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4th grade reading & vocabulary
Course: 4th grade reading & vocabulary > Unit 3
Lesson 5: Reading for understanding: fiction and informational textFirst and secondhand accounts | Reading
What's the difference between a firsthand account and a secondhand account? What's the difference between a story of an event that's told by someone who was there, and one told by someone who wasn't there?
Want to join the conversation?
- What about historical fiction written in secondhand? While it uses the pronouns "he/she/they", it's often still personal.(3 votes)
- Typically, when it is written in secondhand, it is often less vividly described because the author did not experience the event.(1 vote)
- I agree it was difficult, but is a little better now.:)(2 votes)
- Is there a reason chatting is not an option for my sister on khan academy(1 vote)
- hi david i watch you since 2019 i love your vids(1 vote)
- why do you like reading and what inspired you(0 votes)
- im reading a book about buffalo girl its actually really good(0 votes)
- why do you like reading and what inspired you(0 votes)
- what are you talking about?(0 votes)
- Buffalo bird girl does explain the westward movement from a natives perspective(0 votes)
Video transcript
- [David] Hello readers. I just got back from
the library with these. Books. "Oh, big surprise," you say. I went to the library. I found two books. No, I get it, but these
books will help us talk about the difference between a
first and secondhand account. You see, this is a travel
diary written by a young man on the Oregon Trail like 150 years ago. Whereas this is a book
about the Oregon Trail written last year. A firsthand account is
created by the person who experienced an event. Firsthand accounts are also
called primary sources. Primary is another way
to say first or original. It uses pronouns like I or me. It's told from one person's perspective. A secondhand account is
more distant from the event, like a book or a newspaper article. The author wasn't there but they used firsthand accounts like interviews, diaries, photos, or video recordings to stitch the story together. The story uses pronouns
like they, she, or he, not I or we. Let me show you more
specifically by comparing these two passages. Okay, so this one, our firsthand account, comes from "The Diary of Horace Griggs", our young migrant on the Oregon Trail. "July 18th, 1871. "We're in the Wyoming territory now, "and it's been a few days
since we had good water. "I'm starting to worry. "It's been at least a week since any of us "saw a tree. "But the buffalo chips remain plentiful. "At least the darn things burn hot." And here's the excerpt
from a secondary source, our book about the Oregon Trail that came out last year. "The Oregon Trail didn't have many trees. "The pioneers used buffalo chips, "dried buffalo dung, "as fuel for their fires. "In fact, some children played
games with buffalo chips. "they tossed them around like Frisbees." So we've got here two passages
both about buffalo droppings, good job me. Let me be clear. It's not gross. They're mostly made of
dried grass, honestly. What are the big differences
between these two passages? Look at how Horace uses
first person pronouns like I, or we, or us. He's telling the story
from his perspective and the perspective of other
people traveling with him. It's like he's telling us a story. And it's his story to tell. He was right there starting
fires with buffalo chips. We can see how he felt about
not having access to water. He was worried. Firsthand accounts connect us more closely with the emotions of the writer. And because he was there,
he can accurately describe his experiences. However, this guy can only describe his own experience He doesn't know what it was
like in other wagon trains. He doesn't know what it was
like to be a Native community encountering these settlers. He's writing from one perspective, and it's his perspective. Now look at the second passage. It uses the pronouns their and they to refer to the pioneers and their kids. What does that tell us? The writer is not part of the group, wasn't there, doesn't consider themselves part of the us the way that
Horace considers himself part of an us. The author is more distant. It's not the author's individual story. Instead, they're trying
to tell the stories of other people through research. This is what makes it a secondary source, a secondhand account. Because secondhand
accounts are more distant from the events they describe, they're usually less emotional. The author of this second
passage, for example, isn't worried about
anything that's happening to the pioneers. They're not even referring to
a specific set of pioneers. They're talking about what
these migrants did in general. They're giving you background
knowledge, general knowledge. That kind of distance lets the author of a secondhand account cover more ground. They don't have to stick to the narrative of one family or one person,
or even one moment in time. First and secondhand
accounts are both important. When I was a kid, they used to advertise sugary cereals as part
of a balanced breakfast. Little bowl of sugary
cereal, a glass of milk, a bowl of fruit, maybe
a sausage, some toast. Well, think of primary
and secondary sources as part of a balanced information diet. A little of column A,
a little of column B. You just gotta take your knowledge spoon and dig in deep into
your perspectives bowl. That's a thing that I made up just now. Diversity of perspectives
does a body good. You can learn anything. David out.