AN ANALYSIS ON CASUAL STYLES USED BY MARY BENNETT IN JILL CONNER BROWNE’S NOVEL “THE SWEET POTATO QUEENS”

AN ANALYSIS ON CASUAL STYLES USED BY MARY BENNETT IN JILL CONNER BROWNE’S NOVEL “THE SWEET POTATO QUEENS”

THESIS

By:

VIVI NOVITA SARI (08360046)

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION UNIVERSITY OF MUHAMMADIYAH MALANG

AN ANALYSIS ON CASUAL STYLES USED BY MARY BENNETT IN JILL CONNER BROWNE’S NOVEL “THE SWEET POTATO QUEENS”

THESIS

This thesis is submitted to meet one of the requirements to achieve Sarjana Degree in English Education

By:

VIVI NOVITA SARI (08360046)

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION UNIVERSITY OF MUHAMMADIYAH MALANG

This thesis was defended in front of the examiners of Faculty of Teacher Training and Education of University of Muhammadiyah Malang

and accepted as one of requirements to achieve Sarjana Degree in English Education

on October 31, 2013

Approved by:

Faculty of Teacher Training and Education University of Muhammadiyah Malang

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Alhamdulillah, all praise is to Allah, the Merciful and Charitable. Because of the guidance, blessing, and affection, the writer can finish this thesis finally. The writer would like to thanks to our propped Muhammad SAW who has brought us from the darkness to the lightness that ISLAM.

The writer would like to express her deepest appreciation to many persons who had been involved in finishing this thesis. The writer thanks her first advisor, Dra. Thathit Manon Andini, M.Hum, and her second advisor, Drs. Estu Widodo, M.Hum for their guidance, suggestion, correction and comment on this thesis, without real understanding and strong motivation, this thesis would have never found its completion.

The writer grateful thanks are expressed to her beloved father and mother who always give their praying and love. Then, for her brother and sister who always give attention and support. Her special thank also goes to Jill Conner Brown who wrote “The Sweet Potato Queens” novel. Finally, her sincere gratitude goes to her beloved friends in English Department who always help and support the writer in finishing this thesis.

Hopefully, this thesis can be useful for the readers.

Malang, October 2013

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ... i

TABLE OF CONTENTS ... ii

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of Study ... 1

1.2 Statements of Problem ... 3

1.3 Purposes of Study ... 4

1.4 Significances of Study ... 4

1.5 Scope and Limitation ... 5

1.6 Definition of Key Terms ... 5

CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE 2.1 Sociolinguistics ... 7

2.2 Language Style ... 8

2.2.1 Frozen Style ... 9

2.2.2 Formal Style ... 9

2.2.3 Consultative Style ... 10

2.2.4 Casual Style ... 11

2.2.4.1 Ellipsis ... 11

2.2.4.2 Slang ... 12

2.2.5 Intimate Style ... 13

2.3 Context ... 13

2.4 Novel as Literary Works ... 13

2.4.2 Character ... 14

2.4.3 Plot... 15

2.4.3.1 Exposition ... 15

2.4.3.2 Rising Action ... 15

2.4.3.4 Climax ... 15

2.4.3.5 Falling Action ... 16

2.4.3.6 Resolution ... 16

2.4.4 Theme ... 16

2.4.5 Point of View ... 16

CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 Research Design ... 17

3.2 Research Object ... 19

3.3 Approach ... 19

3.4 Data Collection ... 21

3.5 Data Analysis ... 21

CHAPTER IV RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 4.1 Research Findings ... 22

4.1.1 The casual styles used by Mary Bennett in Jill Conner Browne’s novel “The Sweet Potato Queens” ... 22

4.1.1.1 Ellipsis ... 22

4.1.1.2 Slang ... 32

4.1.2 The context where Mary Bennett used the casual styles in Jill Conner Browne’s novel “The Sweet Potato Queens” ... 37

CHAPTER V CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION

5.1 Conclusion ... 51 5.2 Suggestions ... 52

REFERENCES APPENDIX I APPENDIX II APPENDIX III

REFERENCES

Ary D, Jacobs L.C, Sorensen C. 2010. Introduction to Research in Education (8th Edition). United State: ThomsonWadsworth

Coupland, Nikolas. 2007. Style: Language Variation and Identity, Key Topics in Sociolinguistics. New York: Cambridge University Press

Edwards, John. 2009. Language and Identity, Key Topics in Sociolinguistics. New York: Cambridge University Press

Fennell, Francis L. 2002. Collegiate English Handbook. United State: Collegiate Press

Fromkin V, Rodman R, Hyams N. 2003. An Introduction to Language (seventh edition). United State: Thomson Wardsworth

Jendra, Made Iwan Indrawan. 2010. Sociolinguistics, The Study of Societies’ Languages (1st Edition). Yogyakarta: Graha Ilmu.

Johnson, Greg and Arp, Thomas R. 2006. Perrine’s Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense. United State: Thomson Wardsworth

Kennedy, XJ. 1983. An Introduction to fiction, poetry, and drama. Boston: Little Brown and Company

Koesnosubroto, Sunaryo Basuki. 1988. The Anatomy of Prose Fiction. Jakarta: Departemen Penddikan dan Kebudayaan.

Kovecses, Zoltan. 2000. American English: An introduction. Canada: Broadview Press

Macmillan. 1987. Understanding Literature. Glencoe: California

Mesthrie R, Swann Joan, Deumert Ana, Leap WL. 2004. Introducing Sociolinguistics (Second Edition). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press

Meyer, Michael. 1990. The Bedford: Introduction to Literature (2nd Edition). United State: Bedford

Meyerhoff, Miriam. 2006. Introducing Sociolinguistics. New York: Routledge

Nadia. 2011. Language Style Used By The Main Characters of The Sisterhood of The Travelling Pants 2 movie, An Analysis on its casual types. UMM: Unpublished Thesis

Norment, Nathaniel. 2005. Readings in African American Languages: Aspects, Features, and Perspectives volume 2 .New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc

Putra. 2008. An Analysis of Language Styles Found on the Novel “The Old Man and The Sea. Petra Christian University Library. Library @petra.ac.id.

Rahardi, Kunjana. 2006. Dimensi-Dimensi Kebahasaan: Aneka Masalah Bahasa Indonesia Terkini. Yogyakarta: Erlangga

Swan, Michael. 1995. Practical English Usage (2nd Edition). Oxford University Press

Tagliamonte A, Sali. 2006. Analysing Sociolinguistic Variation, Key Topics in Sociolinguistics. New York: Cambridge University Press

Wardaugh, Ronald. 2006. An Introduction to Sociolinguistics (Fifth Edition). United Kingdom: Blackwell Publishing Ltd

www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/context www.simonspeaker.com/JillConnerBrowne

Yule, George. 2006. The Study of Language (Third Edition). New York: Cambridge University Press

1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

This chapter presents such topics as: background of study, statements of problem, purposes of study, significances of study, scope and limitation, and definition of key terms. Each section is presented as follow.

1.1 Background of Study

People spend times to communicate with others. While having communication, they are talking, clarifying their thoughts, sharing opinion, giving suggestion, and getting information from others. It assists them in building and sustaining personal relationship and participating in social and activities. As a tool of communication, language has an important role for humans’ daily life in society.

From the explanation above, it can be suggested that language and society are closely related. It is impossible to understand one without another. A study on some aspects related to the language and society is called sociolinguistics. It studies on some aspects includes language use in society, the function of language use in society, and variation of it. It is a kind of an important thing that people need to discuss. According to Mesthrie (2002:6), “Language is accordingly said to be indexical of one’s social class, status, region of origin, gender, age group, and so on. In the sociolinguistics sense, this indexical aspect of language refers to certain features of speech which indicate an individual’s social group.” It means that every

2

region has own ways in using language to indicate their society which causes the development of language varieties in this social life.

Language style is one of varieties of language usage in communication. Wardaugh (2006: 51) stated that speakers can adopt different styles of speaking. They can speak formally or informally. Their choice is based on the situation. The level of formality is determined by some factors such as; the kind of occasion; the various social, age, and other differences that existed by participants; the particular task that is involved, e.g. writing or speaking; the emotional involvement of one or more of participants; and so on.

According to Joos (in Mesthrie, 2000) there are five levels of formality in using language. It is also called as language style. The five styles from least to most formal are intimate, casual, consultative, formal, and frozen style. All of the styles have its own function and all are used based on the situation.

In this thesis, the language style that is being analyzed is casual style. Joos (in Mesthrie, 2000) stated that casual style is used for communication among friends in relax or normal situations. This style is signed by ellipsis or omission of certain grammatical element and the use of slang.

Casual style is commonly used by people in their social life. However, people are lacking the sufficient understanding on casual style. At school, students only studied formal style, and they were also given a better understanding through some of the activities there. For example, teacher’s speech/talk during teaching, the textbooks they read, and the task they do, all related to formal languages. In fact, no specific

3

study of the language in discussing the casual style. Casual styles usually appear while playing, watching television/ movies, and reading novels. Through this case, the researcher believes that casual style is important to be learnt. Therefore, the researcher expected that this research will give clear information about the casual styles commonly appear in social life.

To support this research, the researcher found two previous researches with the same topic as the references. First, Nadia (2011) studied language style used by the main characters of “The Sisterhood of The Traveling Pants 2” movie. It was an analysis on its casual types. She found the casual language styles from the dialogue used by the main characters and she identified the characteristics of each casual language style. Second, Putra (2008) studied all language styles found on the novel “The Old Man and The Sea”. He investigated about the dominant language styles used by the characters of the novel, the function of each language styles, and the situation where language styles found.

Different from Nadia who analyze the casual styles and its characteristics and Putra who analyze the dominant language styles used, this research is emphasized on the casual styles and the context where it is used. The result of this research will give more specific information about the use of casual styles and clear description about the context where the casual styles are used.

1.2 Statements of Problem

4

1.2.1 What are the casual styles used by Mary Bennett in Jill Conner Browne’s novel “The Sweet Potato Queens”?

1.2.2 What is the context where Mary Bennett used the casual styles in Jill Conner Browne’s novel “The Sweet Potato Queens”?

1.3 Purpose of Study

1.3.1 To identify the casual styles used by Mary Bennett in Jill Conner Browne’s novel “The Sweet Potato Queens”.

1.3.2 To describe the context where Mary Bennett uses the casual styles in Jill Conner Browne’s novel “The Sweet Potato Queens”.

1.4 Significance of Study

In analyzing the casual styles in “The Sweet Potato Queens” novel, the researcher hopes that the result could enrich the readers’ knowledge about the casual style itself and the context where it should be used. This is important because English is considered as foreign language in Indonesia in which the people are not really accustomed to the language. People need more information to recognize the passage written. Novel shows more informal situation, while at school people learn mostly about the formal ones. That is why the analysis of casual styles in this novel needs to be conducted.

By reading and understanding this research, people could learn about how to communicate effectively in their daily life. They can learn how to use the casual style,

5

where the casual style should be used, and learn many new vocabularies through the slang words used by Mary Bennett found in “The Sweet Potato Queens”. The result of this study also could be used as the reference for the next who intend to do another research about language style or another language style that could be found in the novel or any other possible textual forms.

1.5 Scope and Limitation

This study has scope and limitation. The scope of this study is casual styles used in Jill Conner Brown’s novel “The Sweet Potato Queens” and the limitation of this research is casual styles used by Mary Bennett in Jill Conner Browne’s novel “The Sweet Potato Queens”.

1.6 Definition of Key Term

The following definitions of the key terms are intended to avoid ambiguity or misinterpretation. These terms are:

a. Language Style is a various kind of written and spoken language that most people in the world produced and used it to communicate and express it with others. Language style is a variation in speech from more formal to informal one (Yule 2010:208).

b. Casual Style is an informal style that usually spoken with a group community or close friends that only could be understood by them. Joos (in Mesthrie,

6

2000), defined casual style is typical of informal speech between peers, includes ellipsis and slang between peers.

c. Mary Bennett is one of the main characters in “The Sweet Potato Queens” novel who uses many casual styles in the conversation.

d. Jill Conner Browne is the author of novel “The Sweet Potato Queens” which

was released in January 2009. She is a New York Times bestselling author

and also an America’s #1 Humor Writer

(www.simonspeaker.com/JillConnerBrowne).

e. Context is the situation in which something happens (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/context).

1 CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

This chapter presents such topics as: background of study, statements of problem, purposes of study, significances of study, scope and limitation, and definition of key terms. Each section is presented as follow.

1.1 Background of Study

People spend times to communicate with others. While having communication, they are talking, clarifying their thoughts, sharing opinion, giving suggestion, and getting information from others. It assists them in building and sustaining personal relationship and participating in social and activities. As a tool of communication, language has an important role for humans’ daily life in society.

From the explanation above, it can be suggested that language and society are closely related. It is impossible to understand one without another. A study on some aspects related to the language and society is called sociolinguistics. It studies on some aspects includes language use in society, the function of language use in society, and variation of it. It is a kind of an important thing that people need to discuss. According to Mesthrie (2002:6), “Language is accordingly said to be indexical of one’s social class, status, region of origin, gender, age group, and so on. In the sociolinguistics sense, this indexical aspect of language refers to certain features of speech which indicate an individual’s social group.” It means that every

region has own ways in using language to indicate their society which causes the development of language varieties in this social life.

Language style is one of varieties of language usage in communication. Wardaugh (2006: 51) stated that speakers can adopt different styles of speaking. They can speak formally or informally. Their choice is based on the situation. The level of formality is determined by some factors such as; the kind of occasion; the various social, age, and other differences that existed by participants; the particular task that is involved, e.g. writing or speaking; the emotional involvement of one or more of participants; and so on.

According to Joos (in Mesthrie, 2000) there are five levels of formality in using language. It is also called as language style. The five styles from least to most formal are intimate, casual, consultative, formal, and frozen style. All of the styles have its own function and all are used based on the situation.

In this thesis, the language style that is being analyzed is casual style. Joos (in Mesthrie, 2000) stated that casual style is used for communication among friends in relax or normal situations. This style is signed by ellipsis or omission of certain grammatical element and the use of slang.

Casual style is commonly used by people in their social life. However, people are lacking the sufficient understanding on casual style. At school, students only studied formal style, and they were also given a better understanding through some of the activities there. For example, teacher’s speech/talk during teaching, the textbooks they read, and the task they do, all related to formal languages. In fact, no specific

study of the language in discussing the casual style. Casual styles usually appear while playing, watching television/ movies, and reading novels. Through this case, the researcher believes that casual style is important to be learnt. Therefore, the researcher expected that this research will give clear information about the casual styles commonly appear in social life.

To support this research, the researcher found two previous researches with the same topic as the references. First, Nadia (2011) studied language style used by the main characters of “The Sisterhood of The Traveling Pants 2” movie. It was an analysis on its casual types. She found the casual language styles from the dialogue used by the main characters and she identified the characteristics of each casual language style. Second, Putra (2008) studied all language styles found on the novel “The Old Man and The Sea”. He investigated about the dominant language styles used by the characters of the novel, the function of each language styles, and the situation where language styles found.

Different from Nadia who analyze the casual styles and its characteristics and Putra who analyze the dominant language styles used, this research is emphasized on the casual styles and the context where it is used. The result of this research will give more specific information about the use of casual styles and clear description about the context where the casual styles are used.

1.2 Statements of Problem

1.2.1 What are the casual styles used by Mary Bennett in Jill Conner Browne’s novel “The Sweet Potato Queens”?

1.2.2 What is the context where Mary Bennett used the casual styles in Jill Conner Browne’s novel “The Sweet Potato Queens”?

1.3 Purpose of Study

1.3.1 To identify the casual styles used by Mary Bennett in Jill Conner Browne’s novel “The Sweet Potato Queens”.

1.3.2 To describe the context where Mary Bennett uses the casual styles in Jill Conner Browne’s novel “The Sweet Potato Queens”.

1.4 Significance of Study

In analyzing the casual styles in “The Sweet Potato Queens” novel, the researcher hopes that the result could enrich the readers’ knowledge about the casual style itself and the context where it should be used. This is important because English is considered as foreign language in Indonesia in which the people are not really accustomed to the language. People need more information to recognize the passage written. Novel shows more informal situation, while at school people learn mostly about the formal ones. That is why the analysis of casual styles in this novel needs to be conducted.

By reading and understanding this research, people could learn about how to communicate effectively in their daily life. They can learn how to use the casual style,

where the casual style should be used, and learn many new vocabularies through the slang words used by Mary Bennett found in “The Sweet Potato Queens”. The result of this study also could be used as the reference for the next who intend to do another research about language style or another language style that could be found in the novel or any other possible textual forms.

1.5 Scope and Limitation

This study has scope and limitation. The scope of this study is casual styles used in Jill Conner Brown’s novel “The Sweet Potato Queens” and the limitation of this research is casual styles used by Mary Bennett in Jill Conner Browne’s novel “The Sweet Potato Queens”.

1.6 Definition of Key Term

The following definitions of the key terms are intended to avoid ambiguity or misinterpretation. These terms are:

a. Language Style is a various kind of written and spoken language that most people in the world produced and used it to communicate and express it with others. Language style is a variation in speech from more formal to informal one (Yule 2010:208).

b. Casual Style is an informal style that usually spoken with a group community or close friends that only could be understood by them. Joos (in Mesthrie,

2000), defined casual style is typical of informal speech between peers, includes ellipsis and slang between peers.

c. Mary Bennett is one of the main characters in “The Sweet Potato Queens” novel who uses many casual styles in the conversation.

d. Jill Conner Browne is the author of novel “The Sweet Potato Queens” which

was released in January 2009. She is a New York Times bestselling author

and also an America’s #1 Humor Writer

(www.simonspeaker.com/JillConnerBrowne).

e. Context is the situation in which something happens (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/context).