In the following is the example of schematic structure of narrative text:
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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 many times
making 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
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Josephine S.M., English on Sky SMP Book VIII, Jakarta: Erlangga, 2007, p. p. 124.
Title
Orientation
Sequence of Events
Complication
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”.
Adapted from Josephine S.M., 2007
Resolution
4. The Language Features of Narrative Text
The language features usually found in a narrative text are: a. Specific characters or participants
b. Time words that connect events to tell when they occur c. Verbs to show the actions that occur in the story
d. Descriptive words to portray the characters and settings.
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The language features shown above are being used narrator. There is always being specific characters in every story. For instance, in the story of
The Smartest Parrot above, the specific character is The Parrot. Time words are also used in that s
tory, for example “One day...”, and also the last two language features.
The language features are provided to help the readers in understanding the story. By past tense used, the readers will know what happened in the
story. Conjunction is also really important to describe the characters and settings of the story.
In the following is the example of language features of narrative text related to the story above:
Figure 2.1 Language Features of Narrative Text
No Linguistic Features
Examples
1 Specific Participants
The smartest parrot 2
Generic Participant A man
The Chickens
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Mark and Kathy Anderson, Text Types in English 2, South Yarra: Macmillan, 1997, p. 8.
3 Past Tense
Had, felt, tried, kept, got, pointed, said, shouted, picked, threw, continued, left,
came back, opened, saw 4
Past Perfect Tense -
5 Action Verb
- 6
Adverb of Time Once upon a time, one day, the next day,
at the moment 7
Adverb of Place Catano, the chicken house
8 Coordinate Conjunction
But, and, for 9
Temporal Conjunction Then, next, after
10 Saying Verb
Say said, shouted, screaming 11
Linking Verb Was, were
12 Modality
Would, could, will Adapted from Josephine S.M., 2007
C. Story Mapping
1. The Understanding of Story Mapping
Before we know exactly what the story mapping is, it is necessary to know
the origin of story maps based on Pamela J. Farris:
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 in formation in their long-term memories.
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Based on that definition, in this sense, story mapping would be effective for the readers recognize the story in their long-term memories. It may be
practical way for them to organize the story content into a coherent whole.
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Pamela J. Farris, Teaching Reading: A Balanced Approach for Today’s Classrooms,
New York: McGraw Hill, 2004, p. 345.
