Recount Text, Definition, Structure, Features and Examples

1. 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


2. 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


3. 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


4. Examples and structures of the text

Our trip to the Blue Mountain
Orientation	On Friday we went to the Blue Mountains. We stayed at David and Della’s house. It has a big garden with lots of colourful flowers and a tennis court.
Events	On Saturday we saw the Three Sisters and went on the scenic railway. It was scary. Then, Mummy and I went shopping with Della. We went to some antique shops and I tried on some old hats. On Sunday we went on the Scenic Skyway and it rocked. We saw cockatoos having a shower.
Reorientation	In the afternoon we went home.

Example of Recount text

1. A.     Vacation to London

Mr. Richard’s family was on vacation. They are Mr. and Mrs. Richard with two sons. They went to London. They saw their travel agent and booked their tickets. They went to the British Embassy to get visas to enter Britain. They had booked fourteen days tour. This includes travel and accommodation. They also included tours around London
They boarded a large Boeing flight. The flight was nearly fourteen hours. On the plane the cabin crews were very friendly. They gave them news paper and magazine to read. They gave them food and drink. There was a film for their entertainment. They had a very pleasant flight. They slept part of the way.
On arrival at Heathrow Airport, they had to go to Customs and Immigration. The officers were pleasant. They checked the document carefully but their manners were very polite. Mr. Richard and his family collected their bags and went to London Welcome Desk. They arranged the transfer to a hotel.
The hotel was a well-known four-star hotel. The room had perfect view of the park. The room had its own bathroom and toilet. Instead of keys for the room, they inserted a key-card to open the door. On the third floor, there was a restaurant serving Asian and European food. They had variety of food.
The two week in London went by fast. At the end of the 14-day, they were quite tired but they felt very happy.



5. Diferences Between Narative and Recount

Something which happened in the past is the main resource to compose both recount and narrative text. In writer’s point of view, the thing is an experience. It can be what the writer has done, hear, read, and felt. Composing recount and narrative is retelling the experiences of the past event to be a present event.
What does recount differ from narrative?
The easiest way to catch the difference is analyzing the generic structure. Recount text presents the past experiences in order of time or place; what happened on Sunday, then on Monday, the on Tuesday. In simple way, recount describes series of events in detail. It does not expose the struggle on how to make them happen. The event happened smoothly. On the other hand, narrative introduces crises and how to solve them. Narrative text always appear as a hard potrait of participant’s past experience. It reveals the conflict among the participants. Cinderella’s conflicts with her step mother and sister are the example. The conflict is the most important element in a narrative text. Narrative without comflicts is not narrative any more.

1. C.      Visiting Bali

There were so many places to see in Bali that my friend decided to join the tours to see as much as possible. My friend stayed in Kuta on arrival. He spent the first three days swimming and surfing on Kuta beach. He visited some tour agents and selected two tours. The first one was to Singaraja, the second was to Ubud.
On the day of the tour, he was ready. My friend and his group drove on through mountains. Singaraja is a city of about 90 thousands people. It is a busy but quiet town. The street are lined with trees and there are many old Dutch houses. Then they returned very late in the evening to Kuta.
The second tour to Ubud was a very different tour. It was not to see the scenery but to see the art and the craft of the island. The first stop was at Batubulan, a center of stone sculpture. There my friend watched young boys were carving away at big blocks of stone. The next stop was Celuk, a center for silversmiths and goldensmiths. After that he stopped a little while for lunch at Sukawati and on to mass. Mass is a tourist center
My friend ten-day-stay ended very quickly beside his two tour, all his day was spent on the beach. He went sailing or surfboarding every day. He was quiet satisfied.

1. D.     My Horrible Experience

Let me remind you my experience during an earthquake last week. When the earthquake happened, I was on my car. I was driving home from my vocation to Bali.
Suddenly my car lunched to one side, to the left. I thought I got flat tire. I did not know that it was an earthquake. I knew it was an earthquake when I saw some telephone and electricity poles falling down to the ground, like matchsticks.
Then I saw a lot of rocks tumbling across the road. I was trapped by the rock. Even I could not move my car at all. There were rocks everywhere. There was nothing I could do but left the car and walked along way to my house, in the town.
When I reached my town, I was so surprised that there was almost nothing left. The earthquake made a lot of damage to my town. Although nothing was left, I thanked God that nobody was seriously injured.

Generic Structure Analysis
Orientation; introducing the participant, using first person point of view, I was on the car las week.
Events; describing a series of event which happened. The car lunched to one side. Telephone and electricity poles was falling down, etc.
Re-orientation; stating the writer’s personal note. Thanking God because nobody was seriously injured.
Language Feature Analysis

• Using personal participant; I
• Using chronological connectives; then, and, suddenly
• Using linking verb; was, were
• Using action verb; moved, left, walked, made, etc
• Using simple past tense pattern; earthquake happened, I was on the car, my car lunched on one side, etc

1. E.      My Grandpa’s Funeral in Toraja

Last month my family and I went to Toraja to attend Grandpa’s funeral. It was my first time to go to such a ceremony. We gathered there with our kin in the ceremony.
Overall, the ceremony was quite elaborate. It took about a week. Several days before the ceremony was done, grandpa’s body was kept in a series of houses arranged in a circular row around an open field called tongkonan. His corpse was dressed in a fi ne wearing.
The funeral was performed in two phases. First, we slaughtered the pigs and buffaloes, and then moved the corpse to face north. In this ceremony we wore black clothes. After that, the corpse was placed in a sandal wood coffin. Then, it was brought out of the house and placed on an open platform beneath the granary. Meanwhile, my uncle, my brother, and I prepared the wooden puppet and a funeral tower called lakian. The next phase of the ceremony was held in this place. The coffin is borne from the house and placed in the lakian. During the day, there were also buffalo matches. They were great matches. In the night, we were feasting, chanting, and dancing.
On the last day, the grandpa’s coffin were lowered from the funeral tower and brought up to the mountain side family graveyard. It was followed by great shouting and excitement from the relatives and the guests. Finally, we installed the wooden puppet on a high balcony where other puppets representing the members of a whole family were already there. The funeral ceremonies made my family and me tired. However, we were grateful because it ran smoothly.

Questions
1. When did the writer attend the funeral?
2. How long did the writer and his family hold the ceremony?
3. What did they do to the corpse before the funeral was done?
4. What did they do after the corpse was placed in a sandal wood coffi n?
5. What did they do on the last day of the ceremony?

Notes:
A recount text is a text that tells you a part of experience. A recount text has an orientation, a series of events in chronological order, personal remarks on the events and a reorientation that “rounds off” the sequence of events. In the text, you find words and phrases used to start, connect a sentence with the next one, and end your composition. Those words and phrases are:

• First,
• Then,
• After that,
• Finally,

Procedure Text, Definition, Purpose, Types, Features and Example

Definition
Procedure text is a text that is designed to describe how something is achieved through a sequence of actions or steps. It explains how people perform different processes in a sequence of steps. This text uses simple present tense, often imperative sentences. It also uses the temporal conjunction such as first, second, then, next, finally, etc.

Purpose

Ø The purpose of a procedure is to tell the reader how to do or make something.

Ø The information is presented in a logical sequence of events, which is broken up into small sequenced steps.

Ø The most common example of a procedural text is a recipe.

Types of Procedural Texts

Texts that instruct how to do a particular activity

recipes, rules for games, science experiments, road safety rules, how to do it manuals.

Texts that instruct how to operate things

how to operate an appliance, a machine, the photocopier, the computer

Features

A procedure usually has four components

          Goal or Aim         : states what is to be done

          Materials              : listed in order of use

                                          includes items needed to complete task     

          Method                 : a series of steps

          Evaluation            : how the success of the procedure

                                           can be tested

Headings, subheadings, numbered steps, diagrams, photographs

are often used to help clarify instructions.

Language

The text usually:

·                    is written in the simple present tense (do this, do that)

·                    focuses on generalized people rather than individuals (first you take, rather than first I take)

·                    the reader is often referred to in a general way, i.e. pronouns (you or one)

·                    action verbs (cut, fold, twist, hold etc) 

·                    linking words to do with time (first, when, then) are used to connect the text

·                    detailed information on how (carefully, with the scissors); where (from the top); when (after it has set)

·                   detailed factual description (shape, size, colour, amount)

Procedure text is kind of text which teaches on how to make something completely. Procedure text is dominantly structured with imperative sentence since it actually an instruction. Procedure text usually explain the ingredient or material which is need, though sometime it is omitted, after that procedure text will explain step by step how to make the thing. See the following example of procedure text!

The Procedure of Making Meatballs

What you need for the 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

The steps to make meatballs
These steps are instruction on how to make meatballs, just meatball, the soup is made separately.
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.

Descriptive Text, Definition, Purpose, Structure, Features and Example

1. The Definition and Purpose of Descriptive Text

Descriptive text is a text which says what a person or a thing is like. Its purpose is to describe and reveal a particular person, place, or thing.

2. The Generic Structure of Descriptive Text
Descriptive text has structure as below:

• Identification; identifying the phenomenon to be described.
• Description; describing the phenomenon in parts, qualities, or/and characteristics.

3. The Language Feature of Descriptive Text

• Using attributive and identifying process.
• Using adjective and classifiers in nominal group.
• Using simple present tense

4. Examples and structures of the text

MacQuarie University
Identification	Macquarie University is one of the largest universities in Australia. This year, in 2004, it celebrates its 40th anniversary.
Description	The university is located at the North Ryde Greenbelt, Sydney, where the New South Wales government sets aside 135 hectares for the institution. In 1964, Macquarie area was a rural retreat on the city fringe, but today the campus and its surroundings have evolved beyond recognition. The North Ryde District has grown into a district of intensive occupation anchored by a vibrant and growing university.Blessed with a fortunate location and room to breathe, Macquarie can be proud of that careful planning that retains and enrich the university’s most attractive natural features. A pleasing balance between buildings and plating is evident across the campus. This emphasis on the importance of landscape has created images of Macquarie as a place that members of the university are most likely to pleasurably recollect. One of the highlights of the landscape is the Mars Creek zone. It comprises landscaped creek sides and valley floor, a grass amphitheatre, and artificial lake… surrounded by rocks and pebbles, native plants and eucalypts. Today, a railway station is under construction. In three years1 time, Macquarie will be the only university in Australia with a railway station on site. Macquarie is poised to be the most readily accessible in Sydney region by rail and motorway, yet retaining its beautiful site.

Example of Description

1. A.     My Friend’s New Shoes

I have a close Friend. She is beautiful, attractive and trendy. She always want to be a trend setter of the day. She always pays much attention on her appearance. Recently, she bought a new stylist foot legs from blowfish shoes products. This shoes really matches on her.
Her new blowfish women’s shoes are wonderful. When she are walking on that shoes, all her friends, including me watch and admire that she has the most suitable shoes on her physical appearance. The style, bright color, and brand represent her as a smart woman of the day. She really have perfect appearance.
She is really mad on that shoes. She said that the products covered all genders. The blowfish men’s shoes are as elegant as she has. The products provide varieties of choice. Ballet, casual, boot athletic shoes are designed in attractive way. The products are international trader mark and become the hottest trend.

1. B.      Borobudur Temple

Borobudur is Hindu – Budhist temple. It was build in the nineth century under Sailendra dynasty of ancient Mataram kingdom. Borobudur is located in Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia.
Borobudur is well-known all over the world. Its construction is influenced by the Gupta architecture of India. The temple is constructed on a hill 46 m high and consist of eight step like stone terrace. The first five terrace are square and surrounded by walls adorned with Budist sculpture in bas-relief. The upper three are circular. Each of them is with a circle of bell shape-stupa. The entire adifice is crowned by a large stupa at the centre at the centre of the top circle. The way to the summit extends through some 4.8 km of passage and starways. The design of borobudur which symbolizes the structure of universe influences temples at Angkor, Cambodia.
Borobudur temple which is rededicated as an Indonesian monument in 1983 is a valuable treasure for Indonesian people.

Generic Structure Analysis

• Identification; identifying the phenomenon to be described in general; Borobudur temple
• Description; describing the Borobudur temple in parts; eight terraces of Borobudur temple and its characteristics

Language Feature Analysis

• Using adjective and classifiers; valuable
• Using simple present tense; Borobudur is well-known,The temple is constructed, etc

For your exercise, try to describe your family or someone that is very important in your life, Good luck!!!

Report Text, Definition, Function, Structure, Features, Diferences and Examples

                                                            REPORT TEXT

Definition of a Report Text
A report text is a type of document written by someone or group of people to announce the result of an investigation or announce something to the proper authorities. The information given in a report text is very general information.
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Social Function of a Report Text
The purpose of a report text is to present information about something generally. It generally describes the way things are with reference to arrange of natural, manmade and social phenomenon in our environment, such as: mammals, the planets, rocks, plants, countries of region, cultures, transportations, and so on .

The General Characteristics of a Report Text
The characteristics of a report text can be seen from its generic structures and linguistic features. Those characteristics will be explained below.

A. Generic structures

• Title

A title of a report text indicates the topic of the text and it is a very general thing.

• General Classification

A general classification is a part that state classification of general aspect of things, such as: animals, public places, plants, etc. It will be discussed in general.

• Description

This part gives describing of the things which will be discussed in detail, in terms of: parts (and their function), qualities, habits and behavior.

B. Linguistic features

• Focus on generic participant.

A report text always introduces group or general aspect and focus on general nouns, such as: ‘Platypus’, ‘Bees’, etc.

• A report text uses relating verb and action verb, for example:

Relating verb : Reptiles are scalyanimal,etc.
Action verb : Birds fly in the sky, etc.

• A report text uses of simple present tense, for example: Platypus lives in streams, male platypus does not need any burrow, etc
• The language used in a report text is a scientific language, for example: water contains oxygen and hydrogen, etc.
• A report text uses Conditionals and logical connectives, such as: but, in other hand, etc.

Differences between Report Text and Descriptive Text

Some text types are quite difficult to differ. Such a report and a descriptive text have the similarities in the social function and generic structure. However, if they are analyzed carefully, the slight difference between the two text types will reveal.
The purposes of the two texts are to give the live description of the object/participant. Both of a report and a descriptive text try to show rather than tell the reader about the factual condition of the object. Readers by themselves will catch the impressive point of the object through that showing writing style. What makes different, between report and descriptive text is the scope of the written object. If we talk about, e.g.: bicycle, it belongs to a report text. It will talk about bicycle in general in terms of its parts, physical strength, and function for certain people or other general characters of bike. In the other hand, descriptive text will convey more focus, for example "my bicycle" with its specific characters, such as: color, length, wheel style, etc.
In short, a report text describes the way of certain things and frequently refer to phenomenon of nature, animal and scientific object. Mostly, a report is written after getting careful observation. This scientific and technical sense makes clearer difference from descriptive text. The way of descriptive text in showing thing is based on the objective fact of the thing. It describes the specific thing simply as the thing is.


Example of a Report Text

Venice

          Venice is a city in northern Italy. It is the capital of region Veneto. Together with Padua, the city is included in the Padua-Venice Metropolitan Area. Venice has been known as the “Queen of the Adriatic”, “City of Water”, “City of Bridges”, and “The City of Light”. The city stretches across 117 small islands in the marshy Venetian Lagoon along the Adriatic Sea in northeast Italy.

          Venice is world-famous for its canals. It is built on an archipelago of 117 islands formed by about 150 canals in a shallow lagoon. The islands on which the city is built are connected by about 400 bridges. In the old center, the canals serve the function of roads, and every form of transport is on water or on foot.

You can ride gondola there. It is the classical Venetian boat which nowadays is mostly used for tourists, or for weddings, funerals, or other ceremonies. Now, most Venetians travel by motorized waterbuses (“vaporetti”) which ply regular routes along the major canals and between the city’s islands. The city also has many private boats. The only gondolas still in common use by Venetians are the traghetti, foot passenger ferries crossing the Grand Canal at certain points without bridges.

            You can see the amusing city’s landmarks such as Piazza San Marco, Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo, Saint Mark’s Cathedral or villas of the Veneto. The villas of the Veneto, rural residences for nobles during the Republic, are one of the most interesting aspects of Venetian countryside. They are surrounded by elegant gardens, suitable for fashionable parties of high society. The city is also well known for its beautiful and romantic view, especially at night.

NARRATIVE TEXT: DEFINITION, PURPOSE, GENERIC STRUCTURE AND EXAMPLE OF NARRATIVE TEXT

A. The definition of narrative text

Narrative text is a story with complication or problematic events and it tries to find the resolutions to solve the problems. An important part of narrative text is the narrative mode, the set of methods used to communicate the narrative through a process narration.


B. The purpose of narrative text

The Purpose of Narrative Text is to amuse or to entertain the reader with a story.

C. Generic Structures of Narrative Text

1) Orientation

Sets the scene: where and when the story happened and introduces the participants of the story: who and what is involved in the story.

2) Complication

Tells the beginning of the problems which leads to the crisis (climax) of the main participants.

3) Resolution

The problem (the crisis) is resolved, either in a happy ending or in a sad (tragic) ending

4) Re-orientation/Coda

This is a closing remark to the story and it is optional. It consists  of  a  moral  lesson,  advice  or  teaching  from  the writer

D. Example of Narrative Text

The Ugly Duckling

One upon time, a mother duck sat on her eggs. She felt tired of sitting on them. She just wished the eggs would break out.

Several days later, she got her wish. The eggs cracked and some cute little ducklings appeared. "Peep, peep" the little ducklings cried. "Quack, quack" their mother greeted in return.

However the largest egg had not cracked. The mother duck sat on it for several days. Finally, it cracked and a huge ugly duckling waddled out. The mother duck looked at him in surprise. He was so big and very gray. He didn't look like the others at all. He was like a turkey.

When the mother duck brought the children to the pond for their first swimming lesson., the huge grey duckling splashed and paddled about just as nicely as the other ducklings did. "That is not a turkey chick. He is my very own son and quite handsome" the mother said proudly.

However, the other animals didn't agree. They hissed and made fun of him day by day. Even his own sisters and brothers were very unkind. "You are very ugly" they quacked.

The little poor duckling was very unhappy. "I wish I looked like them" he thought to himself. One day, the ugly duckling run away and hid in the bushes. The sad duckling lived alone through the cold and snow winter. Finally the spring flowers began to bloom. While he was swimming in the pond, he saw three large white swans swimming toward him. "Oh, dear. these beautiful birds will laugh and peck me too" he said to himself. But the swans did not attack him. Instead, they swam around him and stroked him with their bills. As the ugly duckling bent his neck to speak to them, he saw his reflection in the water. He could not believe his eyes. "I am not an ugly duckling but a beautiful swam" he exclaimed.

He was very happy. From that day on, he swam and played with his new friends and was happier than he had never been.