Materi Bahasa Inggris Recount Text

  1.      RECOUNT 

Social function: to retell events for the purpose of informing or entertaining

Generic structure

·         Orientation            :  provides the setting and introduces participants

                               (when, and where)

·          Events                   :  tell what happened in a chronological order

·          Re-orientation     :  optional-closure of events

Recount texts tell a series of events and evaluate their significance

in some way.

Language Features : - The use simple past tenses

                                           S + V2 ( we went for a trip to the zoo )

Activity 1. Answer these following questions.

            1. Do you have any interesting experience to tell?

                2. Can you recall it?

                3. Will you tell your experience to your friend?

           Activity 2.Read and study the text structure of the recount text.

            My Day    

                 I had a terrible day yesterday. First, I woke up an hour late because my alarm clock didn't go off. Then, I was in such a hurry that I burned my hand when I was making breakfast. After breakfast, I got dressed so quickly that I forgot to wear socks. Next, I ran out of the house trying to get the 9:30 bus, but of course I missed it. I wanted to take a taxi, but I didn't have enough money.

 Finally, I walked the three miles to my school only to discover that it was Sunday! I hope I never have a day as the one I had yesterday.

            Taken from Ready to Write, 2003

 Activity 3. Answer the following questions based on the text activity 2.

         

1.      What happened to the writer yesterday?

2.       Why did he wake up an hour late?

3.       What did he do after having breakfast?

4.       How far did the writer walk?

       5.       What does the writer hope? 

Activity 4. Say it Right and find their synonym.

1. wanted /wɒntɪd/

2. ran out /rʌn aʊt/

3. walked /wɔ:kd/

4. forgot /fə'gɒt/

5. missed /mɪsd/

                                6. burned /bɜ:nd/

                                7. woke up /wɒk ʌp/

                                8. hurry /hʌrɪ/

                                9. terrible /'terəbl/

                              10. quickly /kwiklɪ/

                  Grammar Spot

                                                                                                 Simple Past Tense

                        

                                (+) S + V2

                                (-)  S + did not + V1

                                (?) Did + S + V1

                        

To talk about past events and conditions, you use VERB-2 forms. Here are some examples taken from the text.

(+) I joined the Traditional Dance Competition in Jakarta last year.

(-) I did not feel nervous anymore.

The adverbs that are usually used in the ‘simple past tense’ sentences are:

Yesterday, last week, a week ago, …ago, last…,etc

  Activity 5. Fill in the blanks with correct verb forms. Look at the example.

                                                        

                                                 am     win    take    have    join    are

The Football Competition

When I 1) was in the Junior High School, I joined two clubs. They 2) ________  the Football Club and the Karate Club. I 3) _______ those clubs because   I love sports, especially football and karate. I 4) ________ football on Sunday mornings and karate on Mondays at 4 p.m.

One day my football club joined a football competition. There were eight clubs joining the competition. At first, our club 5) __________ the match. Then, we had to defeat one club to get to the final. Remarkably, we won again. After those two matches, we 6) _________ lunch in the cafeteria nearby. We were so impatient to play in the last game. It was the hard one because our opponent was very tough. Finally, we won the game with a nice score of 3 – 2. We were very happy and proud.

Activity 6. Ask your classmate is sitting next to you and say what you did last weekend. Look at the following example.

For example:

1. You                    : What did you do on your last weekend?

Your friend         : It was alright. I didn't do anything special.

2. You                    : Did you have a good weekend?

                Your friend         : Yes. It was great. I had a lovely time. I went to theatre and I     watched a  

                                                  great movie.

Activity 7. Study and pronounce the following words. Then, read the text on Torajan funeral and answer the questions.

balcony (kb) : balkon

coffin (kb) : peti mati

corpse (kb) : jenazah

elaborate  (ks) : rumit

kin (kb) : sanak; famili

slaughter  (kkt) : menyembelih

                                                      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 kind 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 circular row around an open field called tongkonan. His corpse was dressed in a fine 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 mountainside family graveyard. Great shouting and excitement followed it 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.

                                               Adapted from: http://www.worldisround.com

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 coffin?

5. What did they do on the last day of the ceremony?

Notes: 

In a recount 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, Final.