记叙是一种表现人物活动，经历或事物的发生，发展，变化过程的写作方法。它可以是讲述自己的经历，也可以解释一个观点。记叙以描写事件为主，其中“五个W”是叙述的要点。记叙一般以时间为顺序。记叙文不同于其他文体，它可以没有主题句，结论句，所叙道理隐含于故事之中。如：
It was a cold day in winter. An ant was bringing out some grains of corn he had gathered in summer to dry them. A grasshopper, who was very hunger, saw the ant and begged him for some corn, saying that he was dying of hunger. The ant looked at the grasshopper and asked him what he had done in summer and why he hadn’t stored up some grains of corn. The grasshopper told the ant that he had been very busy in summer and he hadn’t stored any corn. The ant asked him once more what he had done in summer. The grasshopper replied that he had sung all summer. The ant angrily said to him that he could dance all winter as he had sung all summer.
该段文章通过故事情节的发展使读者自然地读出“不劳无获”的结论。但是记叙性段落同样也可有主题句，扩展句和结论句的支持，练习写作时应予以注意。
1. 记叙文的基本要求
1）主题要明确，内容要充实。文章中的故事要有头有尾，要有高潮，要把何人，何事，何时，何地，何因几方面交代清楚，避免空泛，笼统的话。通过对人物，事物和景物的描写，表现出故事的主题和作者的思想感情。
2）层次分明，有条有理。继续时除了有开头语及高潮性的结尾外，还要注意描写的层次要清楚，挑选一些典型事例或细节加以理安排，用最简单易行的方法，按时间的先后顺序进行描写。
3)记叙应以时间为线索，注意时间关联词的使用。
I usually get up early in the morning. Then, I go to the lavatory to brush my teeth and my face. After that, I go to the sports ground to have some exercise. Lunch is at 12:00. After lunch, I take a nap. In the afternoon, I go to the library. When evening comes, I watch TV for a while. Then I listen to the English broadcast, or prepare my lessons in the classroom. I usually go to bed when the close strikes 11.
4) 主次分明，详略得当。对一件事情的叙述不能平均用墨。能够突出主题的情节要详写，不能突出主题的情节要简写或不写。如下面一段文字的主题句是Traveling can have its exciting though frustrating movements.应是突出的重点。从段落中我们可以看到描写这两点的很多细节：司机是如何弄到活鸡送到家中同时又担心拿不到手提箱而赶不上飞机的焦急心情。作者对他们最后怎样到达旅馆、怎样及时到达机场描写得很少，尽管它们也是这个事件的一部分。
Traveling can have its exciting, though frustrating moments. A few years ago I spent a week in America. The week was over, to my surprised, that I had left one of my suitcases at my hotel. Quickly, I jumped into a taxi and explained my situation to the driver. We sped off in the direct of my hotel. Suddenly, the taxi driver slowed down so he could talk with the driver of a truck moving along the road next to us. The truck contained live chicken. Without stopping the taxi, the driver stuck his hand out of the window and took a live chicken, which he neatly stuck under the seat next to him. Meanwhile, I was getting more and more anxious about my suitcase and making my plane on time. Time wasn’t bothering the taxi driver, though. Instead of heading straight for the hotel, he made a detour to drop the chicken off at his home! In the end, however, we managed to get the suitcase and then raced back to the airport. Fortunately, I made it to my plane on time. What started out as a frustrating moment ended up being a permanent memory and a great story.
