Kinds of Text, Recount Text : Definition, Purposes, Generic Structures, Language Features, Text Kinds - mediainggris.com
Definition and the Purpose of Recount Text
Recount text is a text that telling the reader about one story, action or activity. Its purpose is to entertain or informing the reader. Or a text which retells event or experiences in the past.
Writers should remember that while the purpose is to retell they still need to craft their retelling to be interesting to the reader. Rather than retelling every minor detail, the writer needs to select important information or events, and expand on these in an interesting manner. If you were recounting a sports day, you could focus on the place, time, events, and results (which may be appropriate for a report), but to interest, the reader thinks about what would lift this above the dreary detail - What was the highlight of the day for you? How did you feel when you tripped just before the finish line? Did anything funny or surprising occur?
Generic Structure of Recount Text
| √ | Orientation | : | It gives the readers the background information needed to understand the text, such as who was involved, where it happened, and when it happened. |
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| √ | Events | : | A series of events ordered in a chronological sequence. |
| √ | Re-orientation | : | A personal comment about the event or what happened in the end. |
The Characteristics / Language Feature of Recount Text:
1. | Using the simple past tense, past continuous tense, past perfect tense, and past perfect continuous tense. |
2. | frequent use is made of words which link events in time, such as next, later, when, then, after, before, first, at the same time, as soon as she left, late on Friday, On Saturday. On Monday, On Sunday). |
3. | Focus on a specific participant, e.g. I (the writer). |
4. | Using the conjunctions, such as: then, before, after, etc. |
5. | Using an action verb, e.g. went, stayed. |
6. | the passive voice may be used, eg. the bottle was filled with ink (Factual Recount). |
Kinds of Recount Text
Personal recount
These usually retell an event that the writer was personally involved in.
Factual recount
Recording an incident, eg. a science experiment, police report.
Imaginative recount
Writing an imaginary role and giving details of events, eg. A day in the life of a pirate; How I invented...
Recount Text Examples
Recount Text Example; Personal Recount Text
| Orientation | I spent my last summer in Seoul, South Korea. I went there by myself for a four days solo trip. |
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| Events | On the first day, I was landed at Incheon Airport around 7 AM after a 6 hours long flight. Then I went to Seoul by train and checked into the hotel I already booked. I decided to take a rest for a while. At night, I went to Hongdae, a famous district in South Korea. I went to eat traditional Korean food and went around the neighborhood. On the next day, I went to the Gyeongbokgung Palace and National Museum. I also went to learn how to make Kimchi and see the scenery of Seoul from Seoul Tower. I went back to the hotel at 10 PM and immediately went to sleep.
On the third day, I went to the Korean Demilitarized Zone or DMZ. DMZ is a border barrier that divides South Korea and North Korea. I also went to Dora Observatory. From here, we can see how North Korea looks like through binoculars.
I spent the 4th day walking around Myeondong and buy some stuff and souvenirs for my family and friends. I went to the airport at 3 PM since my flight is at 5 PM. |
| Re-Orientation |
I have a fantastic experience in South Korea, especially get to see directly how the Korean Peninsula is. It's a great trip. |
Recount Text Example; Factual Recount Text| Tittle | Man charged with pushing an old woman down the bus. |
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| Orientation | SINGAPORE - The man who pushed an old woman down a bus along Upper Thomson Road has been charged in court.
Twenty-five-year-old Ong Kok Hao is accused of hurting 76-year-old Hwang Li Lian Nee Lye on bus service number 167 at about 3pm on June 5 this year. |
| Events | Ong is said to have used his right hand to push the old woman on her back, causing her to fall on the steps of the bus.
The incident was captured in a two-minute video and uploaded on YouTube.
The video shows Ong suddenly flying into a rage at Madam Hwang for pressing the bell at the last-minute along Upper Thomson Road.
A shouting match then ensued and during the heated spat, Ong threatened to slap the woman, before pushing her down the bus. |
| Re-Orientation | Ong's lawyer Eddie Koh will be making representations to the court. The case will next be mentioned in December. |
Recount Text Example; Imaginative Recount Text
| Orientation | I had my most memorable adolescence when I was fourteen. |
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| Events | I called it memorable because everything happened in that era. First, I had a breakout. Acne showed up on my entire face, especially my cheek. I was afraid to come out of my house and meet my friends as I was so embarrassed about my skin condition. Second, I had a crush. But since my face was covered by acne, I have to let my crush go without even try to know him. Third, because of my acne, I got bullied at school. I was sad. Fortunately, Mom gave me good medicine to get rid of the acne. It takes quite a while until my face is clean from the acne, so I promised myself to wash my face before sleep so the acne won't come back. |
| Re-Orientation | That was my bad experience with adolescence, though there were still lots of good experiences too. |
