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
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.
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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.
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In the afternoon we went home.
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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.
Visiting Bali
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
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.
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,
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After that,
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Finally,