Function of Recount Text

A recount is a text that contains of retelling events that happened in the past. A Recount Text usually uses the Past Tense and Past Continuous Tense in its content and its sequence of events told. Its generic structure are the Orientation, Series of Events, and Re-orientation. The Orientation is a part of recount text that tells the introduction of the interesting event being told. The series of event is the sequence of things that happen from the beginning until the end. Lastly, a re-orientation is the feeling and impression after doing the events.

Is there any function in using a recount text as a writing composition? The answer is Yes, there is. For those who like writing diaries, you can use the recount text to write the story. When using the recount text in dairy, you will be able to organize the writing well. Besides, you can improve the content of your diary in terms of the grammar, diction, and content. For instance, a diary is supposed to use pas tense in its writing, and in writing a recount text you have to use Past Tense and Past Continuous Tense temporarily. It means that when you already know what recount text is, you will absolutely improve the content of your beloved diary. However, when you have not known what recount text is, the diary will not be organize well and it may impact in your interest in reading it someday.

Therefore, learning a recount text is important. You can also make some articles using recount text. The articles' content will be your interesting and funny stories that may be people love. Then you can share it on web-blog so many people will get entertained and they can feel what you experienced in the past.

Cloze Text of Recount (Example)

Feel in the blanks with the word provided below!

(travel, held, write, food, saw, drink, limited, plenty, done, visit, spend, fearing, departed, success)

My Rush Time as a Journalist

I usually woke up at eight o'clock a.m. and went to the Press Center to check the daily schedule of briefings and press conferences. It was usually (11) ____________ by the United Nation officials or disaster mitigation team.

It was challenging to (12) ___________ different refugee camps to find soft stories, human interest stories. After that I went back to the Press Center to cover the press conferences of the day.

It was heart breaking when I (13) ____________ these survivors fight for food and secondhand clothing. Unfortunately as they said, the food and clothing were (14) __________ and inadequate. Emerging to glaring, fool noon, it was time to go back to Press Center to (15) __________ stories and race against time. I was always (16) __________ that the internet would come crushing down.

After everything was (17) ___________, only then I remembered to eat. Most times, I only ate once a day because I always had to rush and again it was difficult to find (18) __________. I had to (19) ___________ quite far. I needed to (20) ___________ a 30 to 45 minutes by car just to find fresh food.

Generic Structure of Recount Text

The generic structure of Recount text consist of 3 main parts which its examples are show as follows:

1) Orientation

• Last year, I joined the one of SMAN 3 Malang annual events called Bedol Desa 2010. The event's purpose was to introduce the Bhawikarsu students of how we live in simplicity and how we respect the society.

2) Series of Events

• The first day, we went to the location by bus.
• We came to the village and unpacked our belonging.
• We had a pray events in the evening.
• On the second day, we had some exhibition games with the people there, including the football and volley game.
• The last day, we experience what so-called the ''If I were'' or in Indonesia it's commonly named as "Jika Aku Menjadi".

3) Re-orientation

• We were sad of leaving the village and we could not wait to join the next Bedol Desa as Bhawikarsu's annual event.

What is a Recount Text?

A recount tells about something that happened in the past. The details in a recount can include what happened, who was involved, where it took place, when it happened and why it occurred.

A writer or speaker uses a recount to tell us about a story or an event. Recounts are usually given in the order that the event occurred. Recounts can be:

• factual, such as a news story
• procedural, such as telling someone how you built something
• personal, such as a family holiday or your opinion on a subject.

Examples of a recount

Recounts can be either written or spoken. Examples of recounts include:

• biographies and autobiographies
• newspapers or the television news
• letters and postcards
• textbooks
• conversations with friends

Structure

A well-structured recount includes details of the event or topic and personal opinions.

Written recounts often start with a heading or title. Letters and journal entries do not usually have a title. Oral recounts might have a title if you are giving a presentation. If you are just talking with friends a title is not usually needed.

The introductory paragraph, or orientation, of a written recount introduces the topic or event. This paragraph introduces who, what, where, when, why and possibly how.

The following body paragraphs will recount the sequence of events. This is where the recount is told in chronological order (the order that the events happened).

The conclusion, or re-orientation, is where the writer or speaker can give personal opinions about the topic or event. The writer or speaker may also comment on how this event or topic may affect other things in the future.

Preparing a recount

The factual information in a recount must be accurate. Recounts can also include the speaker's or writer's personal thoughts on the event or topic. Recounts are written in the past tense because they tell about something that has already happened.

When writing your own recount, it is important to write everything down in the order that it happened. Use words that show when something happened as well as action words to tell how it happened. You may also include other people's opinions or quotes on the topic or event.

Always check your text for correct spelling, grammar and punctuation.

(Adapted from http://www.skwirk.com)