The Sample of Narrative Text
instead of watch and listen to story told by someone.
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What Kelly Booker states above means that picture books can be a model for students to write their own
writing because the picture books gives students an example of interesting story which offer them opportunities to explore their imagination and they even can
represent the story in the picture books with their own version. Likewise, Terry
Miller adds that the combination of expressive language and beautifully vivid illustrations which describe unique and different characters, setting, or plot line in
picture boooks can be picked as a prompt which stimulates students to create their own imaginative and creative narrative writing.
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As Terry Miller explains above, it can be assumed that illustration and language or text presented in picture books
are able to be used as a stimulating prompt which can direct students to write a good story imaginatively by their own.
Furthermore, the students are also able to copy or change the texts of picture books, for example, changing the story characters and the story ending
with their own imagination and words. This point of view are similar to what Terry Miller states “Students can create stories from illustration alone, change the
endings, add new characters to the stories, or create new stories with the similar plot devic
e.”
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Terry Miller‟s statement above can also be understood that because picture books present narrative, students can learn and model components
of narrative writings such as character developments, story endings, dialogues, settings, point of views, emotions, plot line, etc. to create their own writings.
In a similar way, Susan Anderson McElveen and Connie Campbell Dierking suggests that picture books provide models for students to see the
example of target skills they must have and study how the author used target skills including brainstorming, focus, elaboration, organization, and convention,
moreover, the target skill they learn from the model will be used in their own
14
Ibid, p. 3
15
Terry Miller, op-cit, p. 379-380
16
Ibid
writing.
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In this way, Susan Anderson McElveen and Connie Campbell Dierking
‟s point of view can be accepted that picture books are also useful as mentor texts which can help students to find topic for their own writings and
practice organizing their ideas into a good and correct words. Additionally, in this term, mentor texts is defined as books, particularly picture books or other story
books which are choosed and matched with the target skills needed in developing effective writing.
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The above statements mean that picture books can be selected as mentor text to teach students and provide real model for learning target skills
including brainstorming, organization, and focus which can develop effective writing.
More importantly, Introducing and inviting students to read picture books before they start to write an interesting story can help them to generate ideas for
their own writing because illustrations presented in picture books are visual description of a story. This is in line with Mary Jo Fresch and Peggy Harkins‟
point of view which explains that giving students opportunities to explore illustrations in picture books can inspire students to write since illustrations in
each page of a picture book give students more ideas.
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