These expository writing prompts on life events are a great way to get your high school and middle school teens and tweens sharing personal stories and adding valuable detail to their writings.
→ Writing Prompt 1: Your house is going to be evacuated due to a fast moving fire. You only have two minutes to take what is really important to you. What are the five things you saved and why did you choose them?
→ Writing Prompt 2: What are your beliefs in reincarnation? Do you believe there is any kind of life after death?
→ Writing Prompt 3: Everyone has days that they will always remember as being very special. Think about a special day that you have had. Write an essay telling why it was so special.
→ Writing Prompt 4: Write an essay, which will be buried in a time capsule and opened in 2500, about an important event or incident which happened in your lifetime.
→ Writing Prompt 5: Imagine that time travel to the past was possible. Write an essay telling where and when you would go in the past and explain why you choose to go there.
→ Writing Prompt 6: Think about your favorite year of school. Explain why it was your favorite.
→ Writing Prompt 7: A classmate of yours had an accident on the playground during recess and had to be taken to the doctor’s office. Write 3 – 5 paragraphs for the principal explaining what you saw. Before you start to write, think about exactly where you were and when the accident took place. Think about the others who were involved in the accident. Consider any details that would be helpful in your report.
→ Writing Prompt 8: Think about a time when you were proud of yourself. Write a letter to your pen pal in another country describing that time.
→ Writing Prompt 9: It is ten years from now. Write a letter to an old classmate telling her about yourself. Where do you live? What do you do? How did you get where you are? What goals have you reached?
→ Writing Prompt 10: Your local newspaper has been running a series of articles on local events to attract potential tourists. Describe your favorite event in a letter to the editor of the paper.
→ Writing Prompt 11: A musical group that everyone likes is going to perform a special concert and it’s at your school! Write an announcement to read over the school intercom explaining who is coming and the details of the event.
Writing Prompts on Life Events Continue
→ Writing Prompt 12: Most people go on vacation to have fun, but sometimes vacations don’t turn out as expected! Think about a vacation you went on that had some unexpected surprises and write an essay about the experience.
→ Writing Prompt 13: A thunderstorm has knocked out your electricity and you’ve been informed it will be at least 24 hours before it comes back on. No tv, no computer, no video games. What would you do to make the time go faster?
→ Writing Prompt 14: Tonight you have been asked to cook dinner for your family. Think of the foods you will make, how you will prepare them and serve them. Explain how you will prepare a dinner for your family.
→ Writing Prompt 15: Occasionally, we find ourselves in a dangerous situation. Think about what types of situations you consider dangerous and write about them.
→ Writing Prompt 16: In “The Origin of Species” Charles Darwin stated “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” Remember a time when something in your life changed and write about how you responded to it and why.
→ Writing Prompt 17: Think about one body part and about how your life would be altered if that body part were suddenly missing. Describe how you would cope.
→ Writing Prompt 18: Describe a time you made a change that improved your life or the lives of others.
→ Writing Prompt 19: Sometimes the course of our lives can change in an instant. Change can be scary. Describe an experience that changed the direction of your life.
→ Writing Prompt 20: If you could live one day over and over again (think Groundhog Day) what day would you choose?
→ Writing Prompt 21: If life had a delete button, what one incident would you delete?
→ Writing Prompt 22: Describe an experience that led you to rethink a long-held opinion.
