Approach of the Study
truth. Yet, when Kimberly begins to apologize to Mr. Bogart, he becomes more angry because she makes grammatical mistake in her apologizing sentence.
I looked at my piece of paper and then, in desperation, glanced at the white girl‟s sheet to try to see what we were supposed to do. Suddenly, the sheet
of paper slid out from under my fingers. Mr. Bogart was standing next to me with my test in his hands. “No cheap pen” he said. His nose and
cheeks were flushed as if he were getting a rash. “ You a hero‟‟ “I sorry, sir—
” I began. I knew he wasn‟t calling me a hero like a Superman. What had he said? Although I‟d had basic English classes in school in Hong
Kong, my old teacher‟s accent did not in any way resemble what I now heard in Brooklyn. “ „ I‟mmm,‟ “ he said, pressing his lip together. “ „ I‟m
sorry‟.‟‟ s “I‟m sorry,” I said. My English mistakes clearly annoyed him, although I wasn‟t sure why p. 10.
Because of that missunderstanding, Mr. Bogart gives her zero grade for her assignment. It makes Kimberly becomes very sad because she has never got
zero before. In Hongkong Kimberly is always number one in her class and she always gets the best score. Thus, she does not know how she will tell her mother
about it. Ma was waiting for me outside. I was so happy to see her that when I took
her hand, my eyes became hot. “What is it?” she said, turning my face to her. “Did other children tease you?” “No.” I wiped my cheecks with the
back of my hand. “it‟s nothing.” Ma looked at me intently. “Did some child hit you?” “No, Ma,” I said. I didn‟t want to worry her when there
was so little she could do. “Everything is different here, that‟s all.” p. 10- 11
Kimberly is confused whether she should tell her mother about her problems at school or not. She experiences the second type of intrapersonal
conflicts purposed by Worchel and Cooper 1979 which is avoidance-avoidance. Avoidance-avoidance occurs when a person has to face the situation in which she
he has to make a decision between two unpleasant purposes. In this case, Kimberly encounters two unpleasant circumstamces. The first circumstance is if
she tells her mother about her grade, her mother will be sad and disappointed. Kimberly really does not want to make her mother sad and disappointed because
Kimberly is the only hope for her mother after her father‟s death. The second
circumstance is if she does not tell her mother she does wrong because she lies to her mother and one lie can lead to another lie.