RECOUNT
In this life, time goes by until some of us die. We surely go through this life passing the time. During the whole life, we have experienced many happenings that we left behind. We keep some of the events in our memory. They become our unforgettable experiences. Some are nice and the others are bad. What are your unforgettable experiences? How did they happen? In this lesson, we will study about recount of our or others’ experiences, especially how they happened.
What is a recount?
A recount is a type of spoken or written text that deals with past experiences. The purpose is to retell some events that happened in the past. A recount text has a generic structure, having three components (one is optional): (1) Orientation, (2) Events, and (3) Reorientation (optional). Recount are principally not the same as narratives although both mostly talk about past events. Narratives deal with problematic events which lead to a crisisis or turning point which in turn finds a resolution while recounts do not have to come to a serious crisis or complication.
Generic structure of recount text:
A recount text has a generic structure, having three components:
Orientation : an introduction that provides thee setting and introduces paxrticipants
Events : account that tells what happened, in a sequence
• Event 1
• Event 2
• Event 3
• Etc
Reorientation (optional): closure of events
Lexicogrammatical features:
1. The recount focuses on a sequence of events all of which relate to a particular occasion
2. It introduces specific participants ( I and we )
3. Frequent uses of Simple Past Tense
4. Past ContinTense is sometimes used
5. Temporal sequencers are also used in the sentences to show the events.
• Before…,..
• After…….,..
• When….,..
• While….,.
• ..until…..
• During..,..
• As…..,….
• At that time / moment,….
• After that / then,……
• Firstly / secondly / finally,…..
Contoh recount text
Forgetting The Most Important Thing
Mr. and Mrs. Henry planned to spend their holidays by going overseas for vacation. They imagined that they would have a good time. They prepared many things for their vacation. They packed their suitcases three days ahead of time. They went to the bank and purchased traveler’s checks two days before. And one day before the expected day, they asked their next-door neighbor to water their plants, feed their cats, and shovel their driveway if it snowed. On the very day, Mr. and Mrs. Henry arrived at the airport exactly a few minutes before the departure. When they searched their hand bags and didn’t find the things they wanted, they realized that they had forgotten to bring their plane ticket with them. There wasn’t enough time to go back home and get them. Mr. and Mrs. Henry were heartbroken and couldn’t believe what they just experienced. They thought they were all prepared for their vacation, but they forgot to do the most important thing.
----/
