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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
This chapter consists of four parts, namely background of the study, research questions, significance of the study, and definition of terms. The
background of the study explains the description of this study and the reason why
Facing the Giants
was chosen as a primary data. The research questions consist of two questions that should be answered as the focus of this study. The significance
of the study explains the advantages of this study. The last part, the definition of terms, provides some important terms used in this study to avoid any
misunderstanding.
A. Background of the Study
Feist and Feist 2010 say that personality is a pattern of relatively permanent and unique character which gives consistency and individuality to
someone‟s behavior p. 4. Personality also means the changing and interacting of someone‟s typical qualities into a whole that leads someone to behave as he does
Kalish, 1973, p. 53. It makes somebody look different and interesting. In this life, humans need to develop their personalities so that they can understand some
aspects that occur in their lives. The process of developing human‟s personality is
known as a personal development. Piaget says that personal development is a personal growth which happens by having some processes of expanding and
improving awareness, knowledge, and personal skills as cited in Mooney, 2013, PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
2 p. 79. Therefore, every human being needs every possible opportunity to do
things for developing his personality. The processes of personal development involve the growth of all aspects of
human‟s personality included motivation. Motivation is a thing which usually becomes the reason for someone to achieve his goals. Maslow states that
motivation is usually complex as cited in Feist Feist, 2010, pp. 278-279. It is caused by many thing
s, such as someone‟s behavior, emotion, society, and conflicts that happen in our life. M
otivation plays a big role in reaching someone‟s goals because motivation involves the persistence of behavior over time. It means
that someone‟s behavior may spring from several separate motives. Skinner says that society plays a big role in influencing someone to change
his motivation as cited in Feist Feist, 2010, p. 462. The changing of someone‟s motivation depends on the quality of the factors. It means that the
changing is not always to the better ones, but also to the worse p. 463. It is because society does not always reinforce
someone‟s motivation. Hence, people need a figure that can influence them on changing their motivation positively. If
the positive reinforcement from the society is strong enough, its effects will be more powerful than the punishment. Those issues can be shown in a literary work,
such as movie or novel. A novel as one of literary works may potrait the issues above. It is because
a novel is made by creativity of the author that can reveal new ideas and perspectives of life from different perceptions. Murphy 1972, p. 127 states that a
novel can add a special or extra dimension to the learning experience. It provides PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
3 some lessons of life which can be represented by the main character‟s personality.
Those issues can be a reference to conduct the study. It is because a novel is the most widely practiced and read of literature. According to
Stanton‟s statement, a literature is a unique imitation of life 1965, p. 9.Therefore, the researcher
analyzes a novel which has a relation with the personalities and motivations that are presented in the novel.
The researcher chose to analyze a novel entitle
Facing the Giants
by Eric Wilson 2007. The story of this novel is about a high school football team which
never wins in any football competition. Grant Taylor is the head coach of this team who has been coaching for six years. He always tries to overcome the
problems until he makes a new philosophy about winning the game by gaining faith in God. The ways of Taylor facing the problems and motivating his team can
be the examples of good personal abilities which influence other people. Furthermore, this study aims at discussing how
Coach Taylor‟s personality changes his football team‟s motivation to become higher. This novel shows how
someone‟s personality can change other‟s motivation in facing their lives. Therefore, by understanding his personality, the researcher wants the readers to be
able to know the influence of someone‟s personality on other‟s motivation. It can help them understand how to motivate others or how to get motivation from
others.
B. Research Questions
Based on the background of the study presented above, the researcher formulates two questions to be discussed in this study.
4 1.
How are Grant‟s characteristics described in the novel? 2.
How does Grant‟s personality influence his team‟s motivation?
C. Significance of the Study
There are some significances in this study. Firstly, the researcher realizes that by conducting this study, she gets a knowledge related to personality which
can develop someone‟s quality of education. By analyzing the personality of the coach in the novel, the researcher finds that the coach is able to create a good
atmosphere in his team. The coach‟s way of giving motivation to his team makes
the researcher interested in the novel. It can be related to the education field that is how a
teacher‟s personality can develop learners‟ motivation. It means that a teacher should be able to make his students become more enthusiastic in learning.
Secondly, this study may help students of Faculty of Teachers Training and Education, especially English Education Study Program as expected teachers in
increasing their knowledge and creativity to conduct an effective teaching- learning activity. It is because by reading this study, they can get some references
for their materials of teaching-learning in using literary works so that they can use them in their teaching activities. Third benefit is for the readers. This study can
help the readers get more knowledge about someone‟s personality and personal
development. The researcher hopes that know ing others‟ personality can help
them to learn about how to motivate others.
D. Definition of Terms
To avoid misunderstanding, there are some terms that have to be clarified. These terms are:
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1. Character
Character is a quality of a distinctive type of a person which implies a moral standard and involves a judgment of value Hurlock, 1974, p. 8. In a
literature work, character is created by the author that should be understood by the reader. The author uses some kinds of characters. The quality of a character can be
seen in every single action, speech, or thought of the person. The reader can interpret those characters by seeing their moral expressed when they are doing
dialogues or actions. The reader has a freedom to decide whether the characters have bad or good qualities in the novel.
2. Personality
As Hurlock 1974 says, personality is a kind of individual differences that can affect the individual itself or others p. 8. As human beings, people always
have a relation with other people around them with their own uniqueness, talents, and personalities. Sometimes, the differences make a conflict around them and
need some efforts to solve it. Those problems can change someone‟s personality. The process of chang
ing of someone‟s personality is called personal development p.6. The changing of someone‟s personality is based on the factors that will
affect someone‟s life. It means that the changing of someone‟s personality can be worse or better.
3. Motivation
Maslow states that motivation implies that energy is involved to activate the individual to a level that enables the performance of the appropriate behavior
as cited in Feist Feist, 2010, p. 279. Motivation is also regarded as causes of PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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