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BIOGRAPHY TEXT

Tujuan Pembelajaran

Setelah mempelajari materi ini, kamu diharapkan memiliki kemampuan berikut.

1. Memahami teks biografi tokoh terkenal dan fungsi sosial teks biografi.
2. Menjawab pertanyaan spesifik dari teks biografi tokoh terkenal.
3. Memahami struktur dan ciri kebahasaan teks biografi.
4. Memahami perbedaan fungsi kalimat simple past tense, present perfect tense, dan past
perfect tense dalam teks biografi.
5. Menyusun kerangka teks biografi sederhana.

A. Biography Text
Apakah kalian punya tokoh idola? Siapa?
Kenapa kalian mengidolakan tokoh tersebut?
Apa saja yang kalian ketahui tentang tokoh yang kalian idolakan tersebut?

Perhatikanlah dialog yang menceritakan tentang tokoh terkenal atau idola seseorang di
bawah ini.

Situation: Duta and Irwan are talking about their writing assignment.

Duta : “Have you done your writing assignment, Irwan?”

Irwan : “Of course, I have.”
Duta : “Which public figure are you presenting in front of the class this Wednesday?”
Irwan : ”I am writing about Iwan Fals.”
Duta : “Nice! Is he your favorite singer?”
Irwan : “Yes. My dad and I always listen to his songs when we are in the car.”
Duta : “Really? What is special about him compared to other singers? To be honest, I
have never listened to any of his songs. In fact, I don’t know a lot about him.”
Irwan : “He is one of the most prominent singers in Indonesia whose songs talk a lot
about humanism, society, and critics to the government. I like his song lyrics.
Some people might think that his songs are too controversial, though, but I
personally like them all.”
Duta : “He does sound like a good singer. I am so looking forward to hearing about your
presentation tomorrow then. I want to know more about Iwan Fals.”
Irwan : “Here, I will show you my essay.”

Vocabulary Corner

Assignment : homework
Prominent : important
Humanism : related to human in society
Looking forward to : cannot wait
Controversial : debatable/polemical

Setelah membaca dialog di atas, tentukanlah apakah pernyataan di bawah ini Benar
(True) atau Salah (False).
1. Duta’s favorite singer is Iwan Fals.
2. Duta and Irwan will present an essay about their favorite public figure in front of the
class on Tuesday.
3. Irwan’s father likes Iwan Fals, too.
4. Duta will show his essay to Irwan.
5. Duta is interested to know more about Iwan Fals.
6. Iwan Fals writes songs about people, and critics to the government.

Dari dialog di atas, terdapat beberapa kosakata baru. Untuk lebih memahami makna
kata-kata tersebut, isilah titik-titik di bawah ini dengan menggunakan kata yang tepat.
1. Opera house is the most _______ building in Sydney. Everyone who travels to Sydney
has to visit this building.

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2. I will be busy this whole week because I have so many _______ from school.
3. The writer is banned by the government due to his _________ book that criticizes
the government’s policies.
4. The professor believes in ________ and that is what he teaches in all his classes.
5. Thank you for your e-mail. I am so _________ to our meeting next week.

Nah, sekarang perhatikanlah kelanjutan dialog antara Duta dan Irwan di atas!
Irwan : “Here, I will show you my essay.”
Duta : “Sure, I want to read it if that’s okay. I haven’t done my essay yet. I don’t know
how to start.”
Irwan : “I will show you some part of my writing, which is about how Iwan Fals first
started his singing career.”

Iwan was born Virgiawan Listanto in Jakarta, on 3 September 1961 to Harsoyo, a soldier,
and Lies Suudijah. He studied at SMP 5 Bandung and SMAK BPK Bandung. He continued
his studies at Sekolah Tinggi Publisistik and then Jakarta Arts Institute. At the age of
thirteen, he appeared as a street musician in wedding ceremonies and other social
events.

Iwan Fals’ career breakthrough was when he recorded his first solo album, Sarjana Muda.
This album has shown Iwan Fals' signature country music style, with the protest song
"Guru Oemar Bakrie", which talks of how a teacher is poorly paid but still responsible
for educating future well-paid and successful people. 'Guru Oemar Bakrie' has become
very well-known and popular in Indonesia, and has helped established Iwan's name.

In April 1984, Iwan was arrested and questioned for two weeks after performing the
songs 'Demokrasi Nasi' and Mbak Tini, both songs had never been recorded on album.
Iwan Fals had continued to release albums throughout the 1980s. By 1994, Iwan had
released approximately two new albums per year for 15 years.

In 2002, Iwan Fals released his first new solo album since 1994, Suara Hati. In 2005,
he released Iwan Fals in Love, essentially a compilation of existing Iwan Fals romantic
recordings, but with some new songs. Since then, he has written many love-related
songs, many of those are still popular today.
Iwan Fals had his first son, Galang Rambu Anarki, who was born in 1982, but died at
his 15 of age. Iwan then had his daughter, Anissa Cikal Rambu Basae, who was born in
1985. Iwan and Rosanna, his wife, live in Cibubur, West Java now.
Adapted from: wikipedia.org

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 Nah, setelah membaca biografi singkat Iwan Fals, lengkapilah kotak biodata Iwan
Fals di bawah ini berdasarkan informasi dari teks tersebut.

PERSONAL INFORMATION

Name : ____________________________________________

Date and Place of Birth : ____________________________________________

Address : ____________________________________________

Education Background : ____________________________________________

Singing Career Summary : ____________________________________________

1980's – 1994 : ____________________________________________

2002 : ____________________________________________

2005 : ____________________________________________
Wife’s Name : ____________________________________________

Children’s Names : ____________________________________________

1. Function of Biography Texts

Teks biografi merupakan bagian dari teks recount. Fungsinya adalah untuk menceritakan
riwayat hidup seseorang dimulai dari kelahiran hingga kematiannya, atau dapat juga
kisah sebagian hidupnya. Biografi dapat ditulis oleh orang lain, ataupun dituliskan sendiri.
Riwayat hidup yang dituliskan oleh diri sendiri disebut autobiografi. Biografi biasanya
dibuat untuk mengenang hidup tokoh-tokoh terkenal, misalnya B.J. Habibie, Albert
Einstein, Soekarno, atau tokoh terkenal lainnya.

2. Language Features in Biography Texts

Sebagai bagian dari teks recount, teks biografi memiliki ciri kebahasaan sebagai berikut.
a. Menggunakan pronoun untuk menyebutkan orang yang diceritakan riwayat hidupnya.
b. Menggunakan action verb, yaitu kata kerja yang menjelaskan aktivitas fisik, seperti
studied, released, arrested, wrote, dan sebagainya.

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 c. Menggunakan simple past tense untuk menjelaskan kejadian yang telah terjadi di
masa lampau.
d. Menggunakan conjunction (kata hubung) atau time connectives (penanda waktu).
e. Menggunakan adverb of time (kata keterangan waktu) dan adverb of place (kata
keterangan tempat.

Selain menggunakan pola kalimat simple past tense, di dalam teks biografi juga sering
terdapat kalimat berpola present perfect dan past perfect tense. Untuk memahami
perbedaan konsep tiap kalimat, perhatikanlah uraian di bawah ini.

B. Simple Past vs. Present Perfect vs. Past Perfect Tense

Dari teks biografi Iwan Fals di atas, perhatikanlah kalimat berikut ini.

SIMPLE PAST TENSE

- Iwan was born Virgiawan Listanto in Jakarta, on 3 September 1961 to Harsoyo, a
soldier, and Lies Suudijah.
- He studied at SMP 5 Bandung and SMAK BPK Bandung.
- He continued his studies at Sekolah Tinggi Publisistik and then Jakarta Arts
Institute.
- At the age of thirteen, he appeared as a street musician in wedding ceremonies
and other social events.

Kalimat di atas merupakan kalimat simple past tense yang berfungsi untuk menyatakan
kejadian yang dimulai di masa lampau dan berakhir pula di masa lampau. Kalian tentu
masih ingat tentang konsep kalimat simple past tense, bukan?

- This album has shown Iwan Fals' signature country music style, with the protest
song "Guru Oemar Bakrie", which talks of how a teacher is poorly paid but still
responsible for educating future well-paid and successful people.
- 'Guru Oemar Bakrie' has become very well-known and popular in Indonesia, and
has helped established Iwan's name.
Kalimat di atas merupakan kalimat present perfect tense, yang ditandai dengan
penggunaan have/has + Verb3, misalnya has shown, has become, dan has helped pada
contoh kalimat di atas.

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 PAST PERFECT TENSE
- Iwan Fals had continued to release albums throughout the 1980s.
- By 1994, Iwan had released approximately two new albums per year for 15
years.

Kalimat di atas merupakan kalimat past perfect tense, yang ditandai dengan penggunaan
had + Verb3, misalnya had continued dan had released pada contoh kalimat di atas.

Exercise
Tentukanlah pola kalimat di bawah ini!
1. Mahatma Gandhi, or Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, was born at Porbandar in
Gujarat, on October 2, 1869. His father was the Dewan of the Porbandar State. He had
been an honest person since he was a teenager. He went to England to be a barrister.
He did not do well as a lawyer.
2. Then, he went to South Africa and began a movement against the British rulers. In
India too he led the freedom movement and at last won independence in 1947.
3. Gandhi believed in non-violence and love. He lived a saintly life and suffered a lot to
see truth triumph. His heart bled for the poor and the oppressed.
4. After spending 21 years in South Africa, Gandhi returned to India in 1915. With the
help of his mentor, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, he secured his place as the president
of Indian National Congress. In 1942, he launched the ‘Quit India Movement’ to
drive the British out of the country and gave the famous slogan of ‘do or die’ to his
countrymen.
5. This great son of India was shot dead on January 30, 1948. But he will live forever in
our heart for what he has done for India.
Taken from: importantindia.com