Anecdote Text

1.      Definition and Social Function of Anecdote

Anecdote is a text which retells funny and unusual incidents in fact or imagination. Its purpose is to entertain the readers.

2.      Generic Structure of Anecdote

1. Abstract

2. Orientation

3. Crisis

4. Incident.

3.      Language Feature of Anecdote

1. Using exclamation words; it's awful!, it's wonderful!, etc

2. Using imperative; listen to this

3. Using rhetoric question; do you know what?

4. Using action verb; go, write, etc

5. Using conjunction of time; then, afterward

6. Using simple past tense

4.      Examples and structures of the text

Snake in the Bath
Abstract	How would you like to find a snake in your bath?  A nasty one too!
Orientation	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 we would clean the bath first, so we set to, and turned on the tap.
Crisis	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.
Incident	For an instant I stood there quite paralysed. 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 leant over the bath to get a better look!
Coda	Ever since then I’ve always put the plug in firmly before running the bath water.

Example of Anecdote

A.     Blessing behind Tragedy

There was a black family in Scotland years ago. They were Clark family with nine children. They had a dream to go to America. The family worked and saved. They were making plan to travel with their children to America. It had taken several years but finally they had saved enough money. They had gotten passport. They had booked seats for the whole family member in a new liner to America.

The entire family was full of anticipation and excitement with their new life in America. However few days before their departure, the youngest son was bitten by a dog. The doctor sewed up the boy. Because of the possibility of getting rabies, there were being quarantined for long days. They were in quarantine when the departure time came. The family dreams were dashed. They could not make the trip to America as they had planned.

The father was full of disappointed and anger. He stomped the dock to watch the ship leaved without him and his family. He shed tears of disappointment. He cursed both his son and God for the misfortune.

Five days latter, the tragic news spread throughout Scotland. The ship, the mighty Titanic, had shank. It took hundreds of passenger and crew with it. Titanic which had been called the unsinkable ship had sunk. It was unbelievable but it was.

The Clak family should have been on that ship, but because of the bitten son by a dog, they were left behind. When the father heard the news, he hugged the son and thanked him for saving the family. He thanked God for saving their lives. It was a blessing behind a tragedy. 

Generic Structure Analysis

Abstract: Everybody has a dream. You have and so do I. When the dream will come true, there is something wrong last minute before it. What will we feel? What will we do?

Orientation: the Clak family lived in Scotland. They had dream to travel to America. They prepared well for their plan

Crisis: few days before they went to America, his youngest son was bitten by a dog. It made they were being quarantined. They had to forget their plan.

Incident: the family was full of disappointment and anger. The father was angry with his son and God. The family failed to travel to America and the father could not accept it.

Coda: the father thank to his son when he hear the ship sank. He thank to God because of saving the family from sinking. He thought leaving behind the ship was not a tragedy but a blessing.