features essay

Academic Essay: From Basics to Practical Tips

Has it ever occurred to you that over the span of a solitary academic term, a typical university student can produce sufficient words to compose an entire 500-page novel? To provide context, this equates to approximately 125,000 to 150,000 words, encompassing essays, research papers, and various written tasks. This content volume is truly remarkable, emphasizing the importance of honing the skill of crafting scholarly essays. Whether you're a seasoned academic or embarking on the initial stages of your educational expedition, grasping the nuances of constructing a meticulously organized and thoroughly researched essay is paramount.

Welcome to our guide on writing an academic essay! Whether you're a seasoned student or just starting your academic journey, the prospect of written homework can be exciting and overwhelming. In this guide, we'll break down the process step by step, offering tips, strategies, and examples to help you navigate the complexities of scholarly writing. By the end, you'll have the tools and confidence to tackle any essay assignment with ease. Let's dive in!

Types of Academic Writing

The process of writing an essay usually encompasses various types of papers, each serving distinct purposes and adhering to specific conventions. Here are some common types of academic writing:

• Essays: Essays are versatile expressions of ideas. Descriptive essays vividly portray subjects, narratives share personal stories, expository essays convey information, and persuasive essays aim to influence opinions.
• Research Papers: Research papers are analytical powerhouses. Analytical papers dissect data or topics, while argumentative papers assert a stance backed by evidence and logical reasoning.
• Reports: Reports serve as narratives in specialized fields. Technical reports document scientific or technical research, while business reports distill complex information into actionable insights for organizational decision-making.
• Reviews: Literature reviews provide comprehensive summaries and evaluations of existing research, while critical analyses delve into the intricacies of books or movies, dissecting themes and artistic elements.
• Dissertations and Theses: Dissertations represent extensive research endeavors, often at the doctoral level, exploring profound subjects. Theses, common in master's programs, showcase mastery over specific topics within defined scopes.
• Summaries and Abstracts: Summaries and abstracts condense larger works. Abstracts provide concise overviews, offering glimpses into key points and findings.
• Case Studies: Case studies immerse readers in detailed analyses of specific instances, bridging theoretical concepts with practical applications in real-world scenarios.
• Reflective Journals: Reflective journals serve as personal platforms for articulating thoughts and insights based on one's academic journey, fostering self-expression and intellectual growth.
• Academic Articles: Scholarly articles, published in academic journals, constitute the backbone of disseminating original research, contributing to the collective knowledge within specific fields.
• Literary Analyses: Literary analyses unravel the complexities of written works, decoding themes, linguistic nuances, and artistic elements, fostering a deeper appreciation for literature.

Our essay writer service can cater to all types of academic writings that you might encounter on your educational path. Use it to gain the upper hand in school or college and save precious free time.

Essay Writing Process Explained

The process of how to write an academic essay involves a series of important steps. To start, you'll want to do some pre-writing, where you brainstorm essay topics , gather information, and get a good grasp of your topic. This lays the groundwork for your essay.

Once you have a clear understanding, it's time to draft your essay. Begin with an introduction that grabs the reader's attention, gives some context, and states your main argument or thesis. The body of your essay follows, where each paragraph focuses on a specific point supported by examples or evidence. Make sure your ideas flow smoothly from one paragraph to the next, creating a coherent and engaging narrative.

After the drafting phase, take time to revise and refine your essay. Check for clarity, coherence, and consistency. Ensure your ideas are well-organized and that your writing effectively communicates your message. Finally, wrap up your essay with a strong conclusion that summarizes your main points and leaves a lasting impression on the reader.

How to Prepare for Essay Writing 

Before you start writing an academic essay, there are a few things to sort out. First, make sure you totally get what the assignment is asking for. Break down the instructions and note any specific rules from your teacher. This sets the groundwork.

Then, do some good research. Check out books, articles, or trustworthy websites to gather solid info about your topic. Knowing your stuff makes your essay way stronger. Take a bit of time to brainstorm ideas and sketch out an outline. It helps you organize your thoughts and plan how your essay will flow. Think about the main points you want to get across.

Lastly, be super clear about your main argument or thesis. This is like the main point of your essay, so make it strong. Considering who's going to read your essay is also smart. Use language and tone that suits your academic audience. By ticking off these steps, you'll be in great shape to tackle your essay with confidence.

Academic Essay Example

In academic essays, examples act like guiding stars, showing the way to excellence. Let's check out some good examples to help you on your journey to doing well in your studies.

Academic Essay Format

The academic essay format typically follows a structured approach to convey ideas and arguments effectively. Here's an academic essay format example with a breakdown of the key elements:

Introduction

• Hook: Begin with an attention-grabbing opening to engage the reader.
• Background/Context: Provide the necessary background information to set the stage.
• Thesis Statement: Clearly state the main argument or purpose of the essay.

Body Paragraphs

• Topic Sentence: Start each paragraph with a clear topic sentence that relates to the thesis.
• Supporting Evidence: Include evidence, examples, or data to back up your points.
• Analysis: Analyze and interpret the evidence, explaining its significance in relation to your argument.
• Transition Sentences: Use these to guide the reader smoothly from one point to the next.

Counterargument (if applicable)

• Address Counterpoints: Acknowledge opposing views or potential objections.
• Rebuttal: Refute counterarguments and reinforce your position.

Conclusion:

• Restate Thesis: Summarize the main argument without introducing new points.
• Summary of Key Points: Recap the main supporting points made in the body.
• Closing Statement: End with a strong concluding thought or call to action.

References/Bibliography

• Cite Sources: Include proper citations for all external information used in the essay.
• Follow Citation Style: Use the required citation style (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.) specified by your instructor.
• Font and Size: Use a standard font (e.g., Times New Roman, Arial) and size (12-point).
• Margins and Spacing: Follow specified margin and spacing guidelines.
• Page Numbers: Include page numbers if required.

Adhering to this structure helps create a well-organized and coherent academic essay that effectively communicates your ideas and arguments.

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How to Write an Academic Essay Step by Step

Start with an introduction.

The introduction of an essay serves as the reader's initial encounter with the topic, setting the tone for the entire piece. It aims to capture attention, generate interest, and establish a clear pathway for the reader to follow. A well-crafted introduction provides a brief overview of the subject matter, hinting at the forthcoming discussion, and compels the reader to delve further into the essay. Consult our detailed guide on how to write an essay introduction for extra details.

Captivate Your Reader

Engaging the reader within the introduction is crucial for sustaining interest throughout the essay. This involves incorporating an engaging hook, such as a thought-provoking question, a compelling anecdote, or a relevant quote. By presenting an intriguing opening, the writer can entice the reader to continue exploring the essay, fostering a sense of curiosity and investment in the upcoming content. To learn more about how to write a hook for an essay , please consult our guide,

Provide Context for a Chosen Topic

In essay writing, providing context for the chosen topic is essential to ensure that readers, regardless of their prior knowledge, can comprehend the subject matter. This involves offering background information, defining key terms, and establishing the broader context within which the essay unfolds. Contextualization sets the stage, enabling readers to grasp the significance of the topic and its relevance within a particular framework. If you buy a dissertation or essay, or any other type of academic writing, our writers will produce an introduction that follows all the mentioned quality criteria.

Make a Thesis Statement

The thesis statement is the central anchor of the essay, encapsulating its main argument or purpose. It typically appears towards the end of the introduction, providing a concise and clear declaration of the writer's stance on the chosen topic. A strong thesis guides the reader on what to expect, serving as a roadmap for the essay's subsequent development.

Outline the Structure of Your Essay

Clearly outlining the structure of the essay in the introduction provides readers with a roadmap for navigating the content. This involves briefly highlighting the main points or arguments that will be explored in the body paragraphs. By offering a structural overview, the writer enhances the essay's coherence, making it easier for the reader to follow the logical progression of ideas and supporting evidence throughout the text.

Continue with the Main Body

The main body is the most important aspect of how to write an academic essay where the in-depth exploration and development of the chosen topic occur. Each paragraph within this section should focus on a specific aspect of the argument or present supporting evidence. It is essential to maintain a logical flow between paragraphs, using clear transitions to guide the reader seamlessly from one point to the next. The main body is an opportunity to delve into the nuances of the topic, providing thorough analysis and interpretation to substantiate the thesis statement.

Choose the Right Length

Determining the appropriate length for an essay is a critical aspect of effective communication. The length should align with the depth and complexity of the chosen topic, ensuring that the essay adequately explores key points without unnecessary repetition or omission of essential information. Striking a balance is key – a well-developed essay neither overextends nor underrepresents the subject matter. Adhering to any specified word count or page limit set by the assignment guidelines is crucial to meet academic requirements while maintaining clarity and coherence.

Write Compelling Paragraphs

In academic essay writing, thought-provoking paragraphs form the backbone of the main body, each contributing to the overall argument or analysis. Each paragraph should begin with a clear topic sentence that encapsulates the main point, followed by supporting evidence or examples. Thoroughly analyzing the evidence and providing insightful commentary demonstrates the depth of understanding and contributes to the overall persuasiveness of the essay. Cohesion between paragraphs is crucial, achieved through effective transitions that ensure a smooth and logical progression of ideas, enhancing the overall readability and impact of the essay.

Finish by Writing a Conclusion

The conclusion serves as the essay's final impression, providing closure and reinforcing the key insights. It involves restating the thesis without introducing new information, summarizing the main points addressed in the body, and offering a compelling closing thought. The goal is to leave a lasting impact on the reader, emphasizing the significance of the discussed topic and the validity of the thesis statement. A well-crafted conclusion brings the essay full circle, leaving the reader with a sense of resolution and understanding. Have you already seen our collection of new persuasive essay topics ? If not, we suggest you do it right after finishing this article to boost your creativity!

Proofread and Edit the Document

After completing the essay, a critical step is meticulous proofreading and editing. This process involves reviewing the document for grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, and punctuation issues. Additionally, assess the overall coherence and flow of ideas, ensuring that each paragraph contributes effectively to the essay's purpose. Consider the clarity of expression, the appropriateness of language, and the overall organization of the content. Taking the time to proofread and edit enhances the overall quality of the essay, presenting a polished and professional piece of writing. It is advisable to seek feedback from peers or instructors to gain additional perspectives on the essay's strengths and areas for improvement. For more insightful tips, feel free to check out our guide on how to write a descriptive essay .

Alright, let's wrap it up. Knowing how to write academic essays is a big deal. It's not just about passing assignments – it's a skill that sets you up for effective communication and deep thinking. These essays teach us to explain our ideas clearly, build strong arguments, and be part of important conversations, both in school and out in the real world. Whether you're studying or working, being able to put your thoughts into words is super valuable. So, take the time to master this skill – it's a game-changer!

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4 Types of Features

From profiles to travel stories, there is feature style for everyone

“If my doctor told me I had only six minutes to live, I wouldn’t brood. I’d type a little faster.” Isaac Asimov

Truth be told, no one writes a plain, old feature article, since “feature” is an umbrella term that encompasses a broad range of article types, from profiles to how-tos and beyond.

The goal here is not just to know these types exist but rather to use them to shape your material into a format that best serves your reader and the publication for which you are writing. Pitching a story that takes a particular format or angle also helps editors see the focus and appeal of your idea more clearly, which can help you get hired.

Let’s take a look at some of the most common feature article types.

A profile is a mini-biography on a single entity — person, place, event, thing — but it revolves around a nut graph that includes something newsworthy happening now. That “hook,” as we call the news focus, must be evident throughout the story.

A profile on Jennifer Lawrence might be interesting, but it is most likely to be published about the time she has a new movie coming out or she wins an award.

This fulfills the readers’ desire to know why they are reading about someone at a given time or in a given magazine.

The best profiles examine characters and document struggles and dreams. It’s important that you show a complete picture of who or what is being profiled — warts and all — especially since the controversy is often what keeps people reading. Controversy, however, is not the only compelling aspect of profiles. They are, most importantly, personal and insightful, beyond the pedantic list of accomplishments you can get from a bio sheet or a PR campaign.

Profiles aim to:

• Reveal feelings
• Expose attitudes
• Capture habits and mannerisms.
• Entertain and inform.

Accomplishing those goals is what makes profiles challenging to write, but also makes them among the most compelling and fulfilling stories to create.

Delving deeply into your subject’s interests, career, education and family can bring out amazing anecdotes, as can reporting in an immersive style.

The goal is to watch your subject closely and document his or her habits, mannerisms, vocal tones, dress, interactions and word choice. Describing these elements for readers can contribute to a fuller and more accurate presentation of the interview subject.

Consider this opening paragraph from one of my favorite profiles, Jeff Perlman’s look at one-time baseball bad boy John Rocker of the Atlanta Braves:

A MINIVAN is rolling slowly down Atlanta’s Route 400, and John Rocker, driving directly behind it in his blue Chevy Tahoe, is pissed. “Stupid bitch! Learn to f—ing drive!” he yells. Rocker honks his horn. Once. Twice. He swerves a lane to the left. There is a toll booth with a tariff of 50 cents. Rocker tosses in two quarters. The gate doesn’t rise. He tosses in another quarter. The gate still doesn’t rise. From behind, a horn blasts. “F— you!” Rocker yells, flashing his left middle finger out the window. Finally, after Rocker has thrown in two dimes and a nickel, the gate rises. Rocker brings up a thick wad of phlegm. Puuuh! He spits at the machine. “Hate this damn toll.”

Perlman does not have to tell us anything about Rocker; he has shown us and lets us make our own determinations as to the person we are getting to know through this article.

Research is key to any piece, but profiles provide the ultimate test of your interviewing skills. How well can you coax complete strangers into sharing details of their private lives? Your job is to get subjects to open up and share their true personalities, memories, experiences, opinions, feelings and reflections.

This comes from a true conversational style and a willingness to probe as deep as you need to get the material you need.

Interview your subject and as many people as you need to get clear perspectives of your profile subject.

Not everyone will make your article, but you can get background information and anecdotes that could be crucial to understanding your subject or asking key questions. (Now might be a good time to download “Always Get the Name of the Dog.”)

Take the time to watch your subject at work or play so you can really get to know them in a three-dimensional way.

The fewer sources and the less time you spend with your subject the less accurate or complex your profile will be.

The framework of a profile follows these guidelines:

Anecdotal lede

An engaging, revealing a little story to lure us into your article.

Nut graph/Theme

A paragraph that shows the reader what exactly this story is about and why does this entity matter now?

Observe our subject in action now using dialogue details and descriptions.

A recap of our subject’s past activities using facts, quotes and anecdotes as they relate to the theme.

Where Are We Now?

What is our subject doing now, as it relates to the theme?

What Lies Ahead?

Plans, dreams, goals and barriers to overcome.

Closing Quote

Bring the article home in a way that makes the reader feel the story is complete like they can sigh at the end of a good tale.

A Q&A article is just what it sounds like — an article structured in questions and answers.

Freelancers and editors both like them for several reasons:

• They’re easy to write.
• They’re easy to read.
• They can be used on a variety of subjects.

The catch is writers/interviewers must take even greater care with the questions asked and ensuring the quality of the answers received because they will provide both the skeleton and the meat of your piece.

This may seem obvious, but quality questions are vital, meaning we avoid closed-ended (yes or no, single-word answer) questions and instead ask questions that will inspire some thought, creativity and explanation or description.

Q&A articles start with an introduction into the subject — often as anecdotal as any other piece, but then transition into the fly-on-the-wall feeling of watching an interview take place. You are the interviewer.

The subject is the interviewee, and the reader is sitting alongside you both soaking in the experience and your relationship.

That means a Q&A has to stay conversational so it does not feel like a written interrogation.

The interview itself is much like we would use for an article, but you have to be more conscious of the order in which you ask questions, how they transition from one another and the quality of the answer so you are not tempted to move answers around.

You will be amazed at how many words get generated in an actual conversation or interview, so the Q&A is far from over when the interview concludes. Editing and cutting the interview transcript can take far longer than the interview itself.

You cannot change your subject’s words, but you take out redundancies and those verbal lubricants that keep conversations moving — “like,” “you know,” etc., Sentences and phrases can be edited out by using ellipses (…) to show you have removed something.

Grammar is a challenge with a lot of transcripts, and I will leave in that which represents the subject, but I will not let them come across badly by misusing words or phrases.

Instead, let’s take it out or ask them to clarify.

If you do an internet search on “round-up story,” you very often get a collection of information from various places on a central them.

Feature round-ups are written the same way.

These articles are like list blog posts, where you have a variety of suggestions from different sources that advance a common idea:

• 7 secrets to a happy baby
• 10 best vacation spots with a teenager
• 5 tips on how to pick the perfect roommate

You may notice that there is a numeric value on each of these ideas, and that is a key part of the roundup. You are offering a collection of suggestions, provided and supported by sources, on a specific topic.

The article begins, as most features do, with an anecdote that takes us to a theme, but instead of a uniform or chronological body style, we break it up into these sections outlined by each numbered suggestion.

Each section can be constructed like its own mini feature — complete with sources, facts, anecdote and quotes, or just the advice provided by a qualified source (not the author!).

There does not need to be a specific order to how each piece of the article is presented, rather their order is interchangeable.

It is important to have sources with some level of expertise and not merely opinions on the topic. Just because someone went to Club Med with their 5-year-old and had fun does not mean it’s the best vacation spot for kids.

We first need an idea of what makes a good vacation spot and then support with facts how this one fits the criteria.

Readers love to learn how to do new things, and there are few better ways to teach them than through how-to articles.

How-to articles provide a description of how something can be accomplished using information and advice, giving step-by-step directions, supplies and suggestions for success.

Unlike round-ups, these articles must be written sequentially and have to end with some sort of success.

Aim for something that most people don’t know how to do, or something that offers a new way of approaching a familiar task. Most importantly, make sure it is neither too simplistic, nor too complex for their attempt, and include provide definitions and anecdotes that show how things can go well or poorly in attempting this task.

Personal Experience

Most of us have had some experience that we think, “I would love to write about this so other people can learn or enjoy this with me.”

If you have a truly original and teachable moment and can find the right feature to which to pitch it, you may very well have a personal experience story on your hands.

Some guidelines for finding such a story include whether this is an experience readers would:

• Wish to share?
• Learn or benefit from?
• Wish to avoid?
• Help cope with a challenge?

Unlike a first-person lede, which might use your personal anecdote to get us into a broader story, in a personal experience article you are the story, and how we learn from your experience will help us navigate the same waters.

They can be emotional, like the New Yorker piece on women who share their abortion stories , but they can also be about amazing vacations that others might consider — “Bar Mitzvah trip to Israel” anyone? — or how about a man who quits a high-powered job to stay home with his kids?

No matter what your experience, you must be willing to tell your story with passion and objectivity, sharing the good, the bad and the uncomfortable, and making readers part of the experience.

It’s important that the experience is over before you pitch, so the reader can get a clear perspective of what happened and the resolution. Did it work or not?

As the author, you also need time to gain perspective on your issue so you can “report” it as objectively as possible.

Finally, make sure you are chronicling something attainable or achievable. We need to go through it and come out the other side with evidence that will make us smarter and better equipped to handle a similar situation that might come our way.

The Art of Covering Horse Racing

Melissa Hoppert is the racing writer from the New York Times, and despite covering the same events over and over she manages to find a unique story each time.

Belmont Park is called “Big Sandy,” because the track has so much sand on it. I rode the tractor and asked the trackman, “What makes it like that? What it’s like to race on it?”

It was my most-read story that year. You have to think outside the box.

When the horse Justify came along, it was like ”here we go again — another Triple Crown with the same trainer. What can I possibly write about Bob Baffert that has not written before?

We observed and thought outside the box. We didn’t do a Bob Baffert feature. We went to the barn and still talked to him every day, but we looked at things differently.

We focused more on the owners . They were in a partnership and that is a trend of the sport. Rich owners team up to share the risk. That made it more of a trend story. Is this where we are going.

Sometimes I like writing about the horse. American Pharoah was a really fun, quirky horse. My most favorite story was when I went to visit American Pharoah’s sire, Pioneer of the Nile , at the breeding shed. He has a weird breeding style. He needed the mood to be set. It was kind of random, but it helped tell a story of American Pharoah that had not yet been told.

True-Life Drama

Examples of these include:

• The couple on a sight-seeing plane ride that had to land the plane when their pilot died
• Aron Ralston frees himself by sawing off his own arm after getting trapped in the desert.
• Tornado survival stories

It is fitting that the first example I found to show you of true-life dramas came from Readers Digest because these types of stories are the bread and butter of that magazine.

They are the stories that are almost impossible to believe but are true, and they are driven by the characters who make them come to life.

Some “true-life dramas” become even more famous when they are adapted for the screen, like the Slate story of being rescued from Iran , you might know better as the film, “Argo.”

How about Capt. Richard Phillips’ dramatic struggle with Somali pirates, now a film starring Tom Hanks?

Steve Lopes of the Los Angeles Times found a violin-playing homeless man who became the subject of numerous columns and later the movie “The Soloist.”

These stories are, quite simply, dramatic experiences from real people, where they live through moments few of us can imagine.

Many of the feature versions of these stories start as newspaper coverage of the breaking event, and then a desire to go behind-the-scenes and chronicle exactly what happened over a much longer course of time — the lead-up, the culmination and the aftermath.

Being a consumer of news will help you come across these stories, and a desire to conduct really penetrating interviews to get the “real story” will make them come to life.

You might not be thinking about Christmas in May or back-to-school in February, but chances are editors will be scheduling those topics and looking for article ideas.

Seasonal stories are the ones that happen every year and need a fresh angle on an annual basis.

It goes beyond standbys like “Best side dishes for Thanksgiving,” and how to make a good Easter basket, to “ How to do the holidays in a newly divorced family ,” and “Back to school shopping for a home-schooled child.”

The key is that a timely observance is interwoven in the theme, and these stories are planned and often executed months in advance since we all know they are coming.

Seasonal can also relate to anniversaries — Sept. 11, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Titanic sinking — and their marketability can escalate dramatically around an anniversary.

The angle is all about the audience, so think how you can spin one day or a milestone event to toddlers, teens, seniors, your local community, pets, business, food, travel and you may suddenly have 10 stories from one topic.

Remember, though, that your pitch has to come long before the event is even in the mind of most readers — at least six months and sometimes a year.

The perceived glamour division of freelance writing is the travel piece, which most people think comes with an all-expense-paid trip to swanky, exotic locations.

That can be true, but more likely writers make their own plans and accommodations and their pay reflects that a portion of their compensation comes from the good time they had traveling.

The good news is that with the rise of travel blogs and smaller travel publications there are more outlets than ever to pitch your ideas, provided they are original and unique to the audience.

That means, “Traveling to Paris,” probably won’t work, but “ Traveling to Paris on $50 a day ” just might.

That also does not mean that publications are looking for your personal essay on what you did for your summer vacation, or just because you visited Peru and loved it that it’s worthy of a feature article. You have to show the editor and the reader why you have a unique perspective and angle on a traveling experience.

Travel writing means looking for stories on about:

• How to travel
• When to travel
• Advice on traveling

The more specifically you can focus on a population of travelers — seniors, parents, honeymooners, first-time family vacation — the more likely you can come up with an idea that has not been overdone and pitch it to a niche magazine.

In a column on the Writer’s Digest website, Brian Klems writes the need to travel “deeply” as opposed to just widely, and I thought that was such an insightful term. He spelled out the need to really dig deep into whatever area you might cover and take copious, detailed notes, but I would add that you also have to really dig deep into what people want to know about travel and enough to go past the cliché or stereotypes.

The more descriptively you can present experiences, the more compelled readers may be to join you.

To separate yourself from the cacophony of travel voices out there, consider building up expertise in one subject or area. If you are from an interesting area, see how you can pitch stories to bring make outsiders insiders. Are you a big hockey fan? What about traveling to different hockey venues and making a weekend travel story out of what to see and do before and after the game?

The key to success is to become a curious and perceptive traveler from the minute you book a trip. Think about how your experience can be a travel story, as opposed to only looking to pitch stories that could become an experience.

Some other types to consider:

Essay or Opinion

First-person pieces, which usually revolve around an important or timely subject (if they’re to be published in a newspaper or “serious” magazine).

Historical Article

Focus on a single historical aspect of the subject but make a current connection.

Trend Story

Takes the pulse of a population right now, often in technology, fashion, arts and health.

No, we are not talking about trees.

Evergreen stories are ones that do not have an expiration date and can be pitched for creation at any time.

A profile on a new trend or profile-worthy person has to be pitched in relatively short order, or it will not really marketable anymore. But a story on how to build an exercise program around your pet does not really have to be published at a specific time.

Incorporating evergreen ideas into your repertoire of story ideas will open up even more publishing doors.

Writing Fabulous Features Copyright © 2020 by Nicole Kraft is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Narrative Essays: Types, Features, Format, and Writing Tips

A narrative essay is a story told from a personal point of view. Narrative essays test your creativity and ability to tell a story in an interesting manner. You are not merely expected to narrate your experience; rather, you should narrate it in a way that will engage your audience. The aim is to move the audience and arouse their emotions, ensuring that they laugh, empathize, get annoyed, afraid, or happy, among others.

• 1 What is a Narrative Essay?
• 2 Our Sample Narrative Essays
• 3 Why Write a Narrative Essay?
• 4.1 Three Main Sections
• 4.2 Use of Sensory Language
• 4.3 Use of Dialogue
• 4.4 Chronological Order
• 4.5 Historical Present Tense
• 5.1 Autobiographical Narrative Essay
• 5.2 Descriptive Narrative Essay
• 6.1 Choose a topic
• 6.2 Start writing
• 6.3 Edit your essay
• 6.4 Proofread your final essay
• 6.5 Prices Starting At:
• 7.1 Introduction
• 7.3 Conclusion
• 8 Tips for Writing a Good Comparative Essay
• 9 Narrative Essay Topics

What is a Narrative Essay?

A narrative essay is a real or imagined story. Real narrative essays are based on personal experiences. Imagined narrative essays are based on the writer’s thoughts, creativity, and ability to create a lifelike experience. Since this type of essay is based on personal experience, writers are allowed to write in the first person (use of the pronoun ‘I’).

Our Sample Narrative Essays

Before you place your order, you may want to sample some of the example narrative essays written by our experienced narrative essay writers to gauge the quality of our writing.

From Strangers to Lovers  (Format: APA 7)

The End of the World  (Format: MLA)

Why Write a Narrative Essay?

Unlike other essay types, the main idea behind narrative essays is to tell a story. Writers are not required to analyze facts, provide evidence, make critiques, or persuade readers. It is up to the readers to make their own conclusions.

Narrative essays allow writers to exercise their creativity fully. Sometimes, the challenge is compressing an entire story into a few words. Most narrative essays have a word count of approximately 500 words.

Features of a Narrative Essay

Three main sections.

Like other essay types, narrative essays have an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. What sets narrative essays apart from other essays is that the body has several parts. The body must have a clear plot, the story’s characters, setting, conflict, and the story’s climax/conflict resolution. The essay must also have the author’s point of view.

Use of Sensory Language

Narrative essay writers aim to create lifelike experiences in the story. This calls for the use of sensory language, which allows the reader to visualize the author’s ideas. The writer needs to consider which sensory details are important for a particular story. For instance, when writing about a haunted house, the writer should ensure that their choice of words appeals to ears and eyes. When writing about an experience they had in a restaurant, the sensory details to focus on would be taste and smell.

Use of Dialogue

Dialogue is a sure way of capturing your readers’ attention. Dialogue makes the story real and interesting. It enables the reader to immerse themselves in the story and momentarily forget that they are reading it. The story’s characters are the main drivers of dialogue in a narrative essay. Dialogue adds variety to the story since it allows the writer to shift from narrating the story to taking the readers to the story’s actual setting, albeit imaginary.

Chronological Order

It is easy for your reader to follow your story when you organize events in the order in which they occurred. This calls for the use of transition words, such as first, second, next, then, and finally. These words make it easy for the reader to follow the story.

Sometimes, writers choose to employ flashbacks or foreshadowing. This means that they do not necessarily narrate the story’s events in the order in which they occurred. These techniques are deliberate shifts in the story’s chronology with the aim of piquing the reader’s interest and creating suspense.

Narrative essays that stick to the story’s order of events are known as linear narratives. Contrarily, those that shift the story’s chronology are referred to as non-linear narratives.

Historical Present Tense

A narrative essay recounts past events as if they were happening in the present. As such, the use of the historical past and present tenses is important. The historical present describes past events as if they were happening now. Like other essays, the present and past tenses are also ordinarily used in narrative essays.

Types of Narrative Essays

Autobiographical narrative essay.

Just like an autobiography, autobiographical essays are real. The writer gives an account of what actually happened in their life.  This type of narrative essay places great emphasis on the actual occurrences and not the little details that would be captured in a descriptive narrative essay.

Descriptive Narrative Essay

The author uses vivid descriptions to relay their experience or memory with the aim of evoking the reader’s various senses. With descriptive narrative essays, the writer also seeks to tell their story in the simplest words possible. The story can be real or imagined, which allows the writer to exercise a lot of creativity.

How to Start Writing a Narrative Essay

Choose a topic.

Settle on a topic and then collect information about it. The topic should not be mundane or one that is overly done. A good starting point would be drawing inspiration from a real-life experience and crafting a captivating story out it. Ensure you stick to a specific theme and remain coherent.

Tips for Choosing a Good Topic

When asked to write a narrative essay, you will enjoy the flexibility that this essay type offers since you can write about almost any aspect of life, real or imagined.

Sometimes, your professor will assign you a specific topic to write about. Other times, you will be given an essay prompt that allows you to choose a topic you prefer.

Specific topics include writing about:

• A life-changing experience.
• Your discovery of a cure for a disease.

Prompts can be open-ended, such as writing about:

• Your first teacher.
• Your first time on a plane.

Interesting stories take unexpected turns along the way, which compels your audience and sustains their interest. Narrative essays are also an opportunity to showcase your personality and what you think about life. When writing a narrative essay for admission into school, ensure your story illustrates your qualities, such as empathy, hard work, resilience, and motivation, among others.

Choosing a topic is a mere starting point. Often, you will think of new ideas along the way that you did not anticipate. The story may take a different but interesting turn, which often sees students changing their essay topic eventually.

Start writing

This entails drafting an essay outline. Essentially, your story should have a three-part plot that has a setting, central point and focus of the essay (climax), and a conclusion. An outline helps you foresee where to incorporate twists and turns, where to add more details, where to add more spice, and where to end the story, among others.

Edit your essay

The editing stage looks out for structure, style, and content errors. As such, ensure your essay has a smooth flow, is void of repetitions, is simple, and is easy to understand.

Proofread your final essay

This stage focuses on the small details such as spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors.

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Format of a Narrative Essay

Introduction.

The first paragraph of a narrative essay is the introductory paragraph. It gives the essay’s background information as well as the writer’s main purpose for writing the essay. This paragraph sets the essay’s scene. The reader should be able to tell the essay’s setting, be it geographical, cultural, or historical setting, among others. The introductory paragraph also carries the essay’s thesis statement (e.g., I never attached so much value to online learning until the Covid-19 pandemic struck the world). A thesis statement gives the reader a brief overview of the essay’s key argument. It should not discuss the details; instead, it should give the reader a general idea in such a way that their interest in the topic is aroused. Ensure your introductory paragraph also has a hook that will capture the reader’s attention right from the start. A hook can be a famous quote related to your topic, an intriguing statement, or a question.

The essay’s body should have at least three paragraphs, although they can be more.

Body paragraph 1: the rising action (i.e., what leads to the main events in the story).

Body paragraph 2: the actual occurrence/essay’s climax

Body paragraph 3: the falling action/what happens after the actual occurrence.

The conclusion is a summary of the essay’s main points. Be careful not to repeat everything already discussed. Only focus on the major points to avoid redundancy. Remember to restate your essay’s statement (e.g., institutions, teachers, and parents should embrace online learning since it allows for the continuity of education in the wake of pandemics).

Tips for Writing a Good Comparative Essay

Involve your audience : A narrative essay must engage the audience as much as possible. As a writer, you should go beyond telling the story and recreate what actually happened. This requires the use of words that appeal to the reader’s sensory and visual senses.

A clear plot : Ensure you have a clear plot. The reader should be able to tell who the characters are and what the story’s setting is. Besides the plot, a narrative essay should have a climax.

Keep it simple : The simpler the wording, the easier it is for the reader to understand your story. Avoid complex word choices and focus on telling your story in the simplest words possible.

Leave out unnecessary details : Narrative essays require writers to use vivid descriptions. However, do not overuse vivid descriptions. Focus on describing what is important and leave out unnecessary details.

Minimize references : Narrative essays are often stories from personal experience. As such, the use of references is not necessary. However, you still need to credit sources if you used them in your essay.

Use the first person : Avoid writing in the second person. As mentioned earlier, the use of the first-person pronoun ‘I’ is acceptable when writing narrative essays. Strive to write the story from your own point of view.

The thesis statement does not have to be concrete : Your introductory paragraph should have a thesis statement, just like most essays. However, the thesis statement does not need to be concrete for this type of essay. At this point, you may be wondering if a thesis statement is necessary. Yes, it is! As much as the story is about you, the audience should be able to learn something from it. The narrative should have a universal meaning that the reader can relate with.

Narrative Essay Topics

Sometimes, your professor will give you a topic for your narrative essay. However, you might need to pick your own topic sometimes.

You can get essay topic ideas by:

• Thinking about personal experiences
• Searching the internet
• Watching the news on TV
• Thinking about your hobbies, favorite movies, novels, et cetera
• Taking a walk where you can brainstorm and come up with ideas

If you cannot think about a good topic, you can place an order on WritingElites.net and we will save the day for you!

Below are some good essay topics you can consider for your narrative essay:

• My first day at school
• The day you watched your favorite football team play live
• An embarrassing moment
• A blind date
• An encounter with racism
• Getting lost in a new city
• A life-changing experience
• A day you lived in another planet
• Your discovery of a cure for a disease
• Life in a remote village that has 30 hours in a day

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7 Qualities of a Successful College Essay

Bonus Material:  30 College Essays That Worked

The college essay is one of the most important aspects of a student’s application.

It gives applicants an opportunity to articulate their personal values, character traits, and perspectives. It’s also a chance to add more value to your application, simply by demonstrating who you are outside of your resume and transcript.

A “successful” college essay is one that makes the most of these opportunities and, in many cases, earns an acceptance.

We’ve demystified what most admissions officers look for in college applications . But what are these officers looking for in the college essay itself? What are the top qualities of a successful application essay?

In analyzing various essays of admitted applicants, we’ve come up with a list of the characteristics that most of these pieces have in common. We’ll be referring to some of these pieces throughout the post.

Plus, we give you access to 30 college essays that earned their writers acceptance into Ivy League schools. Grab these below.

Download 30 College Essays That Worked

Here’s what we cover:

• What is The College Application Essay (in a nutshell)?
• 7 Qualities of a Successful Essay
• Bonus: 30 College Essays That Worked

The College Application Essay In a Nutshell

Most students applying to a college or university in the U.S. must submit an application essay (or “personal statement”) with their application.

Depending on the application platform the college uses (typically either Coalition or the Common App ), students have 500-650 words to craft a response. While each of these platforms has college essay prompts, it’s helpful to view these prompts as general guidelines as to what colleges are looking for in a response.

Based on these prompts and our own experience coaching college essay students , the application essay is:

• the chance to say what the rest of your application doesn’t say
• a demonstration of your character, values, and/or voice
• the platform to show who you are outside of a resume/transcript
• an introspective personal essay

The college essay is NOT :

• a rehashing of your resume
• an excuse or explanation of other components of your application
• a formal, five-paragraph essay
• what you think “colleges want to hear”

A standard college application includes an academic transcript, recommendation letters, extracurricular / activities section, an optional resume, and standardized test scores. The essay is an addition  to these 4 general components, so it makes sense that it should complement them by saying something new.

That’s why we like to define the essay as a “demonstration of character, values, and/or voice.” True, these elements can be inferred from other components of the application. But the essay is your opportunity to clearly and personally demonstrate what matters to you, who you are at the core, and/or your essential perspectives of the world.

For this reason, the college essay is introspective and personal. Colleges want to hear that “I” voice in the application essay, loud and clear, and they want active, intelligent reflection.

You can see this in action in the 30 college essays that worked, which you can download below.

( Note: Some colleges might require applicants to submit supplemental essays in addition to their personal statement. These often have very specific prompts and different word lengths. Here are 8 great tips for approaching supplemental essays . )

 7 Qualities of a Successful College Essay

We’ve assessed several college essays of applicants admitted to a wide range of schools, including Ivy League institutions. While extremely diverse, these pieces generally had the following characteristics in common.

1. Introspective and reflective

Many English teachers tell their students not to use the first-person “I” in their essays. While this might be the standard for some academic essays, the college essay  should  include that “I.” What’s more, it should include a  lot  of that “I”!

This can be understandably uncomfortable for students, many of whom may simply not be used to talking about themselves openly and declaratively on a page. It can also feel awkward from a stylistic point of view for students who are not used to writing in the first-person.

Yet colleges want to hear your words in your own voice, and they are especially interested in learning more about your perspectives on the world and insights gleaned from your various life experiences. That’s why many successful college essays are highly introspective, full of the writer’s active reflections on what they’ve learned, how they view the world, and who they are.

We typically see the bulk of such introspection at the  end  of an essay, where the writer summarizes these reflections (although this is by no means standard), as we can see in the conclusion to Erica’s essay here, which describes her earlier attempt to write and publish a novel:

Sometimes, when I’m feeling insecure about my ability as a novelist I open up my first draft again, turn to a random chapter, and read it aloud. Publishing that first draft would have been a horrible embarrassment that would have haunted me for the rest of my life. Over the past half-decade, I’ve been able to explore my own literary voice, and develop a truly original work that I will be proud to display. This experience taught me that “following your dreams” requires more than just wishing upon a star. It takes sacrifice, persistence, and grueling work to turn fantasy into reality.

In her personal statement, Aja reflects deeply on what she specifically learned from an experience described earlier on in the piece:

I found from my experiment and questioning within my mind that my practices distinguished me from others, thereby allowing me to form relationships on the basis of common interest or personality, rather than cultural similarities, that summer. I valued the relationships more, and formed a deep connection with my lab partner, whom I had found was similar to me in many ways. 

Notice how both of these selections contain a lot of that first-person voice, which is critical to elaborating perspectives, learning points, and introspective thoughts. And did we mention that admissions officers are  looking for  those specific perspectives, learning points, and thoughts that compose who you are?

2. Full of a student’s voice

An academic transcript can be revealing to admissions officers. The same goes for recommendation letters and resumes. But it’s hard to convey an individual voice in these application components. The college essay is your prime vehicle for speaking directly to colleges in your own words  about what matters to you.

Successful college essays thus veer away from the formal voice many students employ when writing academic essays. Rather, they showcase a student’s unique way of expressing themselves on a page, which can be, for example, humorous, informal, intimate, lyrical, and/or speculative.

Voice is at the forefront of Elizabeth’s essay about her love for “all that is spicy:”

I am an aspiring hot sauce sommelier. Ever since I was a child, I have been in search for all that is spicy. I began by dabbling in peppers of the jarred variety. Pepperoncini, giardiniera, sports peppers, and jalapeños became not only toppings, but appetizers, complete entrées, and desserts. As my palate matured, I delved into a more aggressive assortment of spicy fare. I’m not referring to Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, the crunchy snack devoured by dilettantes. No, it was bottles of infernal magma that came next in my tasting curriculum.

Notice how Elizabeth’s descriptions of her passion for spice are rich with her voice: playful, intelligent, and humorous. This also gives us insight into a specific aspect of her character–that’s the power of voice when it comes to personal essay writing, and college admissions officers are very interested in applicants’ characters.

3. Descriptive and engaging

You don’t have to be a natural creative writer to compose a successful college essay. Yet competitive essays aren’t afraid to dive deeply into a subject and describe it, whether that description relates to imagery, emotions, perspectives, or insights. A college essay shouldn’t leave the reader guessing in any way–it should be highly specific and it should tell your story in an engaging fashion.

Harry’s more intellectual essay presents his views on common values in society. He is careful to be very specific and descriptive in these views, incorporating both a relevant incident from history and his own direct relationship to the issue:

Admittedly, the problem of social integration is one I feel can be widely overstated – for example, when I was looking into some research for a similar topic a couple of years ago, I found numerous surveys indicating that ethnic minorities (especially Islam) identify much more closely with Britain than do the population at large. Still though, I, like many others, find myself constantly troubled by the prospect of the war from within that seems to be developing. This fear is fuelled by events such as the brutal killing of the soldier Lee Rigby at the hands of two British Muslims a couple of years ago.

In her essay, Amanda is extremely detailed in describing her experience as a caretaker for a difficult child. The result is a clear portrait of the challenge itself and Amanda’s relationship to this challenge, told from the perspective of an engaging storyteller:

Then I met Robyn, and I realized how wrong I was. Prone to anger, aggressive, sometimes violent (I have the scar to prove it). Every Sunday with Robyn was a challenge. Yoga, dancing, cooking, art, tennis – none of these activities held her interest for long before she would inevitably throw a tantrum or stalk over to a corner to sulk or fight with the other children. She alternated between wrapping her arms around my neck, declaring to anyone who passed by that she loved me, and clawing at my arms, screaming at me to leave her alone.

The successful college essays we see always  emerge from a place of honesty. Writing with honesty also is more likely to accurately convey a student’s unique voice, inspire reflection and introspection, and result in a descriptive, meaningful piece (all of the qualities listed in this post!).

Sometimes this means adopting a candid or direct voice on the page. James starts his essay frankly in this singular statement:

Simply put, my place of inner peace is the seat of that 50 foot sliver of carbon and kevlar called a rowing shell, cutting through the water in the middle of a race.

Or it might mean describing a challenge, vulnerability, or perspective truthfully, as Martin does in his essay about the experiences that have molded his character over the years:

Looking back, I have never been the “masculine boy” as society says my role to be. I have always thought I do not fit the social definition of a male as one who is “manly” and “sporty” and this alienating feeling of being different still persists today at times. However, I also have become more comfortable with myself, and I see my growth firsthand throughout high school.

Given that many universities value “truth” in their own mission statements and mottos, admissions officers will prioritize those essays that ring with a student’s honest voice.

5. Unconventional & distinct

This is by no means a requirement of a successful college essay. But many of the essays that earn students acceptance at their dream schools veer away from the predictable or expected, as we saw in Elizabeth’s essay above (“I am an aspiring hot sauce sommelier”). They are, in a nutshell, 100% unique.

We’ve seen some essays, for example, that follow more radical structures, such as list formats or experimental narratives. Others focus on unexpected subjects, like Shanaz’s piece on the relevance of Game of Thrones in her life and trajectory of learning.

And, time and again, successful college essays step away from what admissions officers already see in applications–academics, standardized tests, extracurricular activities, and classes. They may focus on something very specific (hot sauce or Game of Thrones ), seemingly ordinary (eating a kosher meal in public or working on a problem set), or personally interesting (a historic murder or wrestling game).

Regardless, the essays that “work” emphasize the unexpected, as opposed to the expected. Distinct essays will also feel as if they could not have been written by anyone else .

6. Well-written

This might also sound like an obvious quality of a successful essay, but it’s still worth mentioning. The most competitive application essays showcase strong writing skills, providing evidence of a student’s ability to tell a specific story artfully and well. 

Essays should also be error-free, grammatically precise, and stylistically on point. Successful pieces also might demonstrate versatility through varied sentence structure, word choice, and rhetorical or literary devices. Lastly, well-written essays typically adhere to a specific storytelling structure.

This excerpt from Justin’s essay about his experience in the California Cadet Corps, for example, displays a high command of language, word choice, and sentence structure:

Through Survival, I learned many things about myself and the way I approach the world. I realized that I take for granted innumerable small privileges and conveniences and that I undervalue what I do have. Now that I had experienced true and sustained hunger, I felt regret for times when I threw away food and behaved with unconscious waste. 

7. Meaningful

Above all, a successful college essay adds value to a student’s holistic college application. It is full of  meaning , in that it

• showcases a student’s unique voice
• elucidates an applicant’s particular perspective(s), character trait(s), and/or belief(s) and
• honestly conveys a significant component of who a student is

It might be difficult to compress the entirety of who you are into 650 words. Yet it is most certainly possible to craft 650 words that add significant meaning to an overall application in terms of a student’s  personal potential for the future. This is exactly what admissions officers are looking for . 

What can you do to ensure that your college essay aligns with these successful qualities? You can check out examples of essays that do!

You can download 30 actual college essays that earned their writers acceptance into Ivy League schools, right now, for free.

Kate is a graduate of Princeton University. Over the last decade, Kate has successfully mentored hundreds of students in all aspects of the college admissions process, including the SAT, ACT, and college application essay. 

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The Anxious Generation: US psychologist Jonathan Haidt's 'urgent and essential' new book

Haidt calls out 'the Great Rewiring of Childhood' phenomenon

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At the start of the 2010s, rates of teenage mental illness in the US, the UK and many other Western countries took a sharp upward turn, said Sophie McBain in The Guardian . "And they have been rising ever since." 

In all these places, diagnoses of depression and anxiety have sky-rocketed, as have rates of self-harm and suicide. The US psychologist Jonathan Haidt reckons he knows what lies behind this trend. Apple released the world's first smartphone in 2007 – and Haidt thinks the mass adoption of these devices, together with the advent of social media, is driving an unprecedented teenage mental-health crisis. 

In his "urgent and essential" new book, Haidt argues that in the past decade or so, childhood has gone from being "play-based" to being "phone-based". While children and teenagers are ever more monitored and protected in their offline lives, on the internet they are given extensive "freedom to roam", which places them in the way of myriad harms, from "being bullied and harassed" to encountering violent pornography, or sites that glorify suicide. Haidt calls this phenomenon "the Great Rewiring of Childhood".

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It's clear, both statistically and anecdotally, that the "generational anxiety" identified by Haidt is real, said Tiffany Jenkins in Literary Review . Yet it's surely premature to put all the blame for this on smartphones. "Correlation is not causation", and there are plenty of other factors that could explain the rising anxiety of today's teens, from the economic turmoil of the past 15 years to the threat of environmental catastrophe . 

But do we really need definitive proof that smartphones harm young people before taking actions to restrict them, asked Helen Rumbelow in The Times . Surely it's best to work on the "precautionary principle"; and anyway, common sense tells us that spending hours each day glued to a smartphone, scrolling through mindless content, is "not how human adolescents best live".

Indeed, said Ed Smith in The New Statesman . The "compelling thesis" at the heart of Haidt's book is that smartphones, by encouraging addiction to "surface trivia", prevent young people developing the "essential mix of resilience and attention that forges character and achievement". It interferes with social relationships, rendering them "forever elsewhere". Of course, Silicon Valley execs know this – which is why they "don't let their own kids near the digital dope they push at ours". How depressing that so many of the world's best and brightest have dedicated their lives to inducing others to waste theirs "hunched over a glass rectangle".

Jonathan Haidt, £25

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The telltale signs of essays written using ChatGPT

Cambridge researchers claim to have identified a number of key features of the AI tool writing style

Cambridge researchers claim to have discovered the “telltale” signs of essays written using ChatGPT .

Repetition of words, paragraphs starting with “however”, and numbered lists with items are all giveaways that the artificial intelligence tool helped write text, a study has found.

Cambridge University Press and Assessment compared essays written by three first-year undergraduate students with the aid of ChatGPT, with 164 essays written by IGCSE students.

IGCSE is an international qualification which is the equivalent of a GCSE taken by UK pupils.

The essays were marked by examiners, the undergraduates interviewed and their essays analysed.

The study found essays written with the help of ChatGPT performed poorly on analysis and comparison skills compared to essays written without such assistance.

But ChatGPT-assisted essays performed strongly on information and reflection skills.

Researchers identified a number of key features of the ChatGPT writing style, which included repetition of words or phrases and ideas, the use of more words than are necessary to convey meaning, and Latinate vocabulary.

Essays written with the help of ChatGPT were also more likely to use paragraphs starting with words like “however”, “moreover”, and “overall”, and numbered lists with items.

The researchers said ChatGPT’s default writing style “echoes the bland, clipped, and objective style that characterises much generic journalistic writing found on the internet”.

The report said: “The students found ChatGPT useful for gathering information quickly.

“However, they considered that complete reliance on this technology would produce essays of a low academic standard.”

Concerns about cheating

The study comes after the rise of generative AI tools, like ChatGPT, sparked concerns about cheating among pupils in the education sector.

Last year, universities including Cambridge , Oxford and Edinburgh banned students from using the technology in assessed work.

However, Russell Group universities have signed up to a set of principles to help ensure students are “AI literate” to make them more employable in the future.

The group said last summer that the principles will “shape institution and course-level work to support the ethical and responsible use of generative AI, new technology and software like ChatGPT”.

Staff will also be trained to use AI when they are teaching.

Lead researcher Jude Brady, of Cambridge University Press and Assessment, said: “Our findings offer insights into the growing area of generative AI and assessment, which is still largely uncharted territory.

“Despite the small sample size, we are excited about these findings as they have the capacity to inform the work of teachers as well as students.”

She added: “We hope our research might help people to identify when a piece of text has been written by ChatGPT.

“For students and the wider population, learning to use and detect generative AI forms an increasingly important aspect of digital literacy.”

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The tell-tale signs students are using chatgpt to help write their essays.

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Researchers have identified key features of ChatGPT-generated content that makes it easier to spot ... [+] (Pic: Getty Creative)

Researchers have identified tell-tale signs that students have used AI to help write their essays.

Excessive used of words derived from Latin, using unnecessary words and repeated use of the Oxford comma are among the hallmarks of using a generative chatbot to complete coursework, researchers found .

But while students taking part in the trial said they found using AI had some advantages, they acknowledged that relying on it completely would likely result in work of a low standard.

The impact of generative AI on education has been exercising educators since Open AI launched ChatGPT — a chatbot that generates text by predicting which words are likely to follow a particular prompt — in November 2022.

While some regard AI as a potentially transformative technology, creating a more inclusive and personalized education, for others it makes it impossible to trust coursework grades. Even academics have not been immune to using AI to enhance their work.

Now researchers at Cambridge University have tried to see if they could identify characteristics of AI’s writing style that could make it easy to spot.

And although their trial was small scale, they say it has the potential to help teachers work out which students used AI in their essays, and which did not.

Three undergraduates were enlisted to write two essays each with the help of ChatGPT, which were then compared with essays on the same topic written by 164 high school students. The undergraduates were then interviewed about their experience of using AI.

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(Undergraduates were included in the study because ChatGPT requires users to be 18 or over).

The ChatGPT essays performed better on average, being marked particularly highly for ‘information’ and ‘reflection’. They did poorly, however, for ‘analysis’ and ‘comparison’ — differences the researchers suggest reflect the chatbot’s strengths and weaknesses.

But when it comes to style, there were a number of features that made the ChatGPT assisted version easily recognizable.

The default AI style “echoes the bland, clipped, and objective style that characterizes much generic journalistic writing found on the internet,” according to the researchers, who identified a number of key features of ChatGPT content:

• A high frequency of words with a Latin root, particularly multisyllable words and a vocabulary above the expected level;
• Paragraphs starting with specific markers, such as ‘however’, ‘moreover’ and ‘overall’, followed by a comma;
• Numbered lists, with items followed by colons;
• Pleonasms: using unnecessary words, such as ‘free gift’ or ‘true fact’;
• Tautology: saying the same thing twice, such as ‘We must come together to unite’;
• Repeating words or phrases;
• Consistent use of Oxford commas, a comma used after the penultimate item in a list, before ‘and’ or ‘or’, for example “ChatGPT has many uses for teaching, learning at home, revision, and assessment”.

Although the students taking part in the trial used ChatGPT to different extents, from copying and pasting whole passages to using it as prompts for further research, there was broad agreement that it was useful for gathering information quickly, and that it could be integrated into essay writing through specific prompts, on topics and essay structure, for example.

But the students also agreed that using AI to write the essay would produce work of a low academic standard.

“Despite the small sample size, we are excited about these findings as they have the capacity to inform the work of teachers as well as students,” said Jude Brady of Cambridge University Press and Assessment, lead researcher on the study.

Future work should include larger and more representative sample sizes of students, she said. Learning to use and detect generative AI was an increasingly important part of digital literacy, she added.

“We hope our research might help people to identify when a piece of text has been written by ChatGPT,” she said.

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• Reprints & Permissions

As sweet as it gets

March madness rolls on with celebrations and storylines heading into the sweet 16.

From 68 to 16 teams, the first weekend of the Division I Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships included exciting results in front of record-breaking crowds.

The remaining fields offer plenty of excitement, including schools with teams in both brackets, programs extending impressive Sweet 16 streaks, a national championship rematch and a diverse conference representation.

Below are a few notable storylines to follow as teams play for a chance to reach their respective Final Four:

RECORD-BREAKING ATTENDANCE

For the third consecutive year, the Division I Women’s Basketball Championship has  set a first- and second-round attendance record . A total of 292,456 fans came through the turnstiles to watch first- and second-round games, an increase of 60,779 fans over 2023. Iowa City, Iowa, topped all hosting sites, welcoming sellout crowds totaling 28,764 fans for the first and second rounds, marking three straight years of sellouts at Carver Hawkeye Arena.

Attendance at the opening rounds also helped to push the all-time NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship attendance over the 9 million mark, with 9,290,650 fans attending thus far in the 42 years of the championship.

No. 1 overall seed South Carolina  extended its program record with the Gamecocks’ 59th straight win at home in their final game of the season at Colonial Life Arena, where they averaged an NCAA-best 16,489 fans.

Heavy interest continued  for the Division I Men’s Basketball Championship, as almost 260,000 attended first-round games. Seven of the eight sites sold from 95% to 100% of their tickets for the Thursday and Friday games. Second-round games on Saturday and Sunday also were well-attended, with 131,073 fans buying from 97% to 100% of the available tickets at seven of the eight sites. 

Attendance topped 24,000 at the First Four, played Tuesday and Wednesday in Dayton, Ohio. Fans there witnessed three games decided by single digits, including an overtime win by Grambling. 

SHOWER TIME

All smiles for Illinois in the locker room after advancing to the Sweet 16 ?? #MarchMadness @IlliniMBB pic.twitter.com/E5mpLghsY3 — NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 24, 2024

TURN US UP! ????? #SicEm | #GreaterThan pic.twitter.com/C7M401iVmg — Baylor Women's Basketball (@BaylorWBB) March 25, 2024

You win, you make it rain. ?? pic.twitter.com/lbq59ZVGgm — Indiana Women’s Basketball (@IndianaWBB) March 26, 2024

???????? pic.twitter.com/QNXKVaruk7 — Gonzaga Women's Basketball (@ZagWBB) March 26, 2024

???? #GoJays x #marchmadness pic.twitter.com/fumMSsTdie — Creighton Men’s Basketball (@BluejayMBB) March 24, 2024

There are no words. #Cyclones | #C5C pic.twitter.com/2mJ2dDh0Ko — Iowa State Men’s Basketball (@CycloneMBB) March 24, 2024

SO SWEET WE DID IT TWICE

Fans of Duke , Gonzaga , NC State and UConn might have a sugar rush as all four schools have teams in the Sweet 16 of both the men’s and women’s tournaments.

With an impressive 93-55 victory over No. 12 seed James Madison, the fourth-seeded Duke men’s team advanced to the Sweet 16 for a matchup against top seed Houston. The Blue Devils women’s team knocked off No. 2 Ohio State on its home court, 75-63, to advance to Saturday’s Sweet 16 contest against No. 3 seed UConn.

The UConn women advanced with a 72-64 win over No. 6 seed Syracuse. On the men’s side, the Huskies advanced one game closer to their national title defense with a 75-58 result over No. 9 Northwestern. The Huskies’ Sweet 16 opponent? No. 5 San Diego State — an 85-57 winner over No. 13 Yale and the school UConn defeated in last year’s national championship final, 76-59.

WHO YOU GOT IN ROUND 2? ?? #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/vgFgjrtJ0w — NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 25, 2024

The fifth-seeded Gonzaga men’s team is set to face No. 1 Purdue in the Sweet 16, following an 89-68 victory over No. 4 Kansas in the second round. The No. 4 Zags women’s team, a 77-66 winner over No. 5 Utah, battles top seed Texas on Friday.

No. 3 NC State takes on No. 2 Stanford in the women’s Sweet 16 on Friday after the Wolfpack knocked off No. 6 Tennessee, 79-72. The men’s team continues its impressive month of March as the No. 11 seed scored a 79-73 victory over 14th-seeded Oakland to earn a Sweet 16 matchup against No. 2 Marquette.

PUT YOUR NAME ON IT

SWEET 16 (AGAIN)

For a few of the teams remaining after the first weekend of the Division I men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, reaching the Sweet 16 is a regular occurrence.

The UConn women’s team extended its NCAA record of consecutive Sweet 16 appearances to 30 dating  to the 1994 tournament, when the bracket expanded to 64 teams. South Carolina now holds the second-longest active streak with 10 Sweet 16 appearances. Baylor ’s trip to the Sweet 16 is the 13th in 15 years and 16th in program history, which is the third-most in the past two decades behind only UConn and Stanford. Speaking of Stanford , the Cardinal are back after reaching 14 straight Sweet 16s before last year’s exit.  Duke and Texas earned their 18th Sweet 16 appearance in their respective program’s history, while NC State punched its Sweet 16 ticket for the 16th time.  

 On the men’s side, Gonzaga earned its ninth straight trip to the Sweet 16, the longest active streak. The streak ranks tied with Duke (1998-2006) as the second-longest since 1975 — the first year that all teams in the tournament were required to win at least one game to advance to the Sweet 16. North Carolina , which is back for the 31st time since the Sweet 16 was first recognized in 1975, owns the record with 13 in a row from 1981-93. Houston is making its fifth straight Sweet 16. Overall, Marquette is making its ninth trip since 1975, and Alabama is set to compete for the 10th time.

CONFERENCE REPRESENTATION

In the men’s bracket, eight conferences are represented between the 16 teams remaining. The league breakdown includes the Atlantic Coast Conference (North Carolina, Clemson, Duke, NC State), Big East Conference (Creighton, Marquette, UConn), Big 12 Conference (Iowa State, Houston), Big Ten Conference (Purdue, Illinois), Southeastern Conference (Alabama, Tennessee), Mountain West Conference (San Diego State), Pac-12 Conference (Arizona) and West Coast Conference (Gonzaga). 

On the women’s side, the 16 teams remaining represent seven conferences. The Pac-12 (Stanford, Southern California, Oregon State, Colorado, UCLA) leads the way with five teams, followed by the Atlantic Coast (NC State, Notre Dame, Duke), Big Ten (Iowa, Indiana), Big 12 (Texas, Baylor), SEC (South Carolina, LSU), Big East (UConn) and West Coast (Gonzaga). 

VIEW FROM THE TOP

In both the men’s and women’s brackets, it’s good to be a higher seed. 

In the men’s, all No. 1 and No. 2 seeds are powering through the tournament. It’s only the fifth time in tournament history (1989, 1995, 2009, 2019) that all No. 1 and 2 seeds are in the Sweet 16. Two No. 3 seeds and two No. 4 seeds remain, as well. 

The combined seed total of 53 is only four away from a tournament low record of 49 for Sweet 16 teams. 

In the women’s, all No. 1 seeds advanced to the Sweet 16. Last year was the only instance since 2009 that all No. 1 seeds did not make the Sweet 16. Three of four No. 2 seeds and all four No. 3 seeds advanced to the second weekend of the tournament. No. 5 seeds Colorado and Baylor and No. 7 seed Duke prevented the Sweet 16 from being chalk. 

ANOTHER RECORD BITES THE DUST

NEW RECORD ?? @CaitlinClark22 sets the single-season record for most points scored in DI Women's Basketball history! #MarchMadness x @IowaWBB pic.twitter.com/ocDrVxsDdv — NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessWBB) March 26, 2024

CONTINUE THE MADNESS

Photos courtesy of NCAA Photos/Getty Images and participating institutions.

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Introducing the mace and ominous events

Test a new weapon, a new challenge, and more 1.21 features!

The snapshots, betas, and previews (or snabews as I call them) of the past two weeks have everything! There’s a new weapon (with its components and enchantments), a new trial chamber challenge (the final 1.21 feature, exclusive to snapshots for now), plus new armor trims, banner patterns, and pottery sherds! *deep breath* It’s a lot to cover, so let’s jump right into it. 

The mace, heavy core, and breeze rod 

Smash into battle with a brand-new weapon: the mace! This heavy-hitter has a special smash attack that sends your foes flying, but there’s a catch – you have to land a hit as you’re falling from a high place. The longer you fall, the harder you will hit! Just make sure you time your hit right, because your fall damage will only be negated if you land the blow. 

Want to know how you obtain a mace and start practicing your smash hits? You have two components to gather. First, defeat a breeze to obtain a breeze rod because every mace needs a handle. Then, for the star of the show (the mace head), you will need a heavy core. These can be found inside vaults that you unlock using an ominous trial key – more on that later. 

The mace’s enchantments 

As if it wasn’t... impactful enough, the mace can also be enchanted in three unique ways! First, there’s the Density enchantment, which further increases the damage you deal based on your fall distance, compared to a regular smash attack. Then, there’s Breach, which allows the mace to penetrate armor, dealing additional damage to enemies based on the enchantment level. And finally, there’s Wind Burst, which launches you up in the air when you successfully land a smash attack, while also knocking back enemies farther compared to an unenchanted mace. So whether you prefer to deal heavy blows or leap across the battlefield, now you can enchant the mace to match your style! 

Mace enchantments are only available in Java snapshots for now, but we'll let you know as soon as we bring them to Bedrock beta and preview.

New armor trims, pottery sherds, and banner patterns 

Stay safe in style with the Bolt and Flow armor trims!

Decorate your base with Flow, Scrape, and Guster!

Display the two new banner patterns, Flow and Guster!

Craving a new look or fresh decor for your build? You can now also try out two additional armor trims, two banner patterns, and three pottery sherds. Get the armor trims and banner patterns from vaults and grab the pottery sherds from inside the trial chambers. Now that’s what I call a souvenir! These really put my humble magnet collection to shame. 

And now, for the grand, unnerving finale... 

Ominous events 

Minecraft is all about choice, and very often players choose creativity and adventure. Just as often, they choose violence . Of the fantasy, ESRB +10-rated kind, of course. Inflicting hardship on yourself is a very Minecrafter thing to do: Hardcore mode, village raids, diving into the Nether completely unprepared... I could list Mojang-made and player-created challenges forever. And today, we’re adding ominous events to that list, the grand finale of 1.21 features! 

You might already be familiar with Bad Omen, but in this update, it's being expanded to give access to an optional experience in the trial chambers. All the optional experiences triggered by Bad Omen are now known as ominous events, and they're catered to bold players who want more punishing (but also more rewarding!) adventures in Minecraft. 

To gain a Bad Omen, you must drink the contents of an ominous bottle, a new item coming as part of the 1.21 Update that can be dropped by a defeated raid captain or found in a trial chamber vault. You will no longer automatically gain the Bad Omen status effect when defeating a raid captain, so drinking the contents of an ominous bottle is the only way to get it. What happens after you drink the contents of a bottle very clearly named “ominous”, I hear you cry? Well... 

Right now, there are two types of ominous events: 

1. Village raids 

You might already be familiar with village raids, which we introduced a few years back as part of the Village & Pillage update. These will now fall under the ominous events category, and there will be some small changes to how they work. They are still triggered by a player entering a village with the Bad Omen status effect. Once a player enters the village, the Bad Omen turns into a Raid Omen, and when that expires, brace yourself because the raid will start! 

2. Ominous trials 

Ominous trials are available in Java snapshots as of today, and they take the challenge of trial chambers to a new level. First, you need to gain the Bad Omen effect and head to a trial chamber. Once you’re within range of a trial spawner, it will become ominous and convert your Bad Omen into a Trial Omen , thus starting the ominous trial. While you still have that Trial Omen, any trial spawner that you approach will turn ominous. Ominous trial spawners spew out mobs that wear equipment more often, and spawn potions and projectiles above nearby mobs and players. Once you’ve dealt with all of that and a spawner goes into cooldown mode, you have a chance to receive an ominous trial key . Find an ominous vault (hint: they’re trickier to locate than regular ones) and use this key on it to get some rare loot as a reward for going through the gauntlet. 

Ominous trials and the new ominous events system are only available in Java snapshots for now, but stay tuned. We’ll let you know as soon as they come to Bedrock beta and preview, too! 

We hope you have fun smashing your way through ominous trials in your new trimmed armor, wielding your new mace, and patterning (definitely a word) your banners. As usual, we’re releasing these features into testing (or snabews – still trying to make that happen) so we can iterate on them based on your feedback, so please give us your feedback on these new 1.21 features here  and report bugs at  bugs.mojang.com ! 

How can I test 1.21 features? 

You can test these features by enabling snapshots for Minecraft: Java Edition, or previews/beta for Minecraft: Bedrock Edition. Please note that ominous events are only currently available in Java snapshots.  

To install a snapshot, open up the  Minecraft Launcher  and enable snapshots in the "Installations" tab. To enable preview/beta for Minecraft: Bedrock Edition, follow these instructions . 

If you are a Realm owner, you can also play the new snapshots, betas*, and previews* on your Realm! Any player who has an active Realms subscription is eligible to create a free testing Realm, so you can try out the new features with friends. Find more information on how to enable snapshots for Java Realms , and how to enable betas/previews on Bedrock Edition Realms *! 

*Preview is available for Minecraft: Bedrock Edition Realms on Xbox, Windows 10/11, and iOS. Betas are available on Android (Google Play). 

Important note: Testing versions can corrupt your world, so please backup and/or run them in a different save folder from your main worlds. 

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How teachers can tell if a student has used ChatGPT in an essay

Experts have revealed the tell-tale signs that an essay has been written by ChatGPT and not a student.

It comes after the rise of generative AI tools, like ChatGPT, has sparked concerns about cheating among pupils in the education sector.

Repetition of words, tautology and paragraphs starting with “however” are some tell-tale features, researchers said.

The writing style of the artificial intelligence tool is “bland” and “journalistic”, according to a Cambridge University Press and Assessment study.

Researchers compared essays written by three first-year undergraduate students, with the aid of ChatGPT, with 164 essays written by IGCSE students.

These essays were marked by examiners and the undergraduates were then interviewed and their essays were analysed.

The study found essays written with the help of ChatGPT performed poorly on analysis and comparison skills compared to non-ChatGPT-assisted essays.

But ChatGPT-assisted essays performed strongly on information and reflection skills.

Researchers identified a number of key features of the ChatGPT writing style, which included the use of Latinate vocabulary, repetition of words or phrases and ideas, and pleonasms.

Essays written with the help of ChatGPT were also more likely to use paragraphs starting with discourse markers like “however”, “moreover”, and “overall”, and numbered lists with items.

The researchers said ChatGPT’s default writing style “echoes the bland, clipped, and objective style that characterises much generic journalistic writing found on the internet”.

The report said: “The students found ChatGPT useful for gathering information quickly.

“However, they considered that complete reliance on this technology would produce essays of a low academic standard.”

Lead researcher Jude Brady, of Cambridge University Press and Assessment, said: “Our findings offer insights into the growing area of generative AI and assessment, which is still largely uncharted territory.

“Despite the small sample size, we are excited about these findings as they have the capacity to inform the work of teachers as well as students.”

She added: “We hope our research might help people to identify when a piece of text has been written by ChatGPT.

“For students and the wider population, learning to use and detect generative AI forms an increasingly important aspect of digital literacy.”

From news to politics, travel to sport, culture to climate – The Independent has a host of free newsletters to suit your interests. To find the stories you want to read, and more, in your inbox, click here .

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• How to write a descriptive essay | Example & tips

How to Write a Descriptive Essay | Example & Tips

Published on July 30, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on August 14, 2023.

A descriptive essay gives a vivid, detailed description of something—generally a place or object, but possibly something more abstract like an emotion. This type of essay , like the narrative essay , is more creative than most academic writing .

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Table of contents

Descriptive essay topics, tips for writing descriptively, descriptive essay example, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about descriptive essays.

When you are assigned a descriptive essay, you’ll normally be given a specific prompt or choice of prompts. They will often ask you to describe something from your own experience.

• Describe a place you love to spend time in.
• Describe an object that has sentimental value for you.

You might also be asked to describe something outside your own experience, in which case you’ll have to use your imagination.

• Describe the experience of a soldier in the trenches of World War I.
• Describe what it might be like to live on another planet.

Sometimes you’ll be asked to describe something more abstract, like an emotion.

If you’re not given a specific prompt, try to think of something you feel confident describing in detail. Think of objects and places you know well, that provoke specific feelings or sensations, and that you can describe in an interesting way.

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The key to writing an effective descriptive essay is to find ways of bringing your subject to life for the reader. You’re not limited to providing a literal description as you would be in more formal essay types.

Make use of figurative language, sensory details, and strong word choices to create a memorable description.

Use figurative language

Figurative language consists of devices like metaphor and simile that use words in non-literal ways to create a memorable effect. This is essential in a descriptive essay; it’s what gives your writing its creative edge and makes your description unique.

Take the following description of a park.

This tells us something about the place, but it’s a bit too literal and not likely to be memorable.

If we want to make the description more likely to stick in the reader’s mind, we can use some figurative language.

Here we have used a simile to compare the park to a face and the trees to facial hair. This is memorable because it’s not what the reader expects; it makes them look at the park from a different angle.

You don’t have to fill every sentence with figurative language, but using these devices in an original way at various points throughout your essay will keep the reader engaged and convey your unique perspective on your subject.

Use your senses

Another key aspect of descriptive writing is the use of sensory details. This means referring not only to what something looks like, but also to smell, sound, touch, and taste.

Obviously not all senses will apply to every subject, but it’s always a good idea to explore what’s interesting about your subject beyond just what it looks like.

Even when your subject is more abstract, you might find a way to incorporate the senses more metaphorically, as in this descriptive essay about fear.

Choose the right words

Writing descriptively involves choosing your words carefully. The use of effective adjectives is important, but so is your choice of adverbs , verbs , and even nouns.

It’s easy to end up using clichéd phrases—“cold as ice,” “free as a bird”—but try to reflect further and make more precise, original word choices. Clichés provide conventional ways of describing things, but they don’t tell the reader anything about your unique perspective on what you’re describing.

Try looking over your sentences to find places where a different word would convey your impression more precisely or vividly. Using a thesaurus can help you find alternative word choices.

• My cat runs across the garden quickly and jumps onto the fence to watch it from above.
• My cat crosses the garden nimbly and leaps onto the fence to survey it from above.

However, exercise care in your choices; don’t just look for the most impressive-looking synonym you can find for every word. Overuse of a thesaurus can result in ridiculous sentences like this one:

• My feline perambulates the allotment proficiently and capers atop the palisade to regard it from aloft.

An example of a short descriptive essay, written in response to the prompt “Describe a place you love to spend time in,” is shown below.

Hover over different parts of the text to see how a descriptive essay works.

On Sunday afternoons I like to spend my time in the garden behind my house. The garden is narrow but long, a corridor of green extending from the back of the house, and I sit on a lawn chair at the far end to read and relax. I am in my small peaceful paradise: the shade of the tree, the feel of the grass on my feet, the gentle activity of the fish in the pond beside me.

My cat crosses the garden nimbly and leaps onto the fence to survey it from above. From his perch he can watch over his little kingdom and keep an eye on the neighbours. He does this until the barking of next door’s dog scares him from his post and he bolts for the cat flap to govern from the safety of the kitchen.

With that, I am left alone with the fish, whose whole world is the pond by my feet. The fish explore the pond every day as if for the first time, prodding and inspecting every stone. I sometimes feel the same about sitting here in the garden; I know the place better than anyone, but whenever I return I still feel compelled to pay attention to all its details and novelties—a new bird perched in the tree, the growth of the grass, and the movement of the insects it shelters…

Sitting out in the garden, I feel serene. I feel at home. And yet I always feel there is more to discover. The bounds of my garden may be small, but there is a whole world contained within it, and it is one I will never get tired of inhabiting.

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

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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.

If you’re not given a specific prompt for your descriptive essay , think about places and objects you know well, that you can think of interesting ways to describe, or that have strong personal significance for you.

The best kind of object for a descriptive essay is one specific enough that you can describe its particular features in detail—don’t choose something too vague or general.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

Caulfield, J. (2023, August 14). How to Write a Descriptive Essay | Example & Tips. Scribbr. Retrieved April 1, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/academic-essay/descriptive-essay/

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Nike Debuts First Shoe in Devin Booker Partnership, Nike Book 1

Product news.

The shoe design features lifestyle aesthetics blended with performance functionality.

Original content published: September 14, 2023

It’s official: Devin Booker, the all-star basketball player, has officially joined Nike’s signature family. Kicking off the collaboration, Nike has released the Nike Book 1, the first installment in Booker’s signature series with the brand, set to be released spring 2024.

Featuring both lifestyle aesthetics and performance functionality, the shoe invokes Booker’s playing style: classic with heavy focus on mastering the game. “Early on, we landed on the phrase ‘future classic,’” Booker said. “At the beginning of the design process, we landed on the idea of the shoe combining lifestyle and performance worlds. The goal was to create something that would be timeless.”

According to a press release shared by Nike, to begin the design process of the Nike Book 1, Booker provided a handful of shoe silhouettes he found especially attractive, including the Air Force 1, Blazer, and AJ1. A creative thinker on and off the court, Booker shared inspiration outside of footwear, too, namely one of his restored vintage cars, a 1972 Chevy Blazer K5, which he lovingly calls “Uncle Larry.”

With plenty of creative foundation laid, the vision of the shoe was clear: provide athletes footwear that celebrated Booker’s playing style with his love of classic design. The result? The Nike Book 1 features elements that help with lateral stability, cushioning, and underfoot responsiveness, the same release said. Under the hood of the shoe, as it were, Nike design teams layered Cushlon 2.0 foam within the midsole and “a rigid TPU sidewall for added support, with a top-loaded Nike Zoom air bag in the heel,” the release said.

Just like his beloved Chevy, the outside of the shoe is all about the aesthetics coupled with purpose. For example, work-wear canvas and twill on the upper provide further durability. Meanwhile, a suede collar and leather across the forefoot contribute to a plush and broken-in feel.

Coming spring 2024, the Nike Book 1 will be available in two signature colorways.

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