Object of the Study

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CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY

This chapter is divided into three main parts namely object of the study, approach of the study and method of the study. In the object matter, the writer discusses the object of the study, Minfong Ho‟s novel Sing to the Dawn. In the approach of the study, the writer mentions the approaches for analyzing the novel. While in the method of the study, the writer discusses the steps in analyzing the novel.

3.1 Object of the Study

The main object of this study is the novel of Minfong Ho‟s Sing to the Dawn. This novel tells about social realistic problems and education in Thailand. The setting of place and time of the novel is in a rural village in Thailand in the 1970s. It has thirteen chapters and consists of 125 pages. This novel is written by Minfong Ho when she continued her study in Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. The story of Sing to the Dawn was adapted from the original story of Minfong Ho herself who won the scholarship in rural schoolgirl in Thailand where she lived. She faced resistance from her families. The writer was born in Ragoon, Burma on January 7, 1951. Ho grew up in both Singapore and Thailand. She got married in 1976 then she returned to the United States and settled in Ithaca, New York. 18 Sing to the Dawn was the story published in 1975 by Lothrop, Lee Shepard Co. In 2005, Marshall Cavendish International Asia published this novel for the second time. Reprinted was conducted five times in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008. The final reprinted was conducted in 2009. This novel won the first prize of the unpublished story held by the Council of Interracial for Children, 1975. After published, Sing to t he Dawn’s novel got full attention by public, especially, in Singapore. In 1996, Sing to the Dawn was made as a musical drama and performed by Singapore Repertory Theater in Singapore Arts Festival. Sing to the Dawn is Ho‟s first story written without any intention to publish. At first, that story was not intended to be a reading book. The homesickness to Thailand inspired her to write this novel. Unexpectedly, after submitting her work, Sing to the Dawn at the Council for Interracial Books for Children, she got the readers for her writings. Ho won the award for the Asian American Division of unpublished Third World Authors and it encouraged her to enlarge the story into a novel. Sing to the Dawn presented a story of human‟s struggle. Like other novels written by Ho, Sing to the Dawn presented realistic depiction of native Southeast Asia. Ho did not only created the face of Asia controlled by old custom and the controlling influence to the family but she also presented the real situation of Asia such as, a world of poverty, drought, injustice, starvation, and death. The resistance of someone to the ancient customs and families was shown much. This situation was like one coin with two sides. One side was the faded face of Asia and the other side was the hopeful face of Asia. The prominent figure was 19 described as the character existing in these two sides. However, the figure still played a role as a lovable, determined, and struggling person in her land. In Sing to the Dawn ‟s novel, a woman named Dawan was presented as an individual who fought against the ancient customs in her village, moreover, she had to strive against her families to achieve her dream. The problem emerged since Dawan, the main character in this story, won the scholarship in her school. As a Thai girl, Dawan was a subordinate in her community. Woman was considered as the second class in the community. The chance to study belonged to her brother, Kwai. Knowing Dawan won the scholarship, Kwai left her alone and started to take a distance from Dawan. As brother and sister, their relationship was critical. Kwai did not believe the result of the test. The winner should be him instead of Dawan. He was the cleverest student in class and he was the figure expected to support his family needs. Moreover, He did not believe that her sister could survive in City because she was a girl. She could not keep herself in City. Dawan realized it that not only her brother but also her father would not support her to study in the City. Rejected by her father and unsupported by her brother, Dawan met her aunt to get support. Unfortunately, her aunt did not support her decision to continue her study in City. He met the monk then, hopefully, the monk would sustain her aim but even a monk did not support her. In her efforts to have a support, she went to the public market and met a girl selling the birds. She talked to that girl about her unsolved problem. She won the scholarship and was ready to study but her father and her brother disagreed. The last meeting with the vendor girl gave her courage to take any risk upon her 20 decision to study. She met her father once more and delivered her desire to study in City. She argued with her father and her brother to let her go. She tried to overstep people‟s opinion about women.

3.2 Approach of the Study