Warrington School/Curriculum/Recount Criteria

= Recount Criteria =

The key characteristics of a recount are:

 * They are a sequenced retelling of experience – real or imagined. Three common types:  1. Personal recount – reconstruction of personal experience 2. Factual recounts – recounting of events from informational perspective 3. Imaginative recounts – recounting events from an imagined perspective


 * Early in a recount the characters, setting, and events to be recounted need to be introduced (who, what, why, where, when, how)
 * Specific people, places, and events are named


 * Events are related in time order


 * Comment, observation or reflection are used to foreground events or details that are significant to the writer


 * The concluding paragraph is often used to reflect or comment on the events, or predict future events (I had a great time..., I wonder what will happen next year?)


 * They use connective words that show the progress of time (next, then, later....)


 * Detailed recounts extensively use descriptive verbs, adverbs, adjectives and figuarative language to catch and maintain reader interest


 * Dialogue or direct speech is commonly used