explanation text

1. Definition and Purposes of Explanation

         Explanation is a text which tells processes relating to forming of natural, social, scientific and cultural phenomena. Generally the purpose of an explanation text is explaining how something forms or why the thing happens. So when we read an explanation text, the text will cover the answer of "how" or "why" relating to a thing or a phenomenon. It is often found in science, geography and history text books.

2. Generic structure of Explanation

• A general statement
    A general statement discuss about a phenomenon in general. This sentence usually answer a question, that is “what”.
    For example: “What is flood?”
  •  A squenced of explanation
    A squenced of explanation tell us “why” and “how” a phenomenon happened. A squenced of explanation can be more of one paragraph.

3. Language Feature of Explanation

• Featuring generic participant; sun, rain, etc.
• Using chronological connection; to begin with, next, etc
• Using passive voice pattern.
• Using simple present tense.

Connectives 

       Explanation texts usually use words called connectives that explain things in order, one after another.

Some of the connectives you might find are:

firstly 

meanwhile 

next 

then
after that 

eventually 

finally 

Other connectives explain how things work or why things happen, such as:

•Because

•So

•This means

Below is an example of explanation text  

Tsunami 

        The term of “tsunami” comes from the Japanese which means harbour (“tsu”) and wave (“nami”). A tsunami is a series of waves generated when water in a lake or a sea is rapidly displace on a massive scale.

      A tsunami can be generated when the sea floor abruptly deforms and vertically displaces the overlying water. Such large vertical movements of the earth’s crust can occur at plate boundaries.

      Subduction of earthquakes are particularly effective in generating tsunami, and occur where denser oceanic plates slip under continental plates.

     As the displaced water mass moves ander the influence of gravity to regin its equilibrium, it radiates across the ocean like ripples on a pond.

     Finally, tsunami always bring great demage. Most of demage is caused by the huge mass of water  behind the initial wave front, as the height of the sea keeps rising fast and floods powerfully into the coastal area.