According to Wardiman, recount text is a text that has a purpose to entertain or to inform the reader.
23
Wardiman proposes that recount tend to entertain the reader and also to inform the event to the reader. It purpose is in
line with the concept of Widiati. She also states that, “Recount is a text which
has social function to retell events for the purpose of informing or entertaining.”
24
It means that recount text describes the event specifically and it is told to inform and entertain the reader.
From the objective above, the writer points out that recount text has three main objectives. The first is to describe about the event, what happen,
when and where the event happen. The second is to entertain the reader. The third is to informing the reader. In other words, recount text tends to describe
the past event, entertain and also to inform the event.
3. The Structure of Recount Text
Generally recount text usually has structures as Utami Widiati states that, “A recount text has the following structure; orientation, events, re-
orientation.”
25
The structures are described as follows: a.
Orientation paragraph. It provides the setting and introduces participants.
b. Events. Tell what happened, in what sequenced.
c. Re-orientation paragraph. It is optional closure of events.
According to Artono Wardiman, there are three main structures of recount text.
26
It is described as follows: a.
Orientation. It tells who was involved, what happened, where the events took place, and when it happened.
b. Events event 1 and 2. Tell what happened and in what
sequence.
23
Artono Wardiman, et al., English in Focus 2 for Grade VIII Junior High School SMPMts, Jakarta: Pusat Perbukuan, Departemen Pendidikan Nasional, 2008, p. 116.
24
Widiati, et al., 2008, op. cit., p. 35.
25
Ibid.
26
Widiati, et al., 2008, loc. cit.
c. Re-orientation. It consists of optional-closure of events or
ending. Moreover, Anderson also highlights the structure of recount text that
consists of three main parts,
27
as follows: a.
An orientation. It is a first paragraph that gives background information about who, where, and when.
b. A series of paragraphs. It retells the events in the order in which
they happened. c.
A concluding paragraph. It may include a personal comment not always necessary.
Those are the structures that are described by Utami Widiati, Artono Wardiman, and Mark Anderson. The writer could elaborate that there are three
main structures of recount text. The first is orientation paragraph, it usually gives the background information of text and the participants that are included
in the text. The second is events, it tells what happened in what sequence. The third is reorientation paragraph or a concluding paragraph, it usually include
the ending or a closure or recount.
4. The Grammatical Features of Recount Text
Recount text usually includes the following grammatical features, as Mark and Kathy Anderson state. The language features usually found in a
recount text: proper noun, descriptive words, past tense, words events.
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a. Proper nouns to identify those involved in the text
b. Descriptive words to give details about who, what, when, where
and how c.
The use of the past tense to retell the events d.
Words that show the order of events for example, first, next, then.
27
Anderson, 1997, op. cit., p. 53.
28
Anderson, 1997, op. cit., p. 50.
