AN ANALYSIS OF ERIN GRUWELL’S MOTIVATION TO BUILD STUDENTS’ CHARACTERISTICS WITH DIFFERENT RACES IN RICHARD LAGRAVENESE’S FILM “FREEDOM WRITER’

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AN ANALYSIS OF ERIN GRUWELL’S MOTIVATION TO BUILD STUDENTS’ CHARACTERISTICS WITH DIFFERENT RACES IN RICHARD LAGRAVENESE’S FILM “FREEDOM WRITER’

THESIS

By

Suhaibatul Islamiah 07360139

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION UNIVERSITY OF MUHAMMADIYAH MALANG

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This thesis was defended in front of the examiners of the Faculty of Teacher Training and Education of University of Muhammadiyah Malang

and accepted as one of the requirements to achieve Sarjana Degree in English Education

MOTTO AND DEDICATION

MOTTO

“Everyone has dreams. Only those who appreciate the process

of the journey can experience them while awake

”

Matt Maresca

“Everyone who does any efforts to get knowledge, Allah

will

make her way easy toward heaven”

HR Muslim

DEDICATION:

I dedicated this thesis to:

My beloved Parent,

My Brothers and my Friend.

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LETTER OF AUTHENTICITY

The undersigned below:

Name : Suhaibatul Islamiah

NIM : 07360139

Department : English Department

Faculty : Faculty of Teacher Training and Education

I declare that the work presented in this thesis was carried out by myself and does not incorporate without acknowledgement any material previously submitted for a degree or diploma in any uversity. To the best of my knowledge, this thesis does not contain any material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in text.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Alhamdulillah, praise be to God for endless guidance and mercy in the successful of this thesis. First of all, I would like to convey my deep thankful to the Almighty God, Allah SWT.

To share my debt and thank, I would sincere gratitude appreciate the following individuals from whom I received valuable things from the beginning up to the last process of writing this thesis, they are:

1. Zakaria Hambali and Asiah. A, (My wonderful parents who always gives me love, advices, prays, motivation, and financial supports), My brother Yahya, (For your supports and advices).

2. My first advisor Dra. Erli Wahyuni, M.Pd, the biggest to her for the worthy advice and suggestion, helpful correction to complete and finish the thesis. 3. My second advisor Puji Sumarsono, M.PD for the worthy advice and

suggestion, helpful correction to complete and finish the thesis.

4. All of the lectures in English Department who have taught and educated me during study at University of Muhammadiyah Malang.

5. Many friends that I could not mantion one by one for their help during the preparation of this thesis.

Hopefully Allah SWT will give them in return all of good things that have been given to me. Amin

5 Someone who has become a new chapter in my life, Recky Putra Purnadry, S.T for time, love, support, patient and protect me, you have given me the greatest support in finishing it. Thanks for all.

Malang, November, 2014 The Writer,

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

APPROVAL ... i

LEGALIZATION ... ii

MOTTO & DEDICATION ... iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ... iv

ABSTRACT. ... v

TABLE OF CONTENTS ... vi

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the Study ... 1

1.2 Statement of the Problem. ... 3

1.3 Purposes of the Study ... 4

1.4 Significance of the Study. ... 4

1.5 Scope and Limitation ... 5

1.6 Definition of the Key Terms ... 5

CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE 2.1 Literature ... 6

2.1.1 Film ... 7

2.1.1.1 Element of film ... 8

2.1.1.2 Kinds of Film ... 14

2.2 Race ... 18

2.3 Motivation ... 19

2.3.1 Intrinsic Motivation ... 21

2.3.2 Extrinsic Motivation ... 22

2.4 Building Students’ Character ... 23

CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHOD 3.1 Research Design ... 28

3.2 Research Object ... 29

3.3 Research Instrument ... 29

3.4 Approach ... 30

3.5 Data Collection ... 31

3.6 Data Analysis ... 32

CHAPTER IV: FINDING AND DISCUSSION 4.1 Findings ... 33

4.1.1 Erin Gruwell’s Motivation to Build Students’ Characteristics with Different Races ... 33

4.1.1.1 Omitting Violence ... 34

4.1.1.2 Stopping Racism ... 37

4.1.1.3 Leading the Students for Success ... 40

4.1.1.4 Instilling Trust and Respect ... 41

4.1.2 Erin Gruwell’s Efforts to Build Students’ Characteristics with Different Races in Richard Lagravenese’s Film “Freedom Writer” ... 43

4.1.2.1 Making the Students Aware that Racism Should be Vanished ... 43

4.1.2.2 Making Enjoyable Learning ... 46

4.1.2.3 Giving Them Support to Struggle for Their Future 47 4.1.2.4 Respecting and Making the Students Trust Others 50 4.1.2.5 Financing the Students’ Need Voluntarily Using Her Own Material ... 52

4.1.2.6 Taking the Students to the Museum to See the Stories of Violence Victims ... 54

4.1.2.7 Taking the Students to Meet the Famous Holocaust Survivors ... 55

4.1.3 The Effects of Erin Gruwell’s Motivation to Build Students’ Characteristics with Different Races in Richard Lagravenese’s Film “Freedom Writer” ... 57

4.1.3.1 Erin Gruwell Succeeded to Reach her Goals ... 57

4.1.3.2 Erin Gruwell was Admired by Others ... 61

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CHAPTER V: CONCLUSIONS AND LESSONS

5.1 Conclusions ... 65 5.2 Suggestions ... 66

REFERENCES APPENDIX

REFERENCES

Arp, Thomas, R. & Johnson, Greg. 2006. Perine’s Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense. Boston. Thomson Wardsworth.

Ary, D., Jacobs, and Razavieh, A. 2002. Introduction to Research in Education Sixth Edition. US: Thomson Wadsworth Inc.

Brown, Douglas. 2001. Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language pedagogy. Second Edition. San Fransisco. Addison Wesley Longman, Inc. Pearson Education Company. San Fransisco State University.

Dirks, Tim. 2010. Main Film Genres. Retrieved on May 23, 2013. from www.filmsite.org/genres.html

Culler, Jonathan. 1997. Literary Theory. New York : Oxford University Press. Hartiningsih, Sri. 2001. Introduction to Literature. Unpublished Handbook.

Malang: University of Muhammadiyah Malang.

Klarer, Mario. 2006. An Introduction to Literary Studies: Second Edition. London. Routledge.

Koesnosoebroto, S.B. 1988. The Anatomy of Prose Fiction. Jakarta: Depdikbud, Dikti, P2LPTK.

Law, Ian. 2010. Racism and Ethnicity: Global Debates, Dilemmas, Direction, Pearson Education Limited. 2010. London. Licensing Agency Ltd.

Meyer, Michael. 1990. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Boston: Bedford books of St Martin's Press.

Ormrod, Jeanne, E. 2000. Educational Psychology: Developing Learners. New Jersey. Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Ryan, R. & Deci, E. 2000. Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivations: Classic Definitions and New Directions. New York. Academic Press. University of Rochester.

Stam, Robert. 2000. Film Theory: An Introduction. Malden. Blackwell Publishing.

Santrock, John. 2001. Educational Psychology. Boston. McGraw Hill Companies Inc.

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Widiyawati (2013) entitled A Study on the Student’s Motivation in Choosing the

Elective Subjects at English Department at University of Muhammadiyah Malang.

Wiyatmi. 2006. Pengantar Kajian Sastra. Buku Pengantar Teori Bagi Para Mahasiswa Maupun Umum Sebagai Dasar Untuk Mengkaji Sastra. Yogyakarta. Pustaka.

Zastrow, Charles & Ashman, Krist. 2001. Understanding Human Behavior and the Social Environment. Wadsworth. A Division of Thompson Learning Inc.

______. 2010. Eleven Principles of Effective Character Education. Character Education Partnership. United States of America. www.character.org.

.CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

This chapter presents background of the study, statement of the problems, purposes of the study, significance of the study, scope and limitation, and definition of the key terms.

1.1Background of the Study

There is a reason why people to do something. There is something which

enhances the people’s eagerness, which is called motivation. It is a psychological factor which can emerge enthusiasm or eagerness toward thing. Motivation plays

important role in people’s live because it causes them to keep certain behavior to

reach their goal in their life. It will empower enthusiasm, increase initiatives, and help people to direct their energy to reach their goal.

Santrock (2001: 394) defines motivation is the reasons why people behave the way they do. It means that the person who is motivated, he/she will be energized, directed, and sustained. In daily life, almost all people need motivation to keep their life runs well and satisfy their need. A person who feels no impetus or inspiration to act is thus characterized as unmotivated, whereas someone who is energized or activated toward an end is considered motivated. Therefore, motivation is important to have.

Most of people who work or play with others are concerned with motivation. However, the motivation which belongs to someone may be different. They may have less or more motivation. More or less motivation which belongs to

2

someone to do something can influence his/her success in accomplishing the work or achieving the goal.

Realizing the importance of motivation, there are many ways which are done by people to motivate themselves or others to reach the goals in this live. People motivate each other as like what was done by Lagravenese as a filmmaker. He taught motivation to the viewers of his film through Freedom Writer film. Giving motivation through film is an effective way because film has become one of the most popular media in literature nowadays. Film differs from other previous literary work, such as novel and drama. It is easier to enjoy than novel or short story because it spends less time to see the description through its depictions. However, film has also the sameness with drama and novel because it uses actors as major means of expression and has elements contained in drama, short story, or novel. Klarer (2006) states:

Film is means of photographic depiction far surpass the means of realistic portrayal in the theater. Film is categorized into performing art because it uses actors as its major means of expression. The visualization of the action is not left merely to the imagination of a viewer, but rather comes to life in the performance.

Based on the quotation above, it can be known that film is categorized into art which also uses actors as the major means of expression and emphasizes visualization of the action. So, it makes more real life performance. Since film is included performing art, it may represent the reflection of human life. Therefore, it can be one of media to teach something good and important like giving motivation.

Freedom Writer film is interesting to study because it implies worth lessons. This film was directed by Richard Lagravenese. It won Humanitas Prize

3

in the first year it was released in 2007. This film is categorized into crime drama genre, which runs in 122 minutes. This film tells about a young teacher, names

Erin Gruwell, who motivates to build students’ characteristics with different races.

Making the students live in tolerance is one of Erin’s motivations to build

students’ characteristics with different races.

Related to the study about motivation, there was a previous study conducted by Widiyawati (2013) entitled A Study on the Student’s Motivation in Choosing the Elective Subjects at English Department at University of Muhammadiyah Malang. It focused on the English Department students’ motivations in choosing English for Young Learner, Business English,

Translation, and to identify the types of English Department students’ motivations

in choosing an elective subject. The study showed that the students had both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to choose the elective subject. However, the intrinsic motivations more dominantly influenced them in choosing the elective subject.

Different from the previous study, this study focuses on motivation to

build students’ characteristics with different races in Richard Lagravenese’s film “Freedom Writer”. Therefore, this study is interesting to conduct.

1.2Statement of the Problems

To clarify the focus of this study, the researcher formulates the problems as follows:

1. What is Erin Gruwell’s motivation to build students’ characteristics with

4

2. How are Erin Gruwell’s efforts to build students’ characteristics with

different races in Richard Lagravenese’s film “Freedom Writer”?

3. What are the effects of Erin Gruwell’s motivation to build students’

characteristics with different races in Richard Lagravenese’s film “Freedom Writer”?

1.3Purposes of the Study

Based on the statement of the problems above, it can be formulated that the purposes of the study as the following:

1. To know Erin Gruwell’s motivation to build students’ characteristics with

different races in Richard Lagravenese’s film “Freedom Writer”.

2. To identify Erin Gruwell’s efforts to build students’ characteristics with

different races in Richard Lagravenese’s film “Freedom Writer”.

3. To understand the effects of Erin Gruwell’s motivation to build students’ characteristics with different races in Richard Lagravenese’s film

“Freedom Writer”.

1.4Significance of the Study

The result of this study has significance for two parties, the readers of this study and the English Department students. Generally, this study is significant for the readers of this study. The readers are expected to get more insight about motivation. Especially, this study is significant for the English Department students. They are expected to have high motivation like Erin Gruwell as the

5

teacher of English who finally succeeded to build her students characteristics into good characteristics.

1.5Scope and Limitation

The scope of this study is focused on motivation. Motivation focused here

is limited on Erin Gruwell’s motivation, the efforts done by Erin Gruwell, and the effects of Erin Gruwell’s motivation to build students’ characteristics with different races in Richard Lagravene’s film Freedom Writer.

1.6Definition of the Key Terms

Motivation _{is the reasons why people behave the way they do, which means that} the person who is motivated, he/she will be energized, directed, and sustained Santrock (2001).

Freedom Writer _{is the film directed by Richard Lagravenese and released in} 2007, which is categorized into crime drama genre, runs in 122 minutes (IMDB.com.inc., 2013)

Erin Gruwell _{is the main character of Freedom Writer film, who is a teacher of} English at High School, whose students live by generations of strict moral codes. Many are in gangs and almost all knew somebody that had been killed by gang violence (IMDB.com.inc., 2013).

x

Widiyawati (2013) entitled A Study on the Student’s Motivation in Choosing the Elective Subjects at English Department at University of Muhammadiyah Malang.

Wiyatmi. 2006. Pengantar Kajian Sastra. Buku Pengantar Teori Bagi Para Mahasiswa Maupun Umum Sebagai Dasar Untuk Mengkaji Sastra. Yogyakarta. Pustaka.

Zastrow, Charles & Ashman, Krist. 2001. Understanding Human Behavior and the Social Environment. Wadsworth. A Division of Thompson Learning Inc.

______. 2010. Eleven Principles of Effective Character Education. Character Education Partnership. United States of America. www.character.org.

1

This chapter presents background of the study, statement of the problems, purposes of the study, significance of the study, scope and limitation, and definition of the key terms.

1.1Background of the Study

There is a reason why people to do something. There is something which enhances the people’s eagerness, which is called motivation. It is a psychological factor which can emerge enthusiasm or eagerness toward thing. Motivation plays important role in people’s live because it causes them to keep certain behavior to reach their goal in their life. It will empower enthusiasm, increase initiatives, and help people to direct their energy to reach their goal.

Santrock (2001: 394) defines motivation is the reasons why people behave the way they do. It means that the person who is motivated, he/she will be energized, directed, and sustained. In daily life, almost all people need motivation to keep their life runs well and satisfy their need. A person who feels no impetus or inspiration to act is thus characterized as unmotivated, whereas someone who is energized or activated toward an end is considered motivated. Therefore, motivation is important to have.

Most of people who work or play with others are concerned with motivation. However, the motivation which belongs to someone may be different. They may have less or more motivation. More or less motivation which belongs to

2

someone to do something can influence his/her success in accomplishing the work or achieving the goal.

Realizing the importance of motivation, there are many ways which are done by people to motivate themselves or others to reach the goals in this live. People motivate each other as like what was done by Lagravenese as a filmmaker. He taught motivation to the viewers of his film through Freedom Writer film. Giving motivation through film is an effective way because film has become one of the most popular media in literature nowadays. Film differs from other previous literary work, such as novel and drama. It is easier to enjoy than novel or short story because it spends less time to see the description through its depictions. However, film has also the sameness with drama and novel because it uses actors as major means of expression and has elements contained in drama, short story, or novel. Klarer (2006) states:

Film is means of photographic depiction far surpass the means of realistic portrayal in the theater. Film is categorized into performing art because it uses actors as its major means of expression. The visualization of the action is not left merely to the imagination of a viewer, but rather comes to life in the performance.

Based on the quotation above, it can be known that film is categorized into art which also uses actors as the major means of expression and emphasizes visualization of the action. So, it makes more real life performance. Since film is included performing art, it may represent the reflection of human life. Therefore, it can be one of media to teach something good and important like giving motivation.

Freedom Writer film is interesting to study because it implies worth lessons. This film was directed by Richard Lagravenese. It won Humanitas Prize

in the first year it was released in 2007. This film is categorized into crime drama genre, which runs in 122 minutes. This film tells about a young teacher, names Erin Gruwell, who motivates to build students’ characteristics with different races. Making the students live in tolerance is one of Erin’s motivations to build students’ characteristics with different races.

Related to the study about motivation, there was a previous study conducted by Widiyawati (2013) entitled A Study on the Student’s Motivation in Choosing the Elective Subjects at English Department at University of Muhammadiyah Malang. It focused on the English Department students’ motivations in choosing English for Young Learner, Business English, Translation, and to identify the types of English Department students’ motivations in choosing an elective subject. The study showed that the students had both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to choose the elective subject. However, the intrinsic motivations more dominantly influenced them in choosing the elective subject.

Different from the previous study, this study focuses on motivation to build students’ characteristics with different races in Richard Lagravenese’s film “Freedom Writer”. Therefore, this study is interesting to conduct.

1.2Statement of the Problems

To clarify the focus of this study, the researcher formulates the problems as follows:

1. What is Erin Gruwell’s motivation to build students’ characteristics with different races in Richard Lagravenese’s film “Freedom Writer”?

4

2. How are Erin Gruwell’s efforts to build students’ characteristics with different races in Richard Lagravenese’s film “Freedom Writer”?

3. What are the effects of Erin Gruwell’s motivation to build students’ characteristics with different races in Richard Lagravenese’s film “Freedom Writer”?

1.3Purposes of the Study

Based on the statement of the problems above, it can be formulated that the purposes of the study as the following:

1. To know Erin Gruwell’s motivation to build students’ characteristics with different races in Richard Lagravenese’s film “Freedom Writer”.

2. To identify Erin Gruwell’s efforts to build students’ characteristics with different races in Richard Lagravenese’s film “Freedom Writer”.

3. To understand the effects of Erin Gruwell’s motivation to build students’ characteristics with different races in Richard Lagravenese’s film “Freedom Writer”.

1.4Significance of the Study

The result of this study has significance for two parties, the readers of this study and the English Department students. Generally, this study is significant for the readers of this study. The readers are expected to get more insight about motivation. Especially, this study is significant for the English Department students. They are expected to have high motivation like Erin Gruwell as the

teacher of English who finally succeeded to build her students characteristics into good characteristics.

1.5Scope and Limitation

The scope of this study is focused on motivation. Motivation focused here is limited on Erin Gruwell’s motivation, the efforts done by Erin Gruwell, and the effects of Erin Gruwell’s motivation to build students’ characteristics with different races in Richard Lagravene’s film Freedom Writer.

1.6Definition of the Key Terms

Motivation _{is the reasons why people behave the way they do, which means that} the person who is motivated, he/she will be energized, directed, and sustained Santrock (2001).

Freedom Writer _{is the film directed by Richard Lagravenese and released in} 2007, which is categorized into crime drama genre, runs in 122 minutes (IMDB.com.inc., 2013)

Erin Gruwell _{is the main character of Freedom Writer film, who is a teacher of} English at High School, whose students live by generations of strict moral codes. Many are in gangs and almost all knew somebody that had been killed by gang violence (IMDB.com.inc., 2013).