Background of the Study

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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

This chapter consists of six sections. They are background of study, problem formulation, problem limitation, objectives of the study, benefits of the study, and definition of terms. The first section of this chapter, which is background of the study, contains the topic of the discussion and the reason in choosing the topic. Problem formulation contains the problems that are going to be discussed in this thesis in the form of questions. The next section will be problem limitation. In this section of this chapter, reader will find out the focus and scope of the study. It is obviously related to the previous section, problem formulation. In objectives of the study, the writer states the purpose of the study. The next section of this chapter which is the benefits of the study identifies the benefits for the reader and other researchers. The last section of this chapter will be the definition of terms. In this section, the writer elaborates some key words used in this study in order to avoid misunderstanding and misinterpretation.

A. Background of the Study

There are many reasons that can explain why people read any literary works. There are a lot of literary works that we can find. It could include poetry, poem, fiction and non- fiction. The word “read” means looking at and understanding something written or printed. “read”. The first reason why people read literature is that literature introduces us to new worlds of experiences. Ali, 2008 We learn and enjoy literary works. We may even grow and evolve through 2 our literary journey with books. The second reason is that “we may discover meaning in literature by looking at what the author says and how heshe says it.” Ali, 2008 The way we interpret the message attracts us to read literary. Reader might get various interpretations when reading a literary works by using some approaches such as mythological, sociological, and psychological. Literature is important to us because it speaks to us, it is universal, and it affects us. Ali, 2008 Those reasons, actually, explain why the writer studies literature. In this study, writer limits the scope of the discussion of literature. This study discusses a novel written by C. S. Adler. The title of the novel is Some Other Summer. This is a fiction novel. This novel tells about a struggle of a girl named Lynette. She was an orphan – her parents have passed away. She lived with her uncle, Josh. In this story, Lynette felt that no one loved her. Josh had only few times to spend with her. Josh’s wife, Mary, was busy of taking care of the ranch. Debbi, Josh’s daughter, always hung out with her friends. Josh’s son, Eddie, always disturbed her. The main character in this story felt that there was no one loving her. When the summer came, Lynette expected her beloved man, Jeremy. During the summer holiday, Jeremy spent his time to help Josh’s family. At that time, Lynette felt more disappointed since Jeremy could not spend his time with her. When Jeremy met Debbi, Lynette was very jealous. Debbi was much more beautiful than her, and it seemed that Jeremy attracted to Debbi. Lynette tried to do many things to go away from Josh’s family. Every time she tried, she always felt reluctant to do such things. 3 There is a reason why the writer chooses C. S. Adler’s Some Other Summer. Solving problem is not an easy task for a young girl, especially when she never gets attention from surroundings people. Lynette, as the main character in this novel, could not get most of her freedom. Maslow 1987 stated that there are some freedom that should be fulfilled in living such as freedom to speak, freedom to do what one wishes so long as no harm is done to others, freedom to express oneself, freedom to investigate and seek for information, freedom to defend oneself. para. 22 Those things, actually, become the precondition for basic need satisfactions. The writer is interested in choosing this novel because Lynette could achieve the self-actualization level though she could not get most of her freedom. To achieve the objective of analyzing C. S. Adler’s Some Other Summer, the writer uses three kinds of theories. First of all, the writer uses the hierarchy of human needs of Abraham Maslow. In this theory, Abraham Maslow divides the needs into five levels. They are psychological, safety, lovebelonging, esteem, and self-actualization. In-depth discussion of this theory will be presented in chapter two. By applying this theory, the writer is trying to show the struggle of the main character in Some Other Summer to master her needs. Then, the theories that are going to be used by the writer are character and characterization. This theory gives description of Lynette’s struggle to reach top level of human needs. The writer tries to figure out her struggle through her reaction, conversation, and the way of thinking. According to Ikeda 1994, the description of the character can be divided into reaction reaction to events or surroundings, conversation 4 conversation of other character about the main character, and the way of thinking portrayal of thought stream or of conscious thought. para. 18 There are some reasons why the writer chooses those three theories. First, the writer applies the hierarchy of human needs because this novel talks about the needs of a person who wanted to fulfill the needs in her life. Second, by analyzing the reaction, conversation, and the way of thinking of the main character, the writer wants to give the detail of Lynette’s struggle or the effort to fulfill the needs that she has not get yet.

B. Problem Formulation