4. The Grammatical Features of Narrative Text
In a narrative text there are grammatical feature included, they are: a.
Nouns which could help the reader to identify the specific characters and places in the story that they read
b. Adjective that give descriptions about the characters and setting in
the story c.
Verbs that identify the actions that occur in the story d.
Time words that related with events show the time or when the events occurred.
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In the following is the example of language features of narrative text related to the smartest parrot story below:
22
Anderson. loc. cit.
The Smartest Parrot
Once upon time, a man had a wonderful parrot. There was no other parrot like it. The parrot could say
every word, except one word. The parrot would not say the name of the place where it was born. The name of the
place was Catano.
The man felt excited having the smartest parrot but he could not understand why the parrot would not say
Catano. The man tried to teach the bird to say Catano however the bird kept not saying the word.
At the first, the man was very nice to the bird but then he got very angry. “You stupid bird” pointed the
man to the parrot. “Why can‟t you say the word? Say Catano Or I will kill you” the man said angrily. Although
he tried hard to teach, the parrot would not say it. Then the man got so angry and shouted to the bird over and over;
“Say Catano or I‟ll kill you”. The bird kept not to say the word of Catano.
One day after he had been trying so any ties to make the bird say Catano, the man really got very angry. He could
not bear it. He picked the parrot and threw it into the chicken house. There were four old chickens for next dinner “You are
as stupid as the chickens. Just stay with them” said the man angrily. Then he continued to humble; “You know, I will cut
the chicken for my meal. Next it will be your turn, I will eat you too, stupid parrot”. After that he left the chicken house.
The next day, the man came back to the chicken house. He opened the door and was very surprised. He
could not believe what he saw at the chicken house. There were three death chickens on the floor. At the moment, the
parrot was standing proudly and screaming at the last old
chicken; “Say Catano or I‟ll kill you”.
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23
Louisa, loc. cit., p.3
Specific characters: The parrot
Adjectives providing description
: …the smartest parrot
…”
Verbs showing actions:
…pointed, shouted, and kept
not to say
Use of time words to connect
events: One day, the next
day
From the explanation above, it can be concluded that the grammatical features are could help the readers to understand the story. Through grammatical
structures the readers are helped to identify the specific characters and places, actions or events, and time when the events occurred.
C. Story Mapping
1. The Definition of Story Mapping
Generally, the goal of a reading activity is to get understanding of a text. So, sometimes the students are being taught in a less teacher directed manner. In
this case, once a skill is taught, the students practice it within the current lesson and then use their skill in the becoming lesson. One skill for digging into a story to
examine its part is story mapping. Before going to the definition of story mapping it is better to know the short story of story mapping.
The origin of story maps lies within story grammar research. The term story grammar refers to the hierarchical rules or psychological structures that
people use to create and remember stories the skeleton underlying a story, so to speak. These psychological models of comprehension and memory are used by
both adults and children to encode and store information in their long term memories.
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Based on that definition, story mapping could help the readers recognize the story in their long-term memories. Through practical way it could help the
readers organize the story content into a coherent whole. The term story mapping consists of two words, they are story and map.
According to Hornby in Oxford Advanced Learner‟s Dictionary “Story is a description of events and people that the writer or speaker has invented in order to
entertain people. ”
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It means that story is a fiction selection to entertain a reader or as a part for pleasure. Meanwhile, map is defined as
“A drawing to describe or give information about something, especially the way it is arranged or
24
Pamela, op. cit., p. 345.
25
A. S. Hornby, Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English, New York:
Oxford University Press, 2003, p. 1333.
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