ABOUT RECOUNT TEXT

Recounts tell the reader what happened. They retell a past event e.g. a visit to a farm. Recounts begin by telling the reader who was involved, what happened, where this event took place and when it happened. This is called the orientation. The sequence of events is then described in some sort of order e.g. time. There may be a reorientation at the end which summarizes the event.


When writing recounts you should:
• focusing on individual people i.e. use the words, I or we
• using words which indicate when (e.g. after lunch) and where the events took place (e.g. in the shed)
• write in the past tense e.g. had, visited
• using action words e.g. helped, crutched.

The name of this genre is also called self-explanatory. The social function of this text is to share a story of what happened in the past. With this text, a writer wants to tell the readers what (s) he or someone else experienced.

The text structure of a recount starts with an orientation. This part tells the readers the main idea of the story being discussed in the text. Yes, this part gives a setting of the story, so that readers are aware of the story is about. Again, it gives an orientation. The next part is the series of events. In this part, the story starts from the very early stages. That is to say, the story develops based on the sequence of the events. Finally, after all events are presented, the writer will wrap story up with a re-orientation. In this part, the writer summarizes the story and tells his/her impression of the experience that what has been elaborated.

Some examples of recount text are a story of unforgettable experience, news article, or the information you fill in the form of LOST report at the police station.

RECOUNT mempunyai GENERIC STRUCTURE sebagai berikut :
1. Orientation : Provides the setting and introduces the participants (memberikan informasi tentang apa, siapa, di mana dan kapan).
2. Events : Tell what happened in what sequence ( Laporan urutan kegiatan yang biasanya disampaikan secara berurutan)
3. Reorientation : Optional – closure of events. (biasanya berisi komentar pribadi / penilaian. Tidak selau ada dalam teks RECOUNT.

Recount memiliki tujuan tertentu, seperti:
1. Memberi (Menjual) Informasi
Sebagian besar tulisan dihasilkan dengan tujuan memberi (baca: menjual) informasi, teristimewa bila hasil karya tulis tersebut diperjualbelikan. Pada sisi positif lain, tulisan juga bersifat memperkenalkan atau mempromosikan sesuatu, termasuk suatu kejadian (berita) atau tempat (pariwisata).
2. Mengabadikan Sejarah
Sejarah harus dituliskan agar abadi sampai ke generasi selanjutnya.
3. Ekspresi Diri
Tulisan juga merupakan sarana mengekspresikan diri, baik bagi perorangan maupun kelompok.
4. Mengedepankan Idealisme
Idealisme umumnya dituangkan dalam bentuk tertulis supaya memiliki daya sebar lebih cepat dan merata.
5. Mengemukakan Opini dan Teori
Buah pikiran pun hampir selalu diabadikan dalam bentuk tulisan.