What is Recount Text and How to Use It?

Sukrisno Nino    Januari 04, 2020    Materi Kelas X   

Recount Text 

Definition of Recount Text

Recount text is a text that tells a reader about a story, action, or activity.

Recount is a text that recounts past events or experiences.

The details in the recount may include what happened, who was involved, where it happened, when it happened, and why it happened. Its purpose or aim is to entertain or inform the reader or listener of past activities.

Recount text may be factual information, such as news story or procedural information.

Generic Structure of Recount Text:

1. Orientation : It is about introduction the participants, place and time. It tells who was involved, what happened, where the events took place, and when it happened.
2. Events : Describing series of event that happened in the past. Telling what happened and in what sequence. (Also read other article at : Air Moves Slow Down)
3. Reorientation : It is optional. It consists of closure of events/ending. It is stating personal comment of the writer to the story

The Characteristics / Language Feature of Recount Text:

– Using the simple past tense, past continuous tense, past perfect tense, and past perfect continuous tense.

– Using temporal sequence, e.g. On Wednesday. On Friday, On Sunday

– Focus on specific participant, e.g. I (the writer)

– Using the conjunctions, such as: then, before, after, etc.

– Using action verd, e.g. played, worked

Kinds of  Recount Text

a. Personal recount

These usually retell an event that the writer was personally involved in.

b. Factual recount

Recording an incident, eg. a science experiment, police report.

c. Imaginative recount

Writing an imaginary role and giving details of events, eg. A day in the life of a pirate; How I invented...

Example of Recount Text

Example 1

Being Late

Last morning, Dinar, my roommate woke up late and she had to go to campus.

When she wanted to take her motorcycle, in fact she couldn’t move it because there were some motorcycles that blocked up her motorcycle.

She tried to move all of the motorcycles, so that her motorcycle could move from the garage. But she couldn’t do it.

Then, she called Adel who had that motorcycle which blocked.

Example 2

A Beautiful Day at Jogja

written by Arsianti Dewi

Last week, my friends and I went to Jogja. We visited many places.

First, we visited Parangtritis beach. The sun shone brightly and the scenery was very beautiful there. We felt the wind blew across to us. We also saw a lot of people in that beach. There werw many birds flew in the sky. Also, there were many sellers who sold many kinds of souvenirs. Second, we visited Gembira Loka Zoo. We saw many kinds of animals there such as monkeys, tigers, crocodiles, snakes, etc. We looked around in that Zoo, and also took pictures of those animals. Then, we felt hungry, so we went to a restaurant. As soon as we finished our lunc, we decided to go home.

For me, that was a beautiful day though I could not visit Malioboro. we really enjoyed it, and I hope I could visit Jogja again.

Example 3

A Page from A Girl’s Diary

Written by Pratama Lysa Hapsari

Tuesday, September 30th, 2008

It was takbiran night. It was also my birthday, and nothing happened. Or I had thought nothing would happen, but I was wrong.

That night, I was watching television with my family when I heard someone lit fireworks in my front yard. I peeped through my window glass but could see nothing. It was very dark outside. Then I thought it had to be my cousins who lit the fireworks. Then I plopped down on my sofa again and tried to concentrate on the television since my mind raced with disappointment that no one gave something special on my birthday.

I shrugged, it was almost the end of the day and I became pessimist. Five minutes later my mobile beeped. It was a text from my friend asking me to come out. Wondering what was going on, I grabbed my jacket and hurried to the front door. I was surprised to see her bring a bag full of firework and fire drills. Next I was surprised to see my other friend come out from the darkness. She brought a beautiful birthday cake on her hands. Oh my God! I shrieked. Then they gave the cake to me who was too stunned to say anything. I realized I was blushing furiously because my whole family was watching. Not to mention my neighbors too!

A plain day, or I thought it was before, turned out to be one of the greatest moment in my life. I didn’t even know how to describe what I felt. Happy was the simplest word.

Example 4

My Holiday in Bali

When I was 2nd grade of senior high school, my friends and I went to Bali. We were there for three days. I had many impressive experiences during the vacation.

First day, we visited Sanur Beach in the morning. We saw the beautiful sunrise together. It was a great scenery. Then, we checked in to the hotel. After prepared ourselves, we went to Tanah Lot. We met so many other tourists there. They were not only domestic but also foreign tourists.

Second day, we enjoyed the day on Tanjung Benoa beach. We played so many water sports such as banana boat, jetsky, speedboat etc. We also went to Penyu Island to see many unique animals. They were turtles, snakes, and sea birds. We were very happy. In the afternoon, we went to Kuta Beach to see the amazing sunset and enjoyed the beautiful wave.

The last day, we spent our time in Sangeh. We could enjoy the green and shady forest. There were so many monkeys. They were so tame but sometimes they could be naughty. We could make a close interaction with them. After that, we went to Sukowati market for shopping. That was my lovely time. I bought some Bali T-Shirt and souvenirs.

In the evening, we had to check out from the hotel. We went back home bringing so many amazing memories of Bali.

Generic Structure Analysis :

Orientation : Paragraph one ( When I was 2nd grade of senior high school, my friends and I went to Bali.)

Event :Paragraph two, three, four ( First day, Second day ,The last day )

Reorientation : Last paragraph

Sources Website:

http://britishcourse.com/recount-text-definition-purposes-generic-structures-language-features.php

https://www.nurdiono.com/definition-of-recount-text.html

https://www.ef.co.id/englishfirst/englishstudy/pemahaman-recount-text-dalam-bahasa-inggris.aspx

https://www.mediainggris.com/2019/02/kinds-of-text-recount-text-definition.html