Teaching Recount 1st semester IX

Purpose of Recount
The purpose of a recount is to list and describe past experiences by retelling events in the order in which they happened (chronological order). Recounts are written to retell events with the purpose of either informing or entertaining their audience (or both).
Types of Recount
Personal RecountThese usually retell an event that the writer was personally involved in.
Factual RecountRecording an incident, eg. a science experiment, police report.
Imaginative RecountWriting an imaginary role and giving details of events, eg. A day in the life of a pirate; How I invented...
Features of Recounts
focuses on individual participants/events
Structure
the recount has a title, which usually summarises the text
specific participants (Mum, the crab)
The basic recount consists of three parts:
the setting or orientation - background information answering who? when? where? why?
events are identified and described in chronological order.
concluding comments express a personal opinion regarding the events described
details are selected to help the reader reconstruct the activity or incident (Factual Recount)
the ending may describe the outcome of the activity, eg. in a science activity (Factual Recount)
details of time, place and incident need to be clearly stated, eg. At 11.15 pm, between Reid Rd and Havelock St a man drove at 140 kms toward the shopping centre (Factual Recount)
descriptive details may also be required to provide information, eg. He was a skinny boy with a blue shirt, red sneakers and long tied back hair (Factual Recount)
includes personal thoughts/reactions (Imaginative Recount)
Language
is written in the past tense (she yelled, it nipped, she walked)
frequent use is made of words which link events in time, such as next, later, when, then, after, before, first, at the same time, as soon as she left, late on Friday)
recounts describe events, so plenty of use is made of verbs (action words), and of adverbs (which describe or add more detail to verbs)
details are often chosen to add interest or humour to the recount.
use of personal pronouns (I, we) (Personal Recount)
the passive voice may be used, eg. the bottle was filled with ink (Factual Recount)
Short Example

MY DAY AT THE BEACH

Last week my friend and I were bored after three weeks of holidays, so we rode our bikes to Smith Beach, which is only five kilometres from where I live.When we arrived at the beach, we were surprised to see there was hardly anyone there.After having a quick dip in the ocean, which was really cold, we realised one reason there were not many people there. It was also quite windy.After we bought ourselves some hot chips at the takeaway store nearby, we rode our bikes down the beach for a while, on the hard, damp part of the sand. We had the wind behind us and, before we knew it, we were many miles down the beach.Before we made the long trip back we decided to paddle our feet in the water for a while, and then sit down for a rest. While we were sitting on the beach, just chatting, it suddenly dawned on us both that all the way back we would be riding into the strong wind.When we finally made it back home, we were both totally exhausted! But we learned some good lessons that day!
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Recount: example
This sample recount is labelled to show you the structure and language features of a recount text.
title
A visit to a sheep property
orientation
Last holidays I visited a sheep property. I helped in the shearing sheds and in the yards.
sequence of events
On the first day the Merino wethers were crutched. I helped by sweeping up after the rouseabout picked up the wool pieces. Shearers start early (at 7.30 am).
After lunch, we started shearing the lambs. There were more than 400 so we didn't finish until the next day. Once again I was sweeping and picking up dags.
I was tired by the end of the day in the shed but our work wasn't finished. We all had to help to get the wethers and lambs back into the paddocks. As well, we had to get a mob of ewes and their lambs into the yards for shearing the next day. Then it was time for tea (that's what my nanna calls dinner).
reorientation
This was a very long day but I enjoyed it a lot.

Key to language features:
past tense
action terms

indicates when
indicates where

focuses on individuals


Recount
Recounts tell the reader what happened. They retell a past event eg a visit to a farm.
Recounts begin by telling the reader who was involved, what happened, where this event took place and when it happened. This is called the orientation.
The sequence of events is then described in some sort of order eg time.
There may be a reorientation at the end which summarises the event.
Example of a recount: shows the structure and language features of a recount text.
Writing recounts
When writing recounts you should:
• focus on individual people ie use the words, I or we
• use words which indicate when (eg after lunch) and where the events took place (eg in the shed)
• write in the past tense eg had, visited
• use action words eg helped, crutched.
Use the sample recount to answer these questions.
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