Reading Module – SMP English Competition

Recount Text

Retelling past experiences or events in chronological order

🎯 Purpose (Social Function)

To retell events or experiences that happened in the past for the purpose of informing or entertaining the reader.

💡

Key word: PAST — everything happened before the time of writing. The writer tells the story from their personal perspective or based on facts.

🏗️ Generic Structure

Orientation

Sets the scene — introduces who, when, where, and what. Answers the background questions of the story.

Events

A series of events that happened, told in chronological order. Uses sequence words: first, then, after that, finally…

Re-orientation

Optional closing — the writer's personal comment, reflection, or conclusion about the experience.

✍️ Language Features

Uses Simple Past Tense (e.g., went, visited, ate, was)
Uses time connectives and sequence words (first, then, after that, finally, the next day)
Uses action verbs in past form (walked, climbed, watched)
Uses specific participants — refers to specific people (I, we, my family, John)
Uses descriptive words (adjectives/adverbs) to enrich the story
Written in first person (I, we) for personal recount, or third person for factual recount

📄 Example Sentence

"Last Sunday, I visited my grandmother in Bandung. We had a wonderful lunch together and then went to a nearby park. It was one of the best weekends I have ever had."

📂 Types of Recount Text

📔 Personal Recount

Written in 1st person (I/We). Retells personal experiences. e.g., diary entries, holiday stories

📰 Factual Recount

Based on real events/facts. More formal. e.g., newspaper reports, accident reports, science experiments

📖 Biographical Recount

Written about another person's life or experiences. e.g., biography, autobiography

🌐 Historical Recount

Retells past historical events. e.g., events about Indonesia's independence, wars

Narrative Text

Stories with imaginative or real plots involving conflict and resolution

🎯 Purpose (Social Function)

To amuse, entertain, and deal with actual or vicarious experience in different ways. Narrative texts deal with problematic events which lead to a crisis and find a resolution.

💡

Key element: CONFLICT — every narrative must have a problem/conflict and a resolution. Without conflict, it is not a narrative.

🏗️ Generic Structure

Orientation

Introduces the characters, setting (time & place), and situation. Answers: Who? Where? When?

Complication

The problem or conflict arises. This is the main part of the story. There can be more than one complication.

Resolution

The problem is solved (happy, sad, or unexpected ending). Shows how the conflict is resolved.

Re-orientation / Coda (Optional)

A moral lesson or personal reflection after the story ends.

✍️ Language Features

Uses Simple Past Tense as the main tense (e.g., lived, ran, cried)
Uses Past Continuous Tense for background action (e.g., was sleeping, were walking)
Uses specific characters (proper names: Cinderella, Malin Kundang)
Uses time connectives (once upon a time, long ago, one day, suddenly)
Uses dialogue to make the story vivid
Uses descriptive language (adjectives) to describe characters and setting
Uses action verbs and saying verbs (cried, whispered, shouted)

📄 Common Opening Phrases

"Once upon a time..." | "Long long ago..." | "One day..." | "A long time ago, in a land far away..."

📄 Common Closing Phrases

"...and they lived happily ever after." | "The moral of the story is..." | "From that day on..."

📂 Types of Narrative Text

🧚 Fairy Tale

Magical story with heroes/villains. e.g., Cinderella, Snow White

🐉 Legend

Story explaining the origin of places or events. e.g., Sangkuriang, Malin Kundang

🦊 Fable

Animal characters with human traits. Has a moral lesson. e.g., The Ant and the Grasshopper

👻 Myth

Supernatural stories to explain natural phenomena. Often involves gods or spirits.

Descriptive Text

Painting a picture with words — describing a specific person, place, or thing

🎯 Purpose (Social Function)

To describe a particular person, place, or thing in detail so that the reader can clearly picture it in their mind. It gives a vivid and specific description of something.

💡

Key difference: Descriptive text describes a SPECIFIC thing (e.g., "My cat, Whiskers" — not "cats in general"). General descriptions are Report Text.

🏗️ Generic Structure

Identification

Introduces the subject — identifies who or what will be described. Usually one paragraph.

Description

Describes the features of the subject in detail — physical appearance, qualities, characteristics, behavior, etc. Can be multiple paragraphs.

📌 What to Describe

Person: appearance, personality, habits, achievements

Place: location, size, atmosphere, unique features

Animal: physical features, behavior, habitat, diet

Thing: shape, color, size, function, material

✍️ Language Features

Uses Simple Present Tense (e.g., has, is, looks, lives)
Uses many adjectives to describe (beautiful, tall, enormous, calm)
Uses specific participants — refers to a particular subject (My dog, Borobudur Temple)
Uses relating verbs (is, are, has, have, looks, seems)
Uses thinking/feeling verbs (feels, believes, loves)
Uses adverbs to give detail (very, quite, extremely, beautifully)
Does NOT use sequence words (no "first, then, finally" like recount)

📄 Example Paragraph

"Borobudur is one of the most magnificent temples in the world. It is located in Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia. The temple has nine stacked platforms and is decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues. The view from the top of Borobudur is breathtakingly beautiful, especially during sunrise."

🔍 Descriptive vs Report Text

Aspect	Descriptive	Report
Subject	Specific (My cat)	General (Cats)
Tense	Simple Present	Simple Present
Focus	Personal impression	Scientific facts
Purpose	Describe one thing	Classify/describe a class