Narrative Text

Pada kesempatan ini saya akan berbagi informasi tentang narrative text. Dalam bahasa Inggris, narrative text merupakan cerita imaginasi yang bertujuan untuk menghibur orang-orang, khususnya pembaca. Berikut ini akan dijelaskan sedikit mengenai Generic structure/Rhetorical structure, grammatical feature, dan juga sebuah contoh dari narrative text  itu sendiri. 

Generic Structure of Narrative Text

1. Orientation/Orentasi       

Ini merupakan pembukaan pada text di mana karakter  terhadap ceritanya diperkenalkan.

2.Complication/Komplikasi     

Komplikasi yang dimaksud dalam narrative text adalah memuat masalah-masalah di dalam cerita. Seperti contohnya, hal-hal yang terjadi yang dialami oleh penulis  sendiri.

3.Resolution        

Sebelum resolusi telah dijelaskan adanya komplikasi, yaitu masalah. Resolusi merupakan tahapan penyelesaian  masalah yang dialami oleh penulis, maupun pada cerita   tersebut.

Grammatical Feature

Dalam narrative text ini, kita menggunakan beberapa tenses (bentuk waktu) yang dapat digunakan untuk menceritakan kejadian-kejadian yang telah lewat/di masa lalu. Seperti:

1.     Past perfect

2.     Past continuous

3.     Past perfect continuous

4.    Past Tense 

Contoh narrative text 

Contoh Text 1

The Legend of Rawa Pening

Orientation/orentasi

Once upon a time, there was a little poor boy came into a little village. He was very hungry andweak. He knocked at every door and asked for some food, but nobody cared about him. Nobody wanted to help the little boy.

Complication/komplikasi

Finally, a generous woman helped him. She gave him shelter and a meal. When the boy wanted to leave, this old woman gave him lesung, a big wooden mortar for pounding rice. She reminded him, “please remember, if there is a flood you must save yourself. Use this Lesung as a boat. The “lesung” was happy and thanked to the old woman. The little boy continued his journey. While he was passing through the village, he saw many people gathering on the field. The boy came closer and saw a stick stuck in the ground. People challenged each other to pull out the stick. Everybody tried, but nobody succeeded. “can I try?” asked the little boy. The crowd laughed mockingly. The boy wanted to try his luck so he stepped forward and pulled out the stick. He could do it very easily. Everybody was dumbfounded. 

Resolution/Resolusi

Suddenly, from the whole left by stick, water spouted out. It did not stop until it flooded the village. And no one was saved from the water except the little boy and the generous old woman who gave him shelter and meal. As she told him, he used the lesung as a boat and picked up the old woman. The whole village became a huge lake. It is known as Rawa Pening Lake in Salatiga, Central Java, Indonesia.

Penjelasan dari text di atas

1. Pertama jika kita melihat pada orentasi text tersebut dimulai dengan once upon a time. Merupakan    sebuah ekpresi dari keterangan waktu yang menunjukan waktu lampau.

2. Kemudian kita melihat juga tatanan bahasanya grammar menggunakan tenses yang telah disebutkan. Seperti past tense. Contohnya:

1. He was very hungry and weak

2. The little boy continued his journey

3.  Everybody tried.

Contoh text 2

The Hospital Window

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lung.

His bed was next to the rooms’ only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.

The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on holiday. Every afternoon, when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window. The man in other bed began to live for those one-hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and colour of the world outside. The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every colour and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance.

As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene. One warm afternoon, the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man could not hear the band, he could see it in his mind’s eyes as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words. Days, weeks, and months passed.

One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths, only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep. She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take the body away. As soon as it appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone. Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at real world outside. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed. It faced a blank wall.

The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate to have described such wonderful things outside this window. The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall. She said “Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you.”

Latihan Soal Text Narrative.

Setelah anda membaca text di atas silakan kerjakan soal di bawah!

1. What kind of the story is it?

2. Who are the characters?

3. When did the action take place?

4. What is the story about?

5. What are the problems of the story?

6. How is the problem solved?