Recount

UNIT 2
RECOUNT

Objectives:
At the end of this unit, the students are expected to be able to:

1. mention the social function of recount genre;

2. scan the specific ideas through the generic structure of recount;
3. skim the general ideas through the generic structure of recount;
4. identify the cohesive devices in a recount and use them in other
recounts;
5. identify the sequential and temporal conjunctions in a recount and
use them in other recounts;
6. identify the sequential and temporal structures in a recount and use
them in the other recounts ;
7. identify the sentence structures commonly used in recounts; and
8. identify the personal pronoun and possesive adjectives used in
recounts.

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 Recount

FOCUS 1: Titanic

Activity 1: Pre-Reading Activity

Answer the following questions.
1. Do you like watching Hollywood movies?
2. Do you know the love story of Jack and Rose?
3. What is the title of the movie about the love story of Jack and Rose?
4. Where is the setting of the movie?
5. What is the name of the movie setting?

Activity 2: While-Reading Activity

While reading the text, answer the questions below.
1. When did Titanic sink into the North Atlantic Ocean?
2. Where did Titanic sink?
3. How many passengers were carried out?
4. When was Titanic movie directed?

Titanic
On April 15, 1912, Titanic, one of the British largest and luxurious
liners, sank into the North Atlantic Ocean which is about 400 miles south
of Newfoundland, Canada. The giant ship which carried 2,200 passengers
and crews had struck an iceberg. Two and a half hour later the ship sank
into the deep North Atlantic Ocean at 2:20 a.m.
From that tragedy, more than 1,500 people went down in the sinking
ship. Some of them froze to death in the icy North Atlantic water and
around 700 people (high class woman and children) survived.
Unfortunately the giant luxurious ship was not equipped with more
lifeboats and good emergency procedures so that the victims of the tragedy were
more than half of passengers and crews.
The tragedy became popular again some years later after James Cameron
directed a movie entitled Titanic in 1997. The movie that was inspired by the
tragedy of the sinking titanic was a fiction story about the members of different
social classes who met in that ship and fell in love. It was the best movie of the
year and still remembered by a lot of people around the world.

Taken from: https://gudangpelajaran.com/contoh-recount-

text/#Contoh_Historical_Recount_Borobudur with modification

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 Recount

Activity 3: Post-Reading Activity

From Titanic text, answer the following questions.
1. When did Titanic sink into the North Atlantic Ocean?
2. Where about did Titanic sink?
3. How many passengers were carried by the giant ship?
4. How many people went down in the sinking ship?
5. How many people were killed in the tragedy?
6. Describe the existence of lifeboat.
7. When did that tragedy become popular again?
8. Describe the Titanic ship.

Activity 4: True, False

Based on the text entitled “Titanic”, state ‘T’ for true statement and ‘F’
for false statement.

1. Titanic is the only one of the British largest and luxurious ships.
...........
2. Titanic sailed into the North Atlantic Ocean.
...........
3. The words “That giant ship” refer to Titanic.
...........
4. Titanic was destroyed by an iceberg.
...........
5. More than 1,500 people were killed in the icy water.
...........
6. All high class passengers survived.
...........
7. Titanic was equipped with enough lifeboats.
...........
8. Titanic movie is a factual story which describes the real event.
...........

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Activity 5: Understanding the events of the Titanic tragedy

Complete the following diagram to show the events.

TITANIC

Event 1
.......................................................................................

Event 2
.......................................................................................

Event 3
.......................................................................................

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Activity 6: Understanding Text Structure and Elements

A recount text has a generic structure. It consists of orientation,
events, and reorientation.

To check your understanding of the generic structure of the text above,

complete the diagram below.

TITANIC

Orientation
(sentence ....)

Event 1 Event 2 Event 3

(Sentences ....) (Sentences ....) (Sentences ....)

Reorientation

(Sentence ....)

FOCUS 2: My Busy Holiday

Activity 1: Pre-Reading Activity

Answer the questions below.
1. How do you feel when the holiday is coming?
2. What do you usually do in your holiday?
3. Do you go somewhere or just stay at home?
4. Where do you usually go for your holiday?
5. What do you do when you stay at home?

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Activity 2: While-Reading Activity

While reading the text, answer the questions below.
1. What kind of holiday did the writer get?
2. Was she happy with her holiday?
3. How many activities did the writer do during her holiday?
4. What does the writer want to do with the text?

My Busy Holiday
February 8th, 2016, I thought this would be a great holiday for me
because that was Chinese New Year holiday. I didn’t celebrate the Chinese
New Year as I’m not Chinese but I guessed that it was a good time for me
to get refreshing. I was fed up with studying.
First like a daughter, I had to get up in the morning to help my
mother, of course, after I prayed. Then I washed the dishes, cleaned up my
room, and tidied my bed. I was really in trouble if my mom knew that my
room was messy. So, I made it as soon as possible.
In the afternoon, my aunt called me after I finished everything. I had
not met her for a long time so we kept talking for hours about some up-to-
date gossips. Not long after that, my neighbor, who is also my schoolmate,
visited me. She asked for my help to finish her homework. At last, the time
was running and the homework was successfully finished.
To my surprise, I just remembered that I had a lot of homework too.
I got confused and regretful why I did not check it. As a consequence, I did
my homework until late at night and it was hardly finished. I did not feel
that this was a holiday, but I had to work hard and finish my homework.
Since then, I always check my homework before having a holiday.

Taken from http://britishcourse.com/recount-text-definition-generic-

structures-purposes-language-features.php with modification
Activity 3: Post-Reading Activity
Answer the following questions.
1. Why did not the writer celebrate Chinese New Year?
2. What was the first activity that the writer did during her holiday?
3. Why did the writer’s aunt call her?
4. Why was the writer confused and regretful?
5. What was the moral value taken by the writer from her holiday?

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Activity 4: Applying Temporal Conjunction

The passage “My Busy Holiday” consists of events having temporal
sequences. It started from the writer who was tired for studying, and
concluded with the fact that she had to still study to finish her homework.

Complete the relevant events in column 3 based on the flow events the
story.
Temporal Sequences Key Words Events
1 2 3
Orientation Chinese new year February 8th, 2016, I thought
holiday this would be a great holiday
for me because that was
Chinese New Year holiday.
Event 1 to get up early
morning
Event 2 cleaned up my room

Event 3 my aunts called me

in the afternoon
Event 4 my schoolmate
visited me
Event 5 an unpredictable
moment happened

Re-orientation got a long ship with

my homework

Activity 5: Identifying Temporal Sequence Markers

Temporal Sequences can be identified by using various markers, such as
time markers (as soon as, meanwhile, before, etc), conjunctions (first,
second, next, last, etc).
Now, identify the temporal sequence markers from the text “My Busy
Holiday”.

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Write sentences using temporal conjunctions.

1. I had finished everything before my aunt called me.
2. .................................. after ..................................
3. .................................. then ..................................
4. Before ........................., ......................................
5. First, ......................................................, then .....................

Activity 6: Summarizing Recount

Read the text “My Busy Holiday”, then summarize it in one paragraph,
arranging in the following recount structure.

Recount
Summary
Structure

Orientation

Events

Re-orientation

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FOCUS 3: My First Time in Yogyakarta

Activity 1: Pre-Reading Activity

Answer the questions below.
1. Have you ever visited Yogyakarta?
2. What do you think about this city if you have ever been there?
3. Which place is your favorite?
4. Why is it your favorite place?
5. Do you want to visit Yogyakarta again after your first visit?

Activity 2: While-Reading Activity

While reading the text, answer the questions below.
1. What is the text about?
2. Why did they visit Yogyakarta according to the text?
3. Were they exploring Yogyakarta right after their arrival?
4. How long did they stay in Yogyakarta?
5. Which places did they visit?
6. What did they do in Malioboro?
7. Did they visit the Yogyakarta palace?
8. Didn’t they take some pictures in this place?
9. Where did they go for the rest of their stay in Yogyakarta?
10. Why did they decide to visit malls?

My First Time in Yogyakarta

My family and I visited my grandmother in Yogyakarta last month.
It was my first trip to this city. We went there two days after my sister’s
graduation ceremony in Semarang. We arrived at Yogyakarta at night. We
spent a week staying in my grandmother’s house which is 5 minutes away
by foot to Malioboro street.
In the first morning, we were still too tired after a long trip from
Semarang to Yogyakarta, so we stayed at home to recharge our energy. I
walked around the neighborhood with my sister just to experience how it
was like to be in Yogyakarta. There were too many houses, I think, which
made the space between a house and the others was so small, even the road
was also small that only bicycles and motorcycles could go through.

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On the second day, all of us went to Malioboro street. We saw so

many merchants with various products which they claim to be the
traditional product of Yogyakarta. I bought some wooden figurine and T-
shirt with the word “Yogyakarta” printed on it, while my sister bought
some leather handbags. My mom and dad were busy choosing some
merchandises to bring home when we went back.
On the third day, we went to Taman Sari and Keraton Ngayogyakarta
Hadiningrat to see some historical buildings in Yogyakarta. We took a lot
of pictures there. We also took some pictures of the building so we could
check them again at home. We found some places providing Yogya
traditional food around the building and we jumped in right away.
We spent the rest of our week in Yogyakarta by visiting some
Shopping Malls such as Jogja City Mall, Malioboro Mall, Hartono Mall
and Ambarrukmo Plaza. Yogyakarta was very warm during the day. That
was the reason why we decided to spend more time in an air conditioned
building like this.

Taken from: http://britishcourse.com/contoh-recount-text-my-first-time-

in-yogyakarta-beserta-terjemahannya.php

Activity 3: Pre- and Post- Modifiers

The following are the example of pre- and post- modifier.

Deictic Number Describing Classifying Noun Qualified/

(D) (N) (Des) (Cl) (N) Additional

Information

The Intervi by radio

ew broadcasters

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Additional information modifying noun may consist of:

Types of Post Modifier Examples

A special program which is intended for

Adjective Clause handicapped people

Past Participle Phrase The car listed in the advertisement

Present Participle Phrase The companies offering the lowest price

To-infinitive Phrase The charity to help poor people

Adjective Phrase Fresh air, good enough for people’s health

Prepositional Phrase Some people in the park

Number The year 2000

Based on the above example, find the additional information modifying

noun in the text and underline the modifier.
1. Grandmother’s house which is 5 minutes away by foot to Malioboro
street.

2. ________________________________________________________

3. ________________________________________________________

4. ________________________________________________________

5. ________________________________________________________

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Make five sentences using the additional information modifying noun.

You may use the post modifier types (adjective clause, past participle
phrase, present participle phrase, to infinitive phrase, adjective phrase,
prepositional phrase or number)

Example: I always remember my holiday which brings everlasting memory.

1. ________________________________________________________

2. ________________________________________________________

3. ________________________________________________________

4. ________________________________________________________

5. ________________________________________________________

Activity 4: Post-Reading Activity

Read the following text and answer the questions.

Faraday studied the magnetic field around a conductor carrying a

DC electric current. While conducting these studies, Faraday established
the basis for the electromagnetic field concept in physics, subsequently
enlarged upon by James Maxwell. He similarly discovered electromagnetic
induction, diamagnetism, and laws of electrolysis. He established that
magnetism could affect rays of light and that there was an underlying
relationship between the two phenomena. His inventions of
electromagnetic rotary devices formed the foundation of electric motor
technology, and it was largely due to his efforts that electricity became
viable for use in technology.
As a chemist, Michael Faraday discovered benzene, investigated the
clathrate hydrate of chlorine, invented an early form of the Bunsen burner
and the system of oxidation numbers, and popularized terminology such as
anode, cathode, electrode, and ion.

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Although Faraday received little formal education and knew little of

higher mathematics, such as calculus, he was one of the most influential
scientists in history. Historians of science refer to him as the best
experimentalist in the history of science. The SI unit of capacitance, the
farad, is named after him, as is the Faraday constant, the charge on a mole
of electrons (about 96,485 coulombs). Faraday’s law of induction states that
magnetic flux changing in time creates a proportional electromotive force.
Faraday was the first and foremost Fullerian Professor of Chemistry
at the Royal Institution of Great Britain, a position to which he was
appointed for life. Albert Einstein kept a photograph of Faraday on his
study wall alongside pictures of Isaac Newton and James Clerk Maxwell.
Faraday was highly religious. He was a member of the Sandemanian
Church, a Christian sect founded in 1730 that demanded total faith and
commitment. Biographers have noted that a strong sense of the unity of
God and nature pervaded Faraday’s life and work.

Taken from: http://englishadmin.com/2018/12/50-contoh-soal-recount-

text-biography-dan-jawaban.html

Now, answer the questions below.

1. What is the language feature of the above text?
2. Which part is the orientation of the text?
3. Mention the events in the text.
4. Which part is the re-orientation of the text?

Activity 5: Possesive Adjectives

A possesive adjective modifies a noun or pronoun to indicate who

owns something. Possessive adjectives is followed by noun. The
possesive adjective consist of my, your, his, her, its, our, and their.

Example:
My family and I visited my grandmother in Yogyakarta last month.
my : possesive adjective
family, grandmother: noun

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Now, answer the following questions by using possesive adjectives.

Choose the correct word in parentheses.
1. (He / His) inventions of electromagnetic rotary devices formed the
foundation of electric motor technology.
2. This is (my / mine) umbrella. (Your / Yours) umbrella is over there.
3. Mary and Bob have (their , theirs) books. In other words, Mary has
(her / hers) and Tom has his.
4. A honeybee has two wings on each side of (its / it’s) body.
5. (Its / It’s) true that a homing pigeon will find (its / it’s) way home even
though it begin (its / it’s) trip in unfamiliar territory.
6. I have a pet. (Its / It’s) name is Gary. (It’s / Its) a turtle.
7. Noah bought a new laptop. (His / He) laptop is so sophisticated.
8. Ana and Kate go to school by bus everyday. (Theirs / Their) little
brother goes to school by train because (his / he) brother is so far away
from the city.
9. I have a cat. (It’s / Its) fur color is black and white. It looks like a cow.
10. (My / I) mother is so tough. (Her / She) is the hero of my life.

FOCUS 4: Galileo Galilei

Activity 1: Pre-Reading Activity

Answer the following questions.
1. Mention some famous scientists you know.
2. Is Galileo Galilei one of the famous scientists?
3. What is the wellknown theory of Galileo Galilei?

Activity 2: While-Reading Activity

While reading the text, state “T” for true statement or “F” for false
statement.
1. Galileo Galilei was the only one of the first modern scientists.
..............
2. Galileo Galilei studied philosophy before studying astronomy.
..............
3. The the sun move around earth and other planets.
..............

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4. Galileo Galilei worked in the same way as other scientists.

..............
5. Galileo did not do experiments.
..............
6. Galileo is famous for his study of how things move around.
..............
7. Galileo thought that heavy things always fell faster than light ones.
..............
8. According to Galileo, weight is important for how things fall.
..............
9. Many religious people did not agree with Galileo.
..............
10. No one could stop Galileo from thinking.
..............

Topic Galileo Galilei

Orientation Galileo Galilei was one of the first modern
scientists. He was born in Pisa, Italy, in 1564.
Record of (1) At first, he studied philosophy, but later he studied
mathematics and astronomy. He was interested in the
Events
way the earth and other planets move around the
sun. He found out several important facts about our
world. He also started a new way of working in
science. Before Galileo, scientists did not do
experiments. They just guessed about how
something happened. Galileo was different. He
did not just make guesses. He did experiments
and watched to see what happened.
(2) Galileo is famous for his study of how things fall. He
was the first person to do experiments about this
problem. Before, people thought that heavy things
always fell faster than light things. He found out that this
was not true. He took a heavy ball and a light ball and he
dropped them both from a high place. They fell at the
same speed. This meant that weight is not important.
This is the law off falling bodies. It is an important law
for understanding our world.

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(3) The life of a scientist was not always easy in the

1500s. For example, Galileo got into trouble because of
his scientific ideas. His ideas were not the same as the
religious ideas at the time. Many religious people did not
agree with him. During his whole life he had to worry
about this. He even went to prison for a while. But no
one could stop him from thinking. He continued to look
for scientific answers to his questions about the world.

Activity 3: Post-reading Activity

From the above text, answer the following questions.
1. What is the text about?
2. Where was Galileo born? And when?
3. Find the words “he” in the text.
4. What do the words “he” in the text refer to?
5. Mention some subjects Galileo studied.
6. What did he find out?
7. What does the word “they” in paragraph 1 refer to?
8. What made Galileo different from others?
9. What was the idea of Galileo about the things fall? What did he do?
10. What is the word ‘this’ meant in the sentence “During his whole life he
had to worry about this.”
11. What made Galileo go in prison?

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Activity 4: Understanding the record of events.

Complete the following diagram to show the record of events.

Galileo Galilei

Record of Event 1
......................................................................

Record of Event 2

......................................................................

Record of Event 3
......................................................................

Activity 5: Grammar Focus

 Use of a specific participant, namely ‘Galileo Galilei’ represented by ‘he’
in the whole text.
 Use of action verbs used in the text such as ‘studied’, ‘move’, ‘found’,
‘started’, ‘do’, ‘did’, and ‘watched’.
 Use of adverbs of time and place in the text such as ‘in Pisa, Italy’, ‘in
1564’, ‘around the sun’, ‘from a high place’, ‘at the same speed’, and ‘in
1500s’.
 Use of past tenses like ‘studied’, ‘found’, ‘started’, ‘did’, ‘watched’, and
‘happened’.
 Use of temporal sequence such as ‘at first’, ‘later’, ‘before’, and ‘during’.

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Activity 6: Exercise on Recount

Complete the text below with the action verbs in the box.
fell stop made went up burned
filled tied travelled built threw out

Topic Ballooning
Orientatio The first kind of air transportation was not a plane. It was
n a balloon. People traveled by
balloon 100 years before there were planes or jet aircraft.
Those early days of ballooning were exciting, but th
ey were also dangerous. Sometimes the balloons ...1...
suddenly. Sometimes they ...2.... However, the danger did
not ...3...the balloonists.
Record of (1) The first real balloon flight was in France in 1783. Two
Frenchmen, the Montgolfier brothers, ...4... a balloon.
Events
They ...5... a very large paper bag with hot air. Hot air is
lighter than cold air, so it goes up. The Montgolfier’s hot
air balloon ...6... 1,000 feet in the sky.
(2) Later that same year, two other
Frenchmen ascended in the basket under a balloon.
They ...7... a fire under the balloon to make the air hot.
This made the balloon stay up in the air for a few hours.
But their balloon was ...8... to the ground. So it could not
go anywhere.
(3) The first free balloon flight was in December, 1783.
The balloon flew for 25 minutes over Paris. It ...9... about
5 ½ miles. Flying a balloon is not like flying a plane. The
balloon has no engine and therefore no power of its own.
The wind directs the balloon. It goes where the wind
blows. The pilot can control only the altitude of the
balloon. He or she can raise and lower the balloon to find
the right wind direction. That is how a good pilot controls
where the balloon goes.
(4) Soon balloonists tried longer flights. A major event in
the history of ballooning was the first long flight over
water. In 1785, an American and a Frenchman flew over

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the English Channel. They left England on a cold, clear

January day. After about an hour, their balloon began to
descend toward the water. They ...10... some equipment
and food to make the balloon lighter. The balloon
continued to fall, so they threw
out almost everything in the basket—
even some of their clothes. Finally, after about three
hours, they landed in France, cold but safe.
Reorientati During the nineteenth century, ballooning became a
on popular sport. There were balloon races in Europe.
Balloons were also used by scientists to study the air and
by armies in wartime. After the airplane was invented,
people lost interest in balloons. Planes were much faster
and easier to control. But some people today still like to
go up in balloons. High up in the balloon basket, they find
quiet. They have a wonderful view of the world below.

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LESSON SUMMARY

1. Recount is a text functions for entertaining and informing

something to the readers.
2. Generic structure of recount text
a. Orientation

It introduces readers the characters, settings, and main events

b. Events

It tells the reader about a series of event in chronological

order.
c. Re-orientation

(optional structure)
3. The language features
a. Using the simple past tense, past continuous tense, past perfect
tense, and past perfect continuous tense.
b. Using temporal sequence, e.g. On Saturday. On Monday, On
Sunday.
c. Using sequence markers: e.g. first, second, third, … last,
then,.. finally.
d. Focus on specific participant, e.g. I (the writer)
e. Using the conjunctions, such as: then, before, after, etc.
f. Using action verb, e.g. went, stayed

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