Recount Text

Social Function
A factual text used to tell about something happened in the past to a certain
individual or participants.

Generic Structure
- Orientation (general information about what happened to a certain
individual or participants in the past, 5W1H)
- Series of Event (Event 1, Event 2, Event 3, ……)
- Re-Orientation (Conclusion, Ending)

Language Features
- Use simple past (S + V2)
- Temporal relation of sequences of events
- Use noun phrase
- Use conjunctions (Temporal sequence markers: first, second, third, then. …
finally)
- The use of action clauses
- Focus on individual or specific participants

Ex:
Surgery for Iraqi Bombing Victim

Mohamed Haytham Saleh was not supposed to be in the line of fire. But when U.S. and
Iraqi forces clashed in his hometown of Fallujah in the fall of 2003, a bomb exploded near the
10-year-old, severely injuring his left eye. Mohamed underwent surgery at a local hospital, but
his condition only went worse. Fearing his son would lose sight, Mohamed’s father made a
desperate appeal for help to a Japanese freelance journalist who was working in the region. The
reporter, Shinsuje Hashida, contacted an acquaintance in Japan to see what could be done.
 Hashida’s decision to call on Rotaractor Masaki Hitosugi turned out to be Mohamed’s
ticket to Japan for an operation that would save his vision. Hitosugi, a chair of the Rotaract Club
of Numazu, brought Mohamed’s case to the club and its members immediately organized a drive
for donations to help the boy.
The club was well on its way to collecting enough money to bring Mohamed to Japan for
treatment, when Hashida’s vehicle was attacked some 20 miles south of Baghdad, and he and a
colleague were killed. The incident, which made national headlines in Japan, temporarily cut off
the Rotaract club’s link to Mohamed and his father. Fortunately, Hashida’s wife, Yukiko, knew
of the effort and stepped in to help. Meanwhile the media coverage surrounding Hashida’s death
thrust Mohamed’s story into the national spotlight. Donations began to pour in from around the
country. In all, the Rotaract club and their sponsors collected more than US$ 200,000 to support
Mohamed’s travel, medical expenses, and continued care.
Mohamed and his father arrived at Tokyo’s Narita International airport in
June 2004 to a crowd of reporters and television cameras. The pair spent more than a month in
Japan, and local Rotaractors tended to their needs while Mohamed had surgery and received
follow-up care and eyeglasses. When Mohamed returned to Fallujah in July, his vision was fully
restored.

Rotary-No-Tomo
(The Rotarian, March 2005)