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The Big List of Essay Topics for High School (150+ Ideas!)

Ideas to inspire every young writer.

High school students generally do a lot of writing, learning to use language clearly, concisely, and persuasively. When it’s time to choose an essay topic, though, it’s easy to come up blank. If that’s the case, check out this huge roundup of essay topics for high school. You’ll find choices for every subject and writing style.

• Argumentative Essay Topics
• Cause-and-Effect Essay Topics
• Compare-Contrast Essay Topics
• Descriptive Essay Topics
• Expository and Informative Essay Topics
• Humorous Essay Topics

Literary Essay Topics

• Narrative and Personal Essay Topics
• Opinion Essay Topics
• Persuasive Essay Topics

Research Essay Topics

Plus, click the button below to get your free printable five-paragraph essay graphic organizers to help your students plan their essays.

Argumentative Essay Topics for High School

When writing an argumentative essay, remember to do the research and lay out the facts clearly. Your goal is not necessarily to persuade someone to agree with you, but to encourage your reader to accept your point of view as valid. Here are some argumentative topics to try. ( Here are 100 more compelling argumentative essay topics. )

• The most important challenge our country is currently facing is … (e.g., immigration, gun control, economy)
• The government should provide free internet access for every citizen.
• All drugs should be legalized, regulated, and taxed.
• Vaping is less harmful than smoking tobacco.
• Parents should be punished for their minor children’s crimes.
• Should all students have the ability to attend college for free?
• Should physical education be part of the standard high school curriculum?
• Schools should require recommended vaccines for all students, with very limited exceptions.
• Animal testing should be banned.
• Does social media do more harm than good?
• Is single-sex education better than co-education?
• Capital punishment does/does not deter crime.
• Are men and women treated equally?
• Should plastic be banned?

Cause-and-Effect Essay Topics for High School

A cause-and-effect essay is a type of argumentative essay. Your goal is to show how one specific thing directly influences another specific thing. You’ll likely need to do some research to make your point. Here are some ideas for cause-and-effect essays. ( Get a big list of 137 cause-and-effect essay topics here. )

• Humans are causing accelerated climate change.
• Fast-food restaurants have made human health worse over the decades.
• What caused World War II? (Choose any conflict for this one.)
• Describe the effects social media has on young adults.
• How does playing sports affect people?
• What are the effects of loving to read?
• Being an only/oldest/youngest/middle child makes you …
• What effect does violence in cartoons, movies, or video games have on kids?
• Traveling to new places opens people’s minds to new ideas.
• Racism is caused by …
• Immigration benefits the United States.

Compare-Contrast Essay Topics for High School

As the name indicates, in compare-and-contrast essays, writers show the similarities and differences between two things. They combine descriptive writing with analysis, making connections and showing dissimilarities. The following ideas work well for compare-contrast essays. ( Find 125 compare-contrast essay topics for all ages here. )

• Public and private schools
• Capitalism vs. communism
• Monarchy or democracy
• Dogs vs. cats as pets
• Paper books or e-books
• Two political candidates in a current race
• Going to college vs. starting work full-time
• Working your way through college as you go or taking out student loans
• iPhone or Android
• Instagram vs. X (or choose any other two social media platforms)
• Gas-powered cars vs. electric cars
• High school vs. college
• Volunteering vs. paid work
• Your teacher vs. your parent/guardian
• Oldest child and youngest child
• Introverts vs. extroverts

Descriptive Essay Topics for High School

Bring on the adjectives! Descriptive writing is all about creating a rich picture for the reader. Take readers on a journey to far-off places, help them understand an experience, or introduce them to a new person. Remember: Show, don’t tell. These topics make excellent descriptive essays.

• Who is the funniest person you know and why?
• What is your favorite childhood memory?
• Tell about the most inspirational person in your life.
• Write about your favorite place.
• When you were little, what was your favorite thing to do?
• Choose a piece of art or music and explain how it makes you feel.
• What is your earliest memory?
• What’s the best/worst vacation you’ve ever taken?
• Describe your favorite pet.
• What is the most important item in the world to you?
• Give a tour of your bedroom (or another favorite room in your home).
• Describe yourself to someone who has never met you.
• Lay out your perfect day from start to finish.
• Explain what it’s like to move to a new town or start a new school.
• Tell what it would be like to live on the moon.

Expository and Informative Essay Topics for High School

Expository essays set out clear explanations of a particular topic. You might be defining a word or phrase or explaining how something works. Expository or informative essays are based on facts, and while you might explore different points of view, you won’t necessarily say which one is “better” or “right.” Remember: Expository essays educate the reader. Here are some expository and informative essay topics to explore. ( You can also get 70+ expository and informative essay topics here. )

• What makes a good leader?
• Explain why a given school subject (math, history, science, etc.) is important for students to learn.
• What is the “glass ceiling” and how does it affect society?
• Describe how the internet changed the world.
• What does it mean to be a good teacher?
• How has modern technology changed teaching and learning?
• Explain how we could colonize the moon or another planet.
• Discuss why mental health is just as important as physical health.
• Describe a healthy lifestyle for a teenager.
• Choose an American president and explain how their time in office affected the country.
• What does “financial responsibility” mean?
• What is video game addiction, and how does it affect teens?

Humorous Essay Topics for High School

Humorous essays can take on any form, like narrative, persuasive, or expository. You might employ sarcasm or satire, or simply tell a story about a funny person or event. Even though these essay topics are lighthearted, they still take some skill to tackle well. Give these ideas a try.

• What would happen if cats (or any other animal) ruled the world?
• What do newborn babies wish their parents knew?
• Explain the best ways to be annoying on social media.
• Invent a wacky new sport, explain the rules, and describe a game or match.
• Explain why it’s important to eat dessert first.
• Imagine a discussion between two historic figures from very different times, like Cleopatra and Queen Elizabeth I.
• Retell a familiar story in tweets or other social media posts.
• Describe present-day Earth from an alien’s point of view.
• Choose a fictional character and explain why they should be the next president.
• Describe a day when kids are in charge of everything, at school and at home.

Literary essays analyze a piece of writing, like a book or a play. In high school, students usually write literary essays about the works they study in class. These literary essay topic ideas focus on books students often read in high school, but many of them can be tweaked to fit other works as well. ADVERTISEMENT

• Discuss the portrayal of women in Shakespeare’s Othello .
• Explore the symbolism used in The Scarlet Letter .
• Explain the importance of dreams in Of Mice and Men .
• Compare and contrast the romantic relationships in Pride and Prejudice .
• Analyze the role of the witches in Macbeth .
• What is the role of resilience and hope in The Hate U Give ?
• Analyze the exploration of racism and social injustice in Dear Martin .
• Dissect the allegory of Animal Farm and its relation to contemporary events.
• Interpret the author’s take on society and class structure in The Great Gatsby .
• Explore the relationship between Hamlet and Ophelia.
• Discuss whether Shakespeare’s portrayal of young love in Romeo and Juliet is accurate.
• Explain the imagery used in Beowulf .
• Explore the use of satire in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy .
• What does Death of a Salesman say about the concept of the American dream?
• Explore the effects of trauma on mental health in The Perks of Being a Wallflower .

Narrative and Personal Essay Topics for High School

Think of a narrative essay like telling a story. Use some of the same techniques that you would for a descriptive essay, but be sure you have a beginning, middle, and end. A narrative essay doesn’t necessarily need to be personal, but they often are. Take inspiration from these narrative and personal essay topics.

• Describe a performance or sporting event you took part in.
• Explain the process of cooking and eating your favorite meal.
• Write about meeting your best friend for the first time and how your relationship developed.
• Tell about learning to ride a bike or drive a car.
• What is your biggest fear?
• Describe a time in your life when you’ve been scared.
• Write about a time when you or someone you know displayed courage.
• Share the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to you.
• Tell about a time when you overcame a big challenge.
• Tell the story of how you learned an important life lesson.
• Describe a time when you or someone you know experienced prejudice or oppression.
• Explain a family tradition, how it developed, and its importance today.
• What is your favorite holiday? How does your family celebrate it?
• Retell a familiar story from the point of view of a different character.
• Describe a time when you had to make a difficult decision.
• Tell about your proudest moment.

Opinion Essay Topics for High School

When writing an opinion essay, you don’t need to rely as much on facts or persuasive techniques. You’re simply sharing your thoughts on a topic, as well as your justifications for your beliefs. You may include evidence if you like, but an opinion essay is more personal than persuasive. These topics work well for opinion essays:

• Is technology too isolating?
• What animal makes the best pet?
• Everyone should be vegetarian or vegan.
• What is one book that everyone should be required to read?
• Is democracy the best form of government?
• Is capitalism the best form of economy?
• Students should/should not be able to use their phones during the school day.
• Should physical education be graded?
• The best country in the world is …
• What one class should all high schools students be required to take and pass in order to graduate?
• Do we really learn anything from history, or does it just repeat itself over and over?
• Which is better, book smarts or street smarts?
• Who faces more peer pressure, girls or boys?
• Is it better to be kind or truthful?

Persuasive Essay Topics for High School

Persuasive essays are similar to argumentative essays , but they rely less on facts and more on emotion to sway the reader. It’s important to know your audience so you can anticipate any counterarguments they might make and try to overcome them. Try these topics to persuade someone to come around to your point of view. ( Discover 130 more intriguing persuasive essay topics here. )

• Do you think homework should be required, optional, or not given at all?
• Should schools be allowed to ban some books from their libraries?
• Visit an animal shelter, choose an animal that needs a home, and write an essay persuading someone to adopt that animal.
• Who is the world’s best athlete, present or past?
• Should parents use their children’s cell phones to track where they are?
• What’s the best way to handle constantly rising college education costs?
• Should little kids be allowed to play competitive sports?
• Are professional athletes/musicians/actors overpaid?
• The best music genre is …
• Should schools have dress codes?
• Is climate change reversible?
• If I could change one school rule, it would be …
• Is year-round school a good idea?
• Selling tobacco should be banned.

A research essay is a classic high school assignment. These papers require deep research into primary source documents, with lots of supporting facts and evidence that’s properly cited. Research essays can be in any of the styles shown above. Here are some possible topics, across a variety of subjects.

• Which country’s style of government is best for the people who live there?
• Choose a country and analyze its development from founding to present day.
• Describe the causes and effects of a specific war, e.g., “What instigated World War II?”
• Formulate an ideal economic plan for our country.
• What scientific discovery has had the biggest impact on life today?
• Tell the story of the development of artificial intelligence so far, and describe its impacts along the way.
• Explore the impact of income inequality on education in this country.
• Conduct an exploration of healthcare in this country, and make recommendations for improvement.
• Explain the importance of participating in government by voting, running for office, campaigning, etc.
• Analyze the way mental health is viewed and treated in this country.
• Explore the ways systemic racism impacts people in all walks of life.
• Defend the importance of teaching music and the arts in public schools.
• Choose one animal from the endangered species list and propose a realistic plan to protect it.
• Explain how space exploration has changed our understanding of the universe.
• Explore the effects of sleep deprivation on academic and physical performance.

Get your free printable five-paragraph essay graphic organizers

Get two free printable graphic organizers to help your students write their five-paragraph essays. The first one is a traditional design with sections to plan the topic, opening paragraph, main idea, body paragraphs, and closing paragraph. The second five-paragraph essay graphic organizer has a blueprint theme to help students visualize how the essay-writing process is similar to building a house. Just click the button below to fill out the form on this page and grab the printables.

What are some of your favorite essay topics for high school? Come share your prompts in the We Are Teachers HELPLINE group on Facebook .

Plus, check out the ultimate guide to student writing contests , you might also like.

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11+ Creative Writing Exam Prompts

Author: Sam Wainwright

Categories: Blog, Revision, Tips

Date: November 5, 2021

Most independent schools require prospective pupils to write an essay as part of their selective entrance exams. This can be in the form of a nonfiction essay or a creative writing assignment. Typically, students are given between 20 to 30 minutes for this essay and can select what to write from a number of up to four essay titles or other writing prompts, such as images.

Children do often feel that the essay element of the 11+ is a monumental, insurmountable task, and parents preparing them for it can often feel the same way! The tough time limit and the unseen writing prompts can make the essay quite daunting.

What’s more, it can be difficult to find the right resources to prepare effectively for the 11+ creative writing exam. For students seeking extra help, we recommend Eleven Plus Exams’s creative writing preparation course . The course consists of a thorough walkthrough of the forms of fiction and non-fiction that have appeared over the years in 11+ creative writing exams and what skills and techniques are needed to write successfully in each. Each lesson in the course covers different writing briefs commonly found in the exams and teaches pupils how best to tackle all types of questions, placing a focus on exam timing and exam practice.

For those looking for some quick tips and practice materials, you can read our advice for how students can improve their writing and what an examiner is really looking for in a writing essay here .

Creative Writing Prompts

Preparation is key to succeeding in this part of the 11+. Children should aim to write on a daily basis. This does not have to be a full essay every time, but a sentence or two in their vocabulary journals can really help to inspire more ideas and help boost their confidence in their own creativity! The brain, like most other parts of the body, needs to be exercised in order to grow stronger. Creativity and inspiration are no exceptions to this. The more a child dedicates their efforts to creating and exploring new ideas, the easier this will start to come to them. And in the time pressure of an exam, this kind of skill can be invaluable!

Children should therefore practice writing to unseen prompts – they should come up with their ideas, plan, write and proofread all in 20-30 minutes.

We have compiled lists of the different types of writing prompts that can appear in a 11+ exam to help kickstart your child’s creative writing and to provide ample fodder for exam accurate preparation.

Remember that if your child does tackle any of these sample tasks they should set aside time a few days after completing them to revisit their work. Children who rewrite their stories, especially after receiving feedback from readers, often find they are able to spot where to improve and make better progress in elevating their writing.

Essay Titles

Essay titles may be the most common creative writing task assigned to students. For this task, students will be given a single title or a writing brief and must write their story to fit it accordingly. For these types of prompts, it is important to read the whole brief carefully .

Before students begin writing or even planning their essays, they should highlight the keywords in their title or brief. They should note if there are any specific instructions that they must follow. Students will be marked according to how well they fulfil the task they have been given.

For example, we can take a question from Merchant Taylor School in London.

The prompt reads: Write a story with Alone as the title, where you suddenly realise that you are on your own. It may be true or entirely made up, but it should include your thoughts and feelings as well as what happened. 

Successful students would follow this brief entirely. Those who title their story Alone and write a story that fits this thematically but fail to write their character suddenly realising that they are on their own, would potentially lose marks for failing to follow the title brief fully. 

Here are some more essay titles for your students to practice with.

• Write a story (true or made up) about a visit you make to some relations of your own. (Question from Merchant Taylor School)
• Write a letter to a cousin inviting them to stay with you . You should try and interest them in some of the varied and unusual activities they can take part in. (Question from Merchant Taylor School)
• Describe a situation that you have experienced which might also be called A Magical Moment , showing your thoughts and feelings on the event. (Question from Merchant Taylor School)
• Write a clear description of an animal you know well. Make sure you describe what it does and how it behaves as well as what it looks like. (Question from Merchant Taylor School)
• I prefer Winter to Spring (Dulwich College, London)
• The door and what was behind it (Dulwich College, London)
• The prince of Darkness is a Gentleman (Dulwich College, London)
• Ash on an old man’s sleeve (Dulwich College, London)
• My hobby (Emmanuel College, London)
• Write a story that begins with the words, I had been waiting for such a long time for this to happen… (Emmanuel College, London)
• Write a description of someone you admire . (You may choose someone you actually know, or someone you have never met. Describe them and explain why you admire them.) (Emmanuel College, London)

And more…

• A surprising spy
• Break time at school
• Write a story about a lost key
• Is life too hectic to enjoy fully?
• My favourite memories
• A farewell party
• An attempted robbery
• It was a while before I realised my cat could talk
• Moving Houses
• The new pupils
• The Burglary
• My Brilliant Idea
• The Balloon
• The school rules
• A place that inspires you
• Your favourite day out
• Are Jamie Oliver’s new school dinners a good idea.
• What makes a good friend?
• Describe the scene and the activities at a bus station.
• How does the life of your generation differ from that of your grandparents?
• Discuss the good and bad effects of competition in modern life.

Visual Stimuli

Another type of essay prompt is the visual stimuli. This typically involves one image or a series of images that students can select from that will serve as the basis for a creative writing or nonfiction essay.

This type of prompt is more interpretive than any of the others. Essays can be purely descriptive, wherein students are asked to simply describe the scene pictured using evocative language, or they can be more abstract, in which students are asked to use a picture as a jumping off point for their ideas, and to create a story based on what they see. 

Students should therefore practice both describing scenes in unseen pictures and also interpreting unseen pictures to create a story. In the case of the latter, they will often be marked on their creativity and ability to incorporate what they see in an innovative way, as well as on the usual hallmarks of good creative writing.

Here are some examples of visual stimuli for your students to practice with.

Students can practice writing descriptions of the scenes or characters they see, or they can try to write stories based on them. Printing the pictures and labelling them can help with generating ideas and sparking imagination.

Continue an Extract

Students may also be asked to continue a given piece of writing. This could be a single, unseen sentence or paragraph or it could be based on a longer comprehension that the students will have already read as a part of their exam paper. In either case, strong reading skills will be crucial to success in this type of writing prompt.

Students should once again read the question they have been given carefully to ascertain the exact details of their task; they may be asked to continue a text directly from where it finishes, or may be given particular instructions from where to pick it up. They may also be instructed to respond to the text, rather than continue it, which can involve writing letters to characters within it or writing a story based on the events of what they have read.

Students are being marked on their understanding of the text they have read as well as their innate writing ability – successful candidates will demonstrate that they understand the events, tone, genre, style and characters of what they have read.

Here are a few paragraphs from classic texts to kickstart your student’s practice for this question style.

It is good practice to attempt full practice papers for this question style also, as it will help children to prepare for the strict timings and the challenges of the potential comprehension part more accurately.

The printable version can be accessed here .

• Dracula by Bram Stoker  (Gothic/Horror) Here and there are silver threads where the rivers wind in deep gorges through the forests. But I am not in heart to describe beauty, for when I had seen the view I explored further; doors, doors, doors everywhere, and all locked and bolted. In no place save from the windows in the castle walls is there an available exit. The castle is a veritable prison, and I am a prisoner!
• Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie (Fantasy) If you shut your eyes and are a lucky one, you may see at times a shapeless pool of lovely pale colours suspended in the darkness; then if you squeeze your eyes tighter, the pool begins to take shape, and the colours become so vivid that with another squeeze they must go on fire. But just before they go on fire you see the lagoon. This is the nearest you ever get to it on the mainland, just one heavenly moment; if there could be two moments you might see the surf and hear the mermaids singing.
• Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson (Adventure) Then all of a sudden there was a tremendous explosion of oaths and other noises—the chair and table went over in a lump, a clash of steel followed, and then a cry of pain, and the next instant I saw Black Dog in full flight, and the captain hotly pursuing, both with drawn cutlasses, and the former streaming blood from the left shoulder.

Sample Essays

The following sample essays were written by children preparing for their selective examinations for entry into senior independent schools. Whilst they have been typed out, the original spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors have been preserved deliberately. These can be great practice to go through with your child, to see if they can spot these errors. This can help improve both their spelling, punctuation and grammar skills as well as their proofreading abilities.

These essays are also a great way for children to see what is expected of them in their exam. This can make the task far less daunting, as they can see what is reasonable and achievable for them to write in their given time limit! You can find more sample essays like those below in our Creative Writings Examples books .

• 11 Plus Sample Essay 1: Original Version and Corrected Version: Tsunami
• 11 Plus Sample Essay 2: Original Version and Corrected Version: Alone
• 11 Plus Sample Essay 3: Original Version and Corrected Version: Ace

Further Practice

For more focussed practice, we have written our own series of Creative Writing preparation books . 

These books are full to the brim with more prompts like those above and they are divided into distinct sections dedicated to different styles of writing, with a number of example pieces in each chapter written by students who have sat the 11+. Examining these extracts, like the samples above, and completing the accompanying writing activities will give your child a better understanding of what is required of them in the exam and will provide a great insight into the types of writing they are able to produce themselves, based on the work of children their own age.

Buy these books here . 

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