RECOUNT
What is A RECOUNT?
A
recount is a piece of text that retells past events, usually
in the order in
which they occurred. Its purpose is to provide
the audience with a description
of what occurred and when
it occurred.
Examples of recount texts include:
•
eyewitness account
•
newspaper reports
•
letters
•
conversations
•
television interviews
•
speeches
• diary
Features of A RECOUNT
Constructing a recount
A
recount text usually has three main sections.
The first
paragraph gives background information about who, what,
where,
and when (called an orientation). This is followed by
a series of paragraphs
that retell the events in the order in
which they happened. Some recounts have
a concluding
paragraph, however this is not always necessary.
Grammatical features of a recount
Recounts
usually include the following grammatical features:
• proper nouns
to identify those involved in the text
• descriptive words to give details about who, what,
when, where and how
• the
use of the past tense to retell the events
• words
that show the order of the events (for example,
first, next,
then).
The RECOUNT scaffold
|
Step 1
Introductory paragraph that tells
who, what, where, and when.
|
|
Step 2
A sequence of events in the order
in which they occurred.
|
|
Step 3 (optional)
A conclusion
MODEL OF A RECOUNT
A
Postcard
Dear
Nan,
We
are having a great holiday here on the Gold Coast. Yesterday we went to Movie
World.
When
we got up in the morning, it looked like rain. After a while the clouds
disappeared
and it became a sunny day. We then decided to go to Movie World.
The
first ride I went on was Lethal Weapon. Next I saw the Police Academy show.
After that I had lunch as I was really hungry. Meanwhile, Mum and Kelly queued
for
the Batman ride.
About
one o’clock we got a light shower of rain but it cleared up soon after.
We then
went on all the other rides followed by the studio tour.
It
was a top day. See you when we get back.
Love
Sam
|