CHARACTERISTICS OF NARRATIVE PARAGRAPH

            Narrative is one kind of genre based upon field study. It has a meaning as the paragraph that retells the story which happen in the past. It gives either a factual or fictional story. Narrative focuses on some specific participants that have several structural features making different from other genres. The basic purpose of narrative is to entertain, to gain and hold the readers or listeners’ interest. The generic structure of narrative paragraph mostly consists of orientation, it is introduction in which the characters, setting and time of the story are established); complication or problem, it is the complication that usually involves the main character;  resolution, there needs to be a resolution of the complication, the complication may be resolved for better or worse/happily or unhappily; and sometimes there is also a coda which summarizes the point of the story and  moral message we may get in the end of the story. In narrative paragraph, it is using simple past tense because the story is in the past event or situation. It is also using processes verbs such as tell, says, narrates; and using temporal conjunction or chronological order. There are many types of narrative. They can be imaginary, factual or a combination of both. They may include fairy stories, mysteries, science fiction, romances, horror stories, adventure stories, fables, myths and legends, historical narratives, ballads, slice of life, or personal experience. The example of narrative paragraph in Indonesia are such as Malin Kundang, Sangkuriang, Timun Emas, The Legend of Rawa Pening, and many others. Then, the other examples are like Cinderella, Snow White, Mousedeer and crocodile, Pinocchio, The Lion and the Mouse, and many more. To sum up, narrative paragraph is a kind of genre that retells the story in the past, and has a fuction to gain people’s interest.