History Recount TextFebruari 06, 2022

The purpose of a historical recount is to provide an objective account of a significant event that happened in the past. 

As the writer, in this case, the student was not a witness to the events they are writing about, they will reconstruct the event’s details by using various primary and secondary sources.

While this type of recount has significant structural similarities with other types of recounts, such as personal recounts, literary recounts, and imaginative recounts, historical recounts also have some specific features all of their own. 

Incidentally, if you want to find out more about other types of recounts, you can check out our information-packed article on the subject here.

Writing historical recounts is not only an excellent way for students to reinforce their understanding of this critical text type, but they also provide an opportunity to review the chronology of an event and reflect on its importance. 

Some possible topics for a historical recount text may include:

A war or battle

The reign of a ruler

A revolution

The development of an invention

At a higher level, historical recounts don’t just simply relate events in chronological order, but they also offer an opportunity for the writer to express their understanding of the significance of these events in a broader historical context.

With its primary focus on providing a factual, objective retelling of significant events, the purpose of this type of recount is more to inform than to entertain.

HISTORICAL RECOUNT TEXT STRUCTURE

ORIENTATION Introduce the who, what, when, where, how and why if possible in a historical recount.

RELEVANCE Be sure to focus on significant and relevant content to your historical event.

CHRONOLOGY Always explain events in the order they occurred.

VISUALS Be sure to uses images, maps and visuals if they support your text.

HINDSIGHT In a historical recount, you have the luxury of identifying what went right and wrong after an event. Be sure to explain the how and why to your audience to ensure they have a rounded understanding of your historical recount.

HISTORICAL RECOUNT TEXT FEATURES

PROPER NOUNS Use these to reference people, places and time events.

PAST TENSE Obviously, the event has passed. Be sure your audience read your historical recount in the past tense.

THIRD-PERSON PERSPECTIVE Whilst you can write a historical recount in the first person in most commonly they are written from a third-person perspective.

QUOTES Quotes and reported speech may add credibility to your historical recount.