Narrative Text adalah teks yang menceritakan sesuatu yang imajinatif atau
sesuatu yang hanya khayalan belaka dan tujuannya hanya untuk menghibur pembaca.
1. Jenis-jenis Narrative Text
Narrative Text mempunyai inti cerita yang biasanya hanya
berupa imajinasi penulis atau kejadian nyata yang ditangkap oleh
penulis atau bahkan bisa gabungan keduanya. Dalam berbagai sumber
Narrative Text dapat ditemui dalam bentuk :
a. fables (Cerita tentang binatang yang digambarkan
berprilaku seperti manusia)
b. fairy stories (Cerita yang bersifat fantastik, penuh
dengan keajaiban)
c. mysteries
d. science fiction
e. romances
f. horror stories
g. legends
h. historical narratives
i. personal experience (pengalaman pribadi yang ditulis)
j. ballads (balada, kisah yang bisa mengharukan pembaca,
biasanya berupa cerita cinta yang tak sampai)
2. Generic Structure Narrative Text
Pada Narrative Text, susunannya adalah sebagai berikut :
a. Orientation
Yaitu pengenalan yang berupa : cerita tentang apa (what is
the story about), siapa pelaku dalam cerita itu (who is the participant),
dimana cerita itu terjadi (where is the place setting) dan kapan cerita itu
terjadi (when is the time setting).
b. Complication atau Problem
Yaitu pada paragraf ini yang menjadi inti dari narrative
text. Tanpa ada permasalahan, text ini hanyalah berupa paparan peristiwa satu
yang diikuti dengan peristiwa yang lain. Masalah yang timbul dapat dibedakan
menjadi :
- Natural Conflict
Yaitu permasalahan yang timbul karena pelaku cerita
berhadapan dengan kekuatan alam.
- Social Conflict
Yaitu permasalahan yang timbul karena para pelaku itu saling
berhadapan. Mereka bertemu pada waktu yang sama dengan berbeda kepentingan.
- Psychological Conflict
Yaitu Permasalahan yang timbul ketika pelaku cerita itu
berhadapan dengan dirinya sendiri. Pertentangan antara nilai baik dan buruk,
antara sifat rakus dan tenggang rasa.
c. Resolution
Yaitu masalah dapat diatasi. Dalam Narrative text, setiap permasalahan
yang muncul harus ada penyelesaiannya, bisa ditutup dengan akhir yang
menyenangkan (happy ending) atau tidak sedikit berakhir tragis, menyedihkan
(sad ending).
d. Re-Orientation
Hanya untuk Optional .
3. Ciri Kebahasaan Narrative Text
a. Menggunakan pola kalimat Simple Past Tense
b. Biasanya dimulai dengan kata keterangan waktu (Adverbs of Time) . Seperti :
long time ago..., once, one, once upon a time.
4. Contoh Narrative Text
Kancil and Crocodile Story
(Favorite Story from Indonesia)
Kancil, the small but clever mouse
deer, had many enemies in the forest. Fortunately, he was quick-witted, so that
every time his life was threatened, he managed to escape.
One of his greatest enemies was
Crocodile, who lived in the river that bordered the forest. Many times
Crocodile had tried to capture the small mouse deer. Crocodile was big, but he
was not very clever. Kancil was able to trick him every time.
One day it was very hot. There was
no wind at all to refresh the thirsty plants and trees of the forest. It was in
the middle of the dry season. For many weeks no rain had fallen so that the
little creeks where the small animals used to drink had dried up. Kancil was
walking alone in the forest; he was very thirsty. He had walked a long way;
looking for a brook where he could quench his thirst, but he had found only dry
mud in the once gay rippling brooks. It was very quiet in the forest. All the
animals seemed to sleep. Even the birds did not sing in the trees. Kancil
finally decided to go to the river that bordered the forest. Usually he avoided
going there as he knew that Crocodile was always on the look-out for him,
waiting for an opportunity to catch him.
When he arrived at the river. Kancil
looked cautiously around him. There was no body to be seen. The clear river
water mirrored blindly the rays of the sun. step by step Kancil approached the
water. His sharp eyes looked right and left; his pointed ears strained to catch
the slightest sound. But no danger seemed to threaten him this time. Relieved,
he bent his head to enjoy the cool water. Suddenly, his glance fell upon an
object that was floating not far away from where he stood. It was a blackish
thing. It looked like a fallen branch ………. Or, like the back of crocodile!
Kancil jumped back, surprised and thoughtful. But he was also very thirsty. How
could he possibly know whether the thing there in the river was really a log or
a crocodile? Then he smiled a little as he hit upon an idea. In a clear
voice he shouted, “ Hey! There, you who are in the river. If you are crocodile,
don’t answer me, but if you are only a long of wood, tell me your name!”
Now it was really Crocodile who was
floating in the river. He had seen Kancil approaching and he was waiting for
him to bend his head to drink. At the very moment when Kancil did not look. Crocodile
would catch him. Without thinking any further, Crocodile answered Kancil in his
gruff voice, “Don’t be afraid, I’m only a harmless log!”
Immediately, Kancil ran away as fast
as his leg could carry him, while shouting over his shoulder, “O, stupid
Crocodile, have you ever heard a log of wood talk?”
A fortnight later, however, Kancil
forgot this incident. The dry season was not over yet and it seemed to be
hotter than ever. Kancil remembered the cool, fresh river water. How wonderful
it would be take a bath in it! He decided to try his luck once again. This time
there was nothing suspicious to be seen, so Kancil went to the water and drank
to his heart’s content. It was very quite, and also very hot. Without thinking
any further Kancil went down into the river and began to splash himself. In his
delight he forgot all about danger. He pick up a dry twig that was floating by
and began to beat the water with it. He made so much noise that he woke up….who
else, but old crocodile who was sleeping in the neighborhood.
“Well, well, this seem to be my
lucky day,” thought Crocodile. In a flash he shot out of his hiding place and
all of a sudden. Kancil felt sharp teeth biting into one of his legs. It hurt
him very much, but though he was shocked and frightened Kancil did not lose his
wits. Without hesitation he dipped the dry twig into the water and in a mocking
tone he said, “stupid old log of wood, do you really think you have got me? It
is only a twig you have in your mouth, not my leg. Here is my leg’ catch it if
you can!”
Kancil moved the twig rapidly to and
in front of Crocodile’s eyes. Crocodile could not see very well in the water
and above all, he really was blockhead! He believed the clever tal of the
little mouse deer, released kancil’s leg and snapped his jaw on the twig. Of
course, kancil did not wait one second to jump out of the water and run to the
safety of the woods. Though his leg was very sore, he laughed heartily. Once
more he had tricked Crocodile.
