Descriptive vs. Narrative Essays
Camille Hall
English 121
Instructor James Welch
March 17, 2013

Descriptive vs. Narrative Essays

Descriptive essays are much more detailed and expressive than narrative essays and are more apt to hold the reader’s attention by ejecting more emotion. The narrative essay uses detail to advance the story, while the descriptive uses to detail to describe an unfamiliar subject. The ability to describe something convincingly is always important to both the writer and their audience. Both descriptive and narrative essays use detail but for different purposes. In this essay I will compare and contrast two essays; “I Want A Wife” and “Caged Bird” in order to give insight into each type of essay.

The aim of a narrative essay is to describe a course of events from a subjective point, is usually told in chronological order, and is usually written in first person. Narrative essays are used to tell a story in a way so that the reader learns a lesson or gains insight, much of this is done through lots of detail about the subject that is being written about. The best narrative essays are those inducing images in the reader’s minds about what's happening by using concrete, specific verbs and nouns rather than a lot of adverbs and adjectives. To write a narrative essay you will need to tell a story (usually about something that has happened to you) or it could be fiction. The purpose is for your reader to learn a lesson or gain insight of the subject matter. Narrative essays are usually filled with details that are carefully selected to explain, support and embellish the story. When writing narrative essays, get right to the point, avoiding length prologues and explanations.

In the essay “I Want A Wife” the author goes into much detail about why she would want a wife. The structure of the essay was good with the exception of