1
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
For many persons, literature is a daunting object. They need an effort and interest to read and appreciate it. However, the persons do not realize that they actually
have already been familiar with literature since they were children. Bedtime stories, folk tales, and legends they heard from their parents are also kinds of
literature. Then, in junior and senior high schools they again learn literature though especially about domestic or national literature.
There are many notions given by experts about literature .
Literature in abroad sense is anything written, such as brochures, leaflets, etc. In a narrow
sense, literature is writing or the studying of book that is valued as work of art drama, fiction, essay, poetry and biography contrasted with technical books and
journalism Hornby, 1995:357. Further, Rees explains that literature is a permanent expression in the word
of some thought or feeling or idea about life and the world 1973: 9. Literature maybe good which will have some psychological truth holding the mirror up to
nature, originality, craftmanship, and a conciousness of the moral value, but literature maybe also bad or indifferent.
Literature may be broadly divided into two major categories; fiction and non fiction. Fiction means literary works based on the imagination. It includes
2
novels, short stories, poetry, and drama plays. Non fiction conventionally means literary works based on facts that can be verified. It includes personal essays,
travel writing, history, biography, and autobiography. According to Webster’s New World Dictionary 1998: 898, literature is:
The literature as all writings in prose or verse, especially those of an imaginative or critical character and also all of such writings considered as
having permanent value, excellence of form, great emotional effect. Literature is a means of social expression, a mirror of life, and an
interpretation of the human experience that helps us understand how to live. All cultures have literature, and the impulse to form words into
expressive creations is universal.
From the statement above, there are many things that we can learn from literature. We can learn about cases in politics, sociology, culture, economics,
history, religion, arts and even philosophy. We will not only get knowledge from literary works we read but also experience and entertainment.
There are many kinds of literary works around us. In general term, it is divided into three types: they are fiction, poetry and drama. However, many
people especially students often prefer watching movies to reading a literary work because they think that most literary works are daunting with their lengthy work
and elaborate narrative structure. Film or movie becomes a new genre of literature with its audio – visual qualities. As mentioned in Oxford Advanced Learners
Dictionary 2005: 573 that film is a story, or etcetera recorded as set of moving pictures to be shown on television or cinema.
To analyze a film, the first thing that one should know is its elements. The definition on ‘film’ is given by Encyclopedia Americana 1986: 505:
3
Film, in the “performances”, cover all arts point of view, from painting, in which film presenting two dimensional picture within a frame, music,
present all of materials within the dimension of time, dance, film are choreographed to use space for the aesthetic sense, literature, in which
most films are based on the stories and realized on the literacy text spoken by the character, theatre, which most films used by human not only as the
subject but also as the object, and the last in poetry.
From the statement above, we can assume that film as an audio – visual form of drama also has intrinsic elements, such as theme, plot, character, mood,
and setting. By watching movies, we can get knowledge and entertainment. We can
also learn about other cultures as described in the setting of movie that is varied from one country to another country in the world. Consequently, we can learn a
lot of cultures from the different nations. Far and Away 1992 is one of films by Ron Howard. In this epic, Joseph
Donelly Tom Cruise is an impoverished 19
th
– century Irish tenant farmer who expects to claim a piece of land in Oklahoma by joining the land race competition.
Oklahoma land race or land rush is a competition of claiming land that’s being given away for free. Since there are too many people who want to join in
that competition, so to claim the free land, people must travel to Oklahoma and race for it along with others. In that race, each man is allowed to get land which he
wants by driving a flag through the ground. What makes someone do something? The most appropriate answer is
motivation. People have motivation to achieve a goal or to get something. In the process people do some efforts through various behaviors, including everything
that is integrated with the goal. Kleinginna and Kleinginna 1981: 263-291 as
4
quoted from http:chironvaldosta.eduwhuitmotivationmotivat. html state that motivation is an internal state or condition that acts behavior and gives direction,
desire or want that energize and direct goal oriented behavior. Based on the movie, the main charcter, Joseph donelly joint the Oklahoma
land race because he has a motivation, that is he wants to get a land to raise his social status in his society.
1.2 Reasons for Choosing the Topic
Kategori