Firsthand and Secondhand Accounts

You read an email from your grandfather, and he tells some funny stories about when he taught your mom how to drive a car. The email is...

• firsthand account

• secondhand account

You read a biography about the life of scientist Steven Hawking. The biography is…

• firsthand account

• secondhand account

A firsthand account is a ______________ source

• primary
• secondary

First hand account is written in 

• first person point of view
• second person point of view
• third person point of view

A description of an REAL event that is based on research and written by someone who was NOT there to witness the event is called a ______________________.

• Firsthand Account

• Secondhand Account

• Third Person Point of View

• First Person Point of View

The events the author is writing about happened to somebody else.

• Secondhand Account

• Synthesis

• Sequence

• Firsthand Account

The first winter storm of the year has hit the Pacific Northwest. So far, Washington has been the hardest hit. Reports from the east side of the state say that more than two feet of snow has fallen in the past 24 hours. Ice has been a problem in the mountain passes. Ski areas on Mt. Rainier report very slick roads. Snow is also falling lightly at this hour in Olympia and Tacoma. Seattle is clear and cold. We thank the reporters at our sister station up in Washington, KARA, for bringing us this report.

The weather report in the passage is a secondhand account because the narrator

• is writing about things he or she did NOT see

• is talking directly to the audience as the report is given

• went to the places in the report in order to write about them

• tells about different parts of the state instead of just one

What is an example of a firsthand account?

• a newspaper article about the president visiting a local elementary school
• a letter written by someone who saw their house destroyed by a tornado
• a nonfiction book about the sinking of the Titanic
• a science textbook

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You read an encyclopedia entry about the person who invented the microwave. The entry is… 

• firsthand account
• secondhand account

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You read a book about World War I. It includes letters written from the soldiers to their loved ones back home in America, telling them about the war. The letters are...

• firsthand account

• secondhand account