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CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY
This chapter describes the methodology used in conducting this study. This part is divided into three main settings; they are subject matter, approach of the stud y, and
method of the study. The first part, subject matter, explains the subject, data used in studying the work of literature, and the description of the work analyzed. The second
part, approach of the stud y, discusses the approach used in analyzing the novel and the reasons of using that approach. The last part is method of the study. This part discusses
the procedures taken in analyzing the work. This section also explain a series of steps that is used in conducting this study.
3.1 Subject Matter
The subject matter of this study is a novel entitled The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom. This novel was published in 2003 and printed in New
York, The United States of America by Hyperion. This novel consists of 196 pages, in 13 chapters. The story begins in the end, it means that the story starts with the death of
the main character, and develops after the death of the main character. In some parts of the chapters, the author brings the readers to several birthdays
of the main character when he was alive, begins when he was born up to his 82
nd
birthday as the flashback of his life. Each birthday that is described will give indirect clues to the reader in order to know the relationships among each character and the
biblical values that they convey. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
3.2 Approach of the Study
In discussing and analyzing this thesis, I focus the examination on the characters and the biblical values that are conveyed through those characters. That
focus leads me to use the Christian approach to English literature, because literary works that reflect and explore human life cannot also be separated from religious
values that are expressed through them. Since literature and religion have a closely relation, a Christian approach needs employing as a means to interpret a work of
literature. According to Norton, using a positive Christian approach will lead to the road of truth as well as to all the good 1961: ixxi.
The Christian approach is applied because in analyzing the problem formulation, I will have to work with some verses from the Bible. The religious
aspects should be a consideration in interpreting the literary works in order to get a deeper meaning of the work. Brother Leo, in Norton’s A Christian Approach to
Western Literature, says, “The religious conception of existence is the open sesame to the spacious treasure house of the written world, to the imperishable record of what all
though all the ages man has thought and felt in terms of beauty and of truth” Norton, 1961: 5. It means that interpreting a literary work without ignoring the religious
problem will enable the reader not only to see the beauty of the work, but also the biblical values through the work. Thus, the biblical values can be best interpreted by
using this approach.
3.3. Method of the Study