NARRATIVE TEXT

   Narrative Text

          Narrative Text is a story that created in constructive format (written, spoken, poetry, prose, images, song, theater or dance) that describes a sequence of fictional or non-fictional events. 

Ø  The Purpose o Narrative Text :

1.    To entertain the reader

2.    To persuade the reader

3.    To inform the reader

Ø  The Characteristics of Narrative Text :

1.    Narrative text used “Simple Past Tense”

2.    Usually at the first paragraph used adverb of time (ex. Long time ago, Once upon a time, In a faraway land, etc)

3.    Narrative Text used conjuction (ex. Then, After, That, Before, etc)

Ø  The Generic Structures of Narrative Text :

1.      Orientation (who, when, where)

Ø  Sets the scene and introduces the participants.

2.      Complication

Ø  A crisis arise.

3.      Resolution

Ø  A solution to the problem

4.      Evalution

Ø  The information about the narrator’s point view (it is optional).

                         

Ø  Narrative Text has 5 common components. Most test questions refer to one of these five story elements :

1.    Setting

Ø  Where or when the story takes place.

2.    Characters

Ø  People or animals in the story.

3.    Plot

Ø  Sequence of events.

4.    Theme

Ø  Central idea of the story.

5.    Vocabulary

Ø  Word used to enrich understanding of the story.

Ø  Kinds of Narrative Text :

1. Fable   : Definition: A fictional narrative meant to teach a moral lesson.The characters in a fable are usually animals whose words and actions reflect human behavior. A form of folk literature, the fable is also one of the progymnasmata.

     Some of the best known fables are those attributed to Aesop, a slave who lived in Greece in the sixth century BC. A popular modern fable is George Orwell's Animal Farm (1945).

2. Legend  : Definition: A traditional historical tale (or collection of related tales) popularly regarded as true but usually containing a mixture of fact and fiction.

3. Fairy tales : Definition: Fairy tales are simple stories of humans and their dealings with magical beings such as fairies, dragons, and wizards. Originally intended for children, the fairy tale has in certain instances involved into longer and more sophisticated narratives of supernatural events. The term embodies folktales such as "Snow White" and "Cinderella," many of which were originally collected in the early 19th century by the Brothers Grimm in "Grimm's Fairy Tales."

4. Fiction : Definition : A literary or cinematic genre in which fantasy, typically based on speculative scientific discoveries or developments, environmental changes, space travel, or life on other planets, forms part of the plot or background.

5. Myth : Definition: A traditional sacred story, typically revolving around the activities of gods and heroes, which purports to explain a natural phenomenon or cultural practice.

 

Example of Narrative Text :

Bawang Merah and Bawang Putih

Orientation :

          Bawang Putih lived with her step mother and her step sister, Bawang Merah. Bawang Putih’s mother died when she was a baby. Her father remarried another woman and later her step sister born. Unfortunately, not long after that her father died. Sice then, Bawang Putih’s life was sad. Her step mother and her step sister treated Bawang Putih badly and always asked her to do all the household chores.

Complication :

 One morning, Bawang Putih was washing some clothes in a river. Accidentally, her mother’s  clothes were washed away by the river. She was really worried so she walked along the river side to find the clothes. Finally she met an old woman. She said that she kept the clothes and would give them back to Bawang Putih if she helped the old woman do the household chores. Bawang Putih helped her happily. After everything was finished, the old woman returned the clothes. She also gave Bawang Putih a gift. The old woman had two pumpkins, one pumpkins was small and the other one was big. Bwang Putih had to choose one.

Resolution :

          Bawang Putih was not a greedy girl. So she took the small one. After thanking the old woman, Bawang Putih then went home. When she arrived home, her step mother and Bawang Merah were angry. They had been waiting for her all day long. Bawang Putih then told about the clothes, the old woman, and the pumpkins. Her mother was really angry so she grabbed the pumpkin and smashed it to the floor. Suddenly they all were surprised. Inside the pumpkin they found jewelries. “Bawang Merah, hurry up go to river and throw my clothes into the water.  After that, find the old woman. Remember you have to take the big pumpkin,” the step mother asked Bawang Merah to do exactly the same as Bawang Putih’s experience. Bawang Merah immediately went to the river. She threw the clothes and pretended to search them. Not long after that, she met the old woman. Again she asked Bawabng Merah to do household chores. She refused and asked the old woman to give her a big pumpkin. The old woman then gave her the big one. Bawang Merah was so happy. She ran very fast. When she arrived home, her mother was impatient. She directly smashed the pumpkin to the floor. They were screaming. There were a lot of snakes inside the pumpkin! They were really scared. They were afraid the snakes would bite them. “Mo, I think God just punished us. We had done bad things to Bawang Putih. And God didn’t like that. We have to apologize to Bawang Putih,” said Bawang Merah.

Evalution :

          Finally both of them realized their mistakes. They apologized and Bawang Putih forgave them. Now, the family is not poor anymore. Bawang Putih decided to sell all the jewelries and used the money for their daily lives.