The influence of gender schema towards Dawan`s mind development in Min Fong Ho`s sing to the dawn.

THE INFLUENCE OF GENDER SCHEMA TOWARDS

DAWAN’S MIND DEVELOPMENT IN MIN FONG HO’S

SING TO THE DAWN

A SARJANA PENDIDIKAN THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree

in English Language Education

By

Clara Nusaca Novitri Zelmapulchra Student Number: 131214094

ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA

i

THE INFLUENCE OF GENDER SCHEMA TOWARDS

DAWAN’S MIND DEVELOPMENT IN MIN FONG HO’S

SING TO THE DAWN

A SARJANA PENDIDIKAN THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree

in English Language Education

By

Clara Nusaca Novitri Zelmapulchra Student Number: 131214094

ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA

THE INFLUENCE OF GENDER SCHEMA TOWARDS DAWAN'S MIND DEVELOPMENT IN MIN FONG HO'S

SING TO THE DAWN

By

Clara Nusaca Novitri Zelmapulchra Student Number: 131214094

Advisor

F.X. Ouda Teda Ena, S.Pd., M.Pd., Ed.D.

ii

Date

ASarjana Pendidikan Thesis on

THE INFLUENCE OF GENDER SCHEMA TOWARDS DAWAN'S MIND DEVELOPMENT IN MIN FONG HO'S

SING TO THE DAWN

By

Clara Nusaca Novitri Zelmapulchra Student Number: 131214094

\1ember Member

I honestly declare that this thesis, which I have written, does not contain the work or parts of the work of other people, except those citedin the quotations and the references, as a scientific paper should.

Yogyakarta, May 10,2017 The Writer,

Clara Nusaca Novitri Zelmapulchra 131214094

LEMBARPERNYATAANPERSETUJUAN

PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS

Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma:

Nama : Clara Nusaca Novitri Zelmapulchra Nomor Mahasiswa :131214094

Dcmi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:

THE INFLUENCE OF GENDER SCHEMA TOWARDS

DAWAN'S MIND DEVELOPMENT IN MIN FONG HO'S

SING TO THE DAWN

beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan

tepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, menga1ihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di Internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.

Demikian pernyataanini yang saya buat dengan sebenarnya.

Dtbuat di Yogyakarta

Padatanggal: 10 Mei2017 Yang menyatakan,

ovitri Zelmapulchra

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ABSTRACT

Zelmapulchra, Clara Nusaca Novitri. 2017. The Influence of Gender Schema towards Dawan’s Mind Development in Min Fong Ho’s Sing to the Dawn. Yogyakarta: Sanata Dharma University.

This study discusses Sing to the Dawn novel by Min Fong Ho, which is about a girl who has to fight for her right to study in the city. The objective of this study is to reveal the influence of gender schema towards Dawan‟s mind

development. There are two research questions related to this study: (1) “What are gender schemas that can be found in Min Fong Ho‟s Sing to the dawn?”, and (2) “How does gender schema influence Dawan‟s mind development in Min Fong

Ho‟s Sing to the Dawn ?”.

The approach used in this study is psychological approach. The psychoanalysis that is used is transference. Transference is a concept that refers to our natural tendency to respond to certain situations in unique and predetermined ways (American Psychoanalytic Association, 2016).

There are two findings in this study. The first finding is gender schemas as a result of the internal factors and external factors. The internal factors come from Dawan‟s own self who already thought that she cannot win the scholarship because she is a girl. The external factors come from people around Dawan who mostly think that a girl should not go to the city to study. The second finding is the influence of gender schemas to Dawan‟s mind development. Dawan‟s mind development consists of beliefs, desires, and actions. Dawan‟s beliefs can be

found in opinions, convictions, and hunches. Dawan‟s desires can be seen on Dawan‟s thoughts when she wants to achieve her dream and to improve herself and when she urges herself after she gets many rejections from people around her, and stating of care to others. As a result of her beliefs and desires, she can act appropriately and proves that she deserves the scholarship to get further education in the city.

For the future study, the writer suggests the future researchers to emphasize the study by doing the analysis towards the influence of gender

schemas towards Kwai‟s mind development as Dawan‟s brother. The writer also suggests English lecturers to use this novel as learning material for Book Report class and Prose class because it is a very good literature work to engage the students interest towards English literature.

vii

ABSTRAK

Zelmapulchra, Clara Nusaca Novitri. 2017. The Influence of Gender Schema towards Dawan’s Mind Development in Min Fong Ho’s Sing to the Dawn. Yogyakarta: Universitas Sanata Dharma.

` Penelitian ini membahas novel Sing to the Dawn karya Min Fong Ho, yang menceritakan tentang seorang anak perempuan yang harus memperjuangkan haknya untuk belajar di kota. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengungkapkan pengaruh dari gender schema terhadap perkembangan pikiran dari Dawan. Terdapat dua rumusan masalah penelitian yaitu: (1) Apa saja gender schema yang dapat ditemukan dalam novel Sing to the Dawn karya Min Fong Ho?”, dan (2)

“Bagaimana pengaruh dari gender schema terhadap perkembangan pikiran Dawan

dalam novel Sing to the Dawn karya Min Fong Ho ?”.

Pendekatan yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah psychological

approach. Psychoanalisis yang digunakan adalah Transference. Transference

merupakan konsep yang merujuk pada kecenderungan alami untuk merespon situasi tertentu dengan cara yang unik dan telah ditentukan (American

Psychoanalytic Association, 2016).

Terdapat dua penemuan dari penelitian ini. Penemuan yang pertama adalah

gender schema dari faktor internal dan faktor eksternal. Faktor internal ditemukan

pada diri Dawan yang telah berpikir bahwa ia tidak dapat memenangkan beasiswa tersebut karena ia adalah anak perempuan. Faktor eksternal ditemukan pada orang-orang di sekitar Dawan yang sebagian besar berpikir bahwa anak perempuan seharusnya tidak pergi ke kota untuk belajar. Penemuan yang kedua adalah pengaruh dari gender schema terhadap perkembangan pikiran Dawan. Perkembangan pikiran Dawan terdiri atas kepercayaan, keinginan, dan tindakan. Kepercayaan dapat ditemukan dalam pendapat, keyakinan, dan dugaan yang dilakukan Dawan. Keinginan Dawan terlihat dari pemikiran Dawan ketika ia ingin menggapai mimpinya dan ingin memperbarui diri setelah ia mendapat banyak penolakan dari orang-orang di sekitarnya, dan menunjukkan kepeduliannya pada orang lain. Sebagai dampak dari kepercayaan dan keinginannya, ia dapat bertindak dengan tepat dan membuktikan bahwa ia pantas mendapatkan beasiswa untuk melanjutkan pendidikan di kota.

Untuk penelitian selanjutnya, penulis menyarankan peneliti selanjutnya untuk mempertegas penelitian dengan melakukan analisis terhadap pengaruh

gender schema terhadap perkembangan pikiran Kwai sebagai saudara laki-laki

dari Dawan. Penulis juga menyarankan dosen Bahasa Inggris untuk menggunakan novel ini sebagai materi pembelajaran untuk kelas Book Report dan Prose karena novel ini sangat bagus untuk menarik ketertarikan mahasiswa terhadap sastra Bahasa Inggris.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, I would like to address my gratitude to Jesus Christ for His blessings and guidance. I believe that I could not have done this thesis without His blessings and guidance that are given to me since I was born until now.

My greatest gratitude goes to my family. I thank my father because he always believes that I can finish this thesis in time and supports me whenever I feel down. I also thank my mother because she always tells me that there is nothing impossible in this world and encourages me to give my best in everything I do. I thank my sisters and brother, Lala, Dinda, Dion, because they always cherish me and accompany me both in hard times and good times.

My greatest gratitude also goes to F.X. Ouda Teda Ena who has been the best advisor and he inspires me so much. He has taught me that I should not be lazy to make my dreams come true. I thank him for his supports and advice throughout these 4 years because he is also my academic advisor. I also thank Sanata Dharma University for the chance to study at Sanata Dharma University and have many meaningful experiences too.

My biggest gratitude and happiness goes to my closest bestfriends in English Education Study Program, Cika, Hapri, Lolita, and Galuh. I thank Cika because she always gives me her support by listening to all of my stories patiently. I also hope that she can finish her thesis this year. I thank Hapri because she always tells me that I have to relax in doing my thesis so that I will not get frustrated. I thank Lolita because she always accompanies me to go to the library

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to finish my thesis. I thank Galuh because she always cheers me up when I think I am not good enough.

My gratitude also goes to my close friends in Class D 2013. The first classmate to be thanked is Vero who has lend me her novel to be my research object. I also thank Rosa Avia, Astri, Deta, Dian, Ensa, Erwan, Viko, Galih, Marcel, Rosa Silalahi, Pinta, Retha, Tya, Tyas, Venia, Vian, Wisnu, Lolita, Cika, Galuh, Hapri, and Yansen. I thank them because they have always been good friends, partners, and companions throughout these 4 years.

My next gratitude goes to my PPL friends in Kolese de Britto. They are Ines, Cahyo, Agnes, Ana, Bruder Anton, Sella, and Stephani. I am so grateful because they have been my new family since I did my PPL. I have learned that hardworking never betrays the result from them.

Finally, I thank everyone who has helped me in finishing this thesis that I cannot mention their name one by one. I will always remember them and their contribution to my life. May God bless them all and fill their lives with happiness and gratitude.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

TITLE PAGE ... i

APPROVAL PAGES ... ii

STATEMENT OF WORK‟S ORIGINALITY ... iv

PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI ... v

ABSTRACT ... vi

ABSTRAK ... vii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ... viii

TABLE OF CONTENTS ... x

LIST OF APPENDICES ... xii

CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study ... 1

B. Research Question ... 4

C. Significance of the Study ... 4

D. Definition of Terms ... 5

CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE A. Review of Related Studies ... 7

B. Review of Related Theories ... 9

1.Gender Schema Theory ... 9

2. Theory of Mind ... 12

xi CHAPTER III. METHODOLOGY

A. Object of the Study ... 16

1. The Summary about the Work Sing to the Dawn ... 16

2. Special Record of the Work ... 17

B. Approach of the Study ... 18

CHAPTER IV. ANALYSIS A. Description of Dawan ... 21

B. Gender Schemas in Sing to the Dawn Novel ... 23

1. Gender Schema as a Result of External Factor ... 23

2. Gender Schema as a Result of Internal Factor ... 35

C. Dawan‟s Mind Development ... 40

1. Beliefs ... 41

a. Opinions ... 41

b. Convictions ... 43

c. Hunches ... 44

2. Desires ... 46

a. Wants ... 46

b. Urges ... 48

c. States of Caring about Something ... 52

3. Actions ... 52

CHAPTER V. CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS, AND SUGGESTIONS A. Conclusions ... 54

B. Implications ... 56

C. Suggestions ... 58

xii

LIST OF APPENDICES

Appendix Page

Appendix A The Summary of Sing to the Dawn Novel ... 61 Appendix B Biography of Min Fong Ho ... 62

1

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

This chapter includes the background of the study, research question, significance of the study, and definition of terms. The background of the study part contains the description of the topic and the rationales that are used related to

Sing to the Dawn novel as the primary data and gender schema theory. The

research question section contains two research questions which are going to be analyzed and discussed. The significance of the study part shows the significance why the study is worth doing. It reveals the purpose of the study which has a relation with the formulated problem in this study. The last is the definition of terms. In this section, specific terms used in this study are defined.

A. Background of the Study

According to Unger (1979), gender is defined as social label, the traits and behavior that are regarded by the culture to men and women (as cited in Brannon, 1996, p.11). People are categorized into two genders which are men and women. There can be found stereotypes on men and women‟s characters in our society. The roles of men and women are differed by the stereotypes. Wood (1994) states that:

Three themes that describe how media represent gender. First, women are underrepresented which falsely implies that men are the cultural standard and women are unimportant or invisible. Second, men and women are portrayed in stereotypical ways that reflect and sustain socially endorsed views of gender. Third, depictions of relationships between men and women emphasize traditional roles and normalize violence against women (p.31).

Those three themes in media show that there are still stereotypes in differing men and women‟s role in this society. Men are seen to be superior than women based on the gender role stereotypes. Men need to have a better education than women. Often time, women are considered as inferior gender and men are the superior gender. Davis (1990, in Wood, 1994, p.33) defines that “women are portrayed as passive, dependent on men, and enmeshed in relationships or housework.” Women are seen as passive gender because they are supposed to obey and follow

what men say. People also underestimate women‟s roles because they are not

independent like men.

Nowadays, parents often treat their children based on this stereotype. In fact, children should not be treated differently because their childhood is the

important phase in someone‟s psychological mechanism. Bell (2005) states that: Regardless of sex differences, the mechanisms by which boys and girls develop adjustment problems may differ, due to differences in biological and psychological development, as well as to the gendered culture(s) in which children develop (p. 3).

The culture can also influence the psychological development for the children. Bem (1981, in Vasta, 1998) states that a schema is a cognitive representation of the general structure of something familiar. The gender-schema model proposes that, children develop schemas for “boy” and “girl”. Sex categorizations which are

3

commonly known as boys and girls can also play the important role in children‟s

development. Early psychoanalytic theory emphasized unresolved childhood experiences that result in adult depression (Bell, 2005, p.30). There should be resolved childhood experiences to result a better way of thinking when someone has already been an adult. Pillow (2012) states that “children notice their own mental states, draw analogies between their actions and experiences and those of others, and learn the prevalent ways of describing behavior in their culture” (p. 62). Children relate their actions based on their experiences. They also learn how to behave appropriately based on their culture.

Many literary works, such as novels, are used to show the influence of gender role stereotypes in our society. Fox (1993) states that:

Everything we read...constructs us, makes us who we are, by presenting our image of ourselves as girls and women, as boys and men. Without doubt, the impact of the school and literature in the formation of identity among youth is great, especially informing their views on gender differences (p. 84).

It means literary works, especially which are written, have a strong influence to the readers. Those works encourage the readers to construct their own image of girls and boys, especially the gender differences.

Those statements represent the action in which people still treat their children based on their gender. Categorizing children and treating them based on their sex-type are problematic. Therefore, gender gaps in earnings can decrease or limit the resources available to meet children‟s rights, such as health care, adequate nutrition and education (UNICEF, 2006, p.40). By conducting this

study, the writer encourages the readers so that they can learn to be better in treating their children based on those considerations.

B. Research Questions

There are two research questions that are used in this study. They are: 1. What are gender schemas that can be found in Min Fong Ho‟s Sing to the

Dawn?

2. How does gender schema influence Dawan‟s mind development in Min

Fong Ho‟s Sing to the Dawn?

C. Significance of the Study

This study is very useful and beneficial for many parties. The significance of the study are:

1. This study can be used as a reference for future study about gender schema and child psychology.

2. This study will contribute to literature study, especially children books, that have relation to gender schema.

3. This study helps the society to learn on how to treat their children wisely

without categorizing children‟s actions based on their gender.

4. This study helps the teachers as educators to understand how to treat their students appropriately without categorizing their genders.

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5. This study helps parents to understand that they are the first people that are in contact to the children so they need to know how to treat their children appropriately.

D. Definition of Terms

There are some terms used in this study. The definition of those terms are described in this section. They are:

1. Gender

According to Unger (1979), gender is defined as social label, the traits and behavior that are regarded by the culture to men and women. The social label is about the characteristics that the culture describes to each sex and sex-related characteristics that individuals assign to themselves (as cited in Brannon, 1996, p. 11). Sherif (1982) states that gender is “a scheme for social cartegorization of

individuals” (as cited in Brannon, 1996, p. 11). 2. Gender Schema

Bem states that a schema is a cognitive representation of the general structure of something familiar. The gender-schema model proposes that, early in life, children develop schemas for “boy” and “girl”. These schemas result

principally from two factors. One is the child‟s inborn tendency to organize and classify information from the environment. The other is our culture‟s heavy

emphasis on providing gender distinguishing cues (such as clothing, names, and occupations), which make these concepts easily identifiable (1981, in Vasta, 1998).

3. Mind

Harris (1991) describes that the understanding of mind is not the work of a theory, it is a "work of the imagination" . He notes that even young children are very good at pretending and imagining and says young children (and adults) understand others' minds by simply imagining what the other feels, thinks, and wants (as cited in Bartsch, 1995, p. 175).

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CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter consists of review of related studies, review of related theories, and theoretical framework. Review of related studies is used to review the studies that have been done previously and to show the difference between this research and those researches in the past. Review of related theories is about theories that are relevant to this research. The last part is theoretical framework which summarizes the theories and reviews used in this study.

A. Review of Related Studies

Martin (2004) states that children are considered as gender detectives who are very curious to search for cues about gender, especially about who should or should not engage in a particular activity, who can play with whom, and why girls and boys are different. Cognitive perspectives on gender development assume that children are being active to search for many ways to find the meaning of something and make sense of the social world that surrounds them. They do all of those things by using the gender cues provided by society to help them interpret what they see and hear (p.67). In 1997, Grolnick, Deci, & Ryan states that many studies show children of parents who are more autonomy

supportive, more likely to spontaneously explore and extend themselves rather than children who have more controlling parents (as cited in Ryan, 2000, p.59).

Miller (2002) explains that in natural settings, it is difficult to assess the role of cognition because patterns of behavior are also influenced by children‟s prior experiences. Nevertheless, a few longitudinal analyses have shown that once children know gender stereotypes, their personal preferences show the gender type more. In her study, it has been difficult to generate neutral stimuli because children appear to seize on any element that may implicate a gender norm so that they may categorize it as male or female. Experimental research also suggests that young children are quick to jump to conclusions about sex differences, even on the basis of only a single instance (as cited in Martin, 2004, p. 69).

Killen (2015) states that current research on conscience examines how young children develop mechanisms for inhibiting negative behavior and promoting positive behavior as a result of internalizing parental norms. Conscience is conceptualizedas an inner guidance or self-regulatory system involving an integration of moral emotion and conduct (with limited focus on cognition). This emphasis is partly on the development of a mutually responsive orientation between the parents and child that sensitizes the child to learn proper conduct, codes of caring for others, and committed compliance. This is exemplified by Kochanska‟s research on conscience (Kochanska & Aksan, 2006) as well as Thompson‟s research on early childhood morality (Thompson, 2014).

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B. Review of Related Theories

In order to do this study, there are many theories related to the topic of the study. These theories used as tools to analyze the novel later. The theories are:

1. Gender Schema Theory

Before gender schema theory appears, there is Piaget‟s theory about the cognitive structures. Piaget believes that intelligence is a process which is not about something that a child has but something a child does (1968, in Vasta, 1998, p. 33). Children‟s intelligence can be understood by seeing their actions or how they operate something. Piaget states that schemes involve two elements. They are

an object in the environment and the child‟s reaction to the object. A scheme is a

psychological structure that reflects the child‟s underlying knowledge and guides

his or her interactions with the world. The child‟s intelligence is defined by the

nature and organization of these schemes (or other cognitive structures during later development).

Bem (1981, in Aubry et al, 2003) explains that children develop an extensive associative network of knowledge about the gender norms of their culture, called gender schemas. Gender schemas affect the way children process new information relevant to gender. The theory also proposes that the phenomenon of sex typing derives from gender-based schematic processing which is from a generalized readiness to process information on the basis of the sex-linked associations that constitute the gender schema.

Bem (1981, in Vasta, 1998) states that a schema is a cognitive representation of the general structure of something familiar. The gender-schema

model proposes that, children develop schemas for “boy” and “girl”. These

schemas result principally from two factors. One is the child‟s inborn tendency to

organize and classify information from the environment. The other is our culture‟s heavy emphasis on providing gender distinguishing cues (such as clothing, names, and occupations), which make these concepts easily identifiable. Bem‟s (1985, in Harter, 2006) gender schema theory describes how the initial labeling of one‟s gender leads the young child to look to the culture where they learn that gender distinctions are very important. It causes them to attend to the content of gender roles for males and females (p.516). While learning that boys are expected to be strong, brave, and assertive but girls are expected to be good, nice, and quiet, boys and girls acquire gender schemas. They adopt the characteristics that the culture considers appropriate for their gender.

Bem also comes up with gender schema theory, which changed gender from being seen as individual traits, but instead shows how society tended to measure gender in a bipolar way as either more masculine or feminine depending upon such things as clothes, body movements, hobbies, employment, etc. which

she termed „cultural fictions‟ (as cited in Kilvington & Wood, 2016, p. 24). This theory is about sex typing between boys and girls that happen in their childhood.

Hendrix & Wei (2009) explains that :

The early gender bias experiences that children encounter can shape their attitudes and beliefs related to their development of interpersonal and intrapersonal relationships, access to education equality, participation in the corporate work world, as well as stifling their physical and psychological well being (as cited in Aina, 2011, p.11).

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This explanation shows that experiences have strong influence to boys and girls‟

attitudes and beliefs. The attitudes and beliefs are related to their roles in the society, especially to the access to get education equally.

Martin & Halverson (1981) states that gender schemas are interrelated networks of mental associations representing information about the sexes. Schemas are not passive copies of the environment, but instead they are active constructions, prone to errors and distortions. Two types of schemas are initially formulated as the superordinate schema and the own-sex schema. The superordinate schema contains listlike information about the sexes. The own-sex schema is defined as a narrow schema containing detailed action plans for self-relevant information (as cited in Lamb, 2015).

Golombok (2002) states that gender schemas refer to organized bodies of knowledge about gender, and are functionally similar to gender stereotypes. Gender schemas influence the way we perceive and remember information about everything around us. As a result, we pay greater attention and are more likely to remember information that is in line with our gender schemas than the opposing information (p. 130). This gender schema has a relation to gender stereotypes and it influences our way of thinking towards everything around us.

Valian (2005) assumes that one way that gender schemas affect women is

in women‟s perception of themselves as worth less and entitled to less. The schemas conversely affect men by leading them to see themselves as worth more and entitled to more. Also, through the chores they are given to do in childhood, women become accustomed to act for others‟ good and to labor for love; while

men become accustomed to be recompensed for their labors (p.205). The core content of the psychological gender schemas for females does not logically entail any of the beliefs making up hostile or benevolent sexism. The content of gender schemas can be used to shore up hostile and benevolent sexism, but it does not imply any form of sexism. Even individuals whose explicit beliefs are not (hostilely or benevolently) sexist are subject to gender schemas (p.200).

2. Theory of Mind

According to Bukatko (2008) theory of mind is the awareness of the concept of mental states of a person and the others (p.288). Some researchers, Baron-Cohen (1995), Fodor (1992), Leslie (1994) argue that the theory of mind is an innate, prepackaged, modular form of knowledge that becomes more elaborated as child‟s cognitive sklls developed (as cited in Bukatko, 2008, p.288). Other researchers, Ruffman et al. (2002) believe that a theory of mind arises from

the child‟s socialization experiences, especially those that encourage an

appreciation of others‟ mental states (as cited in Bukatko, 2008, p.288). This theory is a key cognitive attainment that becomes the bridge between someone and his social world.

According to Silva (2014), the mind is defined and represented in terms of the interplay of dynamic instincts: the drive for sensual gratification, the drive towards egoistic and narcissistic pursuits and the drive towards both aggression and self-destruction (p. 121-122). On the contrary, Perner (1991) explains that the children must appreciate the relation between a symbolic representation which means conceptualizing beliefs as representations that stand for situations in the

13

world and may differ from the actual state of affairs, and its referent to understand the mind (as cited in Pillow, 2012, p. 85). Others have argued that the executive

function is related to the development of children‟s theory of mind. Executive

function includes abilities involved in self-regulation, such as directing attention, resisting distraction, controlling motor responses, inhibiting inappropriate responses, and planning. Carlson and Moses (2001, in Pillow, 2012) suggests:

One aspect of executive function, inhibitory control, is particularly

important for children‟s understanding of beliefs. They view inhibitory control and understanding of beliefs as related in two ways: (a) inhibitory control enables the acquisition of the concept of belief, and (b) inhibitory control facilitates the expression of children‟s false belief understanding (p. 85).

There is a "belief-desire" understanding of mind and action. According to Davidson (1963), beliefs are defined as a general category of thoughts encompassing knowledge, opinions, guesses, convictions, and hunches, that is, all mental states that attempt to reflect something true about the world. More broadly, thoughts include not only serious beliefs but also fanciful ideas, states of imagination, and dreams—mental states that represent fictional worlds. Desires are also to be understood as a general category including wants, urges, and states of caring about something; that is, a whole range of "pro-attitudes" toward or about something (as cited in Bartsch, 1995, p. 5). The underlying structure of our common sense conception of mind requires consideration of both desires and beliefs. People do things because they desire something and believe some acts will achieve it. According to this sort of analysis, the center of a theory of mind is

conceptual triad of constructs actions, beliefs, and desires (Bartsch, 1995). Olson, Astington, & Harris (1988, in Bartsch, 1995) defines theory of mind:

So what is a theory of mind? The events to be explained and predicted are talk and action (some would say behavior). The theoretical concepts are those of belief, desire, intention, and feeling. And, third, these concepts may be used to explain and predict the events in the referential domain, namely talk and action. (p. 113)

Wellman (1993) explains that it is obvious that children's understanding of beliefs and desires is intimately related to their understanding of other mental phenomena such as emotions and perception (As cited in Bartsch, 1995, p. 146-147). Pinker (1997) states that the mind is organized into modules or mental organs, each with a special design that enables it to be an expert in one area of

interaction with the world. The module‟s basic logic is specified by our genetic program. Their operation is shaped by natural selection to solve problems of the hunting and gathering life led by our ancestors in most of our evolutionary history (as cited in Bjorklund, 2007, p. 7).

C. Theoretical Framework

The writer uses some theories to answer the two formulated research questions. Those theories are gender schema theory by Bem (1981) and theory of mind by Davidson (1963). To solve the first problem, the writer uses the theory of Gender Schema by Bem (1981, in Vasta, 1998). Bem (1981) states that a schema is a cognitive representation of the general structure of something familiar. The gender-schema model proposes that, early in life, children develop schemas for

15

child‟s inborn tendency to organize and classify information from the environment. The other is the culture‟s heavy emphasis on providing gender distinguishing cues (such as clothing, names, and occupations), which makes these concepts easily identifiable (as cited in Vasta, 1998). This gender schema theory will be implemented to analyze how Dawan experiences the encourages with the people in her environment and the culture in which she lives. The

experiences and culture create gender schema such as stereotypes towards girls‟

rights compared to boys. Then, to answer the second research question, the writer uses the "belief-desire" understanding of mind and action from Davidson (1963, in Bartsch, 1995). He states that the center of a theory of mind is conceptual triad of constructs actions, beliefs, and desires (p. 5).

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CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

This chapter includes the object of the study and the approach of the study. The object of the study includes the summary of the work, special record of the work, and awards achieved by the author. The approach of the study discusses the characteristics, procedure, application, and the purpose of the approach.

A. Object of the Study

The object of the study is the novel entitled Sing to the Dawn by Min Fong Ho. This object of the study delivers the summary of the object of the study, special record about the object, and also awards behind the work.

1. The Summary about the Work Sing to the Dawn

This novel was first published in 1975 by William Morrow & Co. Sing to

the Dawn consists of one hundred and sixty pages. Min Fong Ho is a

Chinese-American writer. Min Fong Ho has won many prizes from her novels and mostly her novels are about children fiction.

Sing to the Dawn novel tells the reader about Dawan, a young village girl

who lives in Thailand. She wins a scholarship to study in a city school. Her brother, Kwai, places second and is initially jealous. Kwai‟s jealousy causes a conflict between the two previously-close siblings. This hostility is further

17 exacerbated by Dawan's father, who feels that the city is not a place for a girl. Dawan faces obstacles at every turn, and eventually overcomes these obstacles and proves to herself and to others that she is fully capable of handling the scholarship and she can take the responsibility to improve her village later. Min Fong Ho shows the gender role discrimination that becomes a common thing for our society. Even in education field, gender role stereotypes also influence men

and women‟s in getting the appropriate education for themselves. 2. Special Record of the Work

There are some special records about the literature works entitled Sing to

the Dawn by Min Fong Ho. This novel has been made a movie, TV, and also

theatrical adaptions and those works are:

a. The animated feature film, Sing to the Dawn, co- produced by MediaCorp Raintree Pictures, the Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA), Infinite Frameworks (IFW) and a new financing partner, Scorpio East Pictures, is set to hit the big screens in June 2008! This inspirational animation is based on the award-winning novel of the same title by Minfong Ho.The movie was localised into an Indonesian version with the title "Meraih Mimpi" and released on Indonesian cinemas on 16 September 2009. (“Infocomm”).

b. Sing to the Dawn was adapted into a critically acclaimed musical by

Singaporean composer Dick Lee in 1996 and was directed by Steven Dexter. The musical has proved extremely popular after its initial run, and has been restaged several times, including a restaging by the Singapore

Management University's production house in 2003 and a joint production between Raffles Institution and Raffles Girls' School in 2004.

(“Infocomm”).

c. First prize, Council of Interracial Books for Children, 1975, for Sing to the Dawn.

d. First prize, Annual Short Story Contest of Singapore, Ministry of Culture, Singapore, 1982.

B. Approach of the Study

The study uses a psychological approach to analyze the novel. Freud (in Brannon, 1996, p.6) emphasizes the role of instinct and physiology in personality formation and he finds that instincts provide the basic energy for personality and

that child‟s perception of physical differences between boys and girls was a pivotal event in personality formation. Freud sees childhood experiences within the family explains how physiology interacts with experience to influence personality development.

Burman (2008) explains that psychoanalytic approaches feature is used to highlight how concepts of childhood closely connect with those of dominant cultural understandings of both emotion and memory. Psychoanalytic theory is used as an interpretive framework to understand what is at stake in the dynamics of child-vieewing and child-saving. Bornstein (2001, in Burman, 2008) explains that:

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Humanitarian interventions realised through children generate complex emotional as well as economic relationships, with ambiguous personal and political effects. These include fostering a transnational belonging at the expense of sometimes engendering local jealousines and inequalities, while the dynamic of individual empowerment they institute can, paradoxically, work to disempower parents. (p. 14).

The psychoanalysis that is used is Transference. Transference is a concept that refers to our natural tendency to respond to certain situations in unique, predetermined ways--predetermined by much earlier, formative experiences usually within the context of the primary attachment relationship (American Psychoanalytic Association, 2016). Transference is what is transferred to new situations from previous situations. In psychoanalysis, old reactions constitute the core of a person's problem, and that he or she needs to understand them well in order to be able to create choices that are more useful.

Freud states that the word "transference" to refer to “this ubiquitous psychological phenomenon, and it remains one of the most powerful explanatory tools in psychoanalysis today, both in the clinical setting and when psychoanalysts use their theory to explain human behavior” (APA, 2016). Transference describes the tendency for a person to base some perceptions and expectations in present day relationships on his or her earlier attachments, especially to parents, siblings, and significant others. Thus transference leads to distortions in interpersonal relationships, as well as nuances of intensity and fantasy. This approach helps the

writer to analyze Dawan‟s mind development because mind has relation to psychology. The influence of gender schema towards Dawan‟s mind development

is studied by relating psychological approach to Dawan‟s thoughts that appear in the novel.

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CHAPTER IV

ANALYSIS

This chapter presents the result of the study. This chapter is divided into three parts. The first part is about the description of Dawan, the main character of

Sing to the dawn novel. The second part is about Gender Schema that can be

found in the novel. The third part is about Dawan‟s mind development, in relation to gender schemata.

A. Description of Dawan

According to Abrams (2005) characters are people that are presented in the dramatic of narrative work, who are interpreted by the readers as being endowed with moral and disposional qualities that are expressed in how the characters say and what they act (p. 2). The readers understand and identify the characters by reading statements that explain the characters. The statements can be about the actions that are done by the character or the characters‟ sayings. In addition, Abrams (1985) states that there are two characters in the novel, the first is a major character which is the main character who always appears in the whole story of the novel and the second is a minor character which does not fully appear in the story and their roles just to support the development of the major character (p.20). Boyd (2012) states that in fictional literature, authors use many different types of characters to tell their stories. The first is a dynamic character which is a person

who changes over time, usually as a result of resolving a central conflict or facing a major crisis. Most dynamic characters tend to be central rather than peripheral characters, because resolving the conflict is the major role of central characters.the second is a static character which is someone who does not change over time; his or her personality does not transform or evolve.

In this novel, Dawan is considered as a major character. Dawan always appears in the whole story which means she appears from the beginning of the story until the end. There are also conversations that are about her eventhough she is not included in those conversations. Dawan is also a dynamic character because she is the central character and she changes over time as a result of facing a central conflict.

Dawan, a young village girl, wins a scholarship to study in a city school. Her brother, Kwai, places second and is initially jealous. His jealousy causes a conflict between the two previously-close siblings. This hostility is further exacerbated by Dawan's father, who feels that the city is not a place for a girl. Dawan faces obstacles at every turn, and eventually overcomes these obstacles . She proves to herself and to others that she is fully capable of handling the scholarship and the responsibility it entails. The conflicts in this novel are mostly about Dawan, the major character. Dawan also changes over time, from a pessimistic person into an optimistic perso. Therefore, she is the dynamic character in this novel.

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B. Gender Schemas in Sing to the Dawn Novel

To find out gender schemas that can be found in this novel, the writer uses theory by Bem (1981, in Vasta, 1998). In this theory, schemas result principally

from two factors. One is the child‟s inborn tendency to organize and classify

information from the environment. This factor is classified as the internal factor. The other is the culture‟s heavy emphasis on providing gender distinguishing cues (such as clothing, names, and occupations), which make these concepts easily identifiable (as cited in Vasta, 1998). This factor is considered as external factor.

The writer finds that there are internal factors and external factors that create gender schemas. The internal factors come from Dawan‟s herself who thinks that she does not deserve the scholarship because she is a girl. The external

factors come from people around Dawan. They are Dawan‟s father, Dawan‟s

mother, Kwai, Noi and Ghan, the old monk, Dawan‟s grandmother and Bao. The external factors seem to be the strongest affecting factor to create gender schemas.

1. Gender Schema as a Result of External Factor

These external factors that create gender schema come from many parties. As what Bem (1981) states that the culture emphasize on providing gender distinguishing cues (such as clothing, names, and occupations), which make these concepts easily identifiable (as cited in Vasta, 1998). The culture is defined as beliefs that are inherited in the society that makes the people have their own schema towards boys and girls. In this novel, the writer finds that there are gender schemas that are resulted from characters around Dawan. Those people are

grandmother, and Bao. Dawan‟s father, Dawan‟s mother, Kwai, Noi, Ghan, and

the old monk are the characters who oppose Dawan‟s optimism to study in the

city. There are two characters who support Dawan from the beginning until the end of the story. They are Dawan‟s grandmother and Bao.

a. Dawan’s Father

Dawan‟s father is the first person who forbids Dawan to go to the City and

get a better education. He believes that no girl should learn more while all they can do is just taking care of home and the children.

Dawan found strength in it and continued haltingly, “I won the prize. I can go to the City and study some more now.” She stole another glance at her father. “Can‟t I?”

Dawan addressed the puddle again, “Please, can I? ...”

“And Kwai? What about Kwai? He won nothing?” Her father‟s voice

was rough, and yet tinged with a hard wonder. Dawan sensed the pain in her father, and dared not look directly into his eyes.

“There is only one prize,” she whispered.

There was a long pause, then he spat out, “You took your own

brother‟s chance away from him!” (p. 28 and 30).

From the conversation, it can be concluded that Dawan‟s father gives more

expectation to his son, Kwai, rather than to Dawan. He is very disappointed and angry when he knows that the one who gets the scholarship is Dawan. For him, Dawan cannot do anything for the family if she gets the scholarship because she is

a girl. Dawan‟s father only focuses on Kwai because he certainly knows that his boy can make him proud. Moreover, he points out that Dawan takes Kwai‟s chance to go to the city. In this case, he regrets his decision to take Dawan to school if he knows that Dawan will get a chance to study more in the city. This

conversation shows that Dawan‟s father does not want her daughter to get better education and the one who should have chance to study more, should be his boy.

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“ If you‟d won, of course it‟d be different,” the father answered. “You‟re a boy, and more schooling would have been useful for you.” He paused, then

added wistfully, “And useful for me too. Why, you could come back and

help me to...” (p. 55).

This statement goes to Kwai when the whole family of Dawan are eating

dinner together. Dawan‟s father shows his disappointment towards the result. For

him, it will be useful if the winner of the scholarship is Kwai, instead of Dawan.

Kwai is seen as someone that can bring the change to the family‟s fate. Dawan‟s

father hopes that Kwai can bring a better situation for the whole family if he gets the scholarship and goes to the city. He creates a schema that a boy will always be useful for the family instead of a girl because a boy is still seen as a superior. If a boy gets a better education, there will be a better life for the family, while a girl who gets a better education is believed as something useless.

“But what right does your sister have? She‟s only a girl,” the peasant

retorted roughly (p. 103).

This statement appears right after Dawan‟s father is angry because he

finally knows that Kwai places at the second rank and Kwai does not tell him

about that. In addition, he keeps forcing Kwai to take Dawan‟s chance because he

thinks he has a power to forbid Dawan to go to the city. He knows that Kwai will go to the city if Dawan cannot take the scholarship because he places at the

second rank. Dawan‟s father still thinks that Dawan has no right to get better

education because a girl should not be smart and will always end up staying at home. For the society, a boy should be given more chance rather than a girl because he can bring the change and be more useful.

“Why not!” the big farmer shouted at her, “Damn it, I‟ll tell you why not!” Dawan could see the veins on his neck as he shouted. “Because you‟re only a girl, because there‟s nothing you can do, even with a fancy education, because...” (p. 105).

Dawan‟s father still insists that Dawan has taken his brother chance to get

the scholarship. He states that Dawan forces her brother to let her go to the City and get a better education while the fact is that she is only a girl. So, when Dawan

asks the reason behind her father‟s rejection, her father states that a girl cannot do

anything even if she gets more education rather than a boy. A girl is seen as a useless person and cannot do great things to bring the change for the family.

b. Dawan’s Mother

In this novel, Dawan‟s mother is a character that shows how women are

inferior rather than men. Women can only follow what their husbands say and often times do not have their own point of views.

“You should not encourage her so!” Dawan‟s mother called from the veranda. “You know her father won‟t let her go. She‟ll be even more disappointed if you praise her now. At least spare her that.” (p. 30).

Dawan‟s mother actually cares of what Dawan feels toward her father‟s

rejection. She does not want Dawan to expect more because she knows that her husband will not give permission for Dawan to go to the city. Dawan‟s mother creates a schema about women who will always follow their husbands‟ opinions. When her husband thinks that Dawan should not get the scholarship, she will have that thoughts too in her mind because all she can do is supporting her husband‟s statement. She has no right to ignore or reject it.

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“I see what you‟re up to!” she shouted to the grandmother, “You‟re going to try and talk Noi into arguing for Dawan in front of her father, aren‟t you?” She brushed a wisp of hair away from her forehead, and Dawan noticed small beads of sweat there. “You think that Noi will trot on over and convince my husband, just like that, to let Dawan go off to the City

school? There‟s no hope in that, old woman! His heart was too set on his son going. He‟ll never think it right for Kwai‟s sister, a mere girl, to go in his place.” (p. 31)

This statement appears while Dawan‟s mother is arguing with Dawan‟s

grandmother. Dawan‟s grandmother is going togo to Noi‟s house to talk to Noi so

that Dawan can get support from her while talking to her father. Noi is Dawan‟s

cousin who has ever lived in the city. Dawan‟s mother is very angry to Dawan‟s grandmother because she has already frustrated that they will not be supported by Noi because her husband has already had his own view that cannot be changed easily. For her, a girl should not fight for her right because there is no use of doing

that. She thinks that Dawan‟s father cannot be convinced that Dawan should go to the city while the only thing that becomes his priority is his son, Kwai.

Finally her mother sighed heavily and muttered, “It is not my place to say

anything.” She turned her gaze back to the baby on her hip, avoiding Dawan‟s eyes. (p. 32).

While stating this hopeless statement, Dawan‟s mother actually wants to help Dawan to get her father‟s permission. However, she thinks that she has no right to decide whether Dawan can go to the City or not. A woman has no power to resist against her husband eventhough she wants to do it. She knows that Dawan can still go to the city and should not be forbidden just because she is a girl. As a woman, she cannnot make any decision by herself and all she can do is just following her husband command.

At the end of Chapter Three in this novel, Dawan‟s mother finally decides to accompany Dawan to get Noi‟s support. She still thinks that she cannot

convince her husband by herself or by asking grandmother‟s support. She knows that she needs Noi‟s support because Noi is the one from her family who had ever lived in the City before. She encourages herself to fight for Dawan‟s right to get a

better education because she believes that Dawan can also bring change to the family eventhough she is a girl.

c. Kwai

Kwai is Dawan‟s brother and also known as Dawan‟s rival to get the

scholarship. Kwai is disappointed because the one who wins the scholarship is not him, but his own sister, Dawan.

“It‟s fine for you to spout off ideals like that,” her brother interrupted rudely, his voice growing louder and sharper at every sentence. “But what

can you do to bring them about? You‟re only a girl. You won‟t be able to

fight, or to argue loudly, or to lead people in times of crisis. All you‟re

good at is studying --- that‟s how you got the scholarship in the first

place.” (p. 51).

Kwai used to be close to Dawan and they often share their ideas together. They usually support each other and it is seen when Kwai asks their father to permit Dawan to go to school with him in their village. However, after the result comes out, Kwai makes a distance with his sister. He even underestimates his

sister‟s capability to bring the change for their family and their village. Eventhough Dawan has explained that she wants to get better education because she needs the knowledge to improve their village and also their lives, Kwai still insists that, as a girl, Dawan cannot achieve her dream because she will not be

29 able to fight, to argue, or even to lead people. For him, all girls can do is just studying but they cannot apply it to get a better life.

“Why go and study more when all you‟re going to end up doing sooner or

later is cook and raise babies anyway, like Mama?” he demanded, punctuating every few words by hurling a pebble onto the smooth river surface (p. 111).

Kwai states this statement when he meets Dawan on the day she will leave the village to study in the city. Once again, Kwai is in doubt to let his sister take the scholarship and go far away from their village. He questions the reason why Dawan should learn far away from home and he believes that Dawan will end up having fate like any other girls in the village.

d. Noi and Ghan

Noi is Dawan‟s cousin. She and her husband, Ghan, have ever lived in the city before. She lives in the city to work there and earn three times more money in the city than anyone can earn in the village.

She listened more closely to the adult conversation, and heard Noi saying,

“But what can a young girl hope to learn, alone in the City? There is

nothing good or healthy there, my Aunt. She will only become bitter and

angry.” (p. 35).

That conversation is only between Dawan‟s mother, Noi and Ghan. The

gender schema refers to a young girl who is seen as someone fragile that needs to be protected. Nobody trusts a girl to leave alone, especially in the city, a place where there is no relatives and families. People do not expect anything to a girl who studies in the City because for them, it is useless. Furthermore, a girl is not an independent person, like a boy, so it will be hard for close family to let girls

live independently in the city. In addition, Noi describes the city as a place that creates tough life which is not the same as what is in people‟s imagination.

“That is true,” Ghan confirmed. “There is no sense in a young girl going off into the City alone.” (p. 35).

To suppport her wife, Ghan states the same statement about how a girl should not leave the village to live alone in the city. Noi and Ghan has the same opinion about the city because for them, that place is not appropriate for a girl to live alone. It will be different if the one who lives alone in the City is a boy. There will be more supports for him because boys are trusted and know how to manage themselves and feed themselves. By the time a girl has a chance to live in the city, there will be more contradictory opinions towards it rather than pro opinions.

“But that‟s exactly the point,” Noi broke in sharply. “She doesn‟t have to go to the City, does she? She can go to school here.” (p. 35).

From the statement above, the writer finds that Noi creates her own point of view about how a girl should get education. Girls may get more education, yet they are not expected to do many things for the society by earning the knowledge from school. Noi keeps insisting that there is no reason for a girl to study in the city because they can still learn in the village. Moreover, the city is seen as a dangerous place for her because she has been through tough life in there. For her, it will be better for a girl to live in the village and keep doing her fate to cook and raise the baby, rather than going through tough life in the city which is full of unfairness and injustice for poor people like villagers.

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“You see what happens when you try to have your own way, Dawan? In the long run, it‟s not worth it to fight with boys. You‟ve only got a cut leg now, but next time it may not be your own brother you‟re fighting with,

and you may be hurt even more. Believe me, it‟s painful in this world to get in the way of men.” (p.87).

Noi is in the market to help Dawan when Dawan‟s leg gets hurt. It is

injured because Kwai is very angry to her and pushes her away. Noi seems to be angry to Dawan because Dawan still struggles to get support to talk to her father, while her own brother is very angry to her. The gender schema that can be found

in Noi‟s statement is that girls should not fight the boys because girls are weak

and have no power. Girls should just obey and accept what the boys say. Once girls try to resist boys, they should accept the consequences of getting hurt. Therefore, many girls gives up their chance if it means they have to counter boys.

e. The Old Monk

When Dawan almost gives up to find any supports so that her father can permit her to go to the city, she has an idea to ask the old monk to talk to her father. Her father respects the old monk so much, that is why her father might allow her to go if the one who talks to him is the old monk.

Like a tired breeze through dry weeds, the old monk sighed softly. “How can I help you do something that I don‟t believe in? You‟re still young, child, but I don‟t think you should waste any more time dreaming such

futile dreams. What can a mere schoolgirl hope to achieve anyway? Be

satisfied with that...” (p. 75).

The old monk used to think wisely. For him, to make a change, someone does not need to go to the city and gets education there, especially if that person is

a girl. He clearly states that he believes a girl should not waste her time to improve herself. Having a dream to get better education in the city is a fustile and impossible thing to achieve. The old monk also states that a girl should just accept what is available for them and not expect more. It means, girls should not have a chance to learn more because they need to be grateful of their fates and be satisfied with that.

In addition, the old monk is actually a neutral person who just accepts the condition in the village. The old monk does not want to help Dawan because he

does not want to be involved in internal conflict in Dawan‟s family. For him, what Dawan‟s father does can be justified because it is not safe for a girl to live alone in the city which full of strange people and far from home. Although at the

beginning, the old monk seems to underestimate Dawan‟s role as a girl, at the end,

he states his opinion wisely, yet still shows gender schema about how a mere girl should not waste her time to dream a fustile and useless dream while there are so many things to be grateful in the village.

f. Dawan’s Grandmother

Unlike the other characters who show their opposite opinions toward

Dawan‟s scholarship, Dawan‟s grandmother consistently shows her support to Dawan from the beginning until the end of the novel.

“Child,” she said, touching her granddaughter‟s hand lightly, “I‟m proud of you.” (p. 30).

Gender schema that appears in this Dawan‟s grandmother‟s statement is

33 get the scholarship, will always make the family proud and she will support it no

matter what. Dawan‟s grandmother shows that she is really proud of Dawan‟s achievement of getting the scholarship eventhough Dawan‟s father shows the opposite response. She encourages Dawan to talk to her father again and find

some supports so that Dawan‟s father can change his mind about boys and girls

should have the equal chance to get more education in the city.

The old woman grunted, and squeezed Dawan‟s hand firmly. “Now don‟t

you start being scared all the time too, child! Your mother‟s bad enough...let‟s not have two rabbits in the house! Besides, what is there to be afraid of?” (p. 102).

This time, Dawan‟s grandmother shows that a girl should not just follow what is commanded to her and what people say. She convinces Dawan that she does not need to be afraid of achieving something that she believes. Dawan should be brave to fight for her right to get better education and make changes to her village by studying more knowledge in the city. Dawan‟s grandmother says

„rabbit‟ which refers to girls or women who are seen as inferior gender that do not

even have chance to speak up their mind. She does not want Dawan to grow up to be a common girl in the village who cannot even dare to struggle for their own improvements.

In a voice slow and heavy with age, the old woman said, “You have a long

life ahead of you yet, child, and this is just the first step. If you‟re this timid now how on earth are you going to face all the struggle still before you? Gather yourself together, and face the world out there with clear bold

eyes. You hear me?” (p. 116).

Grandmother is a supportive character who always sees the positivity in everything. For her, a girl, especially Dawan, still has a long journey of life.

Eventhough someone is a girl, it does not mean she has to stop walking when superior people say they have to stop. Girls have their right to get a better life and be given the same chance to make changes. Dawan‟s grandmother wants to show

that going to the City is only the beginning of Dawan‟s responsibility towards her

life. A girl should be brave and independent so that she can face all of the obstacles and problems that may appear later. Moreover, it is possible for a girl to take a risk and learn on how to improve themselves, just like what the boys do.

g. Bao

Bao is Vichai‟s sister who sells lotus buds and caged sparrows every

morning in the market. Vichai is Dawan‟s classmate at the school. Dawan has just met Bao in the market when she wants to buy lotus bud for the old monk but the only person who wants to sell it in ten pennies is only Bao.

Bao nodded excitedly. Taking a deep breath, she blurred out, “We girls

have always had to stand aside and let our brothers do all the challenging

things. And when we become wives, we‟ll have to stand aside for our husbands. And when we‟re mothers, we‟ll stand aside for our children.”

(p. 78-79).

Bao states a gender schema that refers to girls‟ roles in their society. Girls are described as figures who are only created to accompany boys in their life. Girls are not created to stand in their own feet and be independent. Girls should let boys do challenging things because girls are considered as weak and dependent people. It can be seen from the statement that Bao wants to point out how girls are not even trusted to do many things boys do. Girls and women are there in the

35 society to follow men and obey what men say to them. Women rely too much on men and cannot decide their own path in life.

However, Bao adds a statement:

“You‟ve earned your chance for flying to a bigger world, to pursue your own ideals. Don‟t yield to your brother now. You have to push forward

and struggle if you want to be free, and equal to your brother.” (p. 79). This statement means Dawan has to fight for her right to get a better education. She has been given chance to learn more knowledge in the City, which

not many of girls from the village may get. „Flying‟ does not mean literally flying

like a bird does. If the cage door is already opened, someone is free to fly.

Dawan‟s door is opened because she has given chance to get the scholarship. It

means, she should not be afraid to fly because she has been free now to improve herself. It is now her responsibility to push herself and struggle for her right to be equal to her brother and use the chance to be useful for her life, her family, and her village.

2. Gender Schema as a Result of Internal Factor

The internal factor appears in Dawan‟s herself. At the beginning, she becomes a pessimistic girl who cannot see a chance for her to go to the city. After she knows that she is the winner of the scholarship, she becomes an optimistic girl who wants to fight for her right to get better education.

a. Pessimism

Dawan is so pessimistic about her own capability to get the scholarship. Then Kwai understood, and sat down next to her again, "Is it because today that marks come in and we find out who won the scholarship that you don't want to go? Sister, are you afraid of finding out? ( p. 11).

From Kwai‟s statement, it can be inferred that Dawan does not want to

move and go to school because she does not want to find out the winner of the scholarship to continue the school in the city. She looks worried and afraid of the announcement because she is not sure that she can win the scholarship.

After a while, she glanced at her brother and asked, “What if you did do best in our village, Kwai? You will go, won‟t you?” (p. 11).

Dawan‟s pessimistic attitude is shown in this statement where she responds

her brother‟s question. She is very sure that her brother, Kwai, will win the

scholarship because he used to be the best in their village and he can go to the city without thinking further or facing any obstacles. When her brother assumes that she is afraid to face the result, she cannot answer it quickly because she needs a few minutes to give response. However, she does not give any answer towards her

brother‟s question. She states another questions that show her uncertainty of her capability to win the scholarship.

“He likes you more,” she insisted in a low voice. “Especially today, when you will receive the government scholarship.”

“ Stop talking as if I had already won that scholarship!” Kwai

interrupted. There are plenty of other students in our village who might get

it, you kow.”

“ Like who?” Dawan challenged.

Kwai fell silent, as if he was mentally considering every member of

his class who might win. Finally he blurted, “How about you, Sister? You could win.”

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In Dawan‟s statement, „he‟ refers to their teacher at school. According to

Dawan, their teacher focuses on Kwai more than the other students. The teacher often talks about many problems that appear in their village with Kwai. Dawan thinks that the teacher really wants Kwai to get the scholarship. Moreover, Dawan also makes her own gender schema when she states that she will not go to the city and win the scholarship because she is a girl. For her, the one who deserves the scholarship must be a boy. She underestimates herself as a girl compared to Kwai who has more chance to win the scholarship.

“You know why,” Dawan said without looking at her brother, her hand clenched tight over the edge of the wooden bridge. “I‟m a girl, Kwai.” (p.

14)

At the end of Chapter One from Sing to the Dawn novel, Dawan once again gives a statement about how she underestimates herself. She creates her

own schema about a girl‟s right. For her, she is just a girl who should not go to the

city and get a better education there. She believes that her teacher will choose Kwai instead of her because she thinks that it will be easier for a boy to be sent to the City. In this case, Dawan realizes that eventhough she always gets good marks in the class and studies harder than Kwai does, there is still no possibility to get the scholarship. This schema influences her way of thinking.

b. Optimisim

The teacher tells the whole class about the winner of the scholarship. The one who gets the scholarship is Dawan which is a surprising news for everybody.

That cheerful voice seemed to ring in her ears now, as her bare feet trailed

along the path, toward home. “Kwai already knows the „good news‟,” she thought to herself uneasilty, “and he hates me for it.” (p. 25)

Dawan knows that Kwai is so disappointed because he cannot win the scholarship. While Dawan is surrounded by a crowd of curious and chattering classmates, she saw her brother, Kwai, is standing alone in the doorway and silently watching her in the middle of her admirers. Seeing him standing there, Dawan thinks that Kwai is not happy for her. Once again, she feels she does not deserve the scholarship.

Her heart sank: her father would be in an even worse mood than usual, making her news that much harder to break. She tried to speak, but the fear in her heart chained down her words (p. 27-28).

At that time, Dawan is afraid of telling her father about the news. She knows that her father will be angry when he knows that the one who wins the scholarship is herself and not her brother. Her father has many expectations

towards Kwai because Kwai is a boy. This condition creates a schema in Dawan‟s self that she cannot get her father‟s support to go to the City to get a better

education, unless she is a boy. As a girl, it is frightening to speak to her father,

especially when the news that she wants to share is a „bad‟ news for her father. She looked up at him appealingly, and continued, “How can I give up my

one chance? You know Father has already said that this will be the last year he will pay for my school-fee. If I don‟t use this scholarship I won‟t

be able to get any more schooling. But you‟ll have many more chances yet. He said he‟ll send you to school as long as you want to go on studying.” (p. 50)

39

This statement goes to Kwai after Kwai tells Dawan that he actually places at the second rank, right after his own sister. Kwai says that he will be sent to the City if his sister cannot go to the City. Dawan is so surprised to hear that information because she is afraid that Kwai will tell their father that he places at the second rank. While Dawan is arguing with her brother, she directly creates a schema about gender stereotypes. She tells Kwai that she needs to go to the City because there will be no chance for her to study again, while Kwai has many chances to learn because their father will not hesitate to pay for his study in the village. For Dawan, she should take the scholarship because her father does not want to pay further for her study if she keeps studying in the village. The scholarship is the one and only chance for her, as a girl, to get a better education.

And Dawan herself? What could she do? She was just a girl. Wouldn‟t she

grow up just to be a wife and a mother? What could she do with more learning? (p. 56)

A schema about gender stereotypes appears in Dawan‟s mind. She

questions her role in her society as a girl. In her society, a girl is destined to be a wife and a mother without having better education. For them, there is no use of getting better education because girls cannot do anything for the society. A boy is expected more to make changes in the society. Dawan tries to think about what she can do if she gets better learning. In this case, she is really in doubt about her right to be more than just a wife and a mother because girls are inferior and boys are more superior.

“... I can read now only because I was given a chance to, when my brother helped talk our father into letting me study years ago and...” (p. 63)

eventhough life is getting harder to deal with. There are many problems in life, but I should always see possibilities in every problem. I should not give up easily when I have to face problems which are difficult to be solved. Dawan has taught me that being optimistic helps me to improve myself because it brings confidence in me.

The second thing that I get is that I have to be grateful of my condition right now. Dawan has to fight for her right to study, while I can get that chance without even struggling. I have to be grateful because my parents have enough money to pay the school fee so that I can be an educated girl. Dawan inspires me to always see the positivity in every condition and to fight for many unfortunate girls out there who do not have chance to study like me.

The third thing that I get is I have to treat people equally. I should not classify people based on their race, religion, gender, and so on. This novel teaches me that genders should be treated the same. Children should have the same chances and rights. Girls, especially village girls, should also get the same chance to get better education like boys. The differences should be used as a tool to unite people.

2. Implications

This study can be implicated to education field because it is about gender problems that are commonly found in our society. This study can be used as a material to teach character building for the students. To build an appropriate character in children‟s mind, the teachers may use this study to engage the students‟ attention to the the problems towards gender equality.

C. Suggestions

In this part, the writer provides suggestions for future researchers who are interested in Sing to the Dawn novel and suggestion for English teachers in using this novel as a learning material to teach English.

1. Suggestion for Future Researchers

There are many aspects that can be studied from this novel. This study only analyzes the influence of gender schemas towards Dawan‟s mind development. The writer suggests the future researchers to emphasize the study by doing the analysis towards the influence of gender schemas towards Kwai‟s mind development because Kwai is the second major character.

2. Suggestion for English Teacher

Sing to the Dawn has been known as a novel that is required to be read by

Semester 1 students of English Education Study Program, especially for Book Report class. This novel is a very good literary work to engage the students interest towards English literature. What makes this novel special is that the English language that is used is easy to be understood so that the students can easily read the book and follow the story without facing many problems in understanding the language. The story plot is also easy to follow. Therefore, this novel is recommended to be used as learning material for Book Report class and

59

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61 Appendix A

The Summary of Sing to the Dawn Novel

The story is about a young Thai girl called Dawan, who wins a scholarship to study in a city school. She faces the disapproval of her father who thinks that studying is not for girls and she should give the scholarship to her brother, Kwai, as he gets the second rank in the test. Dawan tries many ways to convince her father to let her pursue her studies.

Dawan tries to convince her father that he should give her a chance to study. When she approaches anyone for help, she keeps on failing, but she never gives up. She continues to do so and finally succeed in her mission. Even though she fails many times, she manages to convince her father by herself in the end. After getting her father‟s permission, she almost changes her mind to go to the city because she is afraid of losing her memory of singing together at the dawn with her brother. However, Dawan decides that she has to go because it is her responsibility to study in the city and improve the village‟s condition in the future. The story ends with Dawan sitting on the bus going to the city. When she passes the bridge, she sees her brother, Kwai, singing the song that they used to sing every dawn. Then, she sings together with Kwai until she cannot see Kwai anymore. She looks at the lotus flower her grandmother gives her to convince her to go. As she sees it unfold, she becomes more convinced that her grandmother is right about the fact that she should go to the city like the unfolding lotus.

62 Appendix B

Biography of Min Fong Ho

Ho Minfong (b. 7 January 1951, Rangoon, Myanmar -), an award-winning author of literature for children and young adults. Ho won the Cultural Medallion Award, the highest arts accolade in Singapore, in 1997. Although Ho is a Singaporean, she has spent most of her life abroad, living in Taiwan, Laos and Cambodia and using them as setting for her stories. She is currently based in the United States.

Ho was raised in Thailand in an idyllic countryside, a pleasant childhood that left a deep impression on her adult life and her writing career. She considers Chinese as her first language and the "language of my heart" because as a child, her China-born parents had communicated to her both chidingly and lovingly in Chinese. As she grew older, she picked up Thai from the busy streets, marketplaces and temple fairs of Bangkok. Thai then became a functional language. She learned English only later on in school, and thinks of it as the "language of my head".

Ho was educated in schools in Bangkok and then in Taiwan. She went on to study economics at Cornell University, USA, where she earned her Bachelor's and a Master's degrees. Her writing career began at Cornell, when she penned her thoughts to overcome homesickness. A compendium of notes about how she missed her home became the basis of her first book, Sing to the Dawn, which was published in 1975. Upon graduating from Cornell, Ho returned to Singapore and stayed there for some time.