reading newspapers, “Reading the Sunday paper is an american tradition, for some people an alternative to going to church”. Furthermore Stevenson states the using of newspapers to balance
political opinion “Many newspaper also use syndicated columnist as a way of balancing political opinion”. Stevenson also quotes the Court that goverment which can not censor the press, “The
goverment’s power to censor the press was abolished so that the press would remain forever free to censure the goverment”.
One of the American writers who writes the novel with the genre of journalism is John Grisham. The Pelican Brief 1992 is one of his novels which has journalism genre, especially
the investigative journalism. The novel contains theme of the small person against a big organization and corruption in a high office White House.
The novel also tells scandals, corruptions case, crime cases and etcetera which become the topics of investigative journalism. It is a part of journalism which does not only cover and record
an event that will be be published into the news, but also conducts something more than that. The investigative reporter usually looks for data and facts deeply related to a case which is not visible
or intentionally hidden from public. The writer is interested in conducting the research about investigative journalism elements
in the novel of The Pelican Brief because the investigative journalism is an interesting topic. The investigative journalism will discuss other topics outside journalism, for example politic, law,
goverment and so on.
1.2. Scope of the Study
In order to make the analysis is clearer, a researcher should formulate the scope of analysis. Therefore, the writer limits the object of research and determines the theory to analyze
the data. This limitation aims at getting a specific and valid result. In this research, the writer focuses on the elements of American investigative journalism.
1.3. Purpose of the Study
To explain and analyze how the elements of American investigative journalism which are reflected in the novel of The Pelican Brief.
1.4. Methods of the Study 1.4.1. Method of Research
The writer uses a library research in order to acquire data and make this thesis more accurate. The method of library research is a method that is used to find out, develop, and test the
truth of knowledge empirically based on the fact and data. According to Wellek and Warren 1977: 58, library research is undoubtedly an important equipment of almost every student of
literature, since the majority of students can find their source materials in libraries, and familiar with their catalogues as well as other reference books. Data are obtained from written texts such
as books, journals, essays and etcetera.
1.4.2. Methods of Approach
Related to the scope of the thesis, the writer uses two methods of approach. These are exponential and sociological approaches. The exponential approach which is commonly used in
literary research that comes from the structural approach. It focuses on some intrinsic aspects of a literary work.
According to Guerin et al 1992: 199, an exponent is a part within the whole. The exponential approach is also called symbolic approach. Guerin et al in A Handbook of Critical
Approaches to Literature 1992: 197 also states, “We designate this method as the exponential approach because the inclusiveness of that term suggest at once the several meaning of motif,
image, symbol, and archetype”. It means that the readers must seek the signs or exponents part by part by tracing the motifs used in the literary work.
Meanwhile, the sociological approach is used in analyzing the social condition. According to Redyanto Noor 2004: 89, Hartoko states that the sociological approach is an approach that
learns a literary work in its relation to real social life. Futhermore, Hartoko 2004: 90 also explaines that the literary work sociological approach is an approach which analyzes the
description of the world and society in literary work. How far it is similar or different from the reality.
1.5. Organization of the Writing
From the analysis with methods of approaches above, the thesis will be arranged in chapters and sub chapters as follows:
CHAPTER 1 Introduction. It contains the background of the study, scope of the study,
purpose of the study, method of the study, and the organization of the writing. CHAPTER 2
The summary of novel. It tells about summary so that the reader who has not read the novel yet can get a short description about the story.
CHAPTER 3 Literary review. It consists of the theoretical review that can support the
writing of the thesis. The theories deal with the definition of theme, character, plot, setting and elements of investigative journalism.
CHAPTER 4 Analysis. This part becomes the main part of this thesis since it reveals the
discussion of the theoretical review above connected with the story in the
novel. The discussion analyzes the intrinsic and extrinsic aspects of a literary works.
CHAPTER 5 Conclusion. It serves the outline of the analysis result in the previous chapter.
CHAPTER 2 THE WRITER’S BIOGRAPHY AND THE SUMMARY OF NOVEL OF THE PELICAN
BRIEF
2.1. The Writer’s Biography
According to www.achievement.org, John Grisham was born on February 8, 1955 in Jonesboro, Arkansas. His father, a cotton farmer and itinerant construction worker moved the
family frequently, from town to town throughout the Deep South, settling in Southaven, Mississippi in 1967. By his own account, he had no interest in writing until after he embarked on
his professional career. For his first two years in college, Grisham drifted. He attended three different colleges before earning a degree. After abandoning a youthful dream of a professional
baseball career, he settled down to study accounting and prepare for a career as a tax lawyer. While in law school, his interest shifted from tax law to criminal law and litigation.
After graduating from the University of Mississippi law school, he returned to Southaven and established a small private legal practice. He was elected to Mississippi House of
Representatives in 1983. By his second term he held the vice chairmanship of the Apportionment and Elections Committee, as well as memberships on the Insurance, Judiciary A, and Military
Affairs Committee. In Mississippi, attorneys in private practice are sometimes called upon to appear as public defenders for indigent clients. In this way, Grisham received invaluable
experience of the criminal justice system. Inspired by a case he observed in a Mississippi courthouse, Grisham decided to write a novel. For years, he arrived at his office at five oclock in
the morning, six days a week, to work on his first book, A Time To Kill. He has continued to write enormously successful legal thrillers at the rate of nearly one a
year. Some of his books are A Time to Kill 1989, The Firm 1991, The Pelican Brief 1992,
