence, it is evident that addressing climate change holds the potential to significantly improve the future of society. The counterarguments, while noteworthy, fail to diminish the compelling case for immediate climate action. Following an examination of both sides of the argument, it has become clear that widespread and urgent social action presents the most effective solution to this pressing problem. Consequently, it is imperative that society acknowledge the value of taking immediate action for developing a better environment for future generations. Failing to address this topic could lead to negative outcomes, including more extreme climate events and greater economic externalities.

See Also: Examples of Counterarguments

On the balance of evidence, there is an overwhelming case for _____________. While the counterarguments offer valid points that are worth examining, they do not outweigh or overcome the argument that _____________. An evaluation of both perspectives on this topic concludes that _____________ is the most sufficient option for  _____________. The implications of embracing _____________ do not only have immediate benefits, but they also pave the way for a more _____________. Therefore, the solution of _____________ should be actively pursued by _____________.

Version 4 Filled-In

On the balance of evidence, there is an overwhelming case for immediate tax-based action to mitigate the effects of climate change. While the counterarguments offer valid points that are worth examining, they do not outweigh or overcome the argument that action is urgently necessary. An evaluation of both perspectives on this topic concludes that taking societal-wide action is the most sufficient option for  achieving the best results. The implications of embracing a society-wide approach like a carbon tax do not only have immediate benefits, but they also pave the way for a more healthy future. Therefore, the solution of a carbon tax or equivalent policy should be actively pursued by governments.

2. Expository Essay Conclusions

Overall, it is evident that _____________ plays a crucial role in _____________. The analysis presented in this essay demonstrates the clear impact of _____________ on _____________. By understanding the key facts about _____________, practitioners/society are better equipped to navigate _____________. Moving forward, further exploration of _____________ will yield additional insights and information about _____________. As such, _____________ should remain a focal point for further discussions and studies on _____________.

Overall, it is evident that social media plays a crucial role in harming teenagers’ mental health. The analysis presented in this essay demonstrates the clear impact of social media on young people. By understanding the key facts about the ways social media cause young people to experience body dysmorphia, teachers and parents are better equipped to help young people navigate online spaces. Moving forward, further exploration of the ways social media cause harm will yield additional insights and information about how it can be more sufficiently regulated. As such, the effects of social media on youth should remain a focal point for further discussions and studies on youth mental health.

To conclude, this essay has explored the multi-faceted aspects of _____________. Through a careful examination of _____________, this essay has illuminated its significant influence on _____________. This understanding allows society to appreciate the idea that _____________. As research continues to emerge, the importance of _____________ will only continue to grow. Therefore, an understanding of _____________ is not merely desirable, but imperative for _____________.

To conclude, this essay has explored the multi-faceted aspects of globalization. Through a careful examination of globalization, this essay has illuminated its significant influence on the economy, cultures, and society. This understanding allows society to appreciate the idea that globalization has both positive and negative effects. As research continues to emerge, the importance of studying globalization will only continue to grow. Therefore, an understanding of globalization’s effects is not merely desirable, but imperative for judging whether it is good or bad.

Reflecting on the discussion, it is clear that _____________ serves a pivotal role in _____________. By delving into the intricacies of _____________, we have gained valuable insights into its impact and significance. This knowledge will undoubtedly serve as a guiding principle in _____________. Moving forward, it is paramount to remain open to further explorations and studies on _____________. In this way, our understanding and appreciation of _____________ can only deepen and expand.

Reflecting on the discussion, it is clear that mass media serves a pivotal role in shaping public opinion. By delving into the intricacies of mass media, we have gained valuable insights into its impact and significance. This knowledge will undoubtedly serve as a guiding principle in shaping the media landscape. Moving forward, it is paramount to remain open to further explorations and studies on how mass media impacts society. In this way, our understanding and appreciation of mass media’s impacts can only deepen and expand.

In conclusion, this essay has shed light on the importance of _____________ in the context of _____________. The evidence and analysis provided underscore the profound effect _____________ has on _____________. The knowledge gained from exploring _____________ will undoubtedly contribute to more informed and effective decisions in _____________. As we continue to progress, the significance of understanding _____________ will remain paramount. Hence, we should strive to deepen our knowledge of _____________ to better navigate and influence _____________.

In conclusion, this essay has shed light on the importance of bedside manner in the context of nursing. The evidence and analysis provided underscore the profound effect compassionate bedside manner has on patient outcome. The knowledge gained from exploring nurses’ bedside manner will undoubtedly contribute to more informed and effective decisions in nursing practice. As we continue to progress, the significance of understanding nurses’ bedside manner will remain paramount. Hence, we should strive to deepen our knowledge of this topic to better navigate and influence patient outcomes.

See More: How to Write an Expository Essay

3. Compare and Contrast Essay Conclusion

While both _____________ and _____________ have similarities such as _____________, they also have some very important differences in areas like _____________. Through this comparative analysis, a broader understanding of _____________ and _____________ has been attained. The choice between the two will largely depend on _____________. For example, as highlighted in the essay, ____________. Despite their differences, both _____________ and _____________ have value in different situations.

While both macrosociology and microsociology have similarities such as their foci on how society is structured, they also have some very important differences in areas like their differing approaches to research methodologies. Through this comparative analysis, a broader understanding of macrosociology and microsociology has been attained. The choice between the two will largely depend on the researcher’s perspective on how society works. For example, as highlighted in the essay, microsociology is much more concerned with individuals’ experiences while macrosociology is more concerned with social structures. Despite their differences, both macrosociology and microsociology have value in different situations.

It is clear that _____________ and _____________, while seeming to be different, have shared characteristics in _____________. On the other hand, their contrasts in _____________ shed light on their unique features. The analysis provides a more nuanced comprehension of these subjects. In choosing between the two, consideration should be given to _____________. Despite their disparities, it’s crucial to acknowledge the importance of both when it comes to _____________.

It is clear that behaviorism and consructivism, while seeming to be different, have shared characteristics in their foci on knowledge acquisition over time. On the other hand, their contrasts in ideas about the role of experience in learning shed light on their unique features. The analysis provides a more nuanced comprehension of these subjects. In choosing between the two, consideration should be given to which approach works best in which situation. Despite their disparities, it’s crucial to acknowledge the importance of both when it comes to student education.

Reflecting on the points discussed, it’s evident that _____________ and _____________ share similarities such as _____________, while also demonstrating unique differences, particularly in _____________. The preference for one over the other would typically depend on factors such as _____________. Yet, regardless of their distinctions, both _____________ and _____________ play integral roles in their respective areas, significantly contributing to _____________.

Reflecting on the points discussed, it’s evident that red and orange share similarities such as the fact they are both ‘hot colors’, while also demonstrating unique differences, particularly in their social meaning (red meaning danger and orange warmth). The preference for one over the other would typically depend on factors such as personal taste. Yet, regardless of their distinctions, both red and orange play integral roles in their respective areas, significantly contributing to color theory.

Ultimately, the comparison and contrast of _____________ and _____________ have revealed intriguing similarities and notable differences. Differences such as _____________ give deeper insights into their unique and shared qualities. When it comes to choosing between them, _____________ will likely be a deciding factor. Despite these differences, it is important to remember that both _____________ and _____________ hold significant value within the context of _____________, and each contributes to _____________ in its own unique way.

Ultimately, the comparison and contrast of driving and flying have revealed intriguing similarities and notable differences. Differences such as their differing speed to destination give deeper insights into their unique and shared qualities. When it comes to choosing between them, urgency to arrive at the destination will likely be a deciding factor. Despite these differences, it is important to remember that both driving and flying hold significant value within the context of air transit, and each contributes to facilitating movement in its own unique way.

See Here for More Compare and Contrast Essay Examples

4. Critical Essay Conclusion

In conclusion, the analysis of _____________ has unveiled critical aspects related to _____________. While there are strengths in _____________, its limitations are equally telling. This critique provides a more informed perspective on _____________, revealing that there is much more beneath the surface. Moving forward, the understanding of _____________ should evolve, considering both its merits and flaws.

In conclusion, the analysis of flow theory has unveiled critical aspects related to motivation and focus. While there are strengths in achieving a flow state, its limitations are equally telling. This critique provides a more informed perspective on how humans achieve motivation, revealing that there is much more beneath the surface. Moving forward, the understanding of flow theory of motivation should evolve, considering both its merits and flaws.

To conclude, this critical examination of _____________ sheds light on its multi-dimensional nature. While _____________ presents notable advantages, it is not without its drawbacks. This in-depth critique offers a comprehensive understanding of _____________. Therefore, future engagements with _____________ should involve a balanced consideration of its strengths and weaknesses.

To conclude, this critical examination of postmodern art sheds light on its multi-dimensional nature. While postmodernism presents notable advantages, it is not without its drawbacks. This in-depth critique offers a comprehensive understanding of how it has contributed to the arts over the past 50 years. Therefore, future engagements with postmodern art should involve a balanced consideration of its strengths and weaknesses.

Upon reflection, the critique of _____________ uncovers profound insights into its underlying intricacies. Despite its positive aspects such as ________, it’s impossible to overlook its shortcomings. This analysis provides a nuanced understanding of _____________, highlighting the necessity for a balanced approach in future interactions. Indeed, both the strengths and weaknesses of _____________ should be taken into account when considering ____________.

Upon reflection, the critique of marxism uncovers profound insights into its underlying intricacies. Despite its positive aspects such as its ability to critique exploitation of labor, it’s impossible to overlook its shortcomings. This analysis provides a nuanced understanding of marxism’s harmful effects when used as an economic theory, highlighting the necessity for a balanced approach in future interactions. Indeed, both the strengths and weaknesses of marxism should be taken into account when considering the use of its ideas in real life.

Ultimately, this critique of _____________ offers a detailed look into its advantages and disadvantages. The strengths of _____________ such as __________ are significant, yet its limitations such as _________ are not insignificant. This balanced analysis not only offers a deeper understanding of _____________ but also underscores the importance of critical evaluation. Hence, it’s crucial that future discussions around _____________ continue to embrace this balanced approach.

Ultimately, this critique of artificial intelligence offers a detailed look into its advantages and disadvantages. The strengths of artificial intelligence, such as its ability to improve productivity are significant, yet its limitations such as the possibility of mass job losses are not insignificant. This balanced analysis not only offers a deeper understanding of artificial intelligence but also underscores the importance of critical evaluation. Hence, it’s crucial that future discussions around the regulation of artificial intelligence continue to embrace this balanced approach.

This article promised 17 essay conclusions, and this one you are reading now is the twenty-first. This last conclusion demonstrates that the very best essay conclusions are written uniquely, from scratch, in order to perfectly cater the conclusion to the topic. A good conclusion will tie together all the key points you made in your essay and forcefully drive home the importance or relevance of your argument, thesis statement, or simply your topic so the reader is left with one strong final point to ponder.

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How to write a narrative essay [Updated 2023]

A narrative essay is an opportunity to flex your creative muscles and craft a compelling story. In this blog post, we define what a narrative essay is and provide strategies and examples for writing one.

What is a narrative essay?

Similarly to a descriptive essay or a reflective essay, a narrative essay asks you to tell a story, rather than make an argument and present evidence. Most narrative essays describe a real, personal experience from your own life (for example, the story of your first big success).

Alternately, your narrative essay might focus on an imagined experience (for example, how your life would be if you had been born into different circumstances). While you don’t need to present a thesis statement or scholarly evidence, a narrative essay still needs to be well-structured and clearly organized so that the reader can follow your story.

When you might be asked to write a narrative essay

Although less popular than argumentative essays or expository essays, narrative essays are relatively common in high school and college writing classes.

The same techniques that you would use to write a college essay as part of a college or scholarship application are applicable to narrative essays, as well. In fact, the Common App that many students use to apply to multiple colleges asks you to submit a narrative essay.

How to choose a topic for a narrative essay

When you are asked to write a narrative essay, a topic may be assigned to you or you may be able to choose your own. With an assigned topic, the prompt will likely fall into one of two categories: specific or open-ended.

Examples of specific prompts:

• Write about the last vacation you took.
• Write about your final year of middle school.

Examples of open-ended prompts:

• Write about a time when you felt all hope was lost.
• Write about a brief, seemingly insignificant event that ended up having a big impact on your life.

A narrative essay tells a story and all good stories are centered on a conflict of some sort. Experiences with unexpected obstacles, twists, or turns make for much more compelling essays and reveal more about your character and views on life.

If you’re writing a narrative essay as part of an admissions application, remember that the people reviewing your essay will be looking at it to gain a sense of not just your writing ability, but who you are as a person.

In these cases, it’s wise to choose a topic and experience from your life that demonstrates the qualities that the prompt is looking for, such as resilience, perseverance, the ability to stay calm under pressure, etc.

It’s also important to remember that your choice of topic is just a starting point. Many students find that they arrive at new ideas and insights as they write their first draft, so the final form of your essay may have a different focus than the one you started with.

How to outline and format a narrative essay

Even though you’re not advancing an argument or proving a point of view, a narrative essay still needs to have a coherent structure. Your reader has to be able to follow you as you tell the story and to figure out the larger point that you’re making.

You’ll be evaluated on is your handling of the topic and how you structure your essay. Even though a narrative essay doesn’t use the same structure as other essay types, you should still sketch out a loose outline so you can tell your story in a clear and compelling way.

To outline a narrative essay, you’ll want to determine:

• how your story will start
• what points or specifics that you want to cover
• how your story will end
• what pace and tone you will use

In the vast majority of cases, a narrative essay should be written in the first-person, using “I.” Also, most narrative essays will follow typical formatting guidelines, so you should choose a readable font like Times New Roman in size 11 or 12. Double-space your paragraphs and use 1” margins.

To get your creative wheels turning, consider how your story compares to archetypes and famous historical and literary figures both past and present. Weave these comparisons into your essay to improve the quality of your writing and connect your personal experience to a larger context.

How to write a narrative essay

Writing a narrative essay can sometimes be a challenge for students who typically write argumentative essays or research papers in a formal, objective style. To give you a better sense of how you can write a narrative essay, here is a short example of an essay in response to the prompt, “Write about an experience that challenged your view of yourself.”

Narrative essay example

Even as a child, I always had what people might call a reserved personality. It was sometimes framed as a positive (“Sarah is a good listener”) and at other times it was put in less-than-admiring terms (“Sarah is withdrawn and not very talkative”). It was the latter kind of comments that caused me to see my introverted nature as a drawback and as something I should work to eliminate. That is, until I joined my high school’s student council.

The first paragraph, or introduction, sets up the context, establishing the situation and introducing the meaningful event upon which the essay will focus.

The other four students making up the council were very outspoken and enthusiastic. I enjoyed being around them, and I often agreed with their ideas. However, when it came to overhauling our school’s recycling plan, we butted heads. When I spoke up and offered a different point of view, one of my fellow student council members launched into a speech, advocating for her point of view. As her voice filled the room, I couldn’t get a word in edgewise. I wondered if I should try to match her tone, volume, and assertiveness as a way to be heard. But I just couldn’t do it—it’s not my way, and it never has been. For a fleeting moment, I felt defeated. But then, something in me shifted.

In this paragraph, the writer goes into greater depth about how her existing thinking brought her to this point.

I reminded myself that my view was valid and deserved to be heard. So I waited. I let my fellow council member speak her piece and when she was finished, I deliberately waited a few moments before calmly stating my case. I chose my words well, and I spoke them succinctly. Just because I’m not a big talker doesn’t mean I’m not a big thinker. I thought of the quotation “still waters run deep” and I tried to embody that. The effect on the room was palpable. People listened. And I hadn’t had to shout my point to be heard.

This paragraph demonstrates the turn in the story, the moment when everything changed. The use of the quotation “still waters run deep” imbues the story with a dash of poetry and emotion.

We eventually reached a compromise on the matter and concluded the student council meeting. Our council supervisor came to me afterward and said: “You handled that so well, with such grace and poise. I was very impressed.” Her words in that moment changed me. I realized that a bombastic nature isn't necessarily a powerful one. There is power in quiet, too. This experience taught me to view my reserved personality not as a character flaw, but as a strength.

The final paragraph, or conclusion, closes with a statement about the significance of this event and how it ended up changing the writer in a meaningful way.

Narrative essay writing tips

1. pick a meaningful story that has a conflict and a clear “moral.”.

If you’re able to choose your own topic, pick a story that has meaning and that reveals how you became the person your are today. In other words, write a narrative with a clear “moral” that you can connect with your main points.

2. Use an outline to arrange the structure of your story and organize your main points.

Although a narrative essay is different from argumentative essays, it’s still beneficial to construct an outline so that your story is well-structured and organized. Note how you want to start and end your story, and what points you want to make to tie everything together.

3. Be clear, concise, concrete, and correct in your writing.

You should use descriptive writing in your narrative essay, but don’t overdo it. Use clear, concise, and correct language and grammar throughout. Additionally, make concrete points that reinforce the main idea of your narrative.

4. Ask a friend or family member to proofread your essay.

No matter what kind of writing you’re doing, you should always plan to proofread and revise. To ensure that your narrative essay is coherent and interesting, ask a friend or family member to read over your paper. This is especially important if your essay is responding to a prompt. It helps to have another person check to make sure that you’ve fully responded to the prompt or question.

Frequently Asked Questions about narrative essays

A narrative essay, like any essay, has three main parts: an introduction, a body and a conclusion. Structuring and outlining your essay before you start writing will help you write a clear story that your readers can follow.

The first paragraph of your essay, or introduction, sets up the context, establishing the situation and introducing the meaningful event upon which the essay will focus.

In the vast majority of cases, a narrative essay should be written in the first-person, using “I.”

The 4 main types of essays are the argumentative essay, narrative essay, exploratory essay, and expository essay. You may be asked to write different types of essays at different points in your education.

Most narrative essays will be around five paragraphs, or more, depending on the topic and requirements. Make sure to check in with your instructor about the guidelines for your essay. If you’re writing a narrative essay for a college application, pay close attention to word or page count requirements.

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How to Write a Narrative Essay: Step by Step

A narrative essay is a captivating form of storytelling that allows writers to convey personal experiences or fictional tales in a compelling manner. Whether recounting real-life events or weaving imaginative narratives, the essence of a narrative essay lies in its ability to entertain, inform, or persuade the reader. Let’s learn how to write a narrative essay!

What is a Narrative Essay?

A narrative essay is a form of writing that conveys a story, whether fictional or based on authentic experiences. It allows the writer to share a sequence of events, weaving together the plot, characters, setting, and theme elements. The primary purpose of a narrative essay can vary, as it can aim to entertain, inform, or persuade the reader.

The writer often draws inspiration from personal experiences or observations when writing a narrative essay. It is an opportunity for the writer to share a slice of their life, explore their emotions, and connect with the reader on a personal level. The story can revolve around a specific event, a journey, a turning point, or a significant relationship in the writer’s life.

The structure of a narrative essay typically follows the traditional narrative arc, beginning with an engaging introduction that establishes the setting, introduces the main characters, and hints at the central conflict or theme. The body paragraphs gradually unravel the story, presenting events chronologically or employing flashbacks and foreshadowing techniques to create suspense. The writer uses vivid language, imagery, and sensory details to immerse the reader in the story and evoke emotions.

The writer’s style is crucial in crafting a captivating narrative essay. To enhance the storytelling experience, they may employ different narrative techniques, such as dialogue, incorporating symbolism, or alternating between first-person and third-person perspectives. Using literary devices and figurative language adds depth and richness to the writing, helping the writer convey complex emotions and create a lasting impression on the reader.

In terms of purpose, a narrative essay can be written to entertain the reader by providing an engaging and enjoyable story. It can also be informative by sharing knowledge or experiences that educate or enlighten the reader. Additionally, a narrative essay can aim to persuade the reader by presenting a particular viewpoint or argument, using storytelling to convey a message or influence the reader’s thoughts and emotions.

Narrative essays offer writers a versatile and compelling way to connect with their audience. They allow writers to explore the human experience, share their perspectives, and evoke emotions in the reader. Whether it’s a personal anecdote, a historical account, or a work of fiction, a well-crafted narrative essay can transport the reader to different worlds, inspire reflection, and leave a lasting impact.

Features of a Narrative Essay

A narrative essay is a type of essay that tells a story or recounts a sequence of events from the author’s personal experiences or imagination. Here are some key features of a narrative essay:

• Storytelling: The essay is structured around a central story or narrative thread. Writers may base their narrative on real-life experiences, anecdotes, or fictional events.
• Point of View : The narrative is usually told in the first person, using “I” to convey the author’s personal involvement or observation in the events described.
• Plot: Like any story, a narrative essay typically has a beginning, middle, and end. It may include exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.
• Characters: The essay may feature characters who play roles within the narrative. These characters could be real people, fictional creations, or even representations of abstract concepts.
• Descriptive language often engages the reader and creates a vivid picture of the events. This includes sensory details such as sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and textures.
• Dialogue: Dialogue can add authenticity and bring characters to life. It helps advance the plot and reveal character traits or motivations.
• Conflict: A narrative essay often involves some form of conflict or tension, whether internal (within the protagonist) or external (between characters or with external circumstances). Resolving this conflict is often central to the narrative’s arc.
• Theme: Narrative essays primarily tell a story but may also explore broader themes or ideas. These themes could include love, friendship, loss, resilience, growth, or any other topic relevant to the narrative.
• Emotional Impact: Effective narrative essays evoke emotions in the reader, whether it’s joy, sadness, excitement, empathy, or reflection. This emotional connection helps to make the story memorable and impactful.
• Reflection or Moral: Many narrative essays conclude with a reflection or insight gained from the experiences. This reflection offers a lesson learned, a moral drawn from the story, or a deeper understanding of the events described.

A narrative essay aims to entertain, inform, and sometimes even persuade the reader by presenting a compelling story with a clear narrative arc and emotional resonance.

How to write a Narrative Essay Thesis Statement: 

Writing a thesis statement for a narrative essay involves summarizing the main point or theme of the story you will tell. Here’s how to craft a strong thesis statement for a narrative essay:

• Identify the Main Theme or Message : Reflect on the central idea or lesson that your narrative essay will convey. This theme could be a personal experience that taught you something valuable, a moment of realization, or a significant event in your life.
• Consider the Narrative Arc: Consider the key events and turning points in your story. What is the journey or trajectory of your narrative? Your thesis statement should capture the essence of this narrative arc.
• Be Specific and Concise: Your thesis statement should clearly state the main point of your narrative essay in a single sentence. Avoid vague language or overly general statements.
• Make it Relevant: Your thesis statement should directly relate to the story you’re telling. It should capture the unique perspective or insight that your narrative offers.
• Use Action Verbs and Descriptive Language: Infuse your thesis statement with vivid language that conveys the energy and emotion of your narrative. This language will help grab the reader’s attention and set the tone for your essay.
• Provide a Preview: Your thesis statement can also hint at the direction of your essay and what readers can expect to learn or experience by reading it.

Here’s an example of a thesis statement for a narrative essay about a transformative travel experience:

Narrative Essay Thesis Statement Example: 

“Through the challenges of navigating unfamiliar cultures and confronting my preconceptions, my journey to Orlando taught me the true meaning of resilience, empathy, and cultural understanding.”

This thesis statement succinctly summarizes the central theme (personal growth through travel), previews the narrative arc (challenges and lessons learned), and provides insight into the story’s significance.

How to Write a Narrative Essay Step by Step: 

Writing a narrative essay involves several steps to convey your story and engage your readers effectively. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you write a narrative essay:

• Choose a Topic : Choose a personal experience or event to narrate. It could be a significant moment in your life, a memorable trip, a challenging situation you overcame, or any other story that has impacted you.
• Brainstorm Details: Take some time to brainstorm the details of your chosen topic. Consider the characters involved, the setting, the sequence of events, and any significant dialogue or interactions.
• Outline Your Narrative : Create an outline to organize your thoughts and plan the structure of your essay. Include an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Outline the main events of your story and any key points you want to emphasize.
• Write a Compelling Introduction: Begin your essay with a strong hook that grabs the reader’s attention and introduces your narrative’s main idea or theme. Provide some background information to set the context for your story, and end your introduction with a clear thesis statement.
• Develop the Body Paragraphs: In the body of your essay, narrate the events of your story in chronological order. Use descriptive language to paint a vivid picture for your readers and bring your story to life. Include details that engage your audience’s senses and emotions.
• Include Dialogue and Reflection: Incorporate dialogue to add realism and depth to your narrative. Use quotation marks to indicate when characters are speaking. Additionally, intersperse moments of reflection throughout your essay to provide insight into your thoughts and feelings at different points in the story.
• Maintain Narrative Flow: Your narrative should flow smoothly from one event to the next. Use transitional phrases and sentences to connect your ideas and guide your readers through the story.
• Create a Memorable Conclusion: End your essay with a conclusion that ties up any loose ends and leaves a lasting impression on your readers. Reflect on the events’ significance and reiterate your narrative’s central message or lesson.
• Revise and Edit: Once you’ve written a draft of your narrative essay, take the time to revise and edit it. Check for grammar and punctuation errors, clarify confusing passages, and refine your language for clarity and impact. Consider seeking feedback from peers or instructors to improve your essay further.
• Finalize Your Essay: After making revisions, read through your essay to ensure it meets your standards. Make any necessary changes, and then finalize your narrative essay for submission or publication.

By following these steps, you can effectively write a compelling narrative essay that captures the attention of your readers and communicates your story with clarity and impact.

Learn how to write a Prose Poem!

How to write a Narrative Essay Conclusion: 

Writing a conclusion for a narrative essay involves wrapping up the story you’ve told while leaving a lasting impression on your readers. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to write a narrative essay conclusion:

• Revisit the Thesis Statement: Start your conclusion by revisiting your essay’s thesis statement or central idea. Remind your readers of the central theme or message that your narrative has explored.
• Summarize the Journey: Briefly summarize the events and experiences you’ve narrated throughout your essay. Highlight the key moments that contributed to the story’s development and the characters involved.
• Reflect on the Significance: Consider the significance of your story. Consider your narrative about the human experience, personal growth, or the broader context of the events described.
• Offer Insight or Reflection: Share your personal insights or reflections on the narrative’s events. Discuss what you’ve learned, how you’ve changed, or any new perspectives you’ve gained as a result of the experiences you’ve described.
• Provide Closure: Resolve any unresolved conflicts or questions to offer closure to your narrative. Tie up loose ends and ensure that your readers feel a sense of completion at the end of the essay.
• End with Impact: End your conclusion with a memorable statement or thought-provoking insight that leaves a lasting impression on your readers. Consider how you want your audience to feel or what message you want them to take away from your narrative.
• Maintain Consistency: Ensure that your conclusion’s tone and style match the rest of your essay. Maintain consistency in your voice and narrative style to provide a cohesive reading experience.
• Avoid Introducing New Information: In your conclusion, avoid introducing new information or events. Instead, wrap up the story you’ve already told and reinforce its significance.
• Keep it Concise: Your conclusion should be concise, clear, and to the point, avoiding unnecessary repetition or wordiness.

To craft a captivating conclusion for your narrative essay, follow these steps. This will allow you to effectively wrap up your story and leave a lasting impact on your readers:

Narrative Essay Outline: 

Here’s a basic outline structure for a narrative essay:

I. Introduction

A. Hook : Start with an attention-grabbing opening sentence or anecdote that sets the stage for your story.

B. Background Information: Provide some context or background information to orient your readers to the narrative.

C. Thesis Statement: Present your narrative essay’s main idea or theme.

II. Body Paragraphs

A. First Event : Describe the first event or experience in your narrative. Use descriptive language to create a vivid picture for your readers.

1. Introduction of Characters/Setting: Introduce any relevant characters or the setting where the event occurs.

2. Description of Events: Provide a detailed description of what happens during this event.

3. Reflection: Reflect on the event’s significance and impact on the narrative and characters.

(Continue pattern for subsequent events) 

III. Climax

A. Build-up: Describe the peak of the narrative, where tension or conflict reaches its highest point.

B. Resolution: Describe how the conflict is resolved or how the story reaches its climax.

C. Reflection: Reflect on the significance of the climax and its impact on the narrative and characters.

IV. Conclusion

A. Summary: Summarize the key events and moments of your narrative.

B. Restate: Restate your thesis and how it relates to your overall narrative.

C. Closing Statement: End with a memorable closing statement or insight that leaves a lasting impression on your readers.

If you want to write a narrative essay that will have your readers hooked from the start, this outline is your go-to guide. It’s like a solid foundation that you can build on and customize to fit your assignment or the unique details of your story. It’s all about structuring your essay in a way that keeps your readers engaged from beginning to end. 

Download your Narrative Essay Example PDF 

Narrative essay example: .

Title: A Day at the Amusement Park

Introduction:

It was a sunny Saturday morning when my family and I decided to spend the day at the local amusement park. The excitement was palpable as we packed our bags with sunscreen, snacks, and anticipation. Little did I know this day would be filled with thrills, laughter, and a few surprises.

Body Paragraph 1:

As soon as we arrived at the amusement park, I could hear the sounds of joyful screams and carnival music filling the air. We started our day by hopping on the roller coaster, where the adrenaline rush left me breathless. The wind whipped through my hair as we soared through loops and twists, and for a moment, I felt like I was flying.

Body Paragraph 2:

Next, we ventured to the water park section of the amusement park to cool off from the summer heat. The lazy river provided a relaxing escape, allowing us to float along peacefully while soaking up the sun. We also dared to tackle the towering water slides, plunging into the refreshing pools below with exhilarating splashes.

Body Paragraph 3:

As the day progressed, we explored the various attractions and games scattered throughout the park. From carnival games to arcade challenges, there was no shortage of entertainment to keep us occupied. We laughed and competed with each other, creating memories that would last a lifetime.

Body Paragraph 4:

However, our day took an unexpected turn when we stumbled upon a magician’s performance near the main stage. Mesmerized by his illusions and sleight of hand, we eagerly volunteered to participate in his act. I’ll never forget the look of amazement on my family’s faces as he made objects disappear and reappear before our very eyes.

Conclusion:

As the sun began to set on our day at the amusement park, I couldn’t help but feel grateful for the unforgettable experiences we shared together. From the heart-pounding rides to the magical moments, each memory forever holds a special place in my heart. As we made our way home, tired but content, I knew that this day would be one that I would cherish forever.

Learn how to write conclusion!

Download your Narrative Essay Example PDF

Tips on how to write a narrative essay.

• Choose a Compelling Story: Select a personal experience, event, or memory that is meaningful and has the potential to resonate with your readers.
• Identify the Theme or Message: Determine the central theme or message you want to convey through your narrative and ensure that it is woven throughout the essay.
• Create a Strong Narrative Arc: Your story should have a clear beginning, middle, and end. The beginning should introduce the setting, characters, and conflict; the middle should develop the plot and build tension; and the end should resolve the conflict and leave a lasting impression.
• Use Descriptive Language: Engage the senses of your readers by using vivid and descriptive language that brings the story to life. Paint a picture in their minds and immerse them in the narrative.
• Develop Memorable Characters: Create relatable and well-developed characters that readers can empathize with—flesh out their personalities, motivations, and conflicts.
• Show, Don’t Tell: Instead of simply stating facts or emotions, use sensory details and actions to show readers what is happening. This will make the story more immersive and believable.
• Maintain Narrative Consistency: Your narrative’s tone, style, and point of view should remain consistent throughout the essay. Avoid sudden shifts that may confuse or disengage your readers.
• Incorporate Dialogue: Use dialogue to add realism and depth to your narrative. Dialogue can reveal character traits, advance the plot, and create tension.
• Pace Yourself: Control the pacing of your narrative to create suspense and build anticipation. Vary the length and intensity of your paragraphs to maintain reader interest.
• Proofread and Revise: After writing your first draft, proofread and revise your essay. Check for grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors. Polish your language and refine your ideas to enhance the overall quality of your narrative.

How to Write a Narrative Essay with Dialogue 

Writing a narrative essay with dialogue can add depth and authenticity to your story, allowing your readers to feel more immersed in the narrative. Here are some tips on how to effectively incorporate dialogue into your narrative essay:

Check out our definitive guide to dialogue!

• Set the Scene: Before introducing dialogue, provide some context to set the scene for your readers. Describe the setting, introduce the characters involved, and establish the mood or atmosphere of the scene.
• Use Quotation Marks: When writing dialogue, enclose the spoken words within double quotation marks (” “). This helps to distinguish dialogue from other narrative elements clearly.
• Attribute Dialogue Appropriately: Use dialogue tags to attribute spoken words to specific characters. Common dialogue tags include “said,” “asked,” “replied,” “responded,” etc. For example:
• “I can’t wait to go to the beach,” said Sarah excitedly.
• “What time are we leaving?” asked Mark.
• Punctuate Dialogue Correctly: When writing dialogue, pay attention to punctuation rules. Place commas or periods inside the quotation marks, and use a comma, question mark, or exclamation point to end the dialogue before the closing quotation mark.
• “I love this movie,” she said.
• “Are you coming with us?” he asked.
• “Stop right there!” shouted the officer.
• Show, Don’t Tell: Use dialogue to reveal character traits, emotions, and relationships. Instead of telling the reader how a character feels, show it through their words and interactions with others.
• “I’m so nervous,” she whispered, her voice trembling.
• “Don’t worry, I’ve got your back,” he reassured her.
• Keep Dialogue Natural: Write dialogue that sounds natural and reflects how people actually speak. Avoid overly formal or stilted language, and use contractions and colloquialisms to make the dialogue more realistic.
• “I can’t believe you did that!” instead of “I cannot believe you did that!”
• Use Dialogue to Advance the Plot: Use dialogue to move the story forward and convey important information or developments. Dialogue can reveal plot points, conflicts, resolutions, or character motivations.
• “I saw him leave the party with someone else,” she whispered to her friend, her eyes wide with shock.
• Edit and Revise: After writing your narrative essay with dialogue, carefully review and revise it to ensure 

A narrative essay is a powerful form of storytelling that can entertain, inform, or persuade readers. Its unique features, such as storytelling, point of view, plot, characters, descriptive language, conflict, theme, emotional impact, and reflection or moral, can create a memorable and impactful experience for the reader. 

By following the step-by-step guide for crafting a narrative essay thesis statement and writing your essay, you can create a compelling narrative that effectively conveys your story and engages your readers. So, go ahead and start writing your narrative essay, and let your story inspire, educate, and entertain your readers. It flows smoothly and serves its purpose within the story. Check for consistency, clarity, and relevance.

Purdue OWL – Narrative Essays

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Sat / act prep online guides and tips, 3 great narrative essay examples + tips for writing.

General Education

A narrative essay is one of the most intimidating assignments you can be handed at any level of your education. Where you've previously written argumentative essays that make a point or analytic essays that dissect meaning, a narrative essay asks you to write what is effectively a story .

But unlike a simple work of creative fiction, your narrative essay must have a clear and concrete motif —a recurring theme or idea that you’ll explore throughout. Narrative essays are less rigid, more creative in expression, and therefore pretty different from most other essays you’ll be writing.

But not to fear—in this article, we’ll be covering what a narrative essay is, how to write a good one, and also analyzing some personal narrative essay examples to show you what a great one looks like.

What Is a Narrative Essay?

At first glance, a narrative essay might sound like you’re just writing a story. Like the stories you're used to reading, a narrative essay is generally (but not always) chronological, following a clear throughline from beginning to end. Even if the story jumps around in time, all the details will come back to one specific theme, demonstrated through your choice in motifs.

Unlike many creative stories, however, your narrative essay should be based in fact. That doesn’t mean that every detail needs to be pure and untainted by imagination, but rather that you shouldn’t wholly invent the events of your narrative essay. There’s nothing wrong with inventing a person’s words if you can’t remember them exactly, but you shouldn’t say they said something they weren’t even close to saying.

Another big difference between narrative essays and creative fiction—as well as other kinds of essays—is that narrative essays are based on motifs. A motif is a dominant idea or theme, one that you establish before writing the essay. As you’re crafting the narrative, it’ll feed back into your motif to create a comprehensive picture of whatever that motif is.

For example, say you want to write a narrative essay about how your first day in high school helped you establish your identity. You might discuss events like trying to figure out where to sit in the cafeteria, having to describe yourself in five words as an icebreaker in your math class, or being unsure what to do during your lunch break because it’s no longer acceptable to go outside and play during lunch. All of those ideas feed back into the central motif of establishing your identity.

The important thing to remember is that while a narrative essay is typically told chronologically and intended to read like a story, it is not purely for entertainment value. A narrative essay delivers its theme by deliberately weaving the motifs through the events, scenes, and details. While a narrative essay may be entertaining, its primary purpose is to tell a complete story based on a central meaning.

Unlike other essay forms, it is totally okay—even expected—to use first-person narration in narrative essays. If you’re writing a story about yourself, it’s natural to refer to yourself within the essay. It’s also okay to use other perspectives, such as third- or even second-person, but that should only be done if it better serves your motif. Generally speaking, your narrative essay should be in first-person perspective.

Though your motif choices may feel at times like you’re making a point the way you would in an argumentative essay, a narrative essay’s goal is to tell a story, not convince the reader of anything. Your reader should be able to tell what your motif is from reading, but you don’t have to change their mind about anything. If they don’t understand the point you are making, you should consider strengthening the delivery of the events and descriptions that support your motif.

Narrative essays also share some features with analytical essays, in which you derive meaning from a book, film, or other media. But narrative essays work differently—you’re not trying to draw meaning from an existing text, but rather using an event you’ve experienced to convey meaning. In an analytical essay, you examine narrative, whereas in a narrative essay you create narrative.

The structure of a narrative essay is also a bit different than other essays. You’ll generally be getting your point across chronologically as opposed to grouping together specific arguments in paragraphs or sections. To return to the example of an essay discussing your first day of high school and how it impacted the shaping of your identity, it would be weird to put the events out of order, even if not knowing what to do after lunch feels like a stronger idea than choosing where to sit. Instead of organizing to deliver your information based on maximum impact, you’ll be telling your story as it happened, using concrete details to reinforce your theme.

3 Great Narrative Essay Examples

One of the best ways to learn how to write a narrative essay is to look at a great narrative essay sample. Let’s take a look at some truly stellar narrative essay examples and dive into what exactly makes them work so well.

A Ticket to the Fair by David Foster Wallace

Today is Press Day at the Illinois State Fair in Springfield, and I’m supposed to be at the fairgrounds by 9:00 A.M. to get my credentials. I imagine credentials to be a small white card in the band of a fedora. I’ve never been considered press before. My real interest in credentials is getting into rides and shows for free. I’m fresh in from the East Coast, for an East Coast magazine. Why exactly they’re interested in the Illinois State Fair remains unclear to me. I suspect that every so often editors at East Coast magazines slap their foreheads and remember that about 90 percent of the United States lies between the coasts, and figure they’ll engage somebody to do pith-helmeted anthropological reporting on something rural and heartlandish. I think they asked me to do this because I grew up here, just a couple hours’ drive from downstate Springfield. I never did go to the state fair, though—I pretty much topped out at the county fair level. Actually, I haven’t been back to Illinois for a long time, and I can’t say I’ve missed it.

Throughout this essay, David Foster Wallace recounts his experience as press at the Illinois State Fair. But it’s clear from this opening that he’s not just reporting on the events exactly as they happened—though that’s also true— but rather making a point about how the East Coast, where he lives and works, thinks about the Midwest.

In his opening paragraph, Wallace states that outright: “Why exactly they’re interested in the Illinois State Fair remains unclear to me. I suspect that every so often editors at East Coast magazines slap their foreheads and remember that about 90 percent of the United States lies between the coasts, and figure they’ll engage somebody to do pith-helmeted anthropological reporting on something rural and heartlandish.”

Not every motif needs to be stated this clearly , but in an essay as long as Wallace’s, particularly since the audience for such a piece may feel similarly and forget that such a large portion of the country exists, it’s important to make that point clear.

But Wallace doesn’t just rest on introducing his motif and telling the events exactly as they occurred from there. It’s clear that he selects events that remind us of that idea of East Coast cynicism , such as when he realizes that the Help Me Grow tent is standing on top of fake grass that is killing the real grass beneath, when he realizes the hypocrisy of craving a corn dog when faced with a real, suffering pig, when he’s upset for his friend even though he’s not the one being sexually harassed, and when he witnesses another East Coast person doing something he wouldn’t dare to do.

Wallace is literally telling the audience exactly what happened, complete with dates and timestamps for when each event occurred. But he’s also choosing those events with a purpose—he doesn’t focus on details that don’t serve his motif. That’s why he discusses the experiences of people, how the smells are unappealing to him, and how all the people he meets, in cowboy hats, overalls, or “black spandex that looks like cheesecake leotards,” feel almost alien to him.

All of these details feed back into the throughline of East Coast thinking that Wallace introduces in the first paragraph. He also refers back to it in the essay’s final paragraph, stating:

At last, an overarching theory blooms inside my head: megalopolitan East Coasters’ summer treats and breaks and literally ‘getaways,’ flights-from—from crowds, noise, heat, dirt, the stress of too many sensory choices….The East Coast existential treat is escape from confines and stimuli—quiet, rustic vistas that hold still, turn inward, turn away. Not so in the rural Midwest. Here you’re pretty much away all the time….Something in a Midwesterner sort of actuates , deep down, at a public event….The real spectacle that draws us here is us.

Throughout this journey, Wallace has tried to demonstrate how the East Coast thinks about the Midwest, ultimately concluding that they are captivated by the Midwest’s less stimuli-filled life, but that the real reason they are interested in events like the Illinois State Fair is that they are, in some ways, a means of looking at the East Coast in a new, estranging way.

The reason this works so well is that Wallace has carefully chosen his examples, outlined his motif and themes in the first paragraph, and eventually circled back to the original motif with a clearer understanding of his original point.

When outlining your own narrative essay, try to do the same. Start with a theme, build upon it with examples, and return to it in the end with an even deeper understanding of the original issue. You don’t need this much space to explore a theme, either—as we’ll see in the next example, a strong narrative essay can also be very short.

Death of a Moth by Virginia Woolf

After a time, tired by his dancing apparently, he settled on the window ledge in the sun, and, the queer spectacle being at an end, I forgot about him. Then, looking up, my eye was caught by him. He was trying to resume his dancing, but seemed either so stiff or so awkward that he could only flutter to the bottom of the window-pane; and when he tried to fly across it he failed. Being intent on other matters I watched these futile attempts for a time without thinking, unconsciously waiting for him to resume his flight, as one waits for a machine, that has stopped momentarily, to start again without considering the reason of its failure. After perhaps a seventh attempt he slipped from the wooden ledge and fell, fluttering his wings, on to his back on the window sill. The helplessness of his attitude roused me. It flashed upon me that he was in difficulties; he could no longer raise himself; his legs struggled vainly. But, as I stretched out a pencil, meaning to help him to right himself, it came over me that the failure and awkwardness were the approach of death. I laid the pencil down again.

In this essay, Virginia Woolf explains her encounter with a dying moth. On surface level, this essay is just a recounting of an afternoon in which she watched a moth die—it’s even established in the title. But there’s more to it than that. Though Woolf does not begin her essay with as clear a motif as Wallace, it’s not hard to pick out the evidence she uses to support her point, which is that the experience of this moth is also the human experience.

In the title, Woolf tells us this essay is about death. But in the first paragraph, she seems to mostly be discussing life—the moth is “content with life,” people are working in the fields, and birds are flying. However, she mentions that it is mid-September and that the fields were being plowed. It’s autumn and it’s time for the harvest; the time of year in which many things die.

In this short essay, she chronicles the experience of watching a moth seemingly embody life, then die. Though this essay is literally about a moth, it’s also about a whole lot more than that. After all, moths aren’t the only things that die—Woolf is also reflecting on her own mortality, as well as the mortality of everything around her.

At its core, the essay discusses the push and pull of life and death, not in a way that’s necessarily sad, but in a way that is accepting of both. Woolf begins by setting up the transitional fall season, often associated with things coming to an end, and raises the ideas of pleasure, vitality, and pity.

At one point, Woolf tries to help the dying moth, but reconsiders, as it would interfere with the natural order of the world. The moth’s death is part of the natural order of the world, just like fall, just like her own eventual death.

All these themes are set up in the beginning and explored throughout the essay’s narrative. Though Woolf doesn’t directly state her theme, she reinforces it by choosing a small, isolated event—watching a moth die—and illustrating her point through details.

With this essay, we can see that you don’t need a big, weird, exciting event to discuss an important meaning. Woolf is able to explore complicated ideas in a short essay by being deliberate about what details she includes, just as you can be in your own essays.

Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin

On the twenty-ninth of July, in 1943, my father died. On the same day, a few hours later, his last child was born. Over a month before this, while all our energies were concentrated in waiting for these events, there had been, in Detroit, one of the bloodiest race riots of the century. A few hours after my father’s funeral, while he lay in state in the undertaker’s chapel, a race riot broke out in Harlem. On the morning of the third of August, we drove my father to the graveyard through a wilderness of smashed plate glass.

Like Woolf, Baldwin does not lay out his themes in concrete terms—unlike Wallace, there’s no clear sentence that explains what he’ll be talking about. However, you can see the motifs quite clearly: death, fatherhood, struggle, and race.

Throughout the narrative essay, Baldwin discusses the circumstances of his father’s death, including his complicated relationship with his father. By introducing those motifs in the first paragraph, the reader understands that everything discussed in the essay will come back to those core ideas. When Baldwin talks about his experience with a white teacher taking an interest in him and his father’s resistance to that, he is also talking about race and his father’s death. When he talks about his father’s death, he is also talking about his views on race. When he talks about his encounters with segregation and racism, he is talking, in part, about his father.

Because his father was a hard, uncompromising man, Baldwin struggles to reconcile the knowledge that his father was right about many things with his desire to not let that hardness consume him, as well.

Baldwin doesn’t explicitly state any of this, but his writing so often touches on the same motifs that it becomes clear he wants us to think about all these ideas in conversation with one another.

At the end of the essay, Baldwin makes it more clear:

This fight begins, however, in the heart and it had now been laid to my charge to keep my own heart free of hatred and despair. This intimation made my heart heavy and, now that my father was irrecoverable, I wished that he had been beside me so that I could have searched his face for the answers which only the future would give me now.

Here, Baldwin ties together the themes and motifs into one clear statement: that he must continue to fight and recognize injustice, especially racial injustice, just as his father did. But unlike his father, he must do it beginning with himself—he must not let himself be closed off to the world as his father was. And yet, he still wishes he had his father for guidance, even as he establishes that he hopes to be a different man than his father.

In this essay, Baldwin loads the front of the essay with his motifs, and, through his narrative, weaves them together into a theme. In the end, he comes to a conclusion that connects all of those things together and leaves the reader with a lasting impression of completion—though the elements may have been initially disparate, in the end everything makes sense.

You can replicate this tactic of introducing seemingly unattached ideas and weaving them together in your own essays. By introducing those motifs, developing them throughout, and bringing them together in the end, you can demonstrate to your reader how all of them are related. However, it’s especially important to be sure that your motifs and clear and consistent throughout your essay so that the conclusion feels earned and consistent—if not, readers may feel mislead.

5 Key Tips for Writing Narrative Essays

Narrative essays can be a lot of fun to write since they’re so heavily based on creativity. But that can also feel intimidating—sometimes it’s easier to have strict guidelines than to have to make it all up yourself. Here are a few tips to keep your narrative essay feeling strong and fresh.

Develop Strong Motifs

Motifs are the foundation of a narrative essay . What are you trying to say? How can you say that using specific symbols or events? Those are your motifs.

In the same way that an argumentative essay’s body should support its thesis, the body of your narrative essay should include motifs that support your theme.

Try to avoid cliches, as these will feel tired to your readers. Instead of roses to symbolize love, try succulents. Instead of the ocean representing some vast, unknowable truth, try the depths of your brother’s bedroom. Keep your language and motifs fresh and your essay will be even stronger!

Use First-Person Perspective

In many essays, you’re expected to remove yourself so that your points stand on their own. Not so in a narrative essay—in this case, you want to make use of your own perspective.

Sometimes a different perspective can make your point even stronger. If you want someone to identify with your point of view, it may be tempting to choose a second-person perspective. However, be sure you really understand the function of second-person; it’s very easy to put a reader off if the narration isn’t expertly deployed.

If you want a little bit of distance, third-person perspective may be okay. But be careful—too much distance and your reader may feel like the narrative lacks truth.

That’s why first-person perspective is the standard. It keeps you, the writer, close to the narrative, reminding the reader that it really happened. And because you really know what happened and how, you’re free to inject your own opinion into the story without it detracting from your point, as it would in a different type of essay.

Stick to the Truth

Your essay should be true. However, this is a creative essay, and it’s okay to embellish a little. Rarely in life do we experience anything with a clear, concrete meaning the way somebody in a book might. If you flub the details a little, it’s okay—just don’t make them up entirely.

Also, nobody expects you to perfectly recall details that may have happened years ago. You may have to reconstruct dialog from your memory and your imagination. That’s okay, again, as long as you aren’t making it up entirely and assigning made-up statements to somebody.

Dialog is a powerful tool. A good conversation can add flavor and interest to a story, as we saw demonstrated in David Foster Wallace’s essay. As previously mentioned, it’s okay to flub it a little, especially because you’re likely writing about an experience you had without knowing that you’d be writing about it later.

However, don’t rely too much on it. Your narrative essay shouldn’t be told through people explaining things to one another; the motif comes through in the details. Dialog can be one of those details, but it shouldn’t be the only one.

Use Sensory Descriptions

Because a narrative essay is a story, you can use sensory details to make your writing more interesting. If you’re describing a particular experience, you can go into detail about things like taste, smell, and hearing in a way that you probably wouldn’t do in any other essay style.

These details can tie into your overall motifs and further your point. Woolf describes in great detail what she sees while watching the moth, giving us the sense that we, too, are watching the moth. In Wallace’s essay, he discusses the sights, sounds, and smells of the Illinois State Fair to help emphasize his point about its strangeness. And in Baldwin’s essay, he describes shattered glass as a “wilderness,” and uses the feelings of his body to describe his mental state.

All these descriptions anchor us not only in the story, but in the motifs and themes as well. One of the tools of a writer is making the reader feel as you felt, and sensory details help you achieve that.

What’s Next?

Looking to brush up on your essay-writing capabilities before the ACT? This guide to ACT English will walk you through some of the best strategies and practice questions to get you prepared!

Part of practicing for the ACT is ensuring your word choice and diction are on point. Check out this guide to some of the most common errors on the ACT English section to be sure that you're not making these common mistakes!

A solid understanding of English principles will help you make an effective point in a narrative essay, and you can get that understanding through taking a rigorous assortment of high school English classes !

Melissa Brinks graduated from the University of Washington in 2014 with a Bachelor's in English with a creative writing emphasis. She has spent several years tutoring K-12 students in many subjects, including in SAT prep, to help them prepare for their college education.

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Narrative Essay Guide

Narrative Essay Outline

Last updated on: Feb 9, 2023

How to Write a Narrative Essay Outline - Tips & Examples

By: Nathan D.

Reviewed By: Melisa C.

Published on: Jun 2, 2020

A narrative essay is a type of academic essay in which the writer narrates a story. It is the most commonly assigned form of academic writing. Students have to face the narrative essay writing task quite often, so it is essential to know how to handle it. 

A narrative essay is a story, so it's important to know how to write one. The best way to start your outline is by brainstorming ideas.

Who are the characters? What do they want? How does this conflict with their goals and who wins in the end?

There are many different types of essays you can write about, but all will have some sort of conflict. Once you've figured out the basics, be creative! You could explore an event that happened in your life or tell a fictional story.

In this blog, you’ll learn to write an outline for a narrative essay with examples. Start reading!

On this Page

A  narrative essay  is a type of academic essay in which the writer narrates a story. It is the most commonly assigned form of academic writing. Students have to face the narrative essay writing task quite often, so it is essential to know how to handle it.

Narrative Essay Outline Format

The narrative essay outline follows the standard structure. Like other types of essays, this essay normally follows a typical 5 paragraph essay format. The 5 paragraph outline includes one introduction paragraph, three body paragraphs, and one conclusion paragraph.

However, unlike other essays, the paragraphs of the narrative essay have specifically designated purposes:

1. Introduction Paragraph:  Gives an insight into the story

2. First Body Paragraph:  Discuss the rising action

3. Second Body Paragraph:  Present the climax of the story

4. Third Body Paragraph:  Provide the falling action

5. Conclusion Paragraph:  Discussion of the lesson learned from the story

Paragraph Narrative Essay Outline Template

Let's look at the detailed 5 paragraph narrative essay outline for college students.

How to Write a Narrative Essay Outline?

A narrative essay is all about sharing the stories. Therefore, you need to organize your story into an essay format. As a writer, you are supposed to tell a story from your personal experience and why you are sharing that specific experience. Later, you need to discuss why this story or experience is important to share.

Let's look at how to craft an outline for a narrative essay. Follow the steps in the same sequence, and at the end, you’ll get a perfect outline. The writing process will become less stressful and daunting if you follow the steps given below.

1. Write the Introduction

The introduction paragraph is meant to engage the reader with the story. The first paragraph plays the most crucial role in making an impression on the reader’s mind. It allows you to share your perspective and how it relates to you. The following elements are involved in writing a strong narrative essay introduction.

• Create a Hook Statement  Draw the reader in with an intriguing and attention-grabbing hook statement. Create a strong hook that makes your reader want to read further. You can use a quote, rhetorical question, or fact to create a persuasive hook statement.
• Set the Scene:  Give your reader an idea of what is going to happen. Do not tell the whole story; just give a glimpse into it and keep your reader intrigued. Tell the reader how the points of the story relate to you.
• Define the Thesis Statement:  Finally, tell your reader what your story is all about with the help of a thesis statement. Give a sneak peek of what is about to come but avoid telling the lesson you have learned from the situation yet; just give a hint.

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2. Draft the Body Paragraphs

The main body of a narrative essay is the most important part because it tells the whole story. This is where you state the facts, provide examples, give details, and guide the reader through the plot. According to the five paragraphs essay structure, it has three body paragraphs, but it can depend on the length and word count.

Below elements must be kept in mind while writing the narrative essay body paragraphs:

• Write Chronologically:  The timelines of a story should be presented in chronological order. Otherwise, the reader will get confused, and it becomes hard for them to understand the story. To keep your paper organized, you should present things in sequential order.
• Share the Relevant and Vivid Details:  As a narrative essay is all about creating a mood and scene to follow, do that creatively. Set up the story with descriptive and concise language. Provide the reader with the most important details of your story. These details may include the characters, setting, plot, and the onset of the story.
• Avoid Narration Deviation:  The narrative essay is usually written in the first person unless you share someone else’s story. The third-person narrative only works best when you are telling a story you heard from someone else.

3. Write a Compelling Conclusion

The conclusion paragraph is the final section of the essay where you give some final comments about the story. Summarize your essay and connect your reader back to the story. Follow these steps to write an impressive conclusion.

• Restate Some Key Details:  Restate the thesis statement and some key details you have shared in the body. It will help you connect your reader with your story.
• Share the Lesson:  Stress the lesson you have learned from the story and leave the reader with something to think about.
• Call to Action:  In the end, provide a call to action that convinces the reader to think more about the topic.

Narrative Essay Outline Worksheet

Use the given worksheet below to write a narrative essay with ease.

Narrative Essay Outline Example

Here are some  narrative essay examples  and samples for your convenience. Use these templates and learn to write a good narrative essay easily.

Narrative Essay Outline for Middle School

College Narrative Essay Outline

Personal Narrative Essay Outline Template

Descriptive Narrative Essay Outline

Literacy Narrative Essay Outline

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Literature, College Essay

Nathan completed his Ph.D. in journalism and has been writing articles for well-respected publications for many years now. His work is carefully researched and insightful, showing a true passion for the written word. Nathan's clients appreciate his expertise, deep understanding of the process, and ability to communicate difficult concepts clearly.

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• Narrative Essay Examples: Samples & Tips

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How to Write a Narrative Essay

Published September 27, 2020. Updated May 20, 2022.

Narrative Essay Definition

A narrative essay is writing that tells a story.

Overview of a Narrative Essay

Though narratives are often part of casual conversation, they can be used in essays too. A narrative is a writing technique or the main pattern of development in an essay. Narratives are often used in personal writing because they help to create an immersive experience for the reader. Narratives usually have an implicit rather than an explicit thesis. Important features to consider when writing a narrative include description, chronological order, time transitions, verb tense, narrative action, dialogue, point of view, and body paragraphs. The conclusion of the narrative should help the story come “full circle” and connect back to its implicit thesis.

Worried about your writing? Submit your paper for a Chegg Writing essay check , or for an Expert Check proofreading . Both can help you find and fix potential writing issues.

This page will cover the following points:

Key Takeaways

Purpose and audience, introduction and thesis, narrative features, narrative essay template and example.

• Narratives are often used in personal writing because they help to create an immersive experience for the reader.
• Narratives usually have an implicit rather than an explicit thesis.
• Important features to consider when writing a narrative include description, chronological order, time transitions, verb tense, narrative action, dialogue, point of view, and body paragraphs.
• The conclusion of the narrative should help the story come “full circle” and connect back to its implicit thesis.
• Narratives are organized chronologically (by time). An outline will help you keep things organized as you narrate your event.
• Use your outline to help you make sure your supporting paragraphs have unity, coherence, and sufficient development.

A narrative, like other writing techniques, can be used to illustrate a thesis (the main idea of the essay). Often a writer will choose a narrative because it can form a strong connection with the reader by creating an immersive experience.

Since personal writing often uses narratives, a lot of narrative essays are meant to show an event that is of significance to you. You could also narrate an event that relates to a broader social issue. Often narrative assignments ask you to draw on your own experiences, but it’s certainly possible to narrate another person’s experience. However, your own experiences generally give you more to draw on.

Having a target audience in mind helps you shape your material. What reaction do you want readers to have to the event you’re narrating? How will you achieve that reaction? Also think about what your audience’s knowledge or experience base would be. Explain things they are unlikely to know and that they’ll need to understand your narrative, but don’t worry about explaining things you can reasonably expect the average reader to know.

In a narrative, the introduction could be the beginning of an event. You might jump right into the story. Doing so can give the essay more of a “creative writing” feel, and in such a case, you might have an implicit thesis . This is when the thesis is not directly stated. However, there must still be a clear, controlling idea that the reader can identify. Just like when an essay has a more traditional, directly stated thesis, all parts of the essay should support that main idea. An implicit thesis is less typical for an academic essay and may not fit with your assignment requirements.

A variation on starting at the beginning is to narrate the end of the event in the introduction. Of course, in this case, the reader wouldn’t be reading to figure out what happens. Rather, the interest would be in finding out what led to the ending.

More often, the introduction sets up the event in some way, before the narrative actually starts. It might give readers some relevant context or background information, so when the event starts, they know what’s going on. That contextual information might be something important to the narrative, but difficult or time-consuming to actually narrate.

An explicit thesis is more common in an academic essay. This is when the thesis is directly stated, generally at the end of the introduction. If you need an explicit thesis, this may be easier to insert at the end of an introduction that sets up the event instead of one that jumps right into the narration. The thesis gives the main point or insight that the narrative illustrates.

Description

Strong descriptions are important to create an immersive narrative. Strong descriptions support narratives by helping the writer “show” instead of just “tell.” This means that the reader has a clear mental image of what’s going on and feels drawn into the narrative. When you’re developing descriptions in your narrative, think about what dominant impression you’re going for. This is the “mood” or “vibe” you’re trying to develop. Dominant impressions are often not directly stated, but instead, they come through in the details, adjectives, and adverbs the writer uses. The dominant impression should support the purpose and thesis of the essay.

Chronological Order

Narratives are typically in chronological order, which means according to the passage of time. However, there are some variations to the typical chronological order. Writers sometimes break from the main narrative with a flashback or flash-forward . For example, if a new character appears, there might be a brief flashback that reveals their significance to a character in the narrative that readers have already met. Consistent chronological order throughout the essay is more straightforward and easier to convey to readers, especially if you are writing a shorter essay (2-3 pages).

Time Transitions

Time transitions are a significant organizational feature of narratives. They help readers understand how the parts of the event connect. Depending on how much time your story covers, you might refer to specific years, months, days, hours, and minutes . Transitions that don’t refer to a specific time include meanwhile , simultaneously , first , subsequently , during , finally , until , and many others.

Time words can also show readers how time is perceived during an event. Of course, time always passes at the same rate, but sometimes it feels slow or rushed to us. When you use time words to convey this, you help the reader become engaged in the experience.

Time transitions are always important for clarity, but this is even more important if you are writing in anything other than straight chronological order. It’s important that readers do not get confused and that the parts of the event don’t get muddled together.

The topic of a narrative essay is usually something that happened in the past, so past tense is usually ideal. However, sometimes a writer might use present tense for a past event to give that “in the moment” feel. That could be useful if you’re narrating something especially exciting or tense.

Proofreading Tip: Proofread for appropriate and consistent verb tenses. This is something spell check won’t pick up. Grammar check might not catch it either.

Narrative Action

In a narrative, there’s going to be action. Look for verbs that not only convey the right action but also support the dominant impression and purpose of the narration.

Let’s say you’re describing walking to an early morning class. You feel tired. Instead of “I walked to class,” you could say, “I trudged to class.” Both words mean you’re moving toward something, but “walked” is neutral. It doesn’t convey much. However, “trudged” conveys slow, sluggish movement. With this choice, you haven’t added more words, but you’ve conveyed more.

Look for specific, meaningful verbs versus more general, neutral verbs. These will make the action of the narrative more vivid.

A narrative doesn’t have to have dialogue, but it can be useful. With dialogue, you can

• convey a character’s personality (even in an essay, it’s OK to use non-standard English in dialogue to represent how a person speaks)
• convey plot information
• contribute to the dominant impression of a scene

You don’t have to quote a person word-for-word to add dialogue. In fact, it’s often not good to replicate exactly what someone says, because in real speech, people often go off-topic and use vague and general words. This isn’t helpful for guiding readers in an essay.

Point of View

Point of view (POV) refers to how the narrator tells the story. If you are narrating a story from your own experience, you are probably using the first-person point of view (I, me, my, mine). Students are often told not to use “I” in their essays, but it’s perfectly natural in a narrative.

If you are narrating someone else’s experience, you’d use the third-person point of view (he, she, him, her, his, hers). If you are considering this, first make sure this fits with your assignment instructions. Most narrative essay assignments ask you to narrate an event from your own experience.

Body Paragraphs

Organizing body paragraphs is a bit different in a narrative because you aren’t necessarily moving from point to point. Here are some considerations to help you know when to start new paragraphs:

• Are you using dialogue? If so, start a new paragraph every time the speaker changes.
• Start a new paragraph at significant time transitions or stages in the event.
• Start a new paragraph if you’re interjecting commentary on the event into the essay.

A conclusion signals closure. In a narrative, the conclusion is often the last paragraph of the story. The story shouldn’t end abruptly though. Readers should feel like the main idea in the story has been fully developed and everything has been resolved.

The conclusion might go back to something from the introduction. This brings the essay “full circle” and allows the readers to remember and reflect on something from the introduction in light of the essay they’ve now read.

The conclusion could also break from the narrative to comment on it. This might be a good choice for a more academic narrative essay. The conclusion can reaffirm the significance of the event and connect it to the thesis.

Outline Types

Formal and informal (sometimes called “scratch”) are the two general types of outlines; however, there are variations and “in-between” outlines between these two. If you are assigned an outline, your teacher will probably give you a specific format to follow. Make sure to adhere to that.

A formal outline is more work than an informal outline, but once you complete a formal outline, you’ll be close to a rough draft.

A formal outline uses indentation and a lettering/numbering system to designate different levels of generality in the essay. A formal outline may also use complete sentences.

Informal (Scratch)

An informal outline might be something you jot down for yourself. It might just be a list of points. They may be numbered in the order you want to cover them. This outline type is less likely to use complete sentences or to be developed using indentation to show different levels of generality.

Make Sure Your Supporting Paragraphs Have

• Unity – Unified supporting paragraphs have one main idea, generally expressed in the topic sentence.
• Coherence – Coherence means making it clear to readers how all the ideas fit together.
• Descriptive language – Usually a narrative tries to create a strong mental image of the event for the readers.

Before you turn in that paper, don’t forget to cite your sources in APA format , MLA format , or a style of your choice.

By Ericka Scott Nelson. Ericka earned a MA in English from the University of California, Riverside. She teaches composition at a community college. 

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• 15 Great Essay Conclusion Examples
• 18 Outstanding Essay Conclusion Examples

What Is a Conclusion of an Essay: Outline and Purpose

How to write a conclusion paragraph.

• 18 Good Conclusion Paragraph Examples
• Argumentative

Narrative Essay

Effective strategies to conclude an essay, bottom line.

One of the crucial parts of a writing piece is an essay conclusion. it is the last paragraph that creates the final impression from a paper. It is not enough just to summarize what was written in the body part. A writer must make the reader want to continue exploring the problem, share the author’s position, or finally get a clear understanding of an issue . It all depends on the essay type. Our  essay writer  team has come up with essay conclusion examples and useful tips to help students master the art of concluding an essay logically and effectively. Check them out!

Conclusion is the last paragraph of any academic writing, no matter whether it is a school five paragraph essay or college research paper. It is a compulsory structural part of an essay that gives a sense of closure. The purpose of writing a conclusion is to restate the main idea, summarize the key points discussed in the body of the paper showing how they support or prove your thesis, and draw a general conclusion .

What to write in a conclusion paragraph? A typical conclusion outline has three structural components:

• Restated thesis statement.
• Summary of the key points.
• General conclusion or ideas for broader implications of an issue.

Don’t know how to start essay conclusions? No worries! We have prepared useful tips to help you write a good conclusion for your essay. Follow these simple steps:

• Restate the thesis statement . Start your essay conclusion with reminding readers of the main idea of your paper. However, do not just copy-paste the sentence from the introduction paragraph . You should present the same claim but using different words.
• Summarize the main points . Proceed with analysis and summary the key ideas you have discussed in the body paragraphs. Show how these arguments support and prove your thesis statement.
• Sum up the whole essay . After analyzing the major ideas of the paper, draw up a general essay conclusion. If you do not know how to do it, try answering the So-what?-question. In case you write a conclusion for a research paper, you may be asked to identify the knowledge gap. Also, you may specify broader implications of the issue in the larger context for future research.

18 Good Conclusion Paragraph Examples 

We have prepared essay conclusions for different types of papers. Check them out for better understanding of how to write a conclusion.

Argumentative 

The purpose of argumentative paper is to take a stand on an issue. Check these argumentative essay conclusion examples to make your essay convincing.

The purpose of this essay type is to persuade the readers. Look through persuasive essay conclusion examples to understand how to write a conclusion that will help you win over the audience.

Critical thinking is required in this essay type. You should be able to analyze the whole piece of writing to create a strong final paragraph. Have a look at these analysis essay conclusion examples to get a general idea.

Wondering how to write a literary analysis ? Check out our guide.

These essays are easy to write. The purpose of the narrative essay conclusion is to sum up everything described and discussed in the essay.

Expository 

Expository essays aim to describe or explain ideas, notions, phenomena, etc. to the reader. Such papers require research to support the ideas and be able to provide evidence. Check out a conclusion sample of an expository essay.

Are you assigned to write an exposition? Check our blog post to find out what is an expository essay and how to write it successfully.

Look at the English essay conclusion example below. It may refer to any type of paper.

There exist several most common approaches that allow to conclude an essay logically and reasonably. Here they are.

• So what? This is the most common strategy. It presupposes summing up the paper by giving an answer to a short question So-what?
• Giving a larger context. This strategy mainly applies to the research papers. The main idea is to mention the areas of the issue that need further investigation.
• Rhetorical question . It is a provocative and intriguing question that does not need an answer. It gives readers food for thought. However, such conclusions might be not very effective in academic papers.

Also, we would like to remind you that there are some details that should not be included in the conclusion paragraph. Avoid:

• Retelling what was written in the paper
• Presenting new ideas
• Introducing facts or arguments that contradict the info discussed in the essay
• Adding in-text citations
• Copy-pasting sentences from the intro or body paragraphs
• Using phrases like in conclusion, in summary, to sum up, etc.

Essay conclusion is an essential part of a paper. If you miss it or make it weak, your essay will be incomplete. Thus, try your best to conclude an essay with a strong and balanced final paragraph. It should resonate with the essay introduction and body paragraphs, summarize the whole paper, and be written using parallel sentence structures. Have a close look at conclusion sentence examples to ensure you are able to conclude an essay appropriately. If you have some questions or need help with your essay conclusion, you may ask for writing assistance. Experienced writers will help you write a logical and reasonable essay conclusion.

1. What are the components of a conclusion?

Essay conclusion usually has three main parts. They are: restated thesis statement, summary of the key points, and general conclusion. Make sure you include these parts in the final part to conclude an essay appropriately. Mind that just repeating the thesis and ideas will not work. Show your ability to analyze.

2. How to begin a conclusion?

In the last paragraph synthesize and summarize your paper. A reasonable conclusion starts with reminding readers the main idea of an essay. Make sure to paraphrase your thesis statement. Otherwise, it might seem you don’t really understand the point. Also, avoid starting the paragraph with such words as in conclusion, in summary, to conclude, to sum up, etc. It looks primitive and unprofessional.

It’s time for essay writing but you do not know how to start, what to write about, and how to organize your work? This article will guide you on how to write a 500 word essay fast, will reveal all the essay writing secrets regarding essay structure, writing process as well as give good examples for ...

A topic sentence is an important part of your essay. Its basic function is to help you organize each paragraph by summing up its information in a brief manner to make it easier for readers to grab your point. Use topic sentence examples to write good topic sentences. Without them, your academic pape...

The essay introduction serves as a quick test of your text: if the first paragraph is well-written, the rest of the text may be superb. If you fail with making a good introduction, there’s no matter how exceptional your body and conclusion are because nobody will ever read it. Every essay writer onl...

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Narrative Essays

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What is a narrative essay?

When writing a narrative essay, one might think of it as telling a story. These essays are often anecdotal, experiential, and personal—allowing students to express themselves in a creative and, quite often, moving ways.

Here are some guidelines for writing a narrative essay.

• If written as a story, the essay should include all the parts of a story.

This means that you must include an introduction, plot, characters, setting, climax, and conclusion.

• When would a narrative essay not be written as a story?

A good example of this is when an instructor asks a student to write a book report. Obviously, this would not necessarily follow the pattern of a story and would focus on providing an informative narrative for the reader.

• The essay should have a purpose.

Make a point! Think of this as the thesis of your story. If there is no point to what you are narrating, why narrate it at all?

• The essay should be written from a clear point of view.

It is quite common for narrative essays to be written from the standpoint of the author; however, this is not the sole perspective to be considered. Creativity in narrative essays oftentimes manifests itself in the form of authorial perspective.

• Use clear and concise language throughout the essay.

Much like the descriptive essay, narrative essays are effective when the language is carefully, particularly, and artfully chosen. Use specific language to evoke specific emotions and senses in the reader.

• The use of the first person pronoun ‘I’ is welcomed.

Do not abuse this guideline! Though it is welcomed it is not necessary—nor should it be overused for lack of clearer diction.

• As always, be organized!

Have a clear introduction that sets the tone for the remainder of the essay. Do not leave the reader guessing about the purpose of your narrative. Remember, you are in control of the essay, so guide it where you desire (just make sure your audience can follow your lead).

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Do you want to create a perfect narrative essay but need help figuring out how to do it? Please be assured that we have your back. To learn all you want to know about writing a perfect narrative essay, read this article.

In a narrative essay, you deliver a message while also telling a tale, often about a personal event. Therefore, the narrative serves two purposes: to entertain the audience and to highlight the significance of the experience. Essentially, narrative writing is like writing a story. A narrative can be either fiction or nonfiction, or it can lie somewhere in the middle, such as in the form of historical fiction, theatrical retellings of real-world events, or semi-autobiographical stories. A piece is narrative writing if it delivers a story using a narrative structure.

Essentially, writing a narrative is writing a story. Writers communicate their point of view chronologically by using a narrator style. There are various timelines and flashbacks. Essays, fairy tales, autobiographies, and news articles are a few common examples of narrative writing.

Table of Contents

What is a narrative essay for?

You may think about the reason your teacher assigned you a narrative essay. Narrative essay subjects might range from significant to insignificant. The way you convey the narrative, rather than the story itself, is usually more important.

You can demonstrate your ability to tell a story engagingly and straightforwardly by writing a narrative essay. You must consider the beginning and end of your story as well as how to tell it with engaging vocabulary and satisfactory pacing.

These abilities differ significantly from those required for conventional academic writing. For instance, it is recommended to utilise the first person in narrative essays as well as dialogue, figurative language, and suspense.

Types of narrative writing

There are multiple ways to write a narrative. The right narrative for your essay just depends on your goals for the article you are writing.

Linear narrative

In a linear narrative, the events of a story are revealed chronologically. The majority of stories in novels, movies, TV shows, and other forms of media are linear. Each scene in a linear story is followed by the one that has the most sense. There may be a gap between scenes, such as when the third chapter of a book picks up two years after the events of the second chapter.

The quest narrative is a particular kind of linear narrative that you might be familiar with. The quest of a character to accomplish a goal is the subject of different storytelling styles. This quest frequently entails going to a distant location and facing challenges in order to succeed.

The historical narrative is yet another distinct category of linear narrative that you may have come across. A historical narrative tells the story of a real event or series of events using a linear timeline.

Nonlinear narrative

A nonlinear narrative delivers the events of its story in a different order than a linear narrative does. We use a nonlinear description in our writing to stress our characters’ feelings and viewpoints on the story’s events. Additionally, you can draw attention to significant occurrences and incorporate scenes with crucial facts that otherwise wouldn’t fit into your story’s timeline.

Viewpoint narrative

In a viewpoint narrative, the emphasis is on the narrator’s interpretation of the story’s events. These stories tend to focus more on the characters than the storyline. You can explore different parts of your protagonist’s personality and let your readers in on their thoughts by using a narrative viewpoint. This kind of narrative works well for personal essays and stories with themes of perspective and personal development.

Descriptive narrative

A descriptive narrative focuses on the appearance and sensation of the story’s setting, characters, and objects. A viewpoint narrative seeks to establish immersion in a character’s inner world, a constrained perspective on the story’s world; this is different from how it aims to generate total immersion in the story’s world.

To discuss the subject you are addressing in a descriptive essay, you will employ descriptive narrative strategies. These include similes, personification, and the use of vivid imagery to introduce particular objects and concepts.

The length of a narrative essay

There is no predetermined length for narrative essays. Depending on who is assigning the work and which organisation is running the course, a different word count may be necessary. Some story essays are only 500 words long, while others may be several hundred words long. Your story essay rules may occasionally stipulate that you need at least 1,000 words.

If a word count is specified, such as 500–600 words, you must adhere to it. If there is no time limit, the length of your job is entirely up to you. At least a few hundred words should be included in an excellent narrative essay. It should have three or more body paragraphs and a distinct introduction and conclusion.

Your task should be concise and direct, regardless of how long it is. A narrative essay should summarise the main ideas of a story without necessarily going into great detail. Only the most significant individuals, settings, and events should be included. Don’t be afraid to use some descriptive language, but don’t use it excessively.

How to choose a topic for a narrative essay

The subjects for narrative essays can cover practically any facet of human existence, making them quite versatile. You can be given a topic to write about when asked to write a narrative essay, or you might be given the option to choose one yourself.

There are two types of prompts for topics that have been assigned: Specific and Open-minded.

Examples of specific prompts:

• Write about your most recent vacation.
• Write about your middle school senior year.

Examples of open-minded prompts:

• Describe an occasion when you completely believed that all hopes were lost.
• Describe a quick, seemingly unimportant event that ultimately had a huge impact on your life.

It is important to remember that a narrative essay is about telling a tale, and all great stories have a conflict of some kind at their core. Be careful to choose a topic that isn’t merely a routine occasion when everything turns out as planned. Unexpected challenges, detours, and turns make for much more fascinating writings and show more about personality and worldview.

Always keep in mind that when writing a narrative essay specifically for an admissions application, the readers will be looking at it to get a feel of both your writing skills and who you are as a person. In these situations, it’s a good idea to pick a subject and an experience from your life that exemplifies the traits the prompt is looking for, such as resiliency, perseverance, the capacity to remain composed under pressure, etc.

Additionally, it’s critical to keep in mind that your topic selection is just the beginning. Since many students discover new ideas and insights while writing their first drafts, your essay’s ultimate shape may have a very different focus from the one you originally started with.

How to outline and format a narrative essay

A narrative essay still requires a cohesive framework even though you’re not making a claim or demonstrating a point of view. As you narrate the story, your reader must be able to follow along and understand the bigger point you’re trying to convey.

Your handling of the subject and the organisation of your essay will be heavily weighed in your evaluation. Even if you’re the type of writer who prefers to “go with the flow” and follow the tale as it develops, you might still want to create a rough outline to give yourself some direction so you tell your story clearly and effectively.

The most fundamental markers to determine while structuring your narrative essay are the beginning and end of your story, as well as how many significant moments will occur in between. Pace and tone should also be taken into account.

A narrative essay should almost always be written in the first person, which is frequently a welcome change for students who are used to writing from an objective third-person perspective.

It’s also a good idea to seek opportunities to use rhetorical flourishes, like metaphor and analogy, that improve the expressiveness and originality of your essay when you’re outlining and structuring it. Try thinking about how your narrative connects to archetypes and well-known historical and literary figures from both the past and the present to get your creative juices flowing. To write better and connect your personal experience to a broader perspective, include these parallels in your essay.

Characteristics of narrative writing

Narrative writing is no different from other types of writing in that it has its own distinctive qualities. The following essential elements are present in most narratives.

• Descriptive language: Instead of explaining facts directly, this language stirs up emotions. Onomatopoeia, personification, similes, and metaphors are examples of illustrative language devices.
• Nearly every story requires a protagonist among the characters. The character whose tale is being recounted as they strive to achieve a goal or overcome a struggle is known as the protagonist, also known as the main character.
• The adversary is a character that appears in almost every story. The antagonist is just the person or thing the protagonist must face to overcome hurdles; they are not necessarily the “bad guy.” An adversary can be a character, a natural force, the protagonist’s society, or even a feature of the protagonist’s psyche in many stories.
• Plot: The storyline is the sequence of actions that take place in your story. A storyline might be straightforward with just one or two key events, or it can be intricate and have multiple layers.
• The beginning: The reader and your writing meet at this point. It’s important to get their attention right away.
• The middle: The action occurs amid your tale or essay. Here, your protagonist encounters one or more challenges and reaches the story’s climax, which occurs when the protagonist either succeeds or fails in achieving their goal and the narrative shifts focus to the descending action.
• The end: After the narrative’s climax, the conclusion ties up any unfinished business, satisfies any unanswered questions, and prepares the protagonist for life after the events of the story.

Cheat code for awesome narrative writing

Use your narrative to build characters.

When you write in the first-person view, one of the characters in your story serves as the narrator. Through their word choice, point of view, and responses to the events in the story, use this position as an opportunity to develop their character. Experiment with things like an unreliable narrator, a limited point of view, or alternate narrators (which offers the reader a sample of each character’s perspective). Your narrator doesn’t have to be omniscient, trustworthy, or even the story’s only narrator.

Listen to how people tell stories

The next time, when a friend tells you a story about their day, pay close attention to both the story itself and the way they deliver it. Pay attention to the forward and backward jumps, asides, tangents, and changes in your friend’s volume and animation intensity throughout the narrative. You’ll note that some passages are “fast-forwarded,” while others diverge from the narrative’s logical, linear flow and use more evocative, abstract language. 

Keep these storytelling ebbs and flows in mind while you compose your next narrative piece. Consider the instances in the story where your friends slowed down to create tension or changed their time to reflect their emotions. Through deliberate word selection and timing, you can achieve these effects in your writing.

Mix and match narrative styles

Even when writing a linear story, you can still include descriptive or perspective aspects. If the nonlinear essay you’re writing about the five finest summers of your life requires a passage describing everything you experienced while at camp, then write that passage.

Permit yourself to have fun. Create your own onomatopoeic phrases. Consider two separate characters and describe the same structure from each one’s point of view. Then, record the characters’ exchanges with one another concerning the structure. See where you wind up by following your stream of mind as far as it will take you.

Freewriting is the term for this creative writing style. It’s a wonderful method to develop your imagination and build a universe on paper. The writing you create during a freewriting session is the raw material you’ll mould and publish into a coherent narrative later; there are no structure rules and there’s no need to worry about grammar. Permit yourself to play for the time being.

Essential elements of narrative essays

Let’s first review the fundamentals. Argumentative essays, descriptive essays, expository essays, and narrative essays are the four primary forms of essays.

In-depth stories are typically told in narrative essays from the perspective of one individual. A narrative essay uses every component of a story, including a beginning, middle, and end as well as a plot, characters, setting, and climax, to bring the story to a satisfying conclusion.

The storyline, which is described in sufficient depth to develop to a climax, is the main emphasis of a narrative essay. This is how:

• Typically, it is told in chronological order.
• It always serves a reason. This is frequently indicated in your thesis statement in the opening paragraph.
• There might be a discussion. Here are the specifics of the hope discourse that should be punctuated for more information.
• The author engages the reader with vivid descriptions and sensory details. All of these specifics are somehow related to the writer’s main argument.

Quick tips on writing a narrative essay

Keep in mind that you are sharing sensory and emotional details with the reader when writing a narrative essay.

• Your words need to be vivid and colourful to help the reader feel the same feelings that you felt.
• Whatever point you are making, elements of the story need to be supported. And, you need to remember to refer to that point in the first sentence.
• As in any story, you should incorporate conflict and sequence.
• You may use flashbacks and flash forwards to help the story build toward a climax.
• Although it is typically written in the first person, it is also possible to employ the third-person viewpoint.

You can flex your creativity and tell a brilliant story in a narrative essay. This type of essay is often a welcome departure for students who are used to writing persuasive or expository essays.

Explore the basics of the narrative essay and ace your narrative writing when you might be asked to write one.

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The Psychological Depths of Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’

This essay about Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart” explores themes of guilt, paranoia, and the thin line between sanity and madness. Through a first-person narrative, the story examines the narrator’s psychological turmoil following the murder of an old man, driven by an irrational obsession. The essay highlights Poe’s use of language and narrative techniques to create a sense of urgency and tension, revealing the fragility of human rationality and the consuming nature of guilt.

How it works

Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart” stands as a cornerstone of Gothic literature, delving into the labyrinthine corridors of the human mind. Published in 1843, this chilling narrative meticulously unfolds themes of guilt, paranoia, and the delicate line between sanity and madness. Through a compelling first-person account, Poe ensnares readers in the deteriorating psyche of the narrator, offering a profound exploration of moral decay and psychological turmoil.

The narrator, whose identity remains shrouded, vehemently asserts their sanity while recounting the calculated murder of an elderly man.

Fixated on the old man’s “vulture eye,” the motive exposes the narrator’s obsessive tendencies, laying bare their descent into madness. Poe strategically withholds details about the narrator’s past and their relationship with the victim, heightening suspense and focusing attention on the narrator’s unraveling mental state.

At the core of “The Tell-Tale Heart” lies the crushing weight of guilt. Following the murder, the narrator dismembers the body and conceals it beneath the floorboards, convinced of their flawless execution. Yet, the imagined sound of the old man’s heartbeat beneath the floorboards slowly consumes the narrator, symbolizing their festering guilt and crumbling sanity. This haunting auditory hallucination underscores Poe’s acute portrayal of how guilt can distort reality and corrode one’s grip on sanity.

Poe’s mastery of language and narrative technique amplifies the story’s eerie ambiance and the narrator’s descent into madness. The disjointed, frenetic sentences mirror the narrator’s turbulent thoughts, creating a tense atmosphere fraught with impending doom. Repetitions such as “I heard many things in hell” and “very, very dreadfully nervous” accentuate the narrator’s fixations and escalating paranoia, immersing readers in their fractured psyche.

Moreover, “The Tell-Tale Heart” critiques the fragile veneer of rationality that masks deeper, darker impulses. Despite the narrator’s fervent claims of sanity, their irrational actions betray a profound detachment from reality, revealing the precarious nature of human reason. Poe suggests that beneath the façade of logic lies a profound abyss of irrationality and madness, echoing the Gothic tradition’s exploration of humanity’s shadowy depths.

In conclusion, Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart” remains a seminal work that plumbs the depths of guilt, paranoia, and the perilous boundary between sanity and insanity. Through the narrator’s unsettling confession and subsequent psychological disintegration, Poe delivers a chilling examination of the darker recesses of the human psyche. The enduring impact of the story lies in its ability to enthrall readers with its macabre themes while offering profound insights into the complexities of human nature. Poe’s adept use of first-person narrative, evocative language, and narrative structure ensures that “The Tell-Tale Heart” endures as a timeless and captivating masterpiece of Gothic fiction.

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Conclusion Paragraph Starters Guide to Elevate Your Essay Game

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Conclusion paragraph starters are short transition words that inform the reader that you are going towards the end of the paper. These last paragraph starters are essential for a smooth flow of the ideas till the end. A conclusion must have a proper announcement of the end to make your text look connected and coherent, which may break the reader's flow. While adding the starters is essential, knowing which one to use and which will be the best fit according to the tone of your essay is also critical and not that simple.

In this article, we will discuss how you can write a perfect conclusion paragraph, why the sentence starters are crucial, their attributes, and effective paragraph starting phrases to make your essays win. We will also answer common concerns about some intelligent ways to end a conclusion.

You have completed your essay and come this far; you will definitely want to end it well. What? You haven’t written the essay yet? Remember, your deadline is around the corner. Do you feel procrastinated and don’t feel like writing? We recommend you seek essay writing services from The Academic Papers UK . We have experts with professional experience and a strong portfolio for writing essays in your field.

Note: Before we move to effective conclusion paragraph starters, here is how to write a strong conclusion. If you are confident, you can conclude your essay well; move to the essay conclusion starters section.

How to Write a Strong Conclusion Paragraph?

Writing an effective closure is critical to casting an impact on the reader. What the reader wades through at the end leaves more impact than the whole paper.

Here are some best practices to write a solid last paragraph:

• Recapitulate the Argument:   As the primary purpose of your conclusion is to give a last shot to convince the reader of your stance, bringing the reader back to your main point is good practice. Reiterating your thesis can help remind the reader of its purpose. While stating the argument again, it is essential to paraphrase the statements and avoid repeating them word by word.
• Restate the Backing Points : While you reiterate your thesis, you should also recapitulate the main ideas discussed in the article. This will ensure you state and summarise all the themes of the paper.
• Build a Relationship Between Opening and Closing Declarations: If you want to leave a substantial impact on the reader, returning to the central theme of the essay, which you started from the introduction paragraph, is a good tactic. But make sure your reader gets a true sense of a conclusion. This will create a connection and coherence between the opening and closing paragraphs and the essay's overall theme.
• Prove your Stance: To prove your argument, your conclusion must leave the reader with a question or thought-provoking statement so he thinks about the essay even after completing it, which should be the ultimate goal of writing.  You won as a writer if your reader can't get off your piece.

Why Is It Important to Start a Conclusion Well?

Conclusions are usually written to give the essence of the complete academic paper . Plus, it makes the reader rethink and recall the ideas discussed from the start to the end of the paper. If you give a strong voice towards the end of your paper, such as an essay, it will leave a lasting impact on the readers' minds. But, to achieve all this, you need to start your conclusion strongly.

Although wrap-ups are important, very few people will read them. To make them read it, you need to give it a powerful start, giving it equal importance to the introduction paragraph. Plus, using the conclusion paragraph starters will give a proper structure and coherence to your essay. As we know, giving an excellent start to your essay is important so your reader continues reading the write-up; you have held their interest throughout the paper, but you must lose it at the end.

Why Are Conclusion Paragraph Starters Important?

To convey to the reader the beginning of an end, a compelling conclusion starter will inform the reader that the section will wrap up and list the main idea concisely for their better understanding.

So, instead of ending the essay unexpectedly or starting the conclusion without a statement, start the conclusion with a paragraph starter to keep the text flowing. These paragraph starters are basically the transition words used to discuss different ideas without sudden changes in the flow and context of the text.

To tell the readers they are going to read the final part of the paper, this is what a typical conclusion paragraph starter looks like:

• Some transition words familiarise the reader with the purpose of the last paragraph
• and inform the readers that they have reached the last paragraph of the essay.
• Tell the reader that this section will only summarise the critical points and won't provide any new information.
• These transition words will also set the expectations for what can be the final ideas of the conclusion (a sentence stating the need for additional research or a powerful call to action)

Remember, write your last paragraph carefully, and do not make it a spoiler for your essay. If you have not started writing your essay yet due to any obligation, you have the option to outsource the task and get essay writing help online . Professionals can do your essay assignment quickly and in the best way.

This is the new content added before the seventh heading.

An Ultimate List of Conclusion Paragraph Starters for Your Essays

Choosing a conclusion starter that matches the tone of the essay can be challenging. Transition words might have the same meaning and convey the same information, but their tone would be different. As they serve as a link between the conclusion and the body text, they have to be strong.

Common conclusion paragraph starter phrases are:

• After all has been said
• In conclusion
• What else can we conclude but that
• To wrap it up
• I hope I have been able to convince you that
• All things considered
• Upon exploring the situation from multiple perspectives
• For these reasons
• What other conclusion can we draw from
• To summarise
• I feel we have no choice left but to wrap it up
• With all this in mind
• As you can see
• When faced with the question of
• As stated in the introduction
• Now that you know
• Examining all the facts, this essay finds
• The nature of the proofs suggests
• According to the final study
• At the heart of the issue
• Nevertheless

What Do We Need to Achieve from a Good Paragraph Starter?

A perfect paragraph builds a convincing connection between the last part of the body text and the conclusion. Using the conclusion paragraph starters, we need to achieve coherence, structure, and flow in the essay, following a logical hierarchy. Plus, we need to state the main idea clearly while also pulling the reader’s attention. We can only get what we want to achieve from paragraph starters if we choose them after careful consideration.

To summarise the article, we can state that the use of conclusion paragraph starters is crucial and needs careful consideration before you incorporate them. These transitions are used to tell the reader that the masterpiece they were reading is going towards the conclusion.

Remember, breaking the coherence of the text is like breaking the spell you cast on the reader with your outstanding essay. You will definitely not like to do that, right? Only a coherent essay can be a winning essay. If you don’t have any experience in writing a winning document, we suggest you hire an experienced writer to get the job done promptly and comprehensively.

In this article, we have discussed the characteristics and importance of conclusion paragraph starters. We have also provided a list of effective starters; you can use the phrase that is best suited for you according to the tone of your essay and the information provided in it. We hope you will find this guide helpful.

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• https://topscholars.oregonstate.edu/sites/enrollmentmanagement.oregonstate.edu/files/content/500promptsnarrativeandpersonalwriting.pdf
• https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/20/learning/lesson-plans/650-prompts-for-narrative-and-personal-writing.html
• https://stlcc.edu/student-support/academic-success-and-tutoring/writing-center/writing-resources/narrative-essay-topic-checklist.aspx

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12 Tips for Writing a Memorable School Council Speech

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Jonathan Alter

Contributing Opinion Writer

How the Democrats Should Replace Biden

Two weeks ago, a pillar of the Democratic leadership on Capitol Hill told me that if President Biden performed poorly in Thursday night’s debate, Democrats would yank him as a candidate. They simply cannot let him pull down the entire ticket and turn the country over to a would-be dictator.

That fear, as viewers saw on national television, was borne out, and now panicking senior Democrats have a decent shot at prevailing upon the president to withdraw. He should do so gracefully and instruct his delegates to vote for whoever is chosen in Chicago, where the Democratic convention opens on Aug. 19.

That move would have the short-term advantage of wrecking the Republican convention, which opens in Milwaukee on July 15. The G.O.P. plans to spend four days savaging Biden. If he dropped out, Republicans would have to explain what they want to do for the country, and the public would realize the only answer is: nothing but harm it in unpopular ways.

Biden could help maximize the power of his withdrawal by laying down a few ground rules for the Democrats, which — given his control of delegates and his status as a beloved elder statesman — would very likely be obeyed:

None of the candidates in the next seven weeks — about the typical length of European campaigns, by the way — may attack rivals or spend money on their own campaigns that will be needed in the fall against Donald Trump. If any do, Biden will come out against them.

Only those with a certain threshold of support in polls may take part in any Democratic debates to be scheduled before the convention.

Each qualifying candidate will be granted a half-hour address on the opening night of the convention, with the winner expanding on it in his or her acceptance speech.

The delegates should take into consideration — though not be bound by — state and national polls showing the relative strengths of the candidates.

The candidates should identify possible running mates.

Unlike the 2020 primaries, this summer’s contest would include no viable candidates from the party’s left wing. Two senators, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, are too old and have said they aren’t running, nor is anyone from the Squad. If they change their minds, Biden should come out against them.

Some analysts say the delegates would nominate Vice President Kamala Harris. Perhaps, but if she was outshined in speeches and debates this summer by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Gov. J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, Senator Amy Klobuchar, Senator Cory Booker or a dark-horse candidate, Harris probably wouldn’t be the nominee.

Like the bosses of old — and this is how nominees were chosen until the 1960s — Democrats have a political obligation to pick the candidate most likely to win. This becomes a moral obligation in an election in which democracy is on the line.

Rather than a chaotic mess, an open convention would create enormous excitement that would propel the nominee into the fall campaign. And without Biden to trash, Trump would try to slam a new nominee. But after chasing a moving target of possible rivals over the summer, he would have only a short time to make anything stick.

One thing is for sure: Whoever would prevail in Chicago would be a stronger candidate than Biden, who cannot reverse the verdict that he is too old to serve.

W.J. Hennigan

Opinion Writer

Voters Must Decide Who Should Be the King of America’s Nuclear Monarchy

Many Americans watched the first debate of the 2024 presidential election in shocked disbelief as President Biden and Donald Trump bickered, often incomprehensibly, over their mental acuities, legal troubles and golf handicaps.

The disappointing back and forth served as a stark reminder that one of them, as the nation’s commander in chief, could have unilateral decision-making power to wage nuclear war.

The United States has a nuclear monarchy. Only the president can decide whether to use nuclear weapons. That power is absolute; he or she does not need to consult Congress, the courts or senior advisers, as Times Opinion explored in our series At the Brink , about the modern nuclear threat.

The American president’s sole authority to launch nuclear weapons began in practice on Aug. 10, 1945 — just days after the United States dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki — when President Harry Truman ordered that such an action could not be taken without the White House’s direct order. It has remained in the Oval Office ever since.

Polling from last August found that 61 percent of Americans said they were uncomfortable with the nuclear sole-authority power. As I wrote in March , “Putting so much unchecked power in the hands of one person is not only risky but also deeply antithetical to how America defines itself.”

In the months ahead, voters will have to decide which person they prefer to make that decision. Biden, who is 81, and Trump, who is 78, would be the oldest candidates in the nation’s history to appear on their parties’ tickets.

Under law, neither man’s age would allow him to pilot a commercial airliner . Or serve in command as a military officer . Or be appointed as an appellate judge in most U.S. states. And in Trump’s case, because of his felony conviction, he is not allowed to own a gun.

Both men are, however, still eligible to control the deadliest weapon arsenal known to man.

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Michelle Cottle

Which Joe Biden Is the Real One?

Well, that was adequate.

President Biden seemed back to his base-line self at Friday’s rally in Raleigh, N.C., his first appearance after Thursday night’s debate debacle.

He came out onstage holding Jill Biden’s hand, which was adorable but also helped deflect attention from his stiff gait. He still had a nasty cough, but the eye twinkle and the smile were back. And when other people were speaking, his resting face looked way less slack-jawed. His voice was stronger, his energy level higher and his speech crisper. He didn’t seem frazzled by the hecklers in the crowd who kept interrupting him and who were in turn drowned out by the chants of “Four more years!”

And, yes, reading from a prompter, he managed to deliver a perfectly coherent case against Donald Trump, with an emphasis on the threat Trump poses to women’s reproductive rights, the rule of law and the foundations of American democracy.

It wasn’t a glorious speech. (Donald “Herbert Hoover” Trump”? Seriously, man?) But he did get in a couple of hard jabs about Trump as a felon and an inveterate liar.

For me, the most interesting bit was his reference to last night’s meltdown. “I know I’m not a young man, to state the obvious,” he told the crowd. “I don’t walk as smoothly as I used to. I don’t speak as smoothly as I used to. And I don’t debate as well as I used to. But I know what I do know. I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong. I know how to do this job. I know how to get things done. I know what millions of Americans know: When you get knocked down, you get back up.”

Translation: Everyone has a bad night now and then, and I have every intention of soldiering on.

He then gave the crowd his word “as a Biden” that if he didn’t believe with all his “heart and soul” that he could do this job, he wouldn’t be running.

Um, fantastic? Except that Biden’s belief in his fitness is not the issue, per se. The problem is the yawning gap between his belief and the direct observations of so very many voters.

Jesse Wegman

Editorial Board Member

The Supreme Court Gives a Hand to Hundreds of Jan. 6 Rioters

In a perfect world, Congress would have long ago made a law specifically prohibiting a violent attack on the U.S. Capitol incited by the sitting president in an attempt to block the certification of an election he lost fair and square.

Congress never made such a law, nor has it made countless other laws to cover other scenarios that might one day occur. That would be impossible. Instead, as anyone who has ever tried to make a law knows, you craft general language that can be adapted to specific circumstances later.

That’s not good enough, a majority of the Supreme Court said on Friday morning . In ruling for Joseph Fischer — who was convicted of obstruction for being part of the mob that broke into the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to stop the counting of electoral votes and keep Donald Trump in office — the court decided that federal prosecutors wrongly relied on an Enron-era law that covered only the intentional destruction of physical documents.

The law in question applies to anyone ​​who corruptly “alters, destroys, mutilates or conceals a record, document or other object,” or who “otherwise obstructs, influences or impedes any official proceeding, or attempts to do so.”

This sounds very much like what the Jan. 6 rioters did, as Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote in a dissent joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor. “Blocking an official proceeding from moving forward surely qualifies as obstructing or impeding the proceeding by means other than document destruction,” Barrett wrote. And yet the majority executed what she described as a series of “textual back flips” by narrowly interpreting the meaning and placement of the word “otherwise.” Why? Because, she wrote, “it simply cannot believe that Congress meant what it said.”

The court’s ruling overturns only Fischer’s conviction, but it will require revisiting the charges against about 350 Jan. 6 rioters under the same law, including some of the most serious cases of the 1,450 people who have been charged to date. It’s also a law the special counsel, Jack Smith, has charged Trump with violating, among other charges in the indictment. ( It’s not clear whether the decision will require dropping the obstruction charges against Trump.)

That brings us to the deeper problem with Friday’s ruling, which is that we can neither legislate nor prosecute our way to a healthier democracy. Those who stormed the Capitol (whom Trump still refers to as “political prisoners” and promises to pardon if elected) should of course be punished. But whatever happens to them, the man most responsible for the events of that day stands on the cusp of being elected to the White House once again.

That’s why the real blame here lies not with the prosecutors or even the court; it lies with the Senate Republicans who refused to hold Trump to account in the weeks after Jan. 6. Had they voted to convict him following his impeachment, he would not now be eligible to run for president. No federal law, however well written, can make up for political cowardice like that.

Meher Ahmad

Opinion Staff Editor

The Court Forces America’s Homeless to Stay Awake or Be Arrested

The Supreme Court has issued its most direct ruling in decades on the rights of more than half a million people experiencing homelessness in the United States, and it sets a devastating precedent. Now laws that punish people without shelter from sleeping on the streets have a stamp of approval from the highest court in the country.

A divided court ruled in favor of Grants Pass, Ore., a city that seeks to bar people without homes from sleeping in public within the city limits, even if shelter space isn’t available. The majority opinion, written by Justice Neil Gorsuch, claims criminalizing sleeping outside does not criminalize people based on their status. It makes no difference, he writes, if the person is “experiencing homelessness, a backpacker on vacation or a student who abandons his dorm room to camp out in protest on the lawn of a municipal building.”

So-called camping bans — ordinances that prohibit sleeping in public places with blankets, cardboard boxes, tents and vehicles — have proliferated across the country, in reaction to skyrocketing rates of homelessness since the Covid-19 pandemic. This February, Times Opinion spoke to dozens of people across the country experiencing homelessness to better understand their day-to-day realities. Laws that criminalize aspects of homelessness have become a go-to for local governments looking for a quick solution to growing street homelessness. Many of the people we spoke to had been fined or even jailed for sleeping outside.

Homelessness is a manifestation of the many ways the American underclass succumbs to poverty — through the housing and affordability crisis, health care costs and the collapse of welfare systems that once helped Americans on the margins. Bans like the one in Grants Pass ignore these converging forces, instead criminalizing the people who are living through these crises for surviving with whatever means they have left.

The court’s decision is written with a great deal of sympathy for cities and towns. Even Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s dissenting opinion gives credence to the feeling that local governments are ill equipped to handle the swelling population of people living without shelter across the country. But, she says, “the majority focuses almost exclusively on the needs of local governments and leaves the most vulnerable in our society with an impossible choice: Either stay awake or be arrested.”

Sleep, she noted, “is a biological necessity, not a crime.”

That cruel choice could now be one that thousands of people across the country could make every night. With this ruling, the court has failed to understand the cruelty of what it means to be homeless in America. That the Supreme Court can’t see them as worthy of a basic right — seeking a place to lay their head at night — speaks to the growing chasm between the people living out America’s policy failures and the people enforcing them.

Paul Krugman

Opinion Columnist

The Best President of My Adult Life Needs to Withdraw

Joe Biden has done an excellent job as president. In fact, I consider him the best president of my adult life. Based on his policy record, he should be an overwhelming favorite for re-election.

But he isn’t, and on Thursday night he failed to rise to the occasion when it really mattered. I could and would complain about the lack of real-time fact-checking as Donald Trump spewed a fire hose of lies and about the general prevalence of theater criticism taking the place of policy analysis. But complaining about those things right now isn’t going to save American democracy in this moment of crisis.

Given where we are, I must very reluctantly join the chorus asking Biden to voluntarily step aside, with emphasis on the “voluntary” aspect. Maybe some Biden loyalists will consider this a betrayal, given how much I have supported his policies, but I fear that we need to recognize reality.

Step aside for whom? Kamala Harris was, by all accounts, an effective district attorney and attorney general, and she has also been quietly effective as vice president, promoting Biden’s policies. Choosing her as his successor would in no sense be settling for less.

It’s true that she didn’t do well in the 2020 Democratic primaries, but her problem then, as I saw it, was that she had a hard time making the case for choosing her over other candidates. She would have no problem making the case for choosing her over Trump.

Maybe some American voters aren’t ready for a Black woman to be president. But I’d like to think better of us than that, and there are several excellent governors she could choose as a running mate.

In any case, although I hate to see Biden in this position, he’s a good man, and I hope he’ll do the right thing.

Nicholas Kristof

President Biden, I’ve Seen Enough

President Biden is a good man who capped a long career in public service with a successful presidential term. But I hope he reviews his debate performance Thursday evening and withdraws from the race, throwing the choice of a Democratic nominee to the convention in August.

One of the perils facing this country, I believe and Biden believes, is the risk of a victory by Donald Trump. And after the debate, it’s hard to avoid the feeling that Biden remaining in the race increases the likelihood that Trump will move into the White House in January.

Biden has never been a great debater, but his voice and manner didn’t put to rest the doubts about his age and effectiveness. Rather, he amplified them. I happened to chat today with a woman who is undecided about whom to vote for — she says she distrusts both Trump and Biden but will choose based on who will do better for the economy — and I bet that now she will be supporting Trump.

In some sense, this may be unfair. This was one debate. A candidate’s physical frailty, hoarse voice and rambling responses may not be good predictors of how that person will govern. But in this election, they probably are good predictors that the candidate will lose in November and not have a chance to govern again.

We see the world through narratives, and one of the narratives about Biden is that he is too old. His performance reinforced that narrative when he needed to shatter it. Biden, unable to puncture Trump’s repeated falsehoods, allowed a convicted felon to win the debate.

Biden can resolve this by withdrawing from the race. There isn’t time to hold new primaries, but he could throw the choice of a successor to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. The Democratic Party has some prominent figures who I think would be in a good position to defeat Trump in November, among them Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Gina Raimondo, the secretary of commerce. And there are many others.

My phone has been blowing up with texts from people saying, as one put it: “Dear God. What are we going to do?” Another, also a fan of Biden, texted: “It’s imperative we change horses.” But Democrats have been reluctant to say this out loud and undermine Biden. So it will be up to Joe and Jill Biden to make this choice themselves.

This will be a wrenching choice. But, Mr. President, one way you can serve your country in 2024 is by announcing your retirement and calling on delegates to replace you, for that is the safest course for our nation.

David Firestone

Deputy Editor, the Editorial Board

Biden’s Truth Was Overshadowed by His Stumbles

The president who walked haltingly to the podium as the debate began Thursday night was not State of the Union Joe Biden. There was no sign of the joy and fire that he brought to his speech before Congress in March, which briefly brought life to the hopes of Democrats that Biden had the vitality to run this race.

Instead, his voice was hoarse, he stumbled over facts, and occasionally he seemed to lose his train of thought and became a little incoherent. You could almost hear the whispered gasps of his supporters across the country.

And yet, despite his terrible delivery, Biden was at least telling voters the truth. Donald Trump might have looked more healthy and sounded more energetic, but what came out of his mouth was a mix of word foam and outright lies.

Trump said he never got any credit for getting the country out of the Covid-19 pandemic. Of course he didn’t; his policies and lack of action made the pandemic far worse. He dismissed the huge job gains under Biden as “bounce back” jobs, as if they would have happened automatically, when in fact they were created by Biden’s huge investments and skillful handling of pandemic recovery.

Trump said everyone wanted to end Roe v. Wade, which is nonsense, and stunningly claimed that “the country is now coming together” on abortion, which he said has been a “great thing.”

Biden summoned the strength to call this stuff “foolishness” and “malarkey,” adding that “everything he just said was a lie.” He noted forcefully that the economy was “flat on its back” when he took over from Trump. He reminded the world that Trump was a felon and had encouraged the rioters of Jan. 6.

But the substance (or lack of it) of what the two men said at the beginning of the debate was heavily overshadowed by the way they said it. Biden did nothing to change the minds of those voters who feel he is no longer up to the job, and his performance on Thursday night may mean that many Americans won’t pay attention to whether his thoughts and his actions were the right ones.

Patrick Healy

Deputy Opinion Editor

I’m Hearing High Anxiety From Democrats Over Biden’s Debate Performance

Within the first half-hour of the presidential debate, I heard from three veteran Democratic presidential campaign officials, and all of them had the same reaction to President Biden’s performance: This is a disaster.

By the end of the debate, I was hearing a level of anxiety and alarm from those Democrats and several other party leaders and operatives that I’d never seen in 20 years of covering presidential politics. The discussion turned squarely to the need for the Democratic Party to replace Biden as the 2024 nominee, with four months to go to the election, and how to make that happen.

Could former President Barack Obama talk him out of the race? Could Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader and an old friend? Most of the Democrats agreed that only Jill Biden and the president’s family, and his longtime close aides , could get Biden to reconsider the race.

The Democratic panic was, on one level, a little shocking, given how much Donald Trump lied during Thursday’s debate and, more broadly, because of the threat that Trump poses to American democracy. Trump has already betrayed the Constitution, and Thursday night he wouldn’t promise to accept the 2024 election results and gave a weak answer about opposing political violence. He got worse as the debate went on, hurling unhinged attacks on Biden, even calling him a “Manchurian candidate.” His relative steadiness in the first 30 minutes started coming undone.

But the danger of a second Trump presidency is exactly what is fueling the panic. Democrats say Trump must be stopped. The Democratic nominee must stop him. And what we saw Thursday night was a Democratic president who could not effectively respond to Trump or deliver a memorable line — even when he rightly said of Trump, “Something snapped in you when you lost the last time.”

It wasn’t just that Biden wasn’t landing a glove on Trump on the economy, the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Covid, taxes, temperament or anything else that was coming up in the questioning. It was Biden’s voice (low and weak) and facial expression (frozen, mouth open, a few smirks) with answers that were rambling or vague or ended in confusion. He gave remarks about health care and abortion that didn’t make strong points, giving Trump a chance to say lines like, “I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don’t think he knows what he said, either.”

Biden is only three years older than Trump, but he looked and sounded 20 years older. One Democratic National Committee official told me before the debate that Biden’s age was Democrats’ biggest problem and texted on Thursday night, “Things have gone from bad to worse.”

One of the other Democrats said Biden looked scared during the debate as he listened to Trump. Another said it was an “emperor has no clothes” performance. The third said of the performance overall, “Don’t ask.”

Several others said that Biden had to drop out and that a governor — Gavin Newsom, Andy Beshear, Gretchen Whitmer, Josh Shapiro — needed to seek the nomination at an open convention. One said that Vice President Kamala Harris was a key player and voice now in any outcome but not to assume she would be a post-Biden nominee.

None of the Democrats counseled patience or said that the pundits or instant reaction was off base. But I am mindful of how things change. There was anxiety after Obama’s first, bad debate performance against Mitt Romney in 2012. There was confidence in Hillary Clinton’s debate performances against Trump in 2016. There are four months to go before the election, and candidates can recover. Trump being Trump, he has plenty of time to do damage to himself.

Frank Luntz, a veteran focus-group moderator who was holding a live focus group with undecided voters during the debate, wrote of their reactions after the first half-hour of the debate: “The group is so bothered by Biden’s voice and appearance. But they’re getting madder and madder with Trump’s personal attacks.”

“If Trump talks less,” Luntz said, “he wins. If Biden doesn’t stop talking, he loses.”

After the debate was over, Luntz wrote: “Twelve out of 14 say they are now leaning Trump. One chose Biden and one didn’t move. This is an unmitigated disaster for the Democrats.”

New York Times Opinion

What Maureen Dowd, Tom Friedman and Other Opinion Writers Would Ask at the Debate

The CNN moderators get to ask the questions of President Biden and Donald Trump at Thursday night’s debate, but our Opinion writers have a few suggestions of their own.

Binyamin Appelbaum, editorial board member: What steps would you take as president to increase housing production in the United States?

Charles Blow, Opinion columnist: Mr. Trump, how would your policies on the war in Gaza differ from President Biden’s?

Michelle Cottle, Opinion writer: What do both of you say to the significant bloc of voters who are not enthusiastic about their electoral choices this election, who want fresh blood and something/someone different?

Ross Douthat, Opinion columnist: The last few years have seen an accelerating decline in birthrates all around the developed world. This is bad news for economic prosperity and also a national security challenge: If current trends continue, the population of a close American ally like South Korea could be cut in half by later in the 21st century. What, if anything, should be the U.S. government’s response to this mounting demographic challenge?

Maureen Dowd, Opinion columnist: Mr. Trump, it’s been reported that you said Mike Pence should be hanged, due to his conduct on Jan 6. Do you still feel that way?

Mr. Biden, women are being stripped of their rights and you’re running against a felon, yet you’re having a hard time pulling even. Doesn’t that undermine your claim that you’re the best Democrat to beat Trump?

Thomas L. Friedman, Opinion columnist: What was the biggest mistake you made in your four years as president that you absolutely will not repeat if elected again?

What will you do if you win to unite the country and persuade those who did not vote for you that they have nothing to fear from your presidency?

Patrick Healy, deputy Opinion editor: Do you think inflation is getting better or getting worse for Americans?

What’s something that young voters in America should know about you that they might not know?

You’ve both been called fascists by some voters. What do you think about that word, and do you think your opponent is a fascist?

Paul Krugman, Opinion columnist: Mr. Trump, why was your prediction that electing Biden would cause a stock market crash so wrong?

Nicholas Kristof, Opinion columnist: One of the worst things that could unfold in the next administration would be a war with China, so how do you propose to navigate the fine line of deterring but not provoking China? If China blockaded Taiwan, would you order the U.S. Navy to break the blockade?

If China continues to pressure the Philippines in the South China Sea, would you dispatch ships to back the Philippines and confront China? And if we found ourselves losing a conventional war with China, would you reach for nuclear weapons?

Pamela Paul, Opinion columnist: What would both of you tell the graduating seniors at Newtown High School about your plans on gun control?

Farah Stockman, editorial board member: It’s been more than two years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and Russia has put its entire economy on a war footing. The tide appeared to be turning against Ukraine, partly because of the Republicans’ decision to block aid for so long, thanks to opposition by Mr. Trump. How would you bring about an acceptable ending to the war?

Zeynep Tufekci, Opinion columnist: Mr. Trump, you continue to deny the results of the 2020 election. If you don’t respect the will of the people, the bedrock of democracy, how can Americans trust that you will not abuse the vast powers of the presidency to benefit yourself?

President Biden, you got elected on promises to do better than President Trump on the coronavirus pandemic that started in China, and yet your administration seems to be doing too little to stop a potential new pandemic from emerging from the United States. An outbreak of the dangerous H5N1 bird flu virus among dairy cows in the United States is spreading to humans. How can you reassure the American people given this situation?

We invite readers to submit debate questions they would ask by using our comments section.

Beware the Billionaire Blinders

The new issue of Bloomberg Businessweek (its first as a monthly) includes a delicious profile of the libertarian billionaire Jeff Yass, a co-founder of the giant trading firm Susquehanna International Group, who once boldly declared: “What’s the difference between a billionaire and a guy that’s making $100,000 a year? They’re both at home watching Netflix. And they’re both on their iPhones.”

This is right in one way and so wrong in others.

To Yass’s credit, I’m guessing that most of the time, his life really is not that different from the lives of the millionaires and thousandaires who surround him. Get up, go to work, watch Netflix, go to bed. The best things in life are free: the sun in the morning, the moon at night, the occasional solar eclipse . Or almost free: Donald Trump chows down on McDonald’s just like people with a billionth of his net worth.

But Yass’s message — that inequality is a mostly solved problem — is absurd. The Bloomberg Businessweek story cites a 2022 interview with Yass by the Adam Smith Society, in which Yass also said:

“In America, not around the rest of the world, but we’re getting there,” Yass said, “everybody has all the stuff they need. No one’s hungry, no one’s cold, no one doesn’t have some basic, uh, health insurance, so the rising tide gets rid of the real inequality.”

Let’s start with “no one’s hungry.” According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in 2022 nearly seven million American households experienced “very low food security,” meaning that “normal eating patterns of one or more household members were disrupted and food intake was reduced at times during the year because they had insufficient money or other resources for food.”

I could go on with “no one’s cold” (what about the unhoused?) or no one doesn’t have health insurance, but you get the idea. One of Yass’s mistakes, I guess, is that he simply can’t fathom anyone earning less than $100,000 a year (a sum substantially higher than the median income ).

Billionaires have their own special kinds of woes, to be sure. Yass, for example, is struggling to keep the federal government from banning TikTok, since he’s a major investor in its parent, ByteDance. But that’s nothing compared with the struggles of ordinary Americans just to make ends meet each month.

No, Jeff, it’s not true that “everybody has all the stuff they need.”

The Supreme Court Neuters a Vital Public Watchdog

The Supreme Court’s right-wing supermajority talks a lot about the importance of history and tradition in deciding cases. And yet as those six justices made clear once again on Thursday morning in one of the biggest cases of the current term, only certain histories and certain traditions matter.

The decision, in Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy , struck down the S.E.C.’s use of in-house judges to bring enforcement actions against securities fraud. The Seventh Amendment guarantees the right to a jury trial in civil cases, the majority wrote, which means arrangements like the S.E.C.’s — which Congress explicitly created and which are also used by roughly two dozen other agencies — are unconstitutional. If the agency wants to go after securities fraud, it will have to go to federal court.

The problem with this neat-sounding conclusion is that it ignores two centuries of well-established practice to the contrary. When a lawsuit involves the protection of rights of the public generally, juries have never been required. As the Supreme Court affirmed in a 1977 case , Congress’s power to give executive-branch agencies the first stab at adjudicating and imposing civil penalties has been “settled judicial construction … from the beginning.”

Thursday’s ruling is thus “a seismic shift in this court’s jurisprudence,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in a dissent joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson. Its impact will reach far beyond securities fraud, hamstringing similar tribunals in agencies responsible for the environment, public health, food and consumer safety, worker protections and much more.

This is, naturally, the whole point. Led by Justice Neil Gorsuch, the Supreme Court’s conservatives have been engaged in a multipronged assault on the administrative state, which they consider part of a bloated and unaccountable federal government. Their answer is to arrogate more power to themselves. Thursday’s decision, Sotomayor wrote, is “part of a disconcerting trend: When it comes to the separation of powers, this court tells the American public and its coordinate branches that it knows best.” She called it, in fact, a “power grab.”

What the majority refuses to acknowledge is that there is no way the federal courts can handle the volume and sophistication of cases that pass through those agencies.

The irony is that earlier right-wing justices understood that a modern, highly advanced society cannot operate without robust executive agencies. In 1989, Justice Antonin Scalia spoke out in defense of another longstanding administrative-state precedent that the Roberts court appears to be on the verge of crippling , saying it “accurately reflects the reality of government” and “adequately serves its needs.”

Of course, the modern right does not really want to eliminate the administrative state; it wants to control it. As Senator (and vice-presidential hopeful) J.D. Vance explained in 2022 , if Donald Trump is elected in 2024, he should “fire every single midlevel bureaucrat, every civil servant in the administrative state, replace them with our people.” If you are wondering who, exactly, “our people” are, then it’s not you.

Katherine Miller

Opinion Editor and Writer

How Conservative Swing Voters React to a Strong Anti-Abortion Push

Last year, five female legislators in South Carolina tried to stop an abortion ban with a filibuster. They were known as the “ sister senators ” — three Republicans, one Democrat and one independent. Ultimately, the effort failed , and abortion was banned after six weeks in the state.

And as of Tuesday night , all three Republicans have now officially lost to primary challengers this year.

One of the three, Sandy Senn, spoke with Jane Coaston last year for Times Opinion in an interview that’s worth reading front to back, because it dives into the details of the politics as seen through a very specific, gendered Republican viewpoint looking for consistency in policy and more democratic outcomes — and her frustration with men in government imposing a certain idea of what the law should be.

There’s obviously been plenty written about how much the Dobbs decision scrambled conservative politics, how much the anti-abortion movement has struggled with what have turned out to be unpopular policies when put to statewide ballots and how chaotic the courts are now on this subject. But it’s been less clear how much this might reshape the makeup of the parties in the long term. Senn had a prediction about it.

“In reality, we lose elections because this is a losing issue and we lose people that are in the middle,” she told Coaston last year. “People who had previously leaned to the right are now going to lean to the left.”

Along those lines, this week a top Biden campaign official, Jen O’Malley Dillon, made a point to John Heilemann on Puck about persuadable voters, pairing the Dobbs decision and, essentially, Nikki Haley primary voters — a linkage I had not seen made before.

“There’s a whole new cohort that has come in since 2020, who were not available to us [then] who we saw vote in 2022, post-Dobbs,” O’Malley Dillon said. “They are the same people who, in primary after primary on the Republican side, protested Donald Trump. And I definitely think they’re gettable. Is it a small number of states in the scheme of things and a small number of voters who ultimately are on the margins? Yes.”

I think many of these voters probably already voted for President Biden once or avoided voting anyone for president in 2020. That might be right or wrong. But regardless, there is something interesting about what is essentially a practical, smaller-government conservatism of gender — even if it’s for a narrow slice of voters — that is ultimately very reactive to government power being used with aggression, through the prism of abortion policy.

Lauren Kelley

Deputy Op-Ed Editor, News

Idaho Women Appear to Get a Reprieve on Abortion, for Now

As someone who closely follows both politics and reproductive rights, I’ve been very interested in seeing whether a particular Supreme Court decision about abortion would come out before Thursday night’s presidential debate.

On Wednesday, the draft text of the decision in Moyle v. United States and Idaho v. United States was accidentally posted on the Supreme Court website, Bloomberg News reported .

It’s unclear whether the decision that was posted is final, but if it is then it seems the court will soon vote 6 to 3 to effectively dismiss the cases. The real-world effect, at least in the short term, would be that emergency abortions will continue to be available in Idaho.

At issue in the case is whether a federal statute known as EMTALA , or the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act — intended to ensure that anyone who walks into an emergency room will receive care, regardless of the ability to pay — applies in some circumstances in Idaho, which after Roe v. Wade’s demise enacted a near-total abortion ban. In simple terms, the question before the justices has been whether a pregnant woman in Idaho who is experiencing a medical emergency must be given an abortion, if that abortion would stabilize her health.

A ruling allowing Idaho to ignore EMTALA would be a big problem for Trump’s election, and if it came out before Thursday evening, it could have hurt him in the debate. Abortion has been Trump’s trickiest policy issue. Virtually every electoral data point since Roe was overturned makes clear that most voters do not like strict abortion bans. And Trump, who campaigned in 2016 on a promise to outlaw abortion, not only set in motion the series of events that led to a lot of strict abortion bans being passed around the country, he also bragged about it once the deed was done.

Biden has the upper hand on the issue regardless, but a different court decision ahead of the debate might have given him a gift tied up in bow.

For now, the important thing is that Idaho women appear to have a reprieve. But this isn’t necessarily the end of the story: The court could get another chance down the road to rule on the substance of this issue, just as it could get another chance to rule on access to abortion pills — another case the justices took up but ultimately punted on this term.

Because of Trump’s appointments to the Supreme Court, further threats to abortion remain on the table, regardless of who wins the advantage at the debate.

Biden Restores Honor to Thousands of L.G.B.T.Q. Service Members

President Biden’s decision on Wednesday to pardon thousands of L.G.B.T.Q. service members who had been unfairly punished, discharged or court-martialed for their sexual orientation or gender identity was long overdue. His proclamation will restore benefits and honor to 2,000 or so service members, just atonement for the U.S. military’s long, discriminatory history against L.G.B.T.Q. Americans.

As documented by Allan Bérubé in his exhaustively researched book “ Coming Out Under Fire ,” a cruel, homophobic military culture was forged during World War II. Back then, those accused of homosexuality (often with flimsy or nonsensical evidence) could be subjected to systematic witch hunts, scurrilous interrogations, solitary confinement and “ queer stockades ” rife with harassment . Public discharge records meant that L.G.B.T.Q. service members were outed upon returning home, which inevitably led to further discrimination.

This culture was explicitly formalized after President Harry Truman created the Uniform Code of Military Justice in 1951, which prohibited “unnatural carnal copulation with another person of the same or opposite sex,” effectively criminalizing homosexuality. Over the following decades, L.G.B.T.Q. veterans became some of the country’s foremost L.G.B.T.Q. activists, and discriminatory military policies were among the community’s key targets. Their efforts culminated in the end of the notorious “ Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell ” policy in 2011.

When some of the government’s most prominent institutions declared that a group of people was inferior, many in the country came to believe it. Biden’s pardon, acknowledging flaws in the higher moral standing that the military has long claimed to espouse, redresses a historical harm and reinforces the idea that L.G.B.T.Q. Americans are not inferior.

But the commander in chief chose perhaps the most frictionless, election-friendly way to signal his support for the L.G.B.T.Q. community. And the rest of Washington is allowing another Pride Month to pass without reaching for more daring possibilities.

Congress has yet to pass the Equality Act, a measure supported by the president, which would expand the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to protect Americans from discrimination based on their sexual orientation and gender identity. To be frank, the bill has long seemed like a pipe dream, given a divided Congress and a mounting reactionary wave that targets queer people. But the president could do more to pressure both his allies on the Hill and his adversaries to end this overt discrimination.

The president has already earned the title of most pro-L.G.B.T.Q. president in history . But without a law in place, many of his efforts will only last as long as his presidency. What’s the point of attempting to deliver “the full promise of equality” if the next guy to sit behind the Resolute Desk can strip it away with the stroke of a pen?

Alito’s Frustrated Culture-War Diatribe

It often seems that Justice Samuel Alito would be happier swapping out his black robes for the garb of whichever right-wing plaintiffs have arrived before the court to air their culture-war grievances.

On Wednesday, Alito was at it again, dissenting at length from the court’s 6-to-3 decision that threw out a conservative challenge to the Biden administration. The White House had tried to counteract the reams of misinformation being spread on social media sites during the Covid pandemic and the aftermath of the 2020 election, urging social media sites to regulate what was allowed to be posted. Two Republican states and five private citizens cried “censorship!” and said the administration had infringed on their right to free expression, but the court’s majority said they had no right to bring the lawsuit.

Referring to the plaintiffs as “victims” of government censorship who “simply wanted to speak out on a question of the utmost public importance,” Alito wrote grandly, “if the lower courts’ assessment of the voluminous record is correct, this is one of the most important free speech cases to reach this court in years.”

That is a very big “if,” as the court’s majority noted in tossing the suit for lack of standing. Not only could the plaintiffs not show “any concrete link between their injuries and the defendants’ conduct,” but the lower courts’ assessment of the record was, in fact, far from correct. Many of the district court’s findings, on which the increasingly off-the-wall U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit relied, “unfortunately appear to be clearly erroneous,” Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote for the court .

During oral arguments in the case, several justices expressed similar concerns with the loose relationship to the truth that Benjamin Aguiñaga, Louisiana’s solicitor general and one of the plaintiffs’ lawyers, had. “I have such a problem with your brief,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor told him. “You omit information that changes the context of some of your claims. You attribute things to people who it didn’t happen to.”

Aguiñaga said he was sorry “if any aspect of our brief was not as forthcoming as it should have been” — an unusually frank admission of dishonesty by a government official.

And yet his distortions appeared to pose no problem for Alito, who seemed as eager as any Facebook anti-vaxxer to trample basic facts and evidence in service of the right to spew dangerous lies in public without consequences. As Barrett pointed out regarding Jill Hines, one of the plaintiffs, Alito “draws links that Hines herself has not set forth, often based on injuries that Hines never claimed.”

Making up facts to reach the conclusion you want to reach isn’t a Supreme Court justice’s job, of course, but it’s entirely in character for a committed culture warrior.

Farah Stockman

The World Turns Its Eyes From the Suffering in Sudan

Two months ago, world leaders gathered in Paris and said all the right words about the horror unfolding in Sudan, where a vicious civil war has stolen the dreams of a proud and resilient people, leaving five million people on the brink of famine . In Paris, diplomats pledged $2.1 billion and condemned indiscriminate attacks on civilians, including children.

But nothing has changed.

“Sudan has become one of the world’s largest — and most ignored — man-made human tragedies,” my friend Tjada D’Oyen McKenna, chief executive officer of Mercy Corps , wrote to me recently.

In some cases, the dithering is maddeningly academic, mired in debate about whether the criteria for a famine declaration have been reached. In other cases, it seems that the concern was performative.

“A mere 12 percent of those pledges have been disbursed so far,” Tjada wrote. “Even as the situation is rapidly deteriorating.”

I must admit to being at a loss for what to say about such tragedies sometimes, with so much suffering in this world and so few good policy options. Sudan is a particular heartbreak : In 2019, a peaceful revolution led by doctors, mothers, activists and scholars toppled a longtime dictator in Khartoum, opening the door to what could have been a new and democratic era for the country. Instead, two selfish military leaders derailed the country’s democratic transition and then turned on each other, dragging the country back into a civil war.

But what continue to inspire me about Sudan are the community-based organizations that save lives by running informal soup kitchens and clinics out of their homes. They are the future of Sudan, if Sudan is to have a future. Good people around the world should support them by donating to reputable international organizations like Mercy Corps and Solidarités International that work closely with community groups that persevere, against all odds.

Pamela Paul

Jamaal Bowman Deserved to Lose

Update: George Latimer defeated Jamaal Bowman in the Democratic congressional primary on Tuesday.

In Tuesday’s primary election in the 16th Congressional District of New York, the Westchester County executive, George Latimer, is running against Representative Jamaal Bowman, a member of the House’s progressive “Squad.” The chatter has been all about campaign gaffes and fund-raising. But in this case, it should be about the merits of the candidates.

We’ve heard plenty about the outsize funding for Latimer, particularly from AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobbying group. The question said aloud by Bowman supporters has been, “Why so much money from a foreign government for a local congressional candidate?” The unspoken question has been, “Why are the Jews funding this candidate?”

We’ve also heard Bowman ridiculed for holding a rally in the South Bronx, which he does not represent. Onstage, Bowman proudly curs ed in a manner unbecoming to a public official. There’s also his schoolyard prank in the halls of Congress, pulling a fire alarm to stall a bill and then lying about it.

But let’s put aside money and manners. Let’s even put aside the war in Gaza, an issue on which the candidates strongly differ. (Latimer offers a centrist view broadly supportive of President Biden’s policy, while Bowman has taken a forceful pro-Palestinian stance.)

This election is about substantive issues relevant to the 16th District, which has been redrawn twice since Bowman’s 2020 win to include less of the Bronx and more of Westchester County. Bowman, elected to a largely different district, no longer represents the interests of his constituency.

He voted against Biden’s infrastructure bill, one of the administration’s key bipartisan successes and fundamental to Biden’s re-election, which hinges on independents and the center. By contrast, Latimer has shown himself successful in helping turn a largely Republican district blue and is supportive of abortion rights, gun control and other domestic issues aligned with his district.

This election is also about the future of the Democratic Party, pitting a centrist vision of the party, the growing resonance of which was recently demonstrated by the election of Tom Suozzi in Nassau County, against its progressive fringe. Notably, Hillary Clinton, a Westchester resident and moderate Democrat, has endorsed Latimer . This week, Representative Josh Gottheimer, a co-chair of the centrist Problem Solvers Caucus, also endorsed Latimer .

Bowman has proved himself out of sync with his district, and his re-election would take the Democratic Party in a losing direction. Equally important, based on his record, Jamaal Bowman does not deserve re-election.

Brent Staples

A Brooklyn School District Finds a Path Toward Integration

Elected officials who prefer not to discuss the fact that New York City has one of the most segregated school systems in the United States could soon have no choice. A state appellate court has said that an anti-discrimination lawsuit can move forward.

The suit charges New York with maintaining a “racialized pipeline” through which gifted and talented programs and screening practices condemn many students of color to “neglected schools that deliver inferior and unacceptable outcomes.” If successful, this landmark legal challenge could remake admissions practices at selective public schools.

At the same time, in Brooklyn, a public school district that covers both poor and affluent neighborhoods has shown it is possible to integrate schools — without rancor or a mass exodus of white families — when parents and school officials value integration as a benefit in itself.

As my colleague Troy Closson explained last week, the remaking of Brooklyn’s District 15 began several years ago, when parents expressed a desire to integrate middle schools that were among the most homogeneous in the city. “Selective admissions were scrapped,” Closson wrote. “Every child got a lottery number instead. Schools adopted targets to admit certain numbers of disadvantaged children.” Middle schools set aside seats for students who were from low-income families, living in temporary housing or still learning English. Crucially, the schools fill incoming classes through a lottery, instead of using metrics like grades or attendance.

As a result, the district’s middle schools, which were the second-most socioeconomically segregated, improved to rank 19th out of the city’s 32 local districts. Teachers and students now say friendships are emerging across income lines, and a more diverse set of middle schoolers began taking state algebra exams.

Antonia Martinelli, a parent leader, told The Times: “We’ve managed to debunk this ‘good school-bad school’ narrative. Parents understand that they’re all great schools.”

Integration is hardly a cure-all, and challenges remain. But this example shows that breaking with segregation does not have to involve bitterness and decades of delays.

Frank Bruni

The Governor’s Race You Cannot Ignore

Partisan hit jobs. Left-wing smears. That’s how Mark Robinson’s aides characterize any attention to his diatribes against Jewish people , gay people, women. They want voters in North Carolina, where he is the Republican nominee for governor, to see him as just another conservative whose straight talk and religiousness come under predictable fire from the ambassadors of wokeness. Nothing to see here, folks, nothing but the usual disdain for MAGA might.

That’s a lie as big as any in an epoch of epic fabulism. And Robinson’s fate will be an especially revealing referendum on just how much, in the America of 2024, tribalism trumps common sense and common decency and voters tune out the truth.

The governor’s race pits Robinson, who’d be North Carolina’s first Black governor, against Josh Stein, the Democrat, who’d be its first Jewish one. To go by polls, it’s a dead heat . But the Stein campaign has only just begun its advertising blitz and three weeks ago released a whopper of an ad that spotlights Robinson’s 2019 remark that abortion “is about killing the child because you weren’t responsible enough to keep your skirt down.”

Robinson’s rants — mocking Paul Pelosi after he was attacked, suggesting that Michelle Obama is a man — are that hateful . And they’re the very foundation of his improbable political career: He was elected lieutenant governor of North Carolina in 2020 almost solely on the basis of a single speech in opposition to sensible restrictions on firearms. His work history included nothing — zilch — that prepared him for political leadership. But he could shout. He could spew.

He has spewed less of late. Ambition can be a gag. But his extremism remains so close to the surface that Paul Shumaker, a Republican strategist in North Carolina, was recently quoted in New York magazine as predicting that “Donald Trump will unendorse Mark Robinson by the time we get to Labor Day.”

Robinson should, indeed, be poison in this purple state. He should be struggling, too, given Stein’s bona fides: eight years as the state’s attorney general, before which he served in the State Senate and was a top aide to John Edwards in the U.S. Senate. There’s not a whiff of extremism about him. But late last month, The Cook Political Report changed its assessment of the Stein-Robinson race from leans Democratic to tossup. In any other year, I’d be shocked. In this one? I’m just terrified.

‘Are You Seeing Any New Signs Biden Can Beat Trump?’

Every Monday morning on The Point, we kick off the week with a tipsheet on the latest in the presidential campaign. Here’s what we’re looking at this week:

On Saturday my brother asked me a question with some urgency in his voice: “Are you seeing any new signs Biden can beat Trump?” My brother is a 63-year-old independent in Boston who says he “votes the person, not the party,” and thinks President Biden has done about the best anyone could at bringing America back from the disastrous Covid economy. He thinks Donald Trump would be a joke if he weren’t so dangerous.

I told him about some of Biden’s latest messaging and ads emphasizing that Trump is a convicted criminal and a new Fox News national poll that gives Biden a two percentage point lead over Trump and shows more voters feeling good about the economy. Then I said: “To answer your question — not really, no. Nothing game changing. That’s why the debate is so important.”

Biden has to find ways to make people want him for another four years. Being not Trump is not enough. Biden’s biggest problem is that a small but meaningful share of his own supporters — Biden 2020 voters, to be specific — don’t want to vote for him again and they are considering third-party candidates, sitting out the presidential election or voting for Trump.

Yes, political journalists always geek out on presidential debates and describe them as really big deals, but Thursday night’s debate is Biden’s best chance so far this year to start turning things around. He did well at his State of the Union, but it was a teleprompter speech, and I doubt many swing voters were swayed. (He didn’t get a lasting poll bounce.) Trump’s criminal conviction was good for Biden, but Biden hasn’t yet leveraged it to make voters want his decency all over again. An unscripted debate is his best shot and big test.

It’s the economy, really, that’s everything. Biden has to speak plainly and with humility and feeling about what people are experiencing in the economy and how he will address inflation. He can’t tell people what to feel or lapse into defensiveness — which is easier said than done in a debate, where the phrasing of a question or the tone or specifics of your opponent’s answer can send you off track. If Biden gets off track or has a senior moment or two, he will be judged harshly by the many voters who seem unwilling to give him credit for anything.

My bet is that Biden and Trump will acquit themselves pretty well on Thursday (with Trump benefiting from his mic being muted at times, reducing the opportunity for him to sound like a raving nut again). They know the stakes, and both will be a little nervous and rusty. They will probably stick to their core messages, so it comes down to what voters want to hear the most. As my colleague Ezra Klein recently noted , Trump is talking a lot more about inflation and immigration than people may realize, and he talks about it pretty effectively. If he shows some discipline (I know, I know) and persuasively makes it sound that America was better off during his first three years in office than it is now, he could have a good night. No one knows this more than Biden; he needs to play strong offense and even stronger defense, pointing to how bad things got under Trump. The Covid economic train wreck under Trump would be one place to start.

Businesses Cheer Their New Freedom to Violate Regulations

At this rate the Supreme Court is going to need a few more justices just to keep up with all the extra litigation it’s generating on its way to dismantling the administrative state.

On Friday morning the right-wing supermajority overturned one of the court’s most frequently cited precedents and dealt the second blow in two days to the basic infrastructure of American government, voting 6 to 3 to overrule what’s known as the Chevron doctrine .

Named after an oil company case, the doctrine — a decades-old “cornerstone of administrative law,” in the dissent’s words — gave federal agencies the flexibility to interpret ambiguous laws without constant second-guessing by the courts, which deferred to those interpretations as long as they were reasonable. It was adopted, as Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in her dissent , for a simple reason: Congress’s laws “will inevitably contain ambiguities that some other actor will have to resolve, and gaps that some other actor will have to fill. And it would usually prefer that actor to be the responsible agency, not a court.”

This may sound complicated, but it’s central to the functioning of modern government regulation. The Chevron doctrine, she explained, has been the key to “keeping air and water clean, food and drugs safe, and financial markets honest.”

To the court’s conservative majority, however, it was just another example of deep-state bloat. “Agencies have no special competence,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the court. The problem with this is not only that it’s wrong, but that it was the courts that developed the Chevron doctrine in the first place. In addition to respecting Congress’s intent, they were sick and tired of trawling through thousands of pages of federal law to understand how everything fit together.

Most Americans have no idea how many executive agencies there are, or how complex and technical much of their work is, but the courts do. Now all the tangled questions of law and policy will wind up back in their courtrooms, yet they’re no more equipped to answer them than they were 40 years ago.

This doesn’t have to be a left-right issue. At the start, it wasn’t even controversial. As I noted in response to Thursday’s equally destructive administrative-state ruling, Justice Antonin Scalia, the conservative stalwart, defended the Chevron doctrine’s value, saying in 1989 that it “accurately reflects the reality of government” and “adequately serves its needs.”

It does not, however, serve the needs of America’s business community, which looks at the slew of federal regulations and sees only reduced profits. Deep-pocketed businesses have been the staunchest opponents of the doctrine; along with a raft of committed right-wing activists, they finally managed to get enough like-minded friends on the Supreme Court to kill it off.

Those businesses are predictably thrilled with Friday’s ruling, the practical effect of which will be to save them money by scaring off agencies from imposing regulations that they know will be tied up in endless litigation. The rest of us — at least those of us who drink water, eat food, pay taxes, drive cars, buy products and breathe air — will increasingly be left to fend for ourselves.