0

Understanding Anecdote Text

Group Assignment of Academic Writing

Lecturer : Drs. A. Supeno, M.Hum.
Class : 1 D
Group : VIII
Members : 1. Dedi Kurnia NPM : 20137470164
2. Endang Suprihatin NPM : 20137420240
3. Merianna Siallagan NPM : 20137470133





POSTGRADUATE PROGRAM
INDRAPRASTRA PGRI UNIVERSITY
2013

1

Chapter 1
Some Aspects of Anecdote Text

1.1 The Etimology of the Term Anecdote
The word anecdote, phonetically pronounced an.ik.doht, means a short verbal
accounting of a funny, amusing, interesting event or incident. The story is usually a
reminiscence from the teller's life but at best is a related story of fact, as opposed to a
contrived work of fiction. The origin of the word anecdote comes from the Greek
Byzantine period, A.D. 527 to 565 during the reign of emperor Justinian. In his court,
Justinian had a historian named Procopius who was a gifted writer who wrote many witty,
amusing and somewhat bawdy accounts of court life. Never intending for this stories to
become public he entitled his writings as Anecdota which was Greek for unpublished
and kept secret. After his secret writings did indeed become public and published, the term
anecdote became commonly used for similar accounts. (http://literary-devices.com).

1.2 The Definition and characteristics
There are various definitions on the term anecdote with certain distinctions.
However, there are general similarities on the whole. Wikipedia defines anecdote as a short
and amusing or interesting account, which may depict a real incident or person. Anecdotes
can be as brief as the setting and provocation of a bon mot (a clever saying; a witticism).
An anecdote is always presented as based in a real incident involving actual persons,
whether famous or not, usually in an identifiable place. However, over time, modification
in reuse may convert a particular anecdote to a fictional piece, one that is retold but is "too
good to be true". (http://en.wikipedia.org).
Similarly, Otong Setiawan Djauharie states that anecdote text is basically similar to
the recount text, text types which contain the reports of incidents, events, occurrence or
experience. But the anecdote text is ended with funny things or play. If it does not have an
element of humor, anecdote text must contain the experiences, events, strange or unique
events (Djauharie. 2011: 345).
Meanwhile, Bas Andeweg and Jaap de Jong see anecdote as a short story about a
certain true or fictitious incident, with a vivid or amusing twist. The incident usually
involves real people, often famous ones, and sometimes the speaker, but fictitious figures
2

also occur. An anecdote may, but does not need to bear a moral, a necessity in both parable
and fable (http://www. tbm. tudelft.nl).

1.2 The Communicative Purpose
Anecdotes are commonly seen as a text whose purpose is sharing with others a
usual or amusing incident and entertaining others. Furthermore, Wikipedia states that
although anecdote texts are sometimes humorous, they are not jokes, because their primary
purpose is not simply to evoke laughter, but to reveal a truth more general than the brief
tale itself, or to delineate a character trait in such a light that it strikes in a flash of insight
to its very essence.

1.3 The Generic Structure and Language Features
According to Otong Setiawan Djauharie anecdote text generally has the structure
and language features as follows:
- Abstract. what cues will be told, in the form of unusual events, strange, or a summary
of what will be presented .
- Orientation. Introduction or opening in the form of the introduction of the characters,
time and place .
- Events. The series of events
- Crisis. The emergence of problems
- Reaction. The action or steps taken to respond to problems
- Coda. Changes in the figures and the lessons to be learned from the story. It is optional.
- Reorientation. Closing. Expressions which indicate that the story is over. It is optional.
The language features of anecdote text are among others:
- Individual Participant, focus on narrative / character specific .
- Exclamation, like " So this " . It is optional
- Rhetorical Questions, such as " And you know what ? " , " It's funny , isnt it ? "
- Time connectives and conjunctions, such as after, before , soon , then , after tha,t etc.
- Action verbs, verbs that indicate events or activities, for example, stayed, climbed,
killed, etc .
- Adverbs and adverbial phrases, to indicate the place, time and manner. For example:
Yesterday, last week, at home, slowly, carefully, etc. (Djauharie. 2011: 345)
3

Chapter 2
Understanding Anecdote Text

2.1 Analyzing Anecdote Text
Recognizing a genre or type of a text is not as easy as it seems. Sometimes the
writers apply standard theory in his or her writings. But at other times the genre of the text
is difficult to recognize due to the individual style and purpose of the writers.
Oversimplifying the the individual aim and goal of a wrtiter would lead to
misunderstanding. Below are some samples of texts along with the analysis.

Text 1

Snake in the Bathroom

Abstract How would you like to find a snake in you bath?

Orientation We had just moved into a new house, which had been
empty for so long that everything was in a terrible mess.
Anna and I decided that we would clean the bath first, so
we set to, and turned on the tap.

Crisis Suddenly to my horror, a snake's head appeared in the
plug hole. Then out slithered the rest of his long thin body.
He twisted and turned on the slippery bottom of the bath,
spitting and hissing at us.

Reaction For an instant I stood there quite paralyzed. Then I yelled
for my husband, who luckily came running and killed the
snake with the handle of a broom. Anna, who was only
three at the time, was quite interested in the whole
business. Indeed I had to pull her out of the way or she'd
probably have lean over the bath to get a better look.

Rhetorical
question
Action
verbs
Connectives/
Conjunctions
Action
verbs
Adverb
4

Coda We found out later that it was a black mamba, a poisonous
kind of snake. It had obviously been fast asleep, curled up
at the bottom of the nice warm water-pipe. It must have
had an awful shock when the cold water came trickling
down! But nothing to the shock I got! Ever since then I've
always put the plug in firmly before running the bath
water

The above text is an ideal example of an anecdote text. The form and content of the
text perfectly match the generic structure and language elements categorized by Djauharie
above. However there are many texts which do not entirely agree to the standard generic
structure of anecdote text. Below are some example taken from a collection of anecdote
texts titled The 30 Best Inspiring Anecdotes of All Times downloaded from www.liraz.com,
which show that the generic structure of anecdote is occasionally applied more freely and
loosely.

Text 2
The Whole World Stinks
Abstract Wise men and philosophers throughout the ages have
disagreed on many things, but many are in unanimous
agreement on one point: "We become what we think
about." Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "A man is what he
thinks about all day long." The Roman emperor Marcus
Aurelius put it this way: "A man's life is what his thoughts
make of it." In the Bible we find: "As a man thinks in his
heart, so is he."

Orientation One Sunday afternoon, a cranky grandfather was visiting
Crisis his family. As he lay down to take a nap, his grandson
decided to have a little fun by putting Limburger cheese on
Reaction Grandfather's mustache. Soon, grandpa awoke with a
snort and charged out of the bedroom saying, "This room
Aderb of
manner
Exclamation
Adv. phrase
Of place
Adv. phrase
Of time
Action
verbs
5

stinks." Through the house he went, finding every room
smelling the same. Desperately he made his way outside
only to find that "the whole world stinks!"

Coda So it is when we fill our minds with negativism. Everything
we experience and everybody we encounter will carry the
scent we hold in our mind.

Text 3
Quick Decisions
Orientation A game warden noticed how a particular fellow named Sam consistently
caught more fish than anyone else, whereas the other guys would only catch
three or four a day. Sam would come in off the lake with a boat full. Stringer
after stringer was always packed with freshly caught trout. The warden,
curious, asked Sam his secret. The successful fisherman invited the game
warden to accompany him and observe. So the next morning the two met at
the dock and took off in Sam's boat. When they got to the middle of the lake,
Sam stopped the boat, and the warden sat back to see how it was done.

Crisis Sam's approach was simple. He took out a stick of dynamite, lit it, and threw
it in the air. The explosion rocked the lake with such a force that dead fish
immediately began to surface. Sam took out a net and started scooping them.

Reaction Well you can imagine the reaction of the game warden. When he recovered
from the shock of it all, he began yelling at Sam. "You can't do this! I'll put
you in jail, buddy! You will be paying every fine there is in the book!"

Crisis Sam, meanwhile, set his net down and took out another stick of dynamite. He
lit it and tossed it in the lap of the game warden with these words, "Are you
going to sit there all day complaining, or are you going to fish?"

6

Reaction The poor warden was left with a fast decision to make. He was yanked, in one
second, from an observer to a participant. A dynamite of a choice had to be
made and be made quickly!

Coda Life is like that. Few days go by without our coming face to face with an
uninvited, unanticipated, yet unavoidable decision. Like a crashing snow
bank, these decisions tumble upon us without warning. Quick. Immediate.
Sudden. No council, no study, no advice. Pow!
Text 4
"I Can Make I t Happen"

Abstract History abounds with tales of experts who were convinced that the ideas,
plans, and projects of others could never be achieved. However,
accomplishment came to those who said, "I can make it happen."

Orientation The Italian sculptor Agostino d'Antonio worked diligently on a large piece of
Crisis marble. Unable to produce his desired masterpiece, he lamented, "I can do
nothing with it." Other sculptors also worked this difficult piece of marble,
Reaction but to no avail. Michelangelo discovered the stone and visualized the
possibilities in it. His "I-can-make-it-happen" attitude resulted in one of the
world's masterpieces - David.

Orientation The experts of Spain concluded that Columbus's plans to discover a new and
shorter route to the West Indies was virtually Impossible.
Crisis Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand ignored the report of the experts.
Reaction "I can make it happen," Columbus persisted. And he did. Everyone knew the
world was flat, but not Columbus. The Nina, the Pinta, the Santa Maria,
along with Columbus and his small band of followers, sailed to "impossible"
new lands and thriving resources.

Orientation Even the great Thomas Alva Edison discouraged his friend, Henry Ford, from
pursuing his fledgling idea of a motorcar.
7

Crisis Convinced of the worthlessness of the idea, Edison invited Ford to come and
Reaction work for him. Ford remained committed and tirelessly pursued his dream.
Although his first attempt resulted in a vehicle without reverse gear, Henry
Ford knew he could make it happen. And, of course, he did.

Crisis "Forget it," the experts advised Madame Curie. They agreed radium was a
Reaction scientifically impossible idea. However, Marie Curie insisted, "I can make it
happen."

Orientation Let's not forget our friends Orville and Wilbur Wright.
Crisis Journalists, friends, armed forces specialists, and even their father laughed at
the idea of an airplane. "What a silly and insane way to spend money. Leave
Reaction flying to the birds," they jeered. "Sorry," the Wright brothers responded. "We
have a dream, and we can make it happen." As a result, a place called Kitty
Hawk, North Carolina, became the setting for the launching of their
"ridiculous" idea.

Coda Finally, as you read these accounts under the magnificent lighting of your
environment, consider the plight of Benjamin Franklin. He was admonished
to stop the foolish experimenting with lighting. What an absurdity and waste
of time! Why, nothing could outdo the fabulous oil lamp. Thank goodness
Franklin knew he could make it happen. You too can make it happen!

From the samples above we may conclude that text 1 applies standard generic
structure of an anecdote, but in Text 2 there are two crisis and reactions. The first crisis and
reaction function to strengthen the the second crisis and reaction. In Text 3 abstract is
followed by repetions of crisis and reaction, giving many examples of incidents which lead
to the title I Can Make I t Happen"

8



http://www.englishdirection.com
Soon after he left college, Dave found one of his uncles who was very rich and had no children of his own died and
left him a lot of money, so he decided to set up his own real estate agency.
Dave found a nice office. He bought some new furniture and moved in. he had only been there for e few hours when
he heard someone coming toward the door of his office.
It must be my first customer Dave thought. He quickly picked up the telephone and pretended to be very busy
answering an important call from someone in New York who wanted to buy a big and expensive house in the
country.
The man knocked at the door while this was going on. He came in and waited politely for Dave to finish his
conversation on the phone. Then the man said to Dave; I am from the telephone company and I was sent here to
connect your telephone
Notes on the Spoofs Generic Structure
Orientation: Dave was a lucky man. He suddenly became a very rich man because of the death of his rich
uncle who had no children. He inherited his uncles money.
Event 1: Being rich, he wanted to set up his estate company
9

Event 2: He had his new office. In his office, he pretended to be a very successful businessman. He acted as had an
important client. He showed by making conversation on the phone.
Twist: The man whom he showed is a telephone technician. He came to Daves office to connect that phone.

Now read an example of anecdote below!

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, isnt?

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 it 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 frying pan

http://literary-devices.com
Story Genres
Introduction
Genres are categories of text determined (described) by common schematic structure and
communicative purpose i.e., how the story progresses, through what formal and/or
functional stages.
Recount
A personal RECOUNT records one or more events experienced by the narrator (as
witness or participant). The events may be ordinary or extraordinary, but the purpose of
the recount is not to communicate the extraordinariness of the events.
(1)Yesterday I went to the zoo. I saw a tiger. Then I saw two monkeys. Then I saw a
camel. Then I came home.
(2)Yesterday I went to the zoo. I saw a tiger. Then I saw two monkeys. Then I saw a man
with a broken leg. Then I came home.
(3)Yesterday I went to the zoo. I saw a tiger. Then I saw two monkeys. Then I saw a man
get his leg broken while trying to climb into the polar bear enclosure.Then I came
home.
Anecodote
An ANECDOTE presents a remarkable event experienced by the narrator (as witness or
participant) and a reaction (usually the narrator's) to the event. In contrast to the recount,
the anecdote's purpose is to convey the extraordinariness of the event, minimally through
the reaction.
10

(4)Yesterday I went to the zoo. I saw a man get his leg broken while trying to climb into
the polar bear enclosure. I was scared for him. [It was really terrible. He was screaming in
pain.] Then I came home.
Notice the difference between what is told in relation to what is expected between (1) and
(4). In (1) the first sentence creates an expectation that is met by the following sentences.
In (4) the reader of the first sentence expects something like (1) to unfold. However
something remarkable is presented instead. (Use of surprise.)
(5)Yesterday I went to the zoo. I saw a man get his leg broken while trying to climb into
the polar bear enclosure. This was certainly not what I came to the zoo to see.
(6)A weird thing happened yesterday when I went to the zoo. I saw a man get his leg
broken while trying to climb into the polar bear enclosure. It was really terrible. He was
screaming, and I had to cover my ears. (It reminded me of the time that ...)
Recount (3) presents the broken leg event as one phenomenon among others witnessed
at the zoo. Anecdotes (4), (5), and (6) present it as an unusual, unexpected, and troubling
phenomenon, in (implicit) contrast to the things the narrator and his audience expect to
see at the zoo (animals, families, feeding time, etc.).
Simple Narrative
This brings us to a third simple story genre the simple narrative.
A (simple) NARRATIVE presents a complication (or instance of storyworld DISRUPTION)
and an act of resolution. (The resolution may be complete, incomplete, or failed?)
Continuing with our previous example:
(7)Yesterday I went to the zoo. I saw a man get his leg broken while trying to climb into
the polar bear enclosure. Something had to be done. I quickly set his leg, gave him
painkillers, and told him not to do anything so stupid again. Then I went to look at the
monkeys.
In (7) the broken-leg event is now represented as a PROBLEM, a disruption of the zoo
visit (the situation) that the narrator must deal with (and does). His reaction is not simply
mental ("Something had to be done") but material ("I quickly set his leg," etc.), and serves
to set things back to how they were at the beginning of the story ("Yesterday I went to the
zoo"). The final sentence ("Then I went to look at the monkeys") conveys that things have
been returned, sufficiently, to how they were in the original situation.
Flexibility within the simple narrative structure, however, allows for some variation in the
degree of resolution. For instance:
(8)Yesterday I went to the zoo. I saw a man get his leg broken while trying to climb into
the polar bear enclosure. Something had to be done. I quickly set his leg, gave him
painkillers, and told him not to do anything so stupid again. Then I went to look at the
monkeys, but the day was just not going to be the same. [Soon I went home.]
(9)Yesterday I went to the zoo. I saw a man get his leg broken while trying to climb into
the polar bear enclosure. Something had to be done. I tired to set his leg, but he
wouldn't stop struggling and screaming. When the police arrived with a medic, I
gave up [playing doctor]. So much for my quiet day at the zoo!
In (8) the return to the original situation (the visit to the zoo) is incomplete, suggesting [in
retrospect] only a partial resolution [physical but not mental].
In (9) the resolution fails. The problem remains a problem by the end, and there is
EXPLICITLY no return to the original situation ("So much for my quiet day at the zoo!").
11

Following Labov and Waletsky, Martin and Rose assign the following schematic structure
to the (simple) narrative genre:

Ken Hyland


Brian PaltridgeGenre, text type, and the
language learning classroom ELT Journal Volume 50/3 July 1996 Oxford
University Press 1996

It is clear from this analysis that more than one genre may share the
same type. That is, the genres of advertisements and police reports may
both share the text type of description. Equally, a single genre, such as
formal letters, may be associated with more than one text type; in this
case, exposition and problem-solution.

Two different perspectives can be offered on the structure of these texts:
one that identifies the texts generic structure based on its genre
category membership (in Bibers (1988) terms), and another that
describes its text structure based on its internal patternings of rhetorical
organization.

Presentations of genre analysis which conflate the notions of
genre and text type, or only present one or the other of these analyses,
may easily conceal some of these components and, thereby, not always
provide students with a complete view of the discourse components of
texts.
Brian Paltridge
One effect of this is that, in a number of instances, the terms genre and text
type seem to have been conflated, with the term genre being used to
include both of these notions.
In a large scale corpus-based study of twenty-three genres and just under
one million words, Biber (1988) draws a distinction between genre and
12

text type which has important implications for the language learning
classroom. For Biber, the term genre categorizes texts on the basis of
external criteria, while text types represent groupings of texts which are
similar in linguistic form, irrespective of genre. Thus, the term genre
describes types of activities such as, for example, prayers, sermons,
songs, and poems, which regularly occur in society (Dudley-Evans
1989: 77), and are considered by the speech community as being of the
same type (Richards et al. 1992: 156). Text types, on the other hand,
represent groupings of texts which are similar in terms of co-occurrence
of linguistic patterns. Biber found that the same genre can differ greatly
in its linguistic characteristics. He also observed that different genres can
be quite similar linguistically. The terms genre and text type thus
represent different, yet complementary, perspectives on texts.

Martin (ibid.: 25)
describes genre as a staged, goal-oriented, purposeful activity in which
speakers engage as members of our culture. Further examination of
Martins work, in which he gives examples of genres such as poems,
narratives, expositions, lectures, seminars, recipes, manuals,
appointment-making, service encounters, and news broadcasts, clearly
shows that his definition takes largely the same perspective on genre as
that of Biber (1988). Swales (1990: 58) definition of genre as a class of
communicative events, the members of which share some set of
communicative purposes which are recognized by the expert members
of the parent discourse community shows that he, too, views the notion
of genre from a similar perspective to that expressed by Biber.



Bas Andeweg & Jaap de Jong in Linguistic lnsights Volume 43 (2006)
Classical authors said little about the use of the anecdote as a
way to start a speech. In the exordium - the usual introduction to a
speech - the speaker was advised to concentrate on achieving three
major goals. In this introduction the speaker was expected to attract
the audience's attention (iudicem attentum parare), evoke sympathy
towards the speaker (benevolum parare), and enable the audience to
understand the rest of the presentation (docilem parare). The order in
which these three goals were to be achieved was not determined. The
technique to make the audience pay attention which the classical
authors thought most important was emphasizing the importance of
the matter for the audience. The advice that was given mainly
concerned court appearances, but could also be used for speeches
during a political meeting or a yearly memorial ceremony. It was only
in a limited, specific kind of speech that the classical authors thought
the detour of using a short story would be worth considering (the
insinuatio). For example, a detour would be recommended for an
audience which was tired from listening to several previous speakers.
Quintilian states: "Again an opportnne display of wit will often restore
their flagging spirits and we may alleviate their boredom by the
introduction of entertaining matter derived from any source that may
be available" (Quintilian 4.1.49.).

How do the 2oth century authors regard the anecdote as an
opening technique? The anecdote, "a short, witty and complete
13

narrative" (Edens 1979: SS), turns out to be the opening technique
most often recommended to draw attention to the speech (67% of the
42 books in our corpus). Many of the authors turn out to find the anecdote a good way to start a
speech and do not consider it a waste of
time. Attention getters like challenging statement (55%), quote (48%),
question (48%), presenting something humorous (45%) and referring
to topical events (45%) are recommended less often. The anecdote can
perform different functions in an introduction:
drawing and focusing attention because "many listeners will relate
to the story" (Edens 1979: 17);
making the audience feel sympathetic towards the subject because
an anecdote will make the listeners identify with the subject
(Perebooin 1989);
making contact: an anecdote will enable good contact between the
speaker and his audience (Van Eijk 1986);
stimulating memory. "[anecdotes] will be remembered better by
the audience, also in connection with the actual subject of the
speech" (Krusche 1986: 112).
Not every story can be used as an anecdote. The experts mention
several conditions for the technique and its use. Anecdotes should:
be relevant. The anecdote should fit the occasion. Janssen et al.
(1989: 258) offer a good example:

Amusing anecdotes many times find their way into wedding receptions, family reunions and
any other gathering of people who know each other well. Teachers and educators often tell
classrooms of pupils anecdotes about famous people. The anecdotes are not always flattering, but
are usually revealing of character and invariably amusing.

REFERENCE

Djuharie, M.Pd., Drs. O. Setiawan. 2011. 1700 bank Soal Bimbingan Pemantapan bahasa
Inggris untuk SMA/MA. Bandung: CV. Yrama Widya.
Sundayana, Wachyu dkk. 2008. English in Context for Grade XI SMA/MA. Bandung: PT.
Grafindo Media Pratama.

Sources from Websites:
Andeweg , Bas & Jaap de Jong. The Map and the Landscape. ( Linguistic lnsights Volume
43, 2006). Downloaded on December, 21. 2013. http://www. tbm.
tudelft.nl/fileadmin/Faculteit/TBM
14

Anonym. Anecdote. Downloaded on November 21. 2013. http://literary-devices.com/
content/ anecdote
Anonym. Anecdote. Downloaded on November 26. 2013. http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Anecdote
Anonym. English Text Types. Downloaded on December, 21. 2013. http://www.english-
direction.com/2008/03/text-types-complete-overview.html
Anonym. The 30 Best Inspiring Anecdotes of All Times. (Downloaded on December 21.
2014). http://www.liraz.com/Anecdote.htm
Chandler, Daniel. An Introduction to Genre Theory. Downloaded on December, 20.
http://www.aber.ac.uk/~mcswww/Documents/intgenre/intgenre.html
Derrida, Jaques. The Law of Genre. http://emc.english.ucsb.edu/emc-courses/genre-
colloquium-2013-2014/articles/Derrida.Law.of.Genre.pdf
Hyland, Ken. Genre: Language, Context, and Literacy. Downloaded on January, 6. 2013.
http://lovewonder.sg1006.myweb.hinet.net/Integrated%20Course/GENRE--
LANGUAGE,%20CONTEXT,%20AND%20LITERACY.pdf
Lee, David YW. Genres, Registers, Text Types, Domains, and Styles: Clarifying and
Navigating A Path through the BNC Jungle. (ELT Journal Volume 50/3 July
1996 Oxford University Press 1996). Downloaded on December, 21. 2013.
http://llt.msu.edu/vol5num3/lee/
Trosborg, Anna.Text Typology: Register, Genre and Text Type. Downloaded on December,
21. 2013. http://www.postgradolinguistica.ucv.cl/dev/documentos/49,720, text%
20typology.pdf