Anecdote Text

 Definition
Anecdote is a text which retells funny and unusual incidents in fact or imagination. Its
purpose is to entertain the readers, OR A type of spoken or written text that deals with
past incidents. According to Wikipedia Anecdotes differ from jokes because their
primary purpose is not simply to provoke laughter but to reveal a truth more general than
the brief tale itself.

 Purpose:
To tell the past events in order to amuse the readers or listeners by telling the unusual and
/or amusing incidents.

 Generic Structure:
1. Abstract: Signals the retelling of an unique or unusual insident that can attract
attention.
2. Orientation: Introduction of the characters, the time, the place setting of the story
being told or sets the scene
3. Crisis: Provides details of an unique or unusual insident
4. Incident: Reaction to the crisis or this part is the funniest and most tickling.
5. Coda (Optional): A reflection or an evaluation of an unique or unusual insident, it
usually to invite more laughter from readers.

 Language Features:
1. Using exclamation words (kalimat seru) : It’s awful! what a bad day! a very strange
incident! that is great or “how big!”.
2. Using imperative (kalimat perintah): Listen, let’s read this story.
3. Using rhetoric question: Do you know what? It’s very shameful, isn’t it? , what do you
like to do when you make the wrong thing?.
4. Using action verbs: go, write, stand, speak, run so on.
5. Using conjunction of time: then, afterward, before, after, ever since, while, until,
during, at that time, firstly, finally, and so on.
6. Using simple past tense (Simple Past, Past Continous, or Past Perfect tense.)

 Types of Anecdotes
Anecdotes can be presented in an endless number of forms. Below are several typical
types of anecdotes.

1. Humorous
An anecdote that adds humor to the topic at hand. For example, two friends are arguing
about driving directions. The driver tells the passenger to turn off the GPS, insisting that
he knows the way. The passenger replies, “oh, like the time we turned it off and ended up
out in the middle of that cow farm?!” We then see a flashback of their car surrounded by
loudly mooing cows.

2. Reminiscent
 A story that remembers something general about the past or a specific event, expressed in
ways such as “that reminds me of…”, “when I used to…”, “I remember when…”, and so
on. For example, Son asks his father to buy meatballs at the stall, and the father says, “I
remember when I was a child, the price of a bowl of the meatball was only Rp. 25”.

3. Philosophical
An anecdote is revealed to make others think more deeply about the topic being
discussed. For example, a group of college students are discussing the morality of lying;
most argue that lying should not be. One student offered an anecdote to another: "what
about independence youths who lie to their elders if Japan has lost and immediately
liberated Indonesia, you know, Is there any risk if they don't tell the lie?" The students
then reflect on the validity of their previous argument.

4. Inspirational
Anecdotes are told to evoke hope or other positive emotions. For example, a doctor who
spoke to a group of war amputees told them of a soldier who came without arms and
without hope—but left the hospital holding his newborn baby in his prosthetic arm.

5. Cautionary
Stories that warn others of the dangers or negative consequences surrounding the topic
being discussed. For example, a speaker is giving a talk to youth about the dangers of
drug use. During his presentation, he reminded them of the famous straight-A student
who died of a heroin overdose several years earlier; warn them that it can happen to
anyone.

Example :

 Story 1 Fisherman

Guess what happened when there was fisherman who threw a big fish back into the water
and keep only that small one? It is unusual incident, isn’t?

One morning, a man was crossing a narrow bridge. When he saw a fisherman under him on
the shady bank of the deep smooth river, he stopped to watch him quietly.

He saw that the fisherman took off the hook and caught a big fish. But he threw it back to
water. Then he put his hook and line in again. After a minute he caught rather big fish.
Again, he threw it back into the river. Then the third time, he caught a small fish. He put it
into his basket and started to get ready to go. The man on the bridge was very surprised, so
he spoke to the fisherman. He asked why did he threw those beautiful big fishes back into
the water and just kept only the small one.

The fisherman looked up and answered, “I only have a small frying pan.”

Poor fisherman!
  Story 2 Overconfident

One day, I was on a crowded bus. I saw a beautiful girl standing up because the seats were
full. Suddenly a young boy who sat near the girl got up. Before he said anything, the girl
pushed him back into his seat. The girl said, “You don’t necessarily need to do that. I prefer
to stand.”

The young boy got up again and the girl did the same thing and said the same words.

The next time, the boy stood up and shouted, “I want to get off. I have passed my stop.”

The overconfident girl was so ashamed. Her face turned red and looked down for the rest of
her trip.

 Story 3

One day, I remember learning how to swim. I took lessons at the community pool in the
town where I grew up. One of the lifeguards, Ms. Jen, really helped me get comfortable with
holding my breath. She'd play this bobbing game with us that had a fun song to go along
with it. Whenever I get in a pool, I still sing that song in my head.

 The Differences between Spoof Text and Anecdote Text

The similarity :
1. They belongs to the narrative text
2. They use past tense
3. The purpose is to amuse the readers
4. They also use the same action verbs,

The differences :

1. Their strcture is defferent.

2. The text is different, Anecdote have many types and tells the unusual story but Spoof
have twist and tells about humorous story.

When I child, I went to dentist. At that time I’m not scared to go there. But, my brother always
scared when we go there. Time passes quickly, I was senior high school. One day, I got a
problem with my teeth. So that, I went to dentist with my mom. When we arrived there, suddenly
I felt scare and my heart beat so fast. And now, I know what my brother feel when I was child.
And I was trick by mom.