NARRATIVE
Definition of Narrative
Narrative is a text focusing specific participants. Its social function is to tell stories or past events and entertain the readers.
Generic Structure of Narrative
A narrative text will consists of the following structure:
1. Orientation: Introducing the participants and informing the time and the place
2. Complication: Describing the rising crises which the participants have to do with
3. Resolution: Showing the way of participant to solve the crises, better or worse
Language Features of Narrative
· Using processes verbs
· Using temporal conjunction
· Using Simple Past Tense
Dominant Language Features:
1. Using Past Tense
2. Using action verb
3. Chronologically arranged
Example :
Silent Love
Once, there was a couple who love very much each other. From the very Begining, the girl's family objected strongly on her dating this guy. Saying that it has got to do with family background & that the girl will have to suffer for the rest of her life if she were to be with him.
Due to family's pressure, the couple quarrel very often. Though the girl love the guy deeply, but she always ask him: "How deep is your love for me?"
As the guy is not good with his words, this often cause the girl to be very upset. With that & the family's pressure, the girl often vent her anger on him. As for him, he only endure it in silence.
After a couple of years, the guy finally graduated & decided to further his studies in overseas. Before leaving, he proposed to the girl: "I'm not very good with words. But all I know is that I love you. If you allow me, I will take care of you for the rest of my life. As for your family, I'll try my best to talk them round. Will you marry me?"
The girl agreed, & with the guy's determination, the family finally gave in & agreed to let them get married. So before he leave, they got engaged.
The girl went out to the working society, whereas the guy was overseas, continuing his studies. They sent their love through emails & phone calls. Though it's hard, but both never thought of giving up.
One day, while the girl was on her way to work, she was knocked down by a car that lost control. When she woke up, she saw her parents beside her bed. She realised that she was badly injured. Seeing her mum crying, she wanted to comfort her. But she realized that all that could come out of her mouth was just a sigh. She has lost her voice......
The doctors says that the impact on her brain has caused her to lose her voice. Listening to her parents' comfort, but with nothing coming out from her, she broke down.
During the stay in hospital, besides silence cry,.....it's still just silence cry that companied her. Upon reaching home, everything seems to be the same. Except for the ringing tone of the phone. Which pierced into her heart everytime it rang. She does not wish to let the guy know. & not wanting to be a burden to him, she wrote a letter to him saying that she does not wish to wait any longer.
With that, she sent the ring back to him. In return, the guy sent millions & millions of reply, and countless of phonecalls,.. all the girl could do, besides crying, is still crying....
The parents decided to move away, hoping that she could eventually forget everything & be happy.
With a new environment, the girl learn sign language & started a new life. Telling herself everyday that she must forget the guy. One day, her friend came & told her that he's back. She asked her friend not to let him know what happened to her. Since then, there wasn't anymore news of him.
A year has passed & her friend came with an envelope, containing an invitation card for the guy's wedding. The girl was shattered. When she open the letter, she saw her name in it instead.
When she was about to ask her friend what's going on, she saw the guy standing in front of her. He used sign language telling her "I've spent a year's time to learn sign language. Just to let you know that I've not forgotten our promise. Let me have the chance to be your voice. I Love You. With that, he slipped the ring back into her finger. The girl finally smiled.
RECOUNT
Definition of Recount
Recount is a text which retells events or experiences in the past. Its purpose is either to inform or to entertain the audience. There is no complication among the participants and that differentiates from
narrative
Generic Structure of Recount
1. Orientation: Introducing the participants, place and time
2. Events: Describing series of event that happened in the past
3. Reorientation: It is optional. Stating personal comment of the writer to the story
Language Feature of Recount
• Introducing personal participant; I, my group, etc
• Using chronological connection; then, first, etc
• Using linking verb; was, were, saw, heard, etc
• Using action verb; look, go, change, etc
• Using simple past tense
Example :
Bomb in Bali
The bomb, in the resort of Kuta, destroyed the Sari Club and a crowded nightspot. Many people have fallen victims to this blast. Many of them were foreign tourists, especially from Australia. They were burner beyond recognition. Some tourist who were at the scene of the blast said there were two explosions around the nightclub. One bomb had exploded outside Paddy’s Bar before a Bar bomb hit the Sari Club which was located some meters away.
Hundred were injured in the explosion and about 220 Australians remain unaccounted for. The U.K. Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, said that 33 Britons were among those killed in the Bali attack. The Australian Primer Minister, John Howard, called its borders, saying it had been a problem for a long time.
Lists of missing people have been posted in Bali and official said that it could take days to identity all the victims, some of whom were trapped in the Sari Club by a wall of flames. A notice board at the hospital in Bali includes a section called “Unknown Identity” and detailed list on victims such as : “Young girl in intensive care, 11-14 years old, face burned, income, Causation,” or “Girl in intensive care, about 5 years old, 130 cm, fair skin, Caucasian with reddish brown hair. She has a purplish belly button ring.”
Many embassies, including the British and the American, are advising their people to cancel spending their planned holidays in Indonesia, and all U.S. citizens in the country have been told to leave including diplomats and non-essential government staff.
For rememmber !!!
Narrative and recount in some ways are similar. Both are telling something in the past so narrative and recount usually apply PAST TENSE; whether Simple Past Tense, Simple Past Continuous Tense, or Past Perfect Tense. The ways narrative and recount told are in chronological order using time or place. Commonly narrative text is found in story book; myth, fable, folklore, etc while recount text is found in biography.
The thing that makes narrative and recount different is the structure in which they are constructed. Narrative uses conflicts among the participants whether natural conflict, social conflict or psychological conflict. In some ways narrative text combines all these conflicts. In the contrary, we do not find these conflicts inside recount text. Recount applies series of event as the basic structure
DESCRIPTIVE
Purpose: to describe a particular person, place or thing in detail.
Dominant Generic Structure:
1. Identification
2. Description
Language Features:
1. Using Simple Present Tense
2. Using action verb
3. Using adverb
4. Using special technical terms
Example :
Cleopatra
One of the most famous women in world history was Cleopatra VII. She was the brilliant and beautiful last Pharaoh of Egypt. Historically, she became queen of Egypt in 51 B.C. at the age of eighteen. She was a Ptolemy, descended from one of Alexander the Great's generals. When she was twenty-one, Julius Caesar became her lover. Seven years later she met Antony. The romantic tragic relationship continued until they died by suicide in 30 B.C.
Cleopatra was legendary. She was famous not only for her breathtaking beauty but also for her great intellect. She had brown eyes and they were shaped like cat eyes. Her skin was in fact an olive shade, darker than Hollywood actress Liz Taylor who potrayed her in the film 'Cleopatra' in 1963. She had medium dark brown hair, about to the middle of her shoulder blades. She had a reputation as an extraordinarily sensuous woman.
Cleopatra was a woman of remarkable poise and unusual intelligence. She was highly educated. She spoke proficiently in nine languages and also skilled in mathematics. She is often considered to be a stunning seductress though she was studying to be a nun. Cleopatra was a very intelligent queen and a politician with a great charisma.
REPORT
Purpose: to presents information about something, as it is.
Generic Structure
1. General classification
2. Description
Dominant Language Feature
1. Introducing group or general aspect
2. Using conditional logical connection
3. Using Simple Present Tense
Example :
Human Body Energy
Human body is actually a living machine and is like all other machines. This living machine needs fuel to supply it with energy. The fuel is provided by the food which we eat. However do we know how much we need to stay healthy?
The energy value of food is usually measured in calories. A calorie is the amount of heat which is required to raise the temperature of 1 kg of water by 1 degree C. The number of calories which people need per day varies. It depends on the activity which the people are involved in. For example; people will need more calories for standing than for sitting, people need more for running than for walking, etc.
The energy which is provided by food is in the form of three kinds of chemical substances. They are carbohydrate, protein and fat. Carbohydrate provides 8.8 calories per gram (cal/gm) of energy, protein 4.0 cal/gm and fat 8.0 cal/gm. Each food contains different proportion of these substances.These three chemical substances are all important for body staying healthy.
EXPLANATION
Purpose: To explain the processes involved in the formation or working of natural or socio-cultural phenomena.
Generic Structure:
1. General statement
2. Explanation
3. Closing
Dominant Language Features:
1. Using Simple Present Tense
2. Using action verbs
3. Using passive voice
4. Using noun phrase
5. Using adverbial phrase
6. Using technical terms
7. Using general and abstract noun
8. Using conjunction of time and cause-effect.
Example :
How Venus Eclipse Happens
On May 16, 2010, people in most regions in the world have seen a very rare natural phenomenon. It was Venus eclipse. It was very rare amazing natural event. It was reported that the Venus eclipse will seen again in the future in 2050. Do you know how this rare Venus eclipse happens?
Well, actually Venus eclipse is like Sun eclipse. Venus eclipses occurs when the position of the earth, moon and Venus is parallel. Venus planet will slowly disappear for a moment because it is covered the surface of the Moon. Venus planet seems to move to the back side of the Moon.
The moon and planets are sharing a similar apparent path in the sky. That is why, it is not unusual for the moon to appear to pass close to Venus. In fact, the moon appears somewhere near it about once a month. However, most people don’t see these events because they are visible in the evening sky only half the time, and then only for a short period after sunset. The apparent closeness varies from month to month as well.
ANALYTICAL EXPOSITION
Purpose: To reveal the readers that something is the important case
Generic Structure:
1. Thesis
2. Arguments
3. Reiteration/Conclusion
Dominant Language Features:
1. Using modals
2. Using action verbs
3. Using thinking verbs
4. Using adverbs
5. Using adjective
6. Using technical terms
7. Using general and abstract noun
8. Using connectives/transition
Example :
Writing for Money Online
The emergence of the internet has given internet entrepreneurs many ways to make money. Writers are one group that have benefited from their talents as a result in the rise of internet based jobs.
Blog writing is an increasingly popular way to earn money online determined by the owner of the blog. They are very popular because of tBlogs are usually written on a certain subject area but can vary as its content is heir simplicity to get up and running. There are many free websites out there that will help you set up your own blog if you choose to go that route because blog plus advertisement is a potential money
Article writing is also good money to earn money online. Make sure to gear your articles to promote and advertise you own business ventures. These articles are a free way to market the products and services you offer for free. The most effective advertising with these articles comes from the dialogue box that is inserted at the end of each article. These dialogue boxes contain links to basically any website you would like to drive traffic to. For instance, you might have one link in your dialogue box to a product you are selling and one to a blog where you are promoting a discussing other products.
Writing takes some time to gain credibility through but once it’s done’ earning potential can become very powerful.
HORTATORY EXPOSITION
Purpose: to persuade the readers that something should or should not be the case or be done
Generic Structure:
1. Thesis
2. Arguments
3. Recommendation
Dominant Language features:
1. Using Simple Present Tense
2. Using modals
3. Using action verbs
4. Using thinking verbs
5. Using adverbs
6. Using adjective
7. Using technical terms
8. Using general and abstract noun
9. Using connectives/transition
Example :
Let’s Make City Clean and Fresh
A clean and fresh city will surely make the inhabitants healthy. Every morning especially in dry season, all roads must be watered with clean water and swept by the workers of the regional government under the Major’s instruction.
To keep the people from heavy pollution caused by cars, trucks and motorcycles, enough trees must be planted along all roads. Every building or house in the city must be surrounded short and small trees which bear colorful flower.
Bad and improper habits which cause disadvantages, bad smell and dangerous diseases to people such as smoking and throwing rubbish anywhere should be stopped at once.
The major of each city will have to think over the way how to educate people, so that they realize on how important cleanliness and health are for their own sake. Building more public lavatories at every busy place is very badly needed.
It will be wise if the Major decides a certain amount of fine to be paid by those who diso bey the government regulation on cleanliness matter. A man who urinate not at lavatory, smoke not at smoking room or throw rubbish at the roads should be fined for instance. Besides dirtying the environment with cigarettes’ butts, smoking will also cause pollution and lungs disease to other people.
So bad habits and impolite attitude should be immediately stopped, otherwise the city will be dirty, unhealthy badly polluted and will never attract foreign or domestic tourist
For Remmember!!!!
Then what is the basic difference between analytical and hortatory exposition. In simple word. Analytical is the answer of "How is/will" while hortatory is the answer of "How should". Analytical exposition will be best to describe "How will student do for his examination? The point is the important thing to do. But for the question" How should student do for his exam?" will be good to be answered with hortatory. It is to convince that the thing should be done
PROCEDURE
Purpose: to help readers how to do or make something completely
Generic Structure:
1. Goal/Aim
2. Materials/Equipments
3. Steps/Methods
Dominant Language Features:
1. Using Simple Present Tense
2. Using Imperatives sentence
3. Using adverb
4. Using technical terms
Example :
How To Make The Meatballs
ingredients :
- 1 kilo of very fine minced meat (preferably beef)
- 2 eggs
- 300 grams of tapioca-flour
- 4-8 cloves of garlic
- 1 red onion
- 1 teaspoon of white pepper
- 2 teaspoons of salt
Steps :
- First of all,mix garlic, red onion, salt, and white pepper in a mortar or mixer.
- Second step, mix the spice-mixture with the eggs, the tapioca-flour and the minced meat.
- After that, use your fingers, add a cup of water, and keep on working until the mixture feels soft and smooth.
- Then, boil some water in a rather large pot, at least about 2 liters.
- Next step, start rolling the mixture into small meatballs.
- Finally, lower the meatballs into the boiling water. When they float up to the surface the meatball are ready to serve.
DISCUSSION
Definition of Discussion
Discussion is a text which present a problematic discourse. This problem will be discussed from different viewpoints. Discussion is commonly found in philosophical, historic, and social text.
Generic Structure of Discussion
Statement of issue; stating the issue which is to discussed
List of supporting points; presenting the point in in supporting the presented issue
List of contrastive point; presenting other points which disagree to the supporting point
Recommendation; stating the writer' recommendation of the discourse
Language Feature of Discussion
Introducing category or generic participant
Using thinking verb; feel, hope, believe, etc
Using additive, contrastive, and causal connection; similarly, on the hand, however, etc
Using modalities; must, should, could, may, etc
Using adverbial of manner; deliberately, hopefully, etc
Example :
Birth Control
Most people agree that some form of family limitation or spacing is desirable for the good of the family and society. But individuals and groups–especially religious groups–differ sharply on the methods of birth control that they consider moral and acceptable.
Couples that practice birth control do so for various reasons. They may want to limit or space their children, or to have no children at all. Young couples often postpone having children so that both partners can work full-time. Other couples space their children so they can give each child as much attention as possible. Some women are advised by their doctors to avoid pregnancy for health reasons. In many countries with rapidly growing populations, the government encourages couples to limit the size of their families.
Even though birth control has gained in acceptance, opposition to the practice is continuous. Some people fear that birth control encourages sexual relations outside marriage or that government might impose birth control. Some religious groups oppose birth control on moral grounds.
Some religious groups teach that artificial methods of birth control are immoral because they separate the two purposes of intercourse in marriage–conjugal love and the procreation of children. Although they oppose all artificial birth control, they consider natural family planning acceptable.
REVIEW
Purpose: to critique or evaluate an art work or event for a public audience dominant
Generic Structure:
1. Orientation
2. Evaluation
3. Interpretative Recount
4. Evaluation
5. Evaluative Summation
Dominant Language features:
1. Focus on specific participants
2. Using adjectives
3. Using long and complex clauses
4. Using metaphor
Example :
It is believed that electronic commerce will take its place in the future business. An easy applicable shopping cart software covering all scales of business is necessary. Ashop sopping cart software is providing that necessity. It helps online merchants to run business effectively and catch wider market easily.
What does Ashop shopping cart software cover?
• Setting up is easy even non web-experienced merchant can do. It needs no additional software to work.
• Inventory tool is complete. It provides product identification, status, discount,
• Display appearance is easy and flexible to be changed
• Covering all optional ways in payment
• Including delivering feature and tax calculation
• Optimizing web tool
• Presenting sales record
• Customer satisfactory oriented
What will online merchants get?
o Low costs. Setting up and running business can be by oneself.
o Efficient work. Database record everything
o Wider market. Internet catches world audience
o Quicker payment. Online transaction is faster than offline
o No day off. Business is not restricted timely
o Better chance to satisfy and catch loyal customer
Ashop Commerce shopping cart software presents internet more beneficial for merchants. It helps to build and operate store in easier way.
ANECDOTE
Purpose: to share with others an account of an unusual or amusing incident
Generic Structure:
1. Abstract
2. Orientation
3. Crisis
4. Reaction
5. Coda.
Dominant Language Features:
1. Using exclamations, rhetorical question or intensifiers
2. Using material process
3. Using temporal conjunctions
Example :
Snake In The Bathroom
How would you like to find a snake in you bath?
We had just moved into a new house, which had been empty for so long that everything was in a terrible mess. Anna and I decided that we would clean the bath first, so we set to, and turned on the tap.
Suddenly to my horror, a snake's head appeared in the plug hole. Then out slithered the rest of his long thin body. He twisted and turned on the slippery bottom of the bath, spitting and hissing at us.
For an instant I stood there quite paralyzed. Then I yelled for my husband, who luckily came running and killed the snake with the handle of a broom.
Anna, who was only three at the time, was quite interested in the whole business. Indeed I had to pull her out of the way or she'd probably have lean over the bath to get a better look.
We found out later that it was a black mamba, a poisonous kind of snake. It had obviously been fast asleep, curled up at the bottom of the nice warm water-pipe. It must have had an awful shock when the cold water came trickling down! But nothing to the shock I got! Ever since then I've always put the plug in firmly before running the bath water
SPOOF
Purpose: to tell an event with a humorous twist and entertain the readers
Definition and Social Function of Spoof
Spoof is a text which tells factual story, happened in the past time with unpredictable and funny ending. Its social function is to entertain and share the story.
Generic Structure of Spoof
1. Orientation
2. Events
3. Twist
Language Feature of Spoof
1. Focusing on people, animals or certain things
2. Using action verb; ate, ran, etc
3. Using adverb of time and place
4. Told in chronological order
Example :
It’s Time to Go to School!
Early one morning, a mother went in to wake up her son. "Wake up, son. It's time to go to school!"
"But why, Mom? I don't want to go."
"Give me two reasons why you don't want to go."
"Well, the kids hate me for one, and the teachers hate me, too!"
"Oh, that's no reason not to go to school. Come on now and get ready."
"Give me two reasons why I should go to school."
"Well, for one, you're 52 years old. And for another, you're the Principal!"
NEWS ITEM
Purpose: to inform readers about events of the day which are considered newsworthy or important
Definition of News Item
News item is a text which informs readers about events of the day. The events are considered newsworthy or important.
Generic Structure of News Item
1. Main event
2. Elaboration (background, participant, time, place)
3. Resource of information
Language Feature of News Item
1. Focusing on circumstances
2. Using material process
Example :
Indonesian Maid Tragedy
Indonesian Migrant Worker dies in Malaysia
An Indonesian migrant worker Munti Binti Bani has died on Monday after being hospitalized for several days due to alleged torture by her employees in Selangor, Malaysia.
Antara state news agency has reported that Munti had been treated at Tengku Ampuan Rahimah hospital since last Tuesday and died on Monday at 10 a.m, local time. Munti was found unconscious with her hands and feet were tied in a bathroom in Taman Sentosa housing complex last Tuesday. She was suffering from major wounds on her body and had apparently been beaten with iron.
Munti's body will be sent tomorrow to her hometown in Pondok Jeruk Barat village of Jombang, East Java after undergoing autopsy at the hospital. “We express our deep condolences as there is yet another worker who was tortured and passed away at the hospital,” Indonesia's Ambassador for Malaysia, Da'i Bachtiar said in Kuala Lumpur on Monday. “The Embassy will arrange for all compensation, including insurance, she deserves to receive,” Da'i said.
He added that Munti's employees Vanitha and Murugan had been detained and were undergoing questioning at the local police office. “We hope the police can uphold justice and punish them should they be proven to be involved in the case,” he said.
Composed from: www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/10/26/another-migrant-worker-dies-alleged-torture-malaysia.html
