NARRATIVE TEXT

A Narrative text is an imaginative story. Its purpose is to entertain or amuse the listeners and readers. In a spoken text, we occasionally use expressions such as um …, let me tell you …and er … (Teks Naratif adalah cerita yang imajinatif. Tujuannya adalah untuk menghibur atau mengibur para pendengar dan para pembaca. Dalam sebuah teks yang diucapkan, kadang kita menggunakan ungkapan yaitu um …, let me tell you, and er…).

Generic structure of this text is :

a)     Orientation (pengenalan) : setting the scence and introducing the participants.

b)    Complication (konflik) : a crisis arises.

c)     Resolution (Penyelesaian) : the crisis is resolved, for better or for worse.

d)    Reorientations (Kesimpulan) : the change which happens to the participants and the lessons we can learn from story.

The grammatical features of a narrative text are :

a)     Use specific nouns: Pak Kikir’s son;

b)    Use adjectives which form noun phrases: the richest man, a humble and good boy, good farmers;

c)     Use time connectives and conjunctions: then, after that;

d)    Use adverbs and adverbial phrases:  in the area, at the party, at the same time;

e)     Use action verbs: sang, ran;

f)      Use saying verbs: said, answered;

-         Example: Spoken Narrative Text

  Let me tell you a story. One day, a lion was awakened from its afternoon nap by a group of mice scurrying around it. Its huge paw fell upon one of the little creatures. The mouse pleaded for mercy from the stately beast. The lion took compassion upon the tiny mouse and released it.

  A few days later, the lion was trapped in a hunter’s net. Its roars made the whole forest tremble. The little mouse whose life was spared approached the lion in the snare and used his sharp little teeth to gnaw the strong ropes until the lion was free.

-         Example Written Narrative Text

The Beginning of Cianjur

  Once upon a time, the richest man lived in West Java. He was the owner of all the fields in the area. The villagers were just laborers to him, so they called him as “Pak Kikir” (kikir means stingy). He had a son, but his son was different from his father. He was a humble and good boy. He always helped the villagers. (ORIENTATION)

  One day, Pak Kikir celebrated his harvest by hosting a thanksgiving party. He thought this party would enrich the harvest of his fields. All of the villagers were invited. They were really happy because they thought that they could eat many delicious foods at the party. However, it was far from what they had imagined. Pak Kikir provided only simple food!

“Huh … the miserly man. I can’t imagine how miserly he is.”

“ The Lord will never bless him,” said several villagers at the party. Simultaneously, there was an elderly woman who approached Pak Kikir and asked for his mercy.

“ Give me a plate of rice, please,” said the old woman.

     “You have to work hard to get a plate of rice!” Pak Kikir said.

The old woman cried and left the party. However, Pak Kikir’s son was really sad about that, so he gave his lunch to the old women.

After that , the old woman walked up a mountain.

When she has on the top, she could see Pak Kikir’ house, the best house in that area. She said, “Remember this, Pak Kikir! Your greediness will sink you and the Lord will never bless you!” The old woman jabbed her stick into the earth and water emerged from the jab. (COMPLICATION).

     Gradually, the water rose to a flood. The villagers and Pak Kikir’s son ran to save themselves. While they were running, Pak Kikir tried to save his prosperty. The flood was coming in fast and Pak Kikir sank with his prosperity.

      The villagers and Pak Kikir’s son were saved. They were really sad about had happened. (RESOLUTION)

      They decided to find a new area and they chose Pak Kikir’s son as their leader. He taught the villagers how to be good farmers, how to handle the fields and water balance. Then, the area was named Anjuran (Suggestion) because the villagers obeyed their leader.

      Several years later, the villagers changed the name to Cianjur, meaning full water. Now, Cianjur is known as the best area to produce rice in West Java, Indonesia. (REORIENTATION)