Analysis of Context of Utterances in Some Humorous Scenes in 'The Simpsons'.
ABSTRACT
Penulisan Tugas Akhir ini dimaksudkan untuk memenuhi syarat lulus dan
untuk memperoleh gelar Sarjana dari Jurusan Bahasa Inggris, Fakultas Sastra,
Universitas Kristen Maranatha. Penulis memilih film The Simpsons yang oleh
banyak kritikus dinyatakan sebagai salah satu acara televisi terbaik dan dalam
majalah TIME tahun 1998 dinyatakan sebagai serial komedi situasi televisi terbaik
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Simpsons, 2006: 1).
Film The Simpsons menceritakan kehidupan yang dialami masing-masing
pribadi dalam keluarga Simpson. Banyak hal lucu yang mereka alami dalam
kehidupan mereka. Hal-hal yang lucu tersebut baru dapat dipahami apabila ujaranujaran yang disajikan dihubungkan dengan konteks tertentu.
Penulis ingin menemukan konteks apa yang menyebabkan ungkapanungkapan dalam adegan-adegan film tersebut dianggap lucu. Untuk tujuan
tersebut penulis memilih sejumlah adegan yang jelas lucu dalam episode Homer
Barbershop Quartet. Setelah penulis mendata ungkapan-ungkapan dalam adeganadegan tersebut, penulis menganalisis konteks yang menyertai ungkapanungkapan tersebut dengan menggunakan teori discourse analysis. Teori ini
menyatakan bahwa bahasa dalam komunikasi tidak dapat dipisahkan dari
konteksnya (Nunan, 1993: 6, 7, 20). Berdasarkan teori ini, ungkapan-ungkapan
iii UNIVERSITAS KRISTEN MARANATHA
yang bila diisolasi dari konteksnya tidak lucu, akan menjadi lucu jika
dihubungkan dengan konteks tertentu. Hasil analisis dalam penelitian ini
diharapkan dapat membantu pemirsa The Simpsons dalam memahami hal-hal lucu
yang disajikan.
iv
UNIVERSITAS KRISTEN MARANATHA
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE.......................................................................................................... i
TABLE OF CONTENTS.................................................................................. ii
ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................... iii
CHAPTER ONE: INRODUCTION
Background of the Study.........................................................................
Statement of the Problem ........................................................................
Purpose of the Study ...............................................................................
Method of Research ................................................................................
Organization of the Thesis ......................................................................
1
2
2
3
3
CHAPTER TWO: THEORY OF DISCOURSE ANALYSIS……………….5
CHAPTER THREE: ANALYSIS OF CONTEXTS OF UTTERANCES IN
SOME HUMOROUS SCENES IN THE SIMPSONS ................................... .9
CHAPTER FOUR: CONCLUSION ............................................................... 23
BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................. 26
APPENDICES :
Synopsis of The Simpsons ...................................................................... 28
Table of Analysis .................................................................................... 31
ii
UNIVERSITAS KRISTEN MARANATHA
APPENDICES
The appendices in this thesis consists of information about The Simpsons,
including the descriptions of the characters, script of Homer’s Barbershop
Quartet, a synopsis of Homer’s Barbershop Quartet, which is used as the source of
data, and a table of analysis.
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an animated sitcom which first appeared on American
television on December 17, 1989. It is created by Matt Groening
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Simpsons, 2006:1). The names of the characters
in the Simpsons are named after Groening’s sisters, mother, and father. Bart
represents Groening’s name. The Simpsons tells about the daily life of each
member of the family.
The Descriptions of Characters
The Simpsons consists of Abe, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. They live
in Springfield. Their neighbor is Ned Flanders, a godly yet fretful man. He always
appears as an irritatingly optimistic and cheerful person. He always comments on
the Bible rules since he has been raised in a freaky beatnik family who do not
believe in any rules.
28
Homer is a devoted husband who loves his family but he is thoughtless,
irresponsible, and greedy. He works as a safety inspector at the Springfield
Nuclear Power Plant.
Abe, Homer’s father, is about seventy years old. He wears his false teeth
and he cannot shut up his mouth. He is always talking, which makes people angry.
Marge is Homer’s wife. She is intelligent and sympathetic and she is also a
good housewife. Her daughter, Lisa is eight years old, but she is brilliant and
sympathetic. She has such good manners, perceptions, and eloquence as of grownup. Bart, the eldest child, is a ten-year-old boy, who is naughty and a notorious
troublemaker. Maggie, the youngest daughter in the Simpsons, is smart and selfreliant.
There are other characters involved in the episode of Homer’s Barbershop
Quartet, such as Moe, the owner of Moe’s bar; Milhouse and Nelson, Bart’s
friends; Apu, a Hindu who works at Kwik-E-Mart; Seymour Skinner, the
principal of Springfield Elementary School; Chief Wiggum, a Springfield police
officer; Quimby, the mayor of Springfield; Timothy Lovejoy, the pastor of the
local church; and Barney, a drunkard.
Synopsis of Homer’s Barbershop Quartet
Homer’s Barbershop Quartet tells about Homer’s past as a member of a
singing group called the Be Sharps. One day in Springfield swap meet, everybody
goes to the booths that offer second-hand goods. Bart and Lisa find an album of
the Be Sharps. They find Homer’s photo on the front cover of the album and ask
Homer about it. Homer tells them the story of his singing career eight years ago.
29
At first, Homer’s singing group consists of Apu, Chief Wiggum, and
Principal Skinner. One day, a theatrical agent, Nigel comes to Homer and offers to
represent his singing group. It is a great opportunity for them to be successful and
it is also the time when Chief Wiggum must stop his singing career since the
theatrical agent does not like him. Homer, Apu, and Principal Skinner try to find a
new member to replace Chief Wiggum. They hear Barney singing in toilet and his
voice is beautiful. Then a new group is formed, consisting of Homer, Apu,
Barney, and Principal Skinner. They name their group the Be Sharps.
Many people like the Be Sharps’ songs and the group is successful until
they have no more idea of how to write good songs. Now the Be Sharps disbands.
Each member of the Be Sharps goes back to their former jobs.
30
Table of Analysis
Data
Utterances
Context
1
Bart: Religion?
Milhouse: learning?
Nelson: Let’s get out of here!
Lisa: Wow, an original Malibu Stacey from
1958! Oh…
Man: Yeah, they took her off the market
after some kid put both his eyes out.
Marge: Your teenage son or daughter will
think that this wishbone necklace is really
cool!
Man: I doubt my son or daughter is that
stupid?
Bart: Dad when did you record an album?
Homer: I’m surprised you don’t remember
son. It was only eight years ago.
Abe: That’s my son up there!
Man: What the balding fat-ass?
Abe: Uh, no, the…Hindu guy.
BKA
2
3
4
5
6
BKA
PAR
BKA
BKA
Apu: Apu Nahasapeemapetilon.
Nigel: Hmm. Never fit on a marquee, luv.
From now on, your name is Apu de
Beaumarchais.
Apu: That is a great dishonor to my ancestor
and my god…but okay!
Moe: Those girls you paid to scream are
doing a great job.
Nigel: I didn’t pay any girls to scream.
Moe: Huh?!
BKA
8
Homer: What’d you kids get?
Bart: I bought this cool pencil holder.
Homer: Heh heh, far out man. I haven’t seen
a bong in years.
BKA
9
Homer: Well, one of us made some money!
I sold a guy our spare tire. D’oh!
BKA
10
Homer: Yeah, but I’m not gonna let it
change our lives. I’ll be the same loving
father as I’ve alw ays been.
Marge: Hmm, have you seen Bart?
Homer: Ehh, I stuck him somewhere.
Homer: Look, what I get to you dad.
Abe:Ohh, gimme the key.
BKA
7
11
31
BKA
BKA
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
Reporter: I have a question for Apu de
Beaumarchais. Isn’t it true that you’re really
an Indian?
Apu: By the many arms of Vishnu, I swear it
is a lie.
Reporter: Barney! How did you join the
group?
Barney: They found me on the men’s room
floor.
Homer: We would like to dedicate this next
number to a very special woman. She is a
hundred years old and she weighs over two
hundred …tons.
Man: This enormous woman will devour us
all! Aah!
Barney: David Crosby? You’re my hero!
David: Oh, you like my music?
Barney: You’re a musician?
Homer: They took it off the market because
they find out it was poisonous but if you’re
dumb enough to eat it, you deserve to die.
Bart!
Bart: What?
Apu: It may not be glamorous, but it’s good,
honest work.
Woman: How much is this quart of milk?
Apu: Twelve dollars.
Homer: Hey, fellows, I’m back…
Carl: Oh, that’s great. Your replacement
was getting tired. Hey Queenie, you can go!
Homer: I’ll give her a good home.
Homer: I’d like to thank you on behalf of
the group, and I hope we passed the
audition.
# BKA: the background knowledge of the participant
# PAR: the participant and the relationship between them.
# TS: the setting.
32
BKA
BKA
TS
BKA
BKA
BKA
BKA
BKA
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
The Simpsons is an animated sitcom which began its debut on television
on December 17, 1989. It consists of 17 seasons and 368 episodes. It was claimed
by TIME magazine in 1998 that The Simpsons was the best television series of the
20th century (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Simpsons, 2006: 1).
The humorous scenes in The Simpsons are generally supported by the
contexts because the language used in the scenes does not always contain
humorous expressions. This is evident when we only read the script and do not
watch the movie. To understand the humorous scenes, we have to learn about the
participants (characters), the setting, the whole story, and the background of the
Simpsons.
The characters that we need to know is, for example, Flanders, who is a
fretful and annoying person. He always comments on the Bible and its rule. The
setting of place in The Simpsons is usually at home, workplace, and school.
The background of the Simpsons consists of the family and their education.
The members of the Simpsons are Abe, Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie.
The Simpsons belong to a middle class family. We can see it from their house,
1
UNIVERSITAS KRISTEN MARANATHA
which is quite big; it consists of four relatively large bedrooms. They have two
cars; one is a station wagon and the other one is a sedan.
Homer is a high school graduate while Marge, Homer’s wife, is not clear
whether she is a high school graduate or a college graduate, but she is known as
an intelligent housewife. Bart is a fourth grader and Lisa is assumed to be a third
grader.
With such background, I decide to choose the contexts of utterances in
some humorous scenes in The Simpsons as the topic of my thesis. Generally, we
know context as a situation when one utterance is said. In my analysis, I want to
show that non-linguistic context is important in order to make one utterance
humorous and without it, the utterance might not be humorous. I analyze my data,
which are in the forms of utterances and their contexts, by using theories of
discourse analysis and context based approach.
Statement of the Problem
In this thesis, I would like to discuss the following problems:
1. What utterances can be found in some humorous scenes in The Simpsons?
2. What types of context support the utterances in creating the humorous scenes
in The Simpsons?
Purpose of the Study
In this thesis, I want to present:
1. the utterances found in some humorous scenes in The Simpsons.
2. the types of context that support the utterances in creating the humorous
scenes in The Simpsons.
2
UNIVERSITAS KRISTEN MARANATHA
Method of Research
To conduct this study, I have followed some steps. Since The Simpsons
consists of a number of episodes, I chose the Homer’s Barbershop Quartet
episode. I watched it several times in order to understand the story and the
humorous scenes. After watching it several times, I looked for the script, which
was available on the Internet. I did not write the script manually from the scenes
because the utterances, which were in the forms of subtitles, were not always
accurate. Some words may be missing, and some scenes were presented so fast
that I did not have enough time to write it down. I used the script from the Internet
in order to get more accurate data. After getting the script, I matched the scene in
the film with the written utterance (script). Then, I selected the scenes which were
humorous as well as the written utterances. In analyzing the contexts of the
utterances in some humorous scenes, I collected the data and put them in sequence
to make the analysis of the contexts easier to manage. The focus of my analysis is
the utterances and their contexts in some humorous scenes. The result of the
analysis is presented at the end of this thesis in the form of table.
Organization of the Thesis
This thesis consists of four chapters. Chapter One; which is preceded by
the Preface, the Table of Contents and the Abstract, contains the Background of
the Study, the Statement of the Problem, the Purpose of the Study, the Method of
Research, and the Organization of the Thesis. Chapter Two presents the theories
which are used to analyze the data of this study. Following is Chapter Three, the
Analysis of the Contexts of Utterances in Some Humorous Scenes in The
Simpsons. The Conclusion of the analysis is put in Chapter Four. This thesis ends
3
UNIVERSITAS KRISTEN MARANATHA
with the Bibliography, which contains the list of the sources of the theories used
in this thesis. The Appendices in this thesis consist of a synopsis of The Simpsons,
the script, and a table containing the result of the analysis.
4
UNIVERSITAS KRISTEN MARANATHA
BIBLIOGRAPHY
REFERENCES
Holy Bible NIV. Michigan: Zondervan,1989.
Humor. Wikipedia, A Free Encyclopedia. 6 March 2006
Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary Tenth Edition. Massachusetts:
Springfield, 2002.
Nunan, David. Introducing Discourse Analysis. England: penguin Group, 1993.
Schiffrin, Deborah. Approaches to Discourse. Cambridge: Blackwell, 1994.
Situation comedy. Wikipedia, A Free Encyclopedia. 17 March 2006
.
The Simpsons. Wikipedia, A Free Encyclopedia. 6 March 2006 .
Walton, Rick . What is Humor ?. 28 Sept 2003.
26 UNIVERSITAS KRISTEN MARANATHA
Source of Data
The Simpsons : Homer’s Barbershop Quartet. The Complete Fifth Season Disc 1,
2005.
27
UNIVERSITAS KRISTEN MARANATHA
Penulisan Tugas Akhir ini dimaksudkan untuk memenuhi syarat lulus dan
untuk memperoleh gelar Sarjana dari Jurusan Bahasa Inggris, Fakultas Sastra,
Universitas Kristen Maranatha. Penulis memilih film The Simpsons yang oleh
banyak kritikus dinyatakan sebagai salah satu acara televisi terbaik dan dalam
majalah TIME tahun 1998 dinyatakan sebagai serial komedi situasi televisi terbaik
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Simpsons, 2006: 1).
Film The Simpsons menceritakan kehidupan yang dialami masing-masing
pribadi dalam keluarga Simpson. Banyak hal lucu yang mereka alami dalam
kehidupan mereka. Hal-hal yang lucu tersebut baru dapat dipahami apabila ujaranujaran yang disajikan dihubungkan dengan konteks tertentu.
Penulis ingin menemukan konteks apa yang menyebabkan ungkapanungkapan dalam adegan-adegan film tersebut dianggap lucu. Untuk tujuan
tersebut penulis memilih sejumlah adegan yang jelas lucu dalam episode Homer
Barbershop Quartet. Setelah penulis mendata ungkapan-ungkapan dalam adeganadegan tersebut, penulis menganalisis konteks yang menyertai ungkapanungkapan tersebut dengan menggunakan teori discourse analysis. Teori ini
menyatakan bahwa bahasa dalam komunikasi tidak dapat dipisahkan dari
konteksnya (Nunan, 1993: 6, 7, 20). Berdasarkan teori ini, ungkapan-ungkapan
iii UNIVERSITAS KRISTEN MARANATHA
yang bila diisolasi dari konteksnya tidak lucu, akan menjadi lucu jika
dihubungkan dengan konteks tertentu. Hasil analisis dalam penelitian ini
diharapkan dapat membantu pemirsa The Simpsons dalam memahami hal-hal lucu
yang disajikan.
iv
UNIVERSITAS KRISTEN MARANATHA
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE.......................................................................................................... i
TABLE OF CONTENTS.................................................................................. ii
ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................... iii
CHAPTER ONE: INRODUCTION
Background of the Study.........................................................................
Statement of the Problem ........................................................................
Purpose of the Study ...............................................................................
Method of Research ................................................................................
Organization of the Thesis ......................................................................
1
2
2
3
3
CHAPTER TWO: THEORY OF DISCOURSE ANALYSIS……………….5
CHAPTER THREE: ANALYSIS OF CONTEXTS OF UTTERANCES IN
SOME HUMOROUS SCENES IN THE SIMPSONS ................................... .9
CHAPTER FOUR: CONCLUSION ............................................................... 23
BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................. 26
APPENDICES :
Synopsis of The Simpsons ...................................................................... 28
Table of Analysis .................................................................................... 31
ii
UNIVERSITAS KRISTEN MARANATHA
APPENDICES
The appendices in this thesis consists of information about The Simpsons,
including the descriptions of the characters, script of Homer’s Barbershop
Quartet, a synopsis of Homer’s Barbershop Quartet, which is used as the source of
data, and a table of analysis.
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an animated sitcom which first appeared on American
television on December 17, 1989. It is created by Matt Groening
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Simpsons, 2006:1). The names of the characters
in the Simpsons are named after Groening’s sisters, mother, and father. Bart
represents Groening’s name. The Simpsons tells about the daily life of each
member of the family.
The Descriptions of Characters
The Simpsons consists of Abe, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. They live
in Springfield. Their neighbor is Ned Flanders, a godly yet fretful man. He always
appears as an irritatingly optimistic and cheerful person. He always comments on
the Bible rules since he has been raised in a freaky beatnik family who do not
believe in any rules.
28
Homer is a devoted husband who loves his family but he is thoughtless,
irresponsible, and greedy. He works as a safety inspector at the Springfield
Nuclear Power Plant.
Abe, Homer’s father, is about seventy years old. He wears his false teeth
and he cannot shut up his mouth. He is always talking, which makes people angry.
Marge is Homer’s wife. She is intelligent and sympathetic and she is also a
good housewife. Her daughter, Lisa is eight years old, but she is brilliant and
sympathetic. She has such good manners, perceptions, and eloquence as of grownup. Bart, the eldest child, is a ten-year-old boy, who is naughty and a notorious
troublemaker. Maggie, the youngest daughter in the Simpsons, is smart and selfreliant.
There are other characters involved in the episode of Homer’s Barbershop
Quartet, such as Moe, the owner of Moe’s bar; Milhouse and Nelson, Bart’s
friends; Apu, a Hindu who works at Kwik-E-Mart; Seymour Skinner, the
principal of Springfield Elementary School; Chief Wiggum, a Springfield police
officer; Quimby, the mayor of Springfield; Timothy Lovejoy, the pastor of the
local church; and Barney, a drunkard.
Synopsis of Homer’s Barbershop Quartet
Homer’s Barbershop Quartet tells about Homer’s past as a member of a
singing group called the Be Sharps. One day in Springfield swap meet, everybody
goes to the booths that offer second-hand goods. Bart and Lisa find an album of
the Be Sharps. They find Homer’s photo on the front cover of the album and ask
Homer about it. Homer tells them the story of his singing career eight years ago.
29
At first, Homer’s singing group consists of Apu, Chief Wiggum, and
Principal Skinner. One day, a theatrical agent, Nigel comes to Homer and offers to
represent his singing group. It is a great opportunity for them to be successful and
it is also the time when Chief Wiggum must stop his singing career since the
theatrical agent does not like him. Homer, Apu, and Principal Skinner try to find a
new member to replace Chief Wiggum. They hear Barney singing in toilet and his
voice is beautiful. Then a new group is formed, consisting of Homer, Apu,
Barney, and Principal Skinner. They name their group the Be Sharps.
Many people like the Be Sharps’ songs and the group is successful until
they have no more idea of how to write good songs. Now the Be Sharps disbands.
Each member of the Be Sharps goes back to their former jobs.
30
Table of Analysis
Data
Utterances
Context
1
Bart: Religion?
Milhouse: learning?
Nelson: Let’s get out of here!
Lisa: Wow, an original Malibu Stacey from
1958! Oh…
Man: Yeah, they took her off the market
after some kid put both his eyes out.
Marge: Your teenage son or daughter will
think that this wishbone necklace is really
cool!
Man: I doubt my son or daughter is that
stupid?
Bart: Dad when did you record an album?
Homer: I’m surprised you don’t remember
son. It was only eight years ago.
Abe: That’s my son up there!
Man: What the balding fat-ass?
Abe: Uh, no, the…Hindu guy.
BKA
2
3
4
5
6
BKA
PAR
BKA
BKA
Apu: Apu Nahasapeemapetilon.
Nigel: Hmm. Never fit on a marquee, luv.
From now on, your name is Apu de
Beaumarchais.
Apu: That is a great dishonor to my ancestor
and my god…but okay!
Moe: Those girls you paid to scream are
doing a great job.
Nigel: I didn’t pay any girls to scream.
Moe: Huh?!
BKA
8
Homer: What’d you kids get?
Bart: I bought this cool pencil holder.
Homer: Heh heh, far out man. I haven’t seen
a bong in years.
BKA
9
Homer: Well, one of us made some money!
I sold a guy our spare tire. D’oh!
BKA
10
Homer: Yeah, but I’m not gonna let it
change our lives. I’ll be the same loving
father as I’ve alw ays been.
Marge: Hmm, have you seen Bart?
Homer: Ehh, I stuck him somewhere.
Homer: Look, what I get to you dad.
Abe:Ohh, gimme the key.
BKA
7
11
31
BKA
BKA
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
Reporter: I have a question for Apu de
Beaumarchais. Isn’t it true that you’re really
an Indian?
Apu: By the many arms of Vishnu, I swear it
is a lie.
Reporter: Barney! How did you join the
group?
Barney: They found me on the men’s room
floor.
Homer: We would like to dedicate this next
number to a very special woman. She is a
hundred years old and she weighs over two
hundred …tons.
Man: This enormous woman will devour us
all! Aah!
Barney: David Crosby? You’re my hero!
David: Oh, you like my music?
Barney: You’re a musician?
Homer: They took it off the market because
they find out it was poisonous but if you’re
dumb enough to eat it, you deserve to die.
Bart!
Bart: What?
Apu: It may not be glamorous, but it’s good,
honest work.
Woman: How much is this quart of milk?
Apu: Twelve dollars.
Homer: Hey, fellows, I’m back…
Carl: Oh, that’s great. Your replacement
was getting tired. Hey Queenie, you can go!
Homer: I’ll give her a good home.
Homer: I’d like to thank you on behalf of
the group, and I hope we passed the
audition.
# BKA: the background knowledge of the participant
# PAR: the participant and the relationship between them.
# TS: the setting.
32
BKA
BKA
TS
BKA
BKA
BKA
BKA
BKA
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
The Simpsons is an animated sitcom which began its debut on television
on December 17, 1989. It consists of 17 seasons and 368 episodes. It was claimed
by TIME magazine in 1998 that The Simpsons was the best television series of the
20th century (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Simpsons, 2006: 1).
The humorous scenes in The Simpsons are generally supported by the
contexts because the language used in the scenes does not always contain
humorous expressions. This is evident when we only read the script and do not
watch the movie. To understand the humorous scenes, we have to learn about the
participants (characters), the setting, the whole story, and the background of the
Simpsons.
The characters that we need to know is, for example, Flanders, who is a
fretful and annoying person. He always comments on the Bible and its rule. The
setting of place in The Simpsons is usually at home, workplace, and school.
The background of the Simpsons consists of the family and their education.
The members of the Simpsons are Abe, Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie.
The Simpsons belong to a middle class family. We can see it from their house,
1
UNIVERSITAS KRISTEN MARANATHA
which is quite big; it consists of four relatively large bedrooms. They have two
cars; one is a station wagon and the other one is a sedan.
Homer is a high school graduate while Marge, Homer’s wife, is not clear
whether she is a high school graduate or a college graduate, but she is known as
an intelligent housewife. Bart is a fourth grader and Lisa is assumed to be a third
grader.
With such background, I decide to choose the contexts of utterances in
some humorous scenes in The Simpsons as the topic of my thesis. Generally, we
know context as a situation when one utterance is said. In my analysis, I want to
show that non-linguistic context is important in order to make one utterance
humorous and without it, the utterance might not be humorous. I analyze my data,
which are in the forms of utterances and their contexts, by using theories of
discourse analysis and context based approach.
Statement of the Problem
In this thesis, I would like to discuss the following problems:
1. What utterances can be found in some humorous scenes in The Simpsons?
2. What types of context support the utterances in creating the humorous scenes
in The Simpsons?
Purpose of the Study
In this thesis, I want to present:
1. the utterances found in some humorous scenes in The Simpsons.
2. the types of context that support the utterances in creating the humorous
scenes in The Simpsons.
2
UNIVERSITAS KRISTEN MARANATHA
Method of Research
To conduct this study, I have followed some steps. Since The Simpsons
consists of a number of episodes, I chose the Homer’s Barbershop Quartet
episode. I watched it several times in order to understand the story and the
humorous scenes. After watching it several times, I looked for the script, which
was available on the Internet. I did not write the script manually from the scenes
because the utterances, which were in the forms of subtitles, were not always
accurate. Some words may be missing, and some scenes were presented so fast
that I did not have enough time to write it down. I used the script from the Internet
in order to get more accurate data. After getting the script, I matched the scene in
the film with the written utterance (script). Then, I selected the scenes which were
humorous as well as the written utterances. In analyzing the contexts of the
utterances in some humorous scenes, I collected the data and put them in sequence
to make the analysis of the contexts easier to manage. The focus of my analysis is
the utterances and their contexts in some humorous scenes. The result of the
analysis is presented at the end of this thesis in the form of table.
Organization of the Thesis
This thesis consists of four chapters. Chapter One; which is preceded by
the Preface, the Table of Contents and the Abstract, contains the Background of
the Study, the Statement of the Problem, the Purpose of the Study, the Method of
Research, and the Organization of the Thesis. Chapter Two presents the theories
which are used to analyze the data of this study. Following is Chapter Three, the
Analysis of the Contexts of Utterances in Some Humorous Scenes in The
Simpsons. The Conclusion of the analysis is put in Chapter Four. This thesis ends
3
UNIVERSITAS KRISTEN MARANATHA
with the Bibliography, which contains the list of the sources of the theories used
in this thesis. The Appendices in this thesis consist of a synopsis of The Simpsons,
the script, and a table containing the result of the analysis.
4
UNIVERSITAS KRISTEN MARANATHA
BIBLIOGRAPHY
REFERENCES
Holy Bible NIV. Michigan: Zondervan,1989.
Humor. Wikipedia, A Free Encyclopedia. 6 March 2006
Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary Tenth Edition. Massachusetts:
Springfield, 2002.
Nunan, David. Introducing Discourse Analysis. England: penguin Group, 1993.
Schiffrin, Deborah. Approaches to Discourse. Cambridge: Blackwell, 1994.
Situation comedy. Wikipedia, A Free Encyclopedia. 17 March 2006
.
The Simpsons. Wikipedia, A Free Encyclopedia. 6 March 2006 .
Walton, Rick . What is Humor ?. 28 Sept 2003.
26 UNIVERSITAS KRISTEN MARANATHA
Source of Data
The Simpsons : Homer’s Barbershop Quartet. The Complete Fifth Season Disc 1,
2005.
27
UNIVERSITAS KRISTEN MARANATHA