Explanation Text

A| PENGERTIAN

Explanation is a text which tells processes relating to forming of natural, social, scientific and cultural phenomena. Explanation adalah sebuah teks yang berisi tentang proses-proses yang berhubungan dengan fenomena-fenomena alam, sosial, ilmu pengetahuan, budaya dan lainnya.

Tujuan komunikatif dari explanation text adalah untuk menerangkan proses-proses yang terjadi dalam pembentukan sesuatu yang terkait dengan fenomena-fenomena alam, sosial, ilmu pengetahuan, budaya, dan lainnya yang bertujuan menjelaskan bagaimana atau mengapa hal tersebut bisa terjadi.

B| STRUKTUR

Paragraf Teks Explanation memiliki susunan sebagai berikut:

1| General statement

tentang penjelasan umum tentang fenomena yang akan dibahas, bisa berupa pengenalan fenomena tersebut atau penjelasannya.

2| Squenced of explanation

berisi tentang penjelasan proses mengapa fenomena tersebut bisa terjadi atau tercipta. A squenced of explanation berupa jawaban dari pertanyaan ‘why’ dan ‘how’ penulis ketika membuat sebuah Explanation text. Dalam squenced of explanation bisa terdiri lebih dari satu paragrap.

3|Closing

Sebenarnya closing itu tidak tercantum dalam generic structure dari Explanation text, tetapi kebanyakan orang beranggapan bahwa paragrap terakhir dari sebuah Explanation text adalah closing, padahal itu merupakan bagian dari squenced of explantaion yang berisi tentang langkah akhir yang dijelaskan pada bagian squenced of explanation.

C| CIRI-CIRI

1| Sebuah Explanation text biasanya berasal dari pertanyaan penulis terkait ‘why’ dan ‘how’ terhadap suatu fenomena yang ada.

2| Karena yang diangkat adalah fenomena maka fokus materinya bukan pada bendanya atau orangnya, melainkan pada kejadian atau peristiwa yang terjadi pada orang atau benda tersebut.

3| Menggunakan Simple Present tense.

D| CONTOH DAN PENJELASAN

How Earthquakes Happen

Earthquake is one of the most destroying natural disasters. Unluckily it often happens in several regions. Recently a horrible earthquake has shaken West Sumatra. It has brought great damages. Why did it occur? Do you know how an earthquake happens?

Earthquakes are usually caused when rock underground suddenly breaks along a fault. This sudden release of energy causes the seismic waves. It makes the ground shake. When two blocks of rock or two plates are rubbing against each other, they stick a little. They don’t just slide smoothly. The rocks are still pushing against each other, but not moving. After a while, the rocks break because of all the pressure that’s built up. When the rocks break, the earthquake occurs.

During the earthquake and afterward, the plates or blocks of rock start moving, and they continue to move until they get stuck again. The spot underground where the rock breaks is called the focus of the earthquake. The place right above the focus is called the epicenter of the earthquake.

Penjelasan:

1| Paragraf Pertama adalah tentang General Statement (pernyataan umum). Melihat dari teks tersebut tentu GSnya adalah an Earthquake happening.

2| Paragraf kedua: Squenced of explanation adalah penjelasan tentang bagaimana Earthquake bisa terjadi. Gempa bumi bisa terjadi pada dasarnya adalah karena “rock underground suddenly breaks along a fault”. Penjelasan lainnya adalah tentang kronologi how rock underground breaks along a fault.

3| Paragraf ketiga: closing yang menerangkan bahwa pergeseran lempeng bumi terus terjadi dan menerangkan bahwa titik di bawah bumi dimana batu mengalami patahan (where the rock breaks) disebut sebagai Focus of the eartquake dan tempat di atas titik tersebut disebut epicenter of earthquake.

E| LATIHAN

1| Listen and repeat this Vocabulary

www.sciencemag.org

disturbance	eruptions	landslides	wave
explosions	spontaneous	meteorites	extraterrestrial
displaces	tsunami	earthquakes	gravity

2| Listen to the following Short Speech about the causes of tsunamis, and then fill in the blank spaces.

The word a) ___________ has now become familiar even to children over a short span of time, due to its b) ___________. But what does tsunami mean and how is it caused

by c) ___________.

A tsunami is a d) ___________ train, or series of waves, generated in a body of water by a spontaneous disturbance that vertically e) ___________. the water column.

Tsunamis can be caused by earthquakes, volcanic f) ___________, g) ___________, h) ___________, and even the impact of i) ___________ materials, such as j) ___________.

3| Listen to a dialogue between a scientist and a reporter about the term Tsunami. Identify the correct answers to complete the following statements.

a| Tsunami is ___ and it means "harbour waves”.

A. Japanese word

B. an English word

b| ___ tsunamis have been referred to as "tidal waves" or "seismic sea waves”.

A. Recently

B. In the past

c| The terms ___ are misleading.

A. "tidal waves or seismic sea waves”

B. “tsunamis" and "coastlines"

d| Tsunami ___ are to the tides.

A. closely related

B. not related

e| Tides result from the ___ of the moon, sun and planets

A. gravitational influences

B. non-seismic events

f | The term" "seismic" is related to ___

A. a landslide or meteorite impact

B. an earthquake-related generation mechanism

g| ___ can also cause a tsunami.

A. A landslide or meteorite impact

B. Some unrelated tides

4| Listen to a short speech, and the recorder the jumbled sentences to form a coherent paragraph.

a. The earthquake can trigger tsunamis if it causes significant vertical deformation of the seafloor, causing great t waves that build up to higher and higher heights as they travel inland.

b. Tsunamis are generally generated by underwater earthquakes.

c. Once a large earthquake that can potentially generate tsunamis has occurred, tsunami arrival times and wave heights can be forecast using computer modelling.

mi arrival times and

d. We cannot predict when such earthquakes occur. Thus, we have no idea when a tsunami will happen before the earthquake does.

e. However, landslides, volcanic, eruptions, and meteorite impacts can also cause tsunamis.

5| Work in a group of four. Listen to the news about natural disaster. Write on your book what the reporter is talking about.

a| ____________

b| ____________

c| ____________

d| ____________

e| ____________

6| Two of the most devastating earthquakes to have occurred recently are the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

Listen to a recording about the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and read the following text about the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Compare the two earthquakes by filling the table.

2010 Haiti Earthquake

http://wilkinsila.wikispaces.com

On 12 January 2010, at 4.53 p.m. local time, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck the Republic of Haiti with an epicenter located approximately 25 km south and west of the capital city of Port-au-Prince. Near the epicenter of the earthquake, in the city of Léogáne, it is estimated I that 80-90% of the buildings were critically damaged or destroy.

The metropolitan Port-au-Prince region was also severely affected. According to the Government of Haiti, the earthquake left more than 316,000 dead or missing, 300,000 injured, and over 1.3 million homeless. According to the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the earthquake was the most destructive event any country has experienced in modern times, when measured in terms of the number of people killed as a percentage of the country's population.

	2004 Indian Ocean earthquake	2010 Haiti Earthquake
Date, Year
Location
Scale
Affected areas
Number of victims
Impacts

7| Watch and listen to the news about effect of natural disaster. Write  on your book what the reporter is talking about.

https://www.youtube.com

8| Read the following texts and the answer the questions.

https://sherbrooktimes.com

Flooding is an overflowing of water onto land that is normally dry. Floods can happen during heavy rains, when ocean waves come on shore, when snow melts too fast, or when dams or levees break. Flooding may happen with only a few inches of water, or it may cover a house to the rooftop. They can occur quickly or over a long period and may last days, weeks, or longer. Floods are the most common and widespread of all weather-related natural disasters. Flash floods are the most dangerous kind of floods, because they combine the destructive power of a flood with incredible speed and unpredictability. Flash floods occur when excessive water fills normally dry creeks or river beds along with currently flowing creeks and rivers, causing rapid rises of water in a short amount of time. They can happen with little or no warning. Densely populated areas are at high risk of flash flooding. The construction of buildings, highways, driveways, and parking lots increases runoff by reducing the amount of rain absorbed by the ground. This runoff increases the flash flood potential. Moreover, low spots, such as underpasses, underground parking garages, and basements can become death traps. Similarly, areas near rivers are at risk from flash floods. Embankments, known as levees, are often built along rivers and are used to prevent high water from flooding bordering land.Dam failures can also send a sudden destructive wall of water downstream. Mountains and steep hills produce rapid runoff, which causes streams to rise quickly. Rocks and clay soils do not allow much water to infiltrate the ground. Saturated soil too can lead rapidly to flash ooding. (Source: w.nssl.noaa.gov)

1) What is flooding?
2) When can flooding happen?
3) How deep and fast can flooding happen?

4) What are flash floods?
5) According to the text why are flash floods the most dangerous kind of floods?
6) What is the main cause of flash floods?
7) Which places are at high risk of flash floods?
8) What is the purpose of writing the text?
9) How do flash floods occur?
10) Why do flash floods possibly give lite or no warning?
11) Why are densely populated areas at high risk of flash floods?
12) Why does the writer inform us about death traps?
13) Read the following extracts from the text and find the meanings of the underlined words.
a) … they combine the destructive power of a flood ... (Paragraph 2)
b) … excessive water fills normally dry creeks or river beds ... (Paragraph 2)
c) … highways, driveways, and parking lots increase runoff ... (Paragraph 3)

9| Read the following texts.

https://www.express.co.uk

A tsunami is one of the most powerful and destructive natural forces. It is a series of extremely long ocean waves started by a sudden movement of ocean water, usually by an earthquake. Although most tsunamis are generated by earthquakes on adjoining tectonic plate boundaries, they can also be caused by volcanic eruptions, landslides, undersea slumps, or even meteorites. Tsunamis radiate outward in all directions from the point of origin and can move across entire ocean basins. When they reach the coast, they can cause dangerous coastal flooding and powerful currents that can last for several hours or days. Tsunamis are also known as seismic sea waves, when they are caused by earthquakes. An earthquake must be big enough and close enough to the ocean floor to cause the vertical movement of the ocean floor that typically sets a tsunami in motion. As the ocean floor rises or drops, so too does the water above it. As the water moves up and down, seeking to regain its balance, the tsunami radiates out in all directions. Tsunamis can also occur when a landslide enters the water and moves it from above or when water is moved ahead of and behind an underwater landslide. The tsunami generated by a landslide depends on the amount of landslide material that moves the water, the speed it is moving at, and the depth it reaches. Volcanic eruptions too, although rarely, can cause tsunamis. Several types of volcanic activity can move enough water to generate destructive tsunamis. Like other non-seismic tsunamis, such as those generated by landslides, volcanic tsunamis usually lose energy quickly and rarely affect distant coastlines. (Adapted from w ww.tsunami.gov, www.noaa.gov)

Answer the questions based on the text.
a. The subject of the first sentence in the first paragraph is ___.
b. The topic of the first paragraph is ___.
c. The first sentence of the second paragraph is about ___ and the rest of the sentence is about ___.
d. The third paragraph is about ___.
e. The fourth paragraph is about ___.
f. The fifth paragraph is about ___.
g. The new information provided by the fifth paragraph is ___.
h. From the last paragraph, what can we infer about landslide-generated tsunamis?

10| Identify the topic sentences.
a. Write down the topic sentences of paragraphs 1 to 5 in the Tsunami text.
b. Write down one supporting sentence for each topic sentence in the Tsunami text.

F| REMEMBER!

1| A paragraph usually has one main idea. 2| The main idea is expressed in a topic sentence. 3| A topic sentence usually appears at the beginning of the paragraph. 4| Supporting details are the other sentences that tell us more about the main idea.

Example:

Paragraph 1

A Tsunami

A tsunami is a series of waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, typically an ocean or a large lake.	Topic Sentence
It can be generated by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explosions including detonations of underwater nuclear devices, landslides, meteorite impacts, and other disturbances above or below water.	Supporting details

Read the following explanation text.

Have you ever seen a rain of, not water, but balls of ice? It is what you call hail.	GENERAL STATEMENT (Where the writer is going to talk about)
Hail is a form of precipitation that occurs when updrafts in thunderstorms carry raindrops upward into extremely cold areas of the atmosphere where they freeze into balls of ice. Hail can damage aircraft, homes and cars, and can be deadly to livestock and people. Hailstones grow by colliding with super-cooled water drops. Super-cooled water will freeze on contact with ice crystals, frozen raindrops, dust, or some other e nuclei. Thunderstorms that have a strong updraft keep lifting the hailstones up to the top of the cloud where they encounter more super-cooled water and continue to grow. Then, the hail falls when the thunderstorm's updraft can no longer support the weight of the ice or the updraft weakens. The stronger the updraft the larger the hailstone can grow.	EXPLANATION (In this part, the writer explains how a phenomenon occurs.)
Though Florida has the most thunderstorms, Nebraska, Colorado, and Wyoming usually have the most hailstorms. The area where these three states meet averages seven to nine hail days per year. The reason why this area gets s so much hail is that the freezing levels in the high plains are much closer to the ground than they are at sea level, where hail has plenty of time to melt before reaching the ground. Other parts of the world that have damaging hailstorms include China, Russia, India, and northern Italy. (Source: www.nssl.noaa.gov)	CLOSING STATEMENT (Application or example of the phenomenon)

Retrieved from:

Sudarwati, T. M., & Grace, E. (2017). Pathway to English for SMA/MA Grade XI. Erlangga: Jakarta.

https://inggrisonline.com/pengertian-generic-structure-ciri-explanation-text-dan-contohnya/