Unsur ekstrinsik cerpen adalah berbagai unsur yang membentuk cerpen di luar cerita itu sendiri, seperti latar belakang pengarang, latar sosial budaya pengarang, bahkan latar waktu hingga keadaan tempat terjadinya cerita.
Macam-Macam Unsur Ektrinsik Cerpen
Lain dengan unsur intrinsik cerpen yang ada dalam cerita, unsur ekstrinsik cerpen terdapat di luar cerpen. Terdapat tiga unsur ekstrinsik cerpen yang dapat kita analisis.
1. Latar Belakang Masyarakat
Latar belakang masyarakat merupakan alasan atau faktor yang mempengaruhi dasar penulis dalam membuat karangan cerita. Misalnya, ideologi negara, politik dalam negeri, kondisi sosial, dan ekonomi.
2. Latar Belakang Penulis
Latar belakang penulis dapat dipecah lagi menjadi tiga unsur.
a. Riwayat hidup penulis
Latar pengalaman hidup penulis memengaruhi prosesnya dalam membuat cerpen
b. Kondisi psikologis
Kondisi psikologis merupakan motivasi penulis saat menulis sebuah cerita. Suasana hati atau psikologis pengarang mendorong apa yang terjadi dalam cerita mereka.
c. Aliran sastra penulis
Aliran sastra adalah kepercayaan penulis dalam menghayati sebuah genre sastra. Ini sangat berpengaruh terhadap gaya penulisan dan aliran cerita yang umumnya dibawa sang penulis pada karya-karyanya.
3. Nilai yang Ada dalam Cerpen
Nilai adalah apa dapat kita ambil setelah selesai membaca.
Analisis Unsur Ekstrinsik Cerpen
Perhatikan contoh analisis nilai dalam cerpen bahasa Inggris berikut ini.
The Boy Who Cried Wolf
Once, there was a boy who became bored when he watched over the village sheep grazing on the hillside. To entertain himself, he sang out, “Wolf! Wolf! The wolf is chasing the sheep!”
When the villagers heard the cry, they came running up the hill to drive the wolf away. But, when they arrived, they saw no wolf. The boy was amused when seeing their angry faces.
“Don’t scream wolf, boy,” warned the villagers, “when there is no wolf!” They angrily went back down the hill.
Later, the shepherd boy cried out once again, “Wolf! Wolf! The wolf is chasing the sheep!” To his amusement, he looked on as the villagers came running up the hill to scare the wolf away.
As they saw there was no wolf, they said strictly, “Save your frightened cry for when there really is a wolf! Don’t cry ‘wolf’ when there is no wolf!” But the boy grinned at their words while they walked grumbling down the hill once more.
Later, the boy saw a real wolf sneaking around his flock. Alarmed, he jumped on his feet and cried out as loud as he could, “Wolf! Wolf!” But the villagers thought he was fooling them again, and so they didn’t come to help.
At sunset, the villagers went looking for the boy who hadn’t returned with their sheep. When they went up the hill, they found him weeping.
“There really was a wolf here! The flock is gone! I cried out, ‘Wolf!’ but you didn’t come,” he wailed.
An old man went to comfort the boy. As he put his arm around him, he said, “Nobody believes a liar, even when he is telling the truth!”
The Moral:
Lying breaks trust — even if you’re telling the truth, no one believes a liar.
