What is a Personal Recount Essay?

    A personal recount is a retelling of a personal experience. It focuses on what happened, how you felt and what you learned from it.

    The purpose of a personal recount is to reflect on a meaningful experience and show how it has shaped or changed you. Personal reflection is therefore a big part of a personal recount essay.

    Secondary school essay writing goes beyond simply writing about events. It is important to show your thought processes. A good personal recount essay has reflection embedded throughout and not just at the conclusion. Doing so shows maturity in thought and is a trait that examiners and markers are looking for in secondary school essay writing.

    Key features of a personal recount essay:

    • written from a first-person point of view (“I”, “my”, “me”)
    • uses the past tense
    • a clear structure with a sequential and logical flow of events (beginning, middle, end)
    • includes personal thoughts and reflection at various parts of the essay, not just at the conclusion

    Here are some examples of lower secondary personal recount essays topics:

    • Write about a time when you lost something important.
    • Recount a time when you had to choose between right and wrong.
    • Write about an occasion when you disappointed someone.
    • Write about an unforgettable family outing and why it was unforgettable

    The best way to sharpen your essay writing skills is to practise writing and receive feedback for your essays.

    Get this review package to have 4 pieces of your personal recount essays of any topic marked and receive constructive feedback for improvement. 

    You will also receive a free set of notes on personal recount essay writing. 

    If you do not know what topics to write on, you may choose topics from the list of 30 common lower secondary personal recount topics in the set of notes provided.

    Preview the first two pages of the set of notes here.

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