Strategies in Reading Comprehension
which is occurring or experiencing by the character.
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It tells that narrative text is a text which tells a story and the story is telling about events which happen to the
character. Langan told that narrative gives the clear information by relating the details
of the story.
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The details of the story such as when the narrative text tells about Cinderella, automatically narrative text will tell about Cinderella character in
detail is like Cinderella is a beautiful girl whose dad re-married with cruel widow with a daughter. Cinderella was acted as a house maid when her father went to
work. Narrative text generic structure can be used as a tool to make the students be more understanding about the story is telling. It is because the generic structure
of narrative text has systematic chronological order that make students be easier to identify the story in correct arrangement. Anderson and Anderson defined
narrative as spoken or written text. If it is as spoken form can be through radio or
television while if it is as a written from can be presented by books or newspaper.
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It can be inferred that narrative is kind of text in written or spoken form that tell the story to readers or listener.
The narrative text is told by a narrator. A narrator is a person who tells the story it can be a first person or a third person.
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If a third person narrator who tells the story, it means that the author wants to bring the reader to feel what is
happening in the story, meanwhile, if a first person who tells a story it is inferred that the author wants to the reader involve in the story. According to Lewin, there
are six critical components of work fiction which can be seen as the concept of narrative, as follows, title, characters, setting, main events, problems and
conflicts, and solution or resolution.
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Those critical components will help the students to see the elements of narrative text directly. There are many types of
31
Mieke Bal, Narratology Introduction to the Theory of Narrative, 3
rd
Ed., Canada: University of Toronto Inc., 2009, p. 4.
32
John Langan, College Writing Skills Media Edition, 5
th
Ed., United States of America: Mc Graw Hill, 2003, p. 195.
33
Anderson and Anderson, loc. cit.
34
Cramer, et al., loc. cit.
35
Lewin, op. cit., p. 68.
narrative text, such as, fairy tales, myth, science fiction, romance, legends etc.
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Those types of narrative text genre are made to entertain the reader. According to Anderson and Anderson the basic purpose of narrative text is to
entertain or inform the reader or listener.
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Therefore, the detailed purpose is based on each genre of narrative text, such as, the purpose of myth is to explain
the natural phenomenon which happened in society and the purpose of a legend is to cultural traditions or belief.
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From both definitions above can be known that the basic purpose of narrative text is to entertain the reader meanwhile the detail
purpose depends on the genre, such as, fairytale, automatically the purpose of the text is to entertain the reader about magical story which usually happened
fairytale. Further, besides to entertain, to gain, and to make reader interested, the purpose of narrative also to teach, explain, and inform the reader.
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The reader could take the moral value from the story which is telling and make it as a self-
reminder to do the good thing and avoid the bad thing. Based on Siahaan and Shinoda explanation, the purpose of narrative text is
not also entertain or amuse the reader but also to engage with reader’s personal feeling. In addition, they also said that narration is related to tell conflicts and is
solved in resolution.
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The reader’s personal feeling can be seen by the moral value which the reader will get after reading. Narrative also can be used to teach
or inform, to change attitudes or social opinions. From those definitions above the writer concluded narrative text is a kind of story which purpose not only entertain
the reader but also involv e the reader’s personal feeling. Moreover, the narrative
also has a narrator as a person who tells a story. The narrator can be a third or a first person, it depends on the author’s purpose. Narrative text is a text which a
systematic chronological order which stated from the beginning, the middle, and the ending. Narrative text structure is believed could make better students’ reading
36
Sudarso, Panduan Belajar 10 IPAIPS, Smart Solution Primagama, p. 66.
37
Anderson and Anderson, loc. cit.
38
The National Strategies: Primary Support for Writing Fiction, p. 1.
39
Targeting Text Singapore: Green Giant Press, 2006, p. 4.
40
Sanggam Siahaan and Krisno Shinoda, Generic Text Structure, Yogyakarta: Graha Ilmu, 2008, p. 73.
comprehension. Furtheer, narrative text also has a main purpose that is to entertain the readers.