Types of Recount

Recount Genre

Based on Social Function is to retell events for the purpose of informing or entertaining. Events are usually arranged in a temporal sequence, e.g. A personal letter.

Types of recount:

Personal Recount-retellling of an activity that the writer/speaker has been personally involved in (e.g. oral anecdote, diary entry)

Factual Recount is a recording of the particulars of an incident (e.g. report of a science experiment, police report, news report, or historical account).

Imaginative Recount-taking on an imaginary role and giving details of events (e.g. a day in the life of Roman slave; how I invented…).

Text Organization/ Generic Structure

The focus is on a sequence of events, all of which relate to a particular occasion. The Recount generally begins with an;

Orientation
Series of events
Personal comment

Language Features
General
Specific participants (e.g. Mr Dudi, our friend, the shopkeeper)
Use of simple past tense (e.g. She smiled, it barked, he pointed)
Use of action verbs (e.g. material processes)(went, climbed)
Use of linking items to do with time (e.g. on Tuesday, then, at the same time, next, etc).
Details irrelevant to the purpose of the text should be avoided.

Specific:
Personal Recount
Use of first person pronouns (e.g. I, We)
Personal responses to the events can be included, particularly at the end.
Details are often chosen to add interest and humor.

Factual Recount
Use of third person pronoun (e.g. he, she, it, they)
Details are usually selected to help the reader reconstruct the activity or incident accurately.
Details of time, place and manner may need to be precisely stated (e.g. at 2.35pm, near the enclosure door, the engine runs at 80 kph).
Sometimes the ending describes the outcome of the activity (e.g. in a science experiment)
Descriptive details may also be required to provide precise information (e.g. a man with a red shirt, brown shoes and long hair, weighing 75 kilos and approximately 189 cm tall).

Imaginative recount
Usually written in the first person
It may be appropriate to include personal reactions

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