NARRATIVE TEXT

AIMS:

After learning this unit, you should:

1. Be able to understand how to:
a. Relate and write narrative texts, and
b. Use adverbs of time in simple past tense, especially in narrative texts.
2. Be able to:
a. Relate and write narrative texts, and
b. Use adverbs of time in simple past tense, especially in narrative texts.
Based on the knowledge and skills you have learned, you are expected to:
1. Be appreciative for the opportunity to study english,
2. Be cooperative and confident when communicating with other people.

1. NARRATIVE TEXT
The text you just read is a narrative text. The purpose of the text is to amuse or entertain
the readers. Narrative deal with problematic events which lead to a crisis or turning point of
some kind, which in turn find a resolution. A narrative text is a text which contains about
story (fiction/nonfiction/tales/folktales/fables/myths/epic) usually consists of orientation
(setting the scene and introducing the participants of the story), complication (showing
when the crisis arises) and resolution (showing when the crisis is resolved, for a better a
worse condition).

2. GRAMMAR
Adverbs of time in simple past tense

Adverbs of time are used to show when an action occured, but also for how long and
how often. The following are adverbs of time usually used in the simple past tense:
a. Yesterday
b. a/an/one. . .ago (a week ago, an hour ago)
c. last . . . (last week/month/year)
 d. . . . ago (a few month ago, several minutes ago)
e. The day before yesterday
f. The . . .before last (the night before last, the day before last)
g. Past dates (in 2014, in 19th century)
h. Past events (during my childhood, when I terurned home)

Meanwhile, the following are adverbs of time usually used in a narrative text.
1. To begin a story:
a. Once upon a time d. Once in a while
b. Many years ago e. Many times ago
c. A long time ago f. Long ago
2. To show an action in the middle of the story:
a. Then g. Afterwards
b. As a result h. Later on
c. Thereafter i. Up until then
d. Next j. Suddenly
e. Beforehand k. At that moment
f. In the meantime
3. To show the end of the story:
a. In the end/at the end
b. At last/last
c. Since then
4. The following are examples of narrative tenses:
a. Past simple: (past event, habitual action)
Rumus Past Tense:

Positive: S + V2
Negative: S + did not + V1
Interrogative: Did + S + V1

Example:
-I bought the dress a week ago
-Did you see her yesterday?
 b. Past continuous:
Rumus Past Continuous Tense

Positive: S + was/were + Ving

Negative: S + was/were + NOT + Ving
Interrogative: Was/Were + S + Ving

Example:
-I was listening
-You were not sitting in your places when the bell rang

c. Past perfect:
Rumus Past Perfect Tense

Positive: S + had + V3
Negative: S + had + not + V3
Interrogative: Had + S + V3

Example:
-Mike had known my brother for two years before he met him
-I hadn’t seen the Oscar ceremony on television, I’d gone to bed early that night

d. Past perfect continuous: We had been waiting to escape for what seemed ages
Rumus Past Perfect Continuous Tense:

Positif: S + had + been + Ving

Negatif: S + had + not + been + Ving
Tanya: Had + S + been + Ving

Example:
-She had been waiting
-No, I hadn’t, She usually takes a later train
-Had he been waiting?

B. Examples of Narrative Text

Example 1
 MALIN KUNDANG

Long ago, an old woman and her son lived in a small village. Her son was
called Malin Kundang. They were very poor but they loved each other very much.
One day Malin Kundang told his mother that he would go to town and work
there. At first his mother did not allow him but finally she let him go with tears.
Malin Kundang worked hard in a big town and in a short time he became a
rich man. However he completely forgot his poor old mother.
Some years later he sailed to a harbor near his village. When his mother
heard about this news she came to meet him. Malin Kundang pretended not to
know her. He said, “You’re not my mother. Go away !” His mother became very
sad and before she went she said, “Oh, Malin Kundang, you are a wicked son.
You‟ll never be safe now. You and your money will turn to stone.”
Some days later his ship left the harbor. The sea was calm but when he
reached the open sea there was a great storm. The ship was drowned. Malin
Kundang and his money changed into a stone.
Now people call it Batu Si Malin Kundang. We can see the stone from Air
Manis, a village on the coast of West Sumatra near Padang.
 (http://blognyaamna.blogspot.co.id)

1. How did Malin Kundang and his mother life first?

a. They were poor and hated each other.
b. They poor but loved each other.
c. They were rich but lived unhappily.
d. They were rich and lived happily.
2. What happened to Malin Kundang after going to town?
a. He became a successful man.
b. He failed to a good job.
c. He was sick and died.
d. He had a worse life than before.
3. One of the following statements shows the major complication of the text.
a. Although they were poor they lived happily.
b. Malin Kundang told his mother that he would go to town.
c. After Malin Kundang became a rich man he pretended not to know his mother.
d. Malin Kundang and his money changed into a stone.

Example 2

Once upon a time in West Java, Indonesia, lived a princess named Dayang
Sumbi. She was beautiful and kind-hearted. Her hoby was weaving cloth. But
sometimes she could be very lazy. One day her weaving tool fell but she was too
lazy to get it herself. She shouted out, “Can anybody help me get my tool? If you
are a female, I will take you as my sister. If you are a male, I will marry you!”
 A male creature came, but it was a dog. His name was Tumang. He happily
brought her the tool to her. Dayang Sumbi was very surprised but she kept her
promise. She married the dog. Tumang was actually a man who had been cursed
by a witch to become a dog. But at certain times Tumang could turn back to be a
normal man. Their only son, Sangkuriang, was soon born, and he grew up to be a
handsome and healthy boy. He always played with his very loyal dog, Tumang. He
did not know that he was actually his father, because Dayang Sumbi hid the secret
from him. Sangkuriang liked to hunt in the woods, of course with Tumang.
One day Dayang Sumbi asked him to bring home a deer’s heart. But, after
hunting for several days, he could not find any deer in the woods. He did not want
to disappoint his mother and was thinking hard how to bring home a deer’s heart.
Suddenly he had a very bad idea. He killed Tumang! Then he brought his heart
home and give it to dayang Sumbi.
Sangkuriang could not cheat her. She knew it was Tumang’s heart. So, she
got very angry and hit Sangkuriang’s forehead with a piece of wood and told him
to leave. With a bad wound on his forehead, Sangkuriang left the village.
Many years later, Sangkuriang grew up to be a powerful man. One day he
went back to his village. He met a beautiful young woman there, and he fell in love
with her at the first sight. It was Dayang Sumbi! She never got older because she
had been granted eternal youth by the Gods. Sangkuriang did not know that she
was his mother, so she came to her and proposed to marry her.
When he walked closer to her, Dayang Sumbi got very surprised. She saw
the scar in Sangkuriang’s forehead, and soon she knew that he was her son, who
left her a long time ago. She told him the truth and tried hard to explain it to him,
but he did not believe her. She did not want to break his heart, so she accepted
his proposal but gave him an impossible thing to do. She wanted him to build a
lake and a boat in just one night!
Sangkuriang agreed, because he knew that he could make it with the help
of his genies. By midnight he finished the lake and then started making the boat.
Dayang Sumbi was thinking hard to find a way to fail him. Before dawn, she asked
the people in the village to burn the woods in the East, and the light made all the
cocks crow. Thinking that the night would be over soon, the genies ran fast and
left Sangkuriang before the boat was finished. Sangkuriang realized that Dayang
Sumbi had cheated him. He got very angry and he kicked the boat upside down. It
gradually became a mountain and it is now known as Tangkuban Perahu.

(http://blognyaamna.blogspot.co.id)

Answer the questions based on the text.

1. Who was Dayang Sumbi?
a. Sangkuriang’s father
b. Sangkurian’s wife
c. Sangkuriang’s mother
d. Sangkuriang’s grandmother

2. What did Sangkuriang do to the dog when he got nothing to hunt?

a. He left the dog in the forest.
b. He told the dog to go home.
c. He killed the dog.
d. He did nothing to the dog.

3. Who was the dog really?

a. Sangkuriang’s mother.
b. Sangkuriang’s father.
c. Sangkuriang’s grandmother.
d. Sangkuriang’s grandfather.

4. Who are the main characters in the story?

a. Sangkuriang and Dayang Sumbi
b. The dog, Dayang Sumbi and Sangkuriang
c. The genies and Tumang
d. The king and Dayang Sumbi

5. Dayang Sumbi knew that he was her son. (paragraph 4)

The underlined word refer to ..............
 a. Dayang Sumbi
b. Sangkuriang
c. Sangkuriang’s father
d. Dayang Sumbi’s husband

6. The complication starts when? . . .

a. Sangkuriang arrived at his own village
b. Tumang came bringing Dayang Sumbi fallen thing
c. Dayang Sumbi asked Sangkuriang to find deer’s heart
d. Dayang Sumbi asked Sangkuriang to build a lake and a boat in one night

7. What moral value can learn from the story?

a. People must keep their words all the time
b. Do not make a promise to easily
c. Never be reluctant to do good things
d. We should not hate our descendants

Example 3

The Smartest Parrot

Once upon time, a man had a wonderful parrot. There was no other parrot like
it. The parrot could say every word, except one word. The parrot would not say the
name of the place where it was born. The name of the place was Catano.

The man felt excited having the smartest parrot but he could not understand why
the parrot would not say Catano. The man tried to teach the bird to say Catano
however the bird kept not saying the word.

At the first, the man was very nice to the bird but then he got very angry. “You
stupid bird!” pointed the man to the parrot. “Why can’t you say the word? Say
Catano! Or I will kill you” the man said angrily. Although he tried hard to teach, the
parrot would not say it. Then the man got so angry and shouted to the bird over
and over; “Say Catano or I’ll kill you”. The bird kept not to say the word of Catano.
 One day after he had been trying so many times to make the bird say Catano,
the man really got very angry. He could not bear it. He picked the parrot and threw
it into the chicken house. There were four old chickens for next dinner “You are as
stupid as the chickens. Just stay with them” Said the man angrily. Then he continued
to humble; “You know, I will cut the chicken for my meal. Next it will be your turn,
I will eat you too, stupid parrot”. After that he left the chicken house.

The next day, the man came back to the chicken house. He opened the door
and was very surprised. He could not believe what he saw at the chicken house.
There were three death chickens on the floor. At the moment, the parrot was
standing proudly and screaming at the last old chicken; “Say Catano or I’ll kill you”.

(http://blognyaamna.blogspot.co.id)

1. Analysis the Generic Structure

a. Orientation:
It sets the scene and introduces the participants/characters. In that parrot story, the first
paragraph is the orientation where reader finds time and place set up and also the participant
as the background of the story. A man and his parrot took place once time.
b. Complication:
It explores the conflict in the story. It will show the crisis, rising crisis and climax of the
story. In the parrot story, paragraph 2, 3, 4 are describing the complication. Readers will find
that the man face a problem of why the parrot can not say Catano. To fix this problem, the
man attempted to teach the bird. How hard he tried to teach the bird is the excitement element
of the complication.
c. Resolution:
It shows the situation which the problems have been resolved. It must be our note that
“resolved” means accomplished whether succeed or fail. In the last paragraph of the smartest
parrot story, readers see the problem is finished. The parrot could talk the word which the
man wanted. The parrot said the word with higher degree than the man taught the word to it.
That was the smartest parrot.
 Referensi

1. Bima Bachtiar M and Kurniawati Cicik. 2014. Bahasa Inggris. Klaten:Intan Pariwara
2. eprints.umpo.ac.id/1440/8/8APPENDICES.pdf
3. Ambarningrum, Pertiwi. 2009. Basic Grammer for Beginner. Jakarta:CladinaMedia
4. https://pakpuguh.wordpress.com
5. http://blognyaamna.blogspot.co.id
6. www.teachingenglish.org
7. http://trywahyuning.blogspot.co.id.