Subject Matter Approach Method of the Study

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CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY

This chapter is divided into three parts; they are subject matter, approach and method of study. The subject matter concerns the novel and the focus of the analysis in the thesis. The approach describes the psychological approach and the sociocultural-historical approach supporting the analysis of the main character’s life as a black woman in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Method of study concerns the steps used in completing the study.

A. Subject Matter

The subject matter of this study is Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. The book was written in 1969 and became the best seller in the United States. This book was published by Random House, Inc., in 1970. It consists of 35 chapters of 246 pages. And then, Bantam Books also published this book in 1988 with the same chapters’ number and pages. In her book, Angelou describes about the life of a young girl named Marguerite Johnson. The story begins when she lives in Stamp, Southern America and she suffers because of the domination of the Whites. She thinks that life would be easier if she were a white girl. She keeps trying to survive to find her self-image and finally she can prove her existence as a black woman.

B. Approach

In doing the study, two approaches proposed by Roghberger and Woods Jr. are applied. Those are the psychological approach and the socialcultural- historical approach. I use those approaches because I want to answer the questions in the problem formulation. The sociocultural-historical approach helps me understand what has happened in historical background Maya’s life in reality at that time. The significant idea of this approach is that the only way to look at the real work is in the reference to the civilization that produces it. The accuracy in presentation of historical fact is of value to the historian. The psychological approach helps me know what the main character’s perception about her life experiences. In analyzing someone’s perception, it will be proper to apply the psychological approach because it deals with the state of mind of the character.

C. Method of the Study

The method used in this study is library research. It means that primary and secondary data were gained by reading and taking important notes from books relating to the problems help me in analyzing the novel. The data were taken from some books to collect information about literature and its elements and also some books were about racism and American women. I focused on the major character Marguerite Johnson and her perception about life as a black woman. In analyzing the novel, beside reading and taking notes, there were other steps that I used during the process of the study. The first step was to understand the object of the study. It was necessary for me to read the story as a whole in order to understand it and to get idea of the novel I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. I tried to find also criticism of the author, found some books about race and racism and the black American society and their history and some other sources, which assisted the work’s analysis In attempt to look for the answer to the problem formulated in the previous chapter, the next step was compelling the data that had been found out according to its arrangement in the problem formulation. The analysis was based on psychological approach, sociocultural-historical approach, theory characterization, theory of racism, and theory of perception. The analysis about American society in the 1930’s was used to understand what happen and gain a better picture of the social condition at that period in relation to the social issue arose in the story. Some criticisms about Maya Angelou and her work were read. I also consulted some terminologies to appropriate encyclopedias, handbooks and internet sites. In analyzing the problem of this study incidents, and dialogues from the story would be used as proofs or evidences. After making the analysis, conclusions of the study based on the results of the analysis were drawn and some suggestions for the readers and the next researchers were also given so that they would analyze the novel better. 26

CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS