Firsthand vs Secondhand Accounts

A description of an event that comes from someone who was actually there to see or experience it.

• Firsthand Account

• Secondhand Account

A description of an event based on research and shared by someone who was NOT there to see the event.

• Firsthand Account

• Secondhand Account

A _____ account can include personal emotions, very specific details, & personal opinions. It’s often written in first person point of view.

• Firsthand

• Secondhand

Diaries or journals, Interviews, autobiographies, letters, and speeches are all examples of ______.

• Firsthand Accounts

• Secondhand Accounts

Which type of account includes the just the key facts (not personal facts), information from different sources, or details written in a third person point of view?

• Firsthand Account

• Secondhand Account

A firsthand account about an earthquake in Haiti would be written by someone who:

• Read about it in a book

• A person on the street when the ground shook

• A news reporter who stayed in Ohio

A secondhand account about the earthquake in Haiti would be written by someone who:

• Was at work and felt the earthquake

• Was an American Reporter in New York

• Took video while the earthquake happened

This account uses words such as, “My,” “We,” and “I.”

• Firsthand Accounts

• Secondhand Accounts

This account will cover key facts from multiple perspectives.

• Firsthand Accounts

• Secondhand Accounts

This account will give the reader thoughts, emotions, and descriptions from one person.

• Firsthand Account

• Secondhand Account