Kita pasti pernah mendengar tentang teks descriptive dalam kehidupan dehari-hari. Jika kita baru mengetahui tentang suatu hal, pasti kita akan menjelaskan sesuatu tersebut secara jelas dan detail. Penjelasan yang tidak akan membuat orang bingung. Hal yang dijelaskan bisa tentang orang, tumbuhan, binatang, benda, bumi, planet, dan sebagainya. Penjelasan tersebut sering kita kenal dengan descriptive text. Jadi, descriptive text adalah paragraf yang menjelaskan/ menerangkan tentang sesuatu hal secara jelas.
Decriptive text memiliki beberapa susunan umum (generic structure), yaitu :
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Topic sentence : inti cerita di dalam teks
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Supporting sentence : kalimat-kalimat pendukung yang akan melengkapi inti cerita
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Concluding sentence : kesimpulan dari cerita
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Logical development : pengembanagn cerita secara logis/ masuk akal
Ada beberapa bentuk bahasa (language forms) dalam descriptive text, yaitu :
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Menggunakan linking verb atau verb of sense, seperti look, smell, taste, see, seem
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Menggunakan three parameter of sense : visual, auditory, and smell
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Menggunakan spatial order di depan kata kerja (verb) atau subject
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Menggunakan multiple tenses berdasarkan waktu : past, present, and future
Contoh Descriptive Text :
Supai Village
The trail to Supai village is hot and dusty. You can hike the trail or you can hire a guide to take you on horseback. A long the trail you see only rock, sand, and an occasional lizard. It is very dry for this is desert country. There is no water on the trail, nor is there any shade. As you enter the village, you pass by several small homes. It is a quiet place. In the street , dogs sleep and in their doorway villagers stand and silently watch you, a stranger, pass by. They are not smiling, yet they don’t seem unfriendly. In the center of the village is a small hotel, a restaurant, a general store, and a post office. At the opposite, end of the village, the trail leads to a cliff overlooking the canyon below. All of those sceneries indicate that this village is waterless.
