Narrative Paragraph: Pengertian dan Contoh

Pengertian Narrative Paragraph

Narrative paragraph adalah paragraf yang mengungkapkan suatu cerita. Paragraf tersebut pada dasarnya berisi serangkaian kejadian yang biasanya dengan time sequence (urutan waktu) serta informasi lain seperti setting (keadaan atau tempat) kejadian berlangsung dan siapa yang terlibat.

Penulis perlu memikirkan topik yang menurutnya sendiri menarik untuk menciptakan narrative paragraph yang menarik perhatian pembaca. Topik tersebut biasanya bermuatan emosi yang mendalam, misalnya tentang pengalaman yang menakutkan, menyedihkan, atau menggairahkan.

Struktur Narrative Paragraph

Ketika menulis narrative paragraph, sangat penting untuk menyatakan poin utama dari paragraf tersebut, karena sekedar menguraikan daftar kejadian akan membuat pembaca jenuh. Oleh karena itu, topic sentence perlu dipastikan memiliki controlling idea yang di dalamnya. Controlling idea tersebut hendaknya penuh arti dan menarik.

Contoh Topic Sentence

No Topic Sentence
1 When I was a little girl, I was afraid of the dark.
(Ketika saya masih gadis kecil, saya takut gelap.)

Keterangan:

  • topic: my childhood
  • controlling idea: afraid of the dark
2 My roommate is a very cold and quiet person.
(Teman sekamar saya orang yang sangat dingin dan pendiam.)

Keterangan:

  • topic: my roommate
  • controlling idea: very cold and quiet person

Suatu narrative paragraph seharusnya mengandung rincian agar pembaca mengerti apa yang sedang terjadi. Penulis dapat menggunakan sensory details 5W + 1H (who, what, where, when, why, how) untuk membuat rincian tersebut.

Seringkali jenis paragraf Bahasa Inggris ini menggunakan transitional words untuk menyatakan waktu atau urutan kejadiannya. Berikut beberapa diantaranya.

  • after
  • afterwards
  • after that
  • before
  • during
  • earlier
  • eventually
  • first, second
  • in the beginning
  • in the end
  • in the meantime
  • last
  • later
  • meanwhile
  • next
  • now
  • once
  • soon, sooner
  • then
  • today
  • until
  • when

Suatu narrative paragraph dapat diakhiri dengan concluding sentence yang menyatakan kembali topic sentence dengan kata-kata yang berbeda, atau berupa kata-kata yang membawa ke paragraf berikutnya jika ada.

Tipe Narrative Paragraph

  1. Menggunakan First-Person Narration

Pada first-person narration (autobiography), penulis menceritakan pengalamannya melalui sudut pandangnya dan dia terlibat secara langsung di dalam cerita tersebut. Pronoun (kata ganti) yang digunakan pada tipe ini adalah first-person pronoun I (singular) atau we (plural).

Contoh Narrative Paragraph

      I will never forget the first day I met her. She gave me a cheerfull smile and offered an enthusiastic hand to shake. As soon as I pulled my hand back, she invited me to her room, which is very clean and stocked with some snacks, to chill and have a coffee. We hit it off and had a great time. Now we are best friends.

Artinya:

Saya tidak akan pernah melupakan hari pertama saya bertemu dengannya. Dia memberi senyuman ceria dan menawarkan tangan yang antusias untuk bersalaman. Segera setelah saya menarik tangan saya kembali, dia mengundang saya ke kamarnya yang sangat bersih dan diisi dengan makanan ringan, untuk bersantai dan minum kopi. Kami dengan cepat menjadi akrab dan menghabiskan waktu yang menyenangkan. Sekarang kami bersahabat.

  1. Menggunakan Third-Person Narration

Cerita penulis tidak mengarah pada pengalaman pribadinya pada tipe third-person narration, melainkan mengarah kepada apa yang terjadi pada orang lain. Tipe ini menggunakan third-person pronoun she, he, it (singular) atau they (plural). Penulis disini bertindak sebagai observer atau storyteller, tidak terlibat langsung dengan kejadian.

Contoh Narrative Paragraph

      Diana’s graduation day is one of the best days of her life. It was the day she completed her degree after 3 years and half hard working. Her family and close friends were there with flowers and cards. She felt nothing but happiness and gratitude that day.

Artinya:

Hari kelulusan Diana adalah satu dari hari terbaik di dalam hidupnya. Itu hari dimana dia menyelesaikan pendidikannya setelah tiga setengah tahun bekerja keras. Keluarga dan teman dekatnya di sana dengan bunga dan kartu ucapan. Dia tidak merasakan apapun kecuali kebahagian dan rasa syukur pada hari itu.

Contoh Narrative Paragraph

Contoh 1:

         This past weekend I had the time of my life. First, Friday night, I had my best friend over and we made a delicious, mouth-watering pizza. After we ate, we had a friendly video game competition. On Saturday, my dad took us out on the boat. The weather was perfect and the water was warm. It was a great day to go for a swim. Later that night, we went to the movies. We saw an action packed thriller and ate a lot of popcorn. Finally, on Sunday, we rode our bikes all over town. By the end of the day, my legs were very tired. I only hope that next weekend can be as fun as this one.

http://www.time4writing.com/uncategorized/narrative-paragraphs/

Narrative paragraph di atas memiliki topic sentence di kalimat pertamanya, This past weekend I had the time of my life dengan supporting sentence berupa pengalaman penulis selama akhir pekan. Beberapa transition seperti: first, after, later, dan finally digunakan untuk menunjukkan urutan kejadian di dalam cerita.

Contoh 2:

         Jerry was the kind of guy you love to hate. He was always in a good mood and always had something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, ‘If I were any better, I would be twins!’ He was a unique manager because he had several waiters who had followed him around from restaurant to restaurant. The reason the waiters followed Jerry was because of his attitude. He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.

http://examples.yourdictionary.com/narrative-essay-examples.html

Narrative paragraph di atas menggunakan third-person narration dengan topic sentence Jerry was the kind of guy you love to hate.

Contoh 3:

         The lady at the next table to the slob could take it no longer. Secretly I hoped she would do something to stop the obscene slurping coming from his fat lips. I watched her rise majestically from her seat; serious intent, like a soldier on a mission, furrowed her white brow. “Sir”, she enunciated clearly to the huge slurping hulk. There was a grunt in return from the grazer, but she had his attention. “Sir, you are inhaling your soup in such a manner as to distract your fellow diners.” All activity stopped in the restaurant as we waited for his reply. Astonishment puckered his dimpled jowls to be replaced by a red infusion, which spread from the greyish collar of his neck, slowly gliding to the stark blinking eyes. “Listen, lady,” the voice was thick guttural, “who do you think ya are, the Queen of bloody Sheba?”

https://bowvalleycollege.ca/Documents/Learning Resource Services/Library Learning Commons/E-Resources/Study guides/writing para_narr.pdf

Contoh di atas merupakan narrative paragraph yang berisi percakapan untuk membuat cerita menjadi lebih hidup bagi pembacanya. Percakapan di dalam narrative paragraph biasanya tidak ditulis dengan kalimat lengkap agar terkesan alami seperti halnya orang-orang berbicara di kehidupan nyata.


References:

  1. Narrative Paragraphs or Essays. http://web.clark.edu/martpe/narrative%20parag.htm. Accessed on April 12, 2017.
  2. narrative (composition). thoughtco.com. Accessed on April 12, 2017.
  3. The Narrative Paragraph. bowvalleycollege.ca. Accessed on April 12, 2017.
  4. Writing a Narrative Paragraph. lbcc.edu. Accessed on April 13, 2017.
  5. Narrative Paragraphs. learnamericanenglishonline.com. Accessed on April 14, 2017.

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