A DESCRIPTION OF PLOT IN GAYLE FORMAN’S NOVEL IF I STAY
A PROPOSAL
BY
KHAIRANI ZUHRA
REG. NO: 142202043
UNIVERSITY OF SUMATERA UTARA
FACULTY OF CULTURAL STUDY
DIPLOMA-III ENGLISH STUDY PROGRAM
MEDAN
2017
UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA Approved by
Supervisor,
Drs. Parlindungan Purba, M.Hum.
NIP. 19630216198903 1 003
Submitted to Faculty of Cultural Study, University of Sumatera Utara
In partial fulfillment of the requirements for Diploma-III in English Study Program
Approved by
Head of English Diploma Study Program,
Dra. Swesana Mardia Lubis, M.Hum.
NIP. 19571002 198601 2 003
Approved by the Diploma III of English Study Program
Faculty of Cultural Study, University of Sumatera Utara
As a Paper for the Diploma-III Examination
UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA Accepted by the Board of Examiners in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the D-III
Examination of the Diploma-III of English Study Program, Faculty of Cultural Study,
University Sumatera Utara.
The examination is held on ______
Faculty of Cultutral Study, University Sumatera Utara
Dean,
Dr. Budi Agustono M.S.
NIP. 19600805 198703 1 001
Board Of Examiners/Readers : Signature
1. Dra. Swesana Mardia Lubis, M.Hum. (Head of ESP) ( )
2. Drs. Parlindungan Purba, M.Hum. (Supervisor) ( )
UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA AUTHOR’S DECLARATION
I am, KHAIRANI ZUHRA, declare that i am the sole author of this paper. Except where the reference is made in the text of this paper, this paper contains no material published elsewhere or extracted in whole or in part from a paper by which i have qualified for or awarded another degree.
No other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the main text of this paper. This paper has not been submitted for the award of another degree in any tertiary education.
Signed :
Date : July, 2017
UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA COPYRIGHT DECLARATION
Name : KHAIRANI ZUHRA
Title of Paper : A Description of Plot in Gayle Forman’s Novel IF I STAY
Qualification : D-III / Ahli Madya
Study program : English
I am willing that my paper should be available for reproduction at the discretion of the
Librarian of the Diploma III English Faculty of Cultural Study University of Sumatera Utara the understanding that users are made aware of their obligation under law of the Republic of
Indonesia.
Signed :
Date : July, 2017
UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA ABSTRACT
This paper is entitled A Description of Plot in Gayle Forman’s Novel IF I STAY. Plot is literary elements that contains the events in a story where the events has cause and effect relation. A occurs because of B and the result is C. The plot itself has a structure which consists of exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. Each structure parts are closely related; exposition is the beginning to introduce the characters and places, rising action is the marker of conflict that binding up to the climax, contemplation (falling action) and ending (resolution). In this novel tells about the girl, Mia Hall, who has out of body experience. She has to make a decision if she will choose to stay or leave. In this research the writer uses qualitative description method to descibe the plot which is presented in the novel.
UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA ABSTRAK
Kertas karya ini berjudul A Description of Plot in Gayle Forman’s Novel IF I STAY . Plot adalah unsur sstra yang memuat kejadian-kejadian dalam sebuah cerita dimana kejadian tersebut memiliki hubungan sebab akibat. A terjadi karena B dan mengakibatkan C. Plot itu sendiri memiliki struktur yang terdiri dari exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. Masing-masing bagian dari struktur itu terkait erat; exposition adalah awal memperkenalkan karakter dan tempat, rising action penanda konflikyang mengikat ingga sampai pada klimakx (climax), perenungan (falling action) dan akhir (resolution). Dalam novel ini memberitahu tentang seorang gadis bernama Mia Hall, yang memiliki pengalaman
Coma. Dia harus membuat pilihan apakah akan tetap hidup atau mati. Dalam penelitian ini penulis menggunakan metode deskriptif kualitatif untuk menggambarkan plot yang sudah tersaji dalam novel tersebut.
UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA TABLE OF CONTENTS
AUTHOR’S DECLARATION ...... i
COPYRIGHT DECLARATION ...... ii
ABSTRACT ...... iii
ABSTRAK ...... iv
ACKNOWLEDGEGEMENTS ...... v
TABLE OF CONTENTS ...... vii
I. INTRODUCTION ...... 1
1.1 The Background of Study ...... 1
1.2 The Problem of Study ...... 4
1.3 The Scope of Study ...... 5
1.4 Purpose of Study ...... 5
1.5 Significance of Study ...... 5
1.6 The Method of Study ...... 6
2. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1 Definiton of Novel ...... 7
2.2 Intrinsic Elements ...... 8
2.3 Plot ...... 14
3. THE DESCRIPTION OF PLOT
3.1 Exposition ...... 23
3.2 Climax ...... 31
3.3 Resolution ...... 31
4. CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION
4.1 Conclusion ...... 33
4.2 Suggestion ...... 34
BIBLIOGRAPHY
APPENDICES
A. Biography of Gayle Forman ...... 36 B. Summary of the Novel ...... 39
UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Bismillahirahmaanirrahiim, First of all, i would like to thank and praise to the
Almighty, Allah SWT for blessing and giving me health, strenght, and case to accomplish this paper. This paper is accomplished in order to fulfill one of the requirements to get
Diploma III cerficate from English Study Program in Faculty of Cultural Study, University of
Sumatera Utara.
I realize that, without helps and guidance from many people, since I have been studying in this program until this time I accomplish this paper, it is so hard for me to accomplish this paper. Because of that, I would like to express my deep gratitude, love, and appreciation to :
Dr. Budi Agustono, M.S. as the Dean of faculty of culture Study, University
of Sumatera Utara.
Dra. Swesana Mardia Lubis M.Hum, as the Head of English Diploma Study
Program.
Drs. Parlindungan Purba, M.Hum, as my supervisor. Thank you for the
time giving advice, suggestions, guidance, and help to write this paper.
Drs. Siamir Marulafau, M.Hum as the examiner. Thank you for valuable
time in giving the corrections, critics and suggestions in completing this paper.
All lectures in English Diploma Study Program for giving me advice and
knowledge.
My beloved mother, Sutarningsih I can do nothing without her. She has done
so much for me. Her words and smile have encouraged me to become a strong
UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA And independent girl. I also thank to my brothers, Aulia Rahman and
Muhammad Taufiq S.Pai, who have support me by words and money.
Special thank to my lovely sister Widya Ningrum S.E, who always
understand me and treat me with all of her kind heart.
I would like to say thanks to all of Cyduker Member for all of the moments
that we have spent together. A hug love to them, Sonya Misrani Manik,
Seasilya Samosir, Marisa Lingga, Hillerybeth Sirait, Teta Karina, Ivana
Lasria and Winda Shavira.
Of course, I don’t forget to give my thank for both of our funny seniors, Geta
Breinata Amd and Aulia Nasution S.S. I am nothing without their support
and advice.
Finally, I realize that the paper is not perfect yet. Thus, I expect contructive criticism and suggestion to make it perfect. I do hope that it can be useful for those who want to enrich their knowledge about plot.
Medan, July 2017
The Writer/Author,
Khairani Zuhra
Reg. No. 142202043
UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA I. INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background of Study
Literature has been widely known by many people and experts. The word ‘literature’ is derived from the word ‘littera’ in Latin which means letter. It refers to written or printed words. However, now, the term ‘literature’ is more focused and restricted to merely imaginative works, which comes up from the imaginative mind of the story writers. Klarer
(2004:1) says that in most cases, literature is referred to as the entirety of written expression, with the restriction that not every written document can be categorized as literature in the more exact sense of the word. The definitions, therefore, usually include additional adjectives such as aesthetic or artistic to distinguish literary works from texts such as newspapers, scientific textbooks, magazines, legal documents, brochures, and so on. Literature then, can be said as a creative writing by an author with aesthetic values which makes literature regarded as an art. Literature as a writing form differentiates its form from other art products, and its aesthetic or artistic values make it different from other writings.
Literature has three general genres, they are Drama, Poetry, and Prose. Drama is a unique tool to explore and express human feeling. It is a fundamental human activity and essential form of bahaviour in all cultures. Poetry is an imaginative awareness of experience through meaning, sound and rhytmic language choices so as to evoke an emotional response.
Poetry is used to use the beautiful word that cannot be understood in as the original words.
The word ‘prose’ is derived from the Latin prosa, which literally translates to
‘straightforward’. Prose is the ordinary form of written language. Prose is adopted for the discussion of facts and topical reading, as it is often articulated in free form writing style.
Prose also is a form of language that has n formal metrical structure. It applies a natural flow
UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA of speech, and ordnary grammatical structure rather than rhytmic structure. It is absolutely different with poetry.
Edgar V. Roberts and Henry E. Jacobs (1995:2) classify prose into two, fiction prose and nonfiction prose. Fiction, originally meant anything made up or shaped, is prose stories based on the author’s creation and imagination. It includes myths, parables, novels, romances, and short stories. On the other hand, nonfiction is literary works which describe or interpret facts, present judgments, and opinions. It consists of news reports, essays, magazines, newspapers, encyclopedias, broadcast media, films, letters, historical and biographical works and many other forms of communication.
A novel (from the Italian novella, Spanish novela, French nouvelle for "new", "news", or "short story of something new") today is a long narrative in literary prose. Novel is the further development of romance. A novel is defined as a fictitious prose narrative of considerable length and complexity, portraying characters and usually presenting a sequential organization of action and scenes (Quoted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novel). Richard
Taylor in Understanding the Elements of Literature (1981:46) explains that a novel is normally a prose work of quite some length and complexity which attempts to reflect and express something of the equality or value of human experience or conduct.
Novel has many genres. There are mystery, romance, women’s fiction, fantasy, thriller, western, horror and young adult. Mystery is a popular genre. All mysteries focus on a crime, usually murder. Mystery subgenres include spy, detective and crime stories. Next,
Romance is a huge category aimed at diverting and entertaining women. Other subgenres of romance include historical, contemporary, fantasy romance and romantic suspense. Next, women’s fiction is common knowledge in the publishing industry that women constitute the biggest book buying segment. From a writer’s perspective, some key characteristics of these
UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA books include a focus on relationship, one or more strong female protagonist, women triumphing over unbearable circumstances and the experiences of women unified in some way. Next, fantasy depicts distant worlds and futuristic technologies that whirl readers far away from the here and now and yet provoke contemplation of contemporary issues.Next, western is known simply as westerns, or about Americas post Civil War. Next, horror is filled with gut-wrenching fear, this popular genre keeps readers turning the blood-filled pages.
From a writer’s perspective, the defining characteristic is the intention to frighten readers by exploiting their fears. Next, young adult is the genre which includes any type of novel wit protagonist in the 12 to 16 age range that speaks to the concerns of teenagers.
Suspense novels and thrillers are tense, exciting, often sensational works with ingenious plotting, swift action, and continuous suspense. In this genre, a writer’s objective is to deliver a story with sustained tension, surprise, and a constant sense of impending doom that propels the reader forward. Unlike mysteries, thrillers are dominated by action in which physical threat is a constant companion, and a hero (James Bond, for example) is pitted against a nefarious villain.
If I Stay is a fiction novel. It has a complicated plot. It is happened because the events and the idea is complicated. It is tell about family love, dream, music, tragic events, and erotic love. In one complete book, the reader could imagine many emotions from the writer.
The messages of the story is very clear because that plot tells the detail events that is happened to the main character.
1.2. Problem of Study
1. What is the type of plot in this novel?
2. How is the conflict of the plot resolved ?
UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA
1.3. Scope of Study
Every analysis needs limitation in order to make the analysis does not go far from the topic of discussion and make the analysis focus to what being discussed. In this paper, my analysis is going to be focused on the plot that is mentioned in the novel that I think it is interesting to be known.
There are so many aspects in this novel only described Exposition, Climax and
Resolution. So, the scope of study is limited only decribing the plot is pictured based on IF I
STAY novel.
1.4. Objective of Study
1. This paper is going to inform the reader about the type of plot which this novel
has.
2. This paper is going to tell the reader about the resolution of the conflict.
Therefore, this paper can be funtional for the reader in the order to enrich our
knowledge on literature.
1.5. Significance of Study
The significances in this paper are:
1. Theoritically, the significance of this study is to enrich and develop literary
study.
2. Practically, the study can be used as reference for learning and understanding
about plot in the novel.
UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA 1.6. Method of Study
The writer uses library research as the method of study in writing this paper. As the first step, the writer reads the novel to understand the story. Then, the writer reads literature books and browses data from the internet to support the writer’s idea of the related topic of this paper. The final steps are sorting out the data that have been collected and analyze them.
UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA 2. REVIEW AND RELATED LITERATURE
2.1. Definition of Novel
The words comes from the Italian, Novella, which means the new staff that small. The novel developed in England and America. The novel was originally developed in the region from other forms of narrative non-fiction, such as letters, biographies and history. But with a shift in society and development tie, the novel is not only based on data non-fiction, author of novel can change according to the desire imagination. Sumardjo (1998: 19) says that “Novel is a story with the prose form in long shape, this long shape means the story including the complex plot, many characters and various setting”.
Novel is a narrative text informing of prose with a long shape that including some figures and fiction event. It is absolutely different with short story. Novel will show the reader the detail of event that the main character could get. So there will be found many problems but in short story it will be showed the simple problem to solve by the main character in one single time. But, novel and story will send the moral value inside tha problem.
A novel is totally a comprehensiveness that is artistic. As a totally, the novel has passages elements, most related to one another in close and mutually dependent. The divisions of the elements in novel are intrisic and extrinsic element. Intrinsic elements the elements that build the literarry work itself. Intrinsic elements of a novel (directly) participate and build the story. Extrinsic elements are the elements that are beyond of the works but in directly affect the building and system of a novel. Thus, extrinsic elements of a novel must be still seen as something important.
UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA Further, Wallek and Warren (1956: 75-135) stated that as an intrinsic element, the element also comprises a number of extrinsic elements. The extrinsic elements includes author biography and psychology. Attitudes, beliefs, and outlook on life of an author will affect the work that he wrote. In short, the author biography determines the pattern works it produces. While Psychology, psychology of the author also forms the readers psychology, as well as the application of psychological principals in the works.
2.2. Intrinsic Elements
Intrinsic is the main material of a story. it is a foundation of a story. As the foundation of a story, intrinsic elements have some elements, there are theme, character, setting, point of view and plot.
2.2.1. Theme
Theme in a novel, according to Jones (1968:82) is its underlying idea or
wisdom” that the author is presenting. Some authors stated the theme of the story
explicitly, but some others not. Often the theme can be easily seen from the title. Yet,
there also story that requires us to read the whole story to get what the theme is. It
brings the story more alive and has a means.
Nurgiyantoro (2007:13) said that the theme in the novel can be more than one.
He added that perhaps the author added some addition themes in a novel. This caused
the novel has multiple and complex plot and conflict. Besides, the theme became the
basis of development of the whole story, so it is animating the whole story. A
common theme has a generalization, wider, and abstract. Principal themes as the
UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA meaning of a work of fiction is not deliberately hidden because precisely this that is offered to the reader. However, the overall theme is the meaning of which supported his story by itself would be hidden behind a story that supports it.
Theme is the main idea that the writer expresses. Theme can also be defined as the underlying meaning of the story. Theme is another prime element of literature, which contains the central idea of all literary forms such as a novel, drama and short story. It reflects innocence, experience, live, death, reality, fate, madness, sanity, love, society, individual, etc. In brief, the theme giving meaning of story which especially explains a big part of its elements in the simple way. It is more or less synonymous the central idea and central purpose.
2.2.2. Character
In fiction, a character may be defined as a verbal representation of a human
being. Through action, speech, description, and commentary, authors portray
character that are worth caring about, rooting for, and even loving, although there are
also characters you may laugh at, dislike, or even hate.
Characters may be flat, minor characters; or round and major. The major
character in a story is generally known as protagonist, the character who opposes him
is the antagonist. Character is revealed by how a character responds to conflict. Every
stories hinges on the actions undertaken by its major character, or protagonist, a term
drawn from ancient Greek tragedy that is more useful in discussions of fiction than
such misleading terms as hero or heroine. Additionally, stories may contain an
opposing character, or antagonist, with whom the protagonist is drawn into conflict.
UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA Abrams (1999: 76) says that “Character is people who are appeared in a narrative prose or novel and it is interpreted by the readers as a person who has moral quality and certain tendency such as being expressed in what they say and what they do”. Character is the people in a novel are referred as characters. We asses them on the basic of what the author tells us about them and on the basic of what they do and say. Another point to remember is that the characters are part of broader pattern. They are members of a society, and the author distinctive view of who people relate to society will be reflected in the presentation of every character.
2.2.3. Setting
Background elements can be divided into three main elements, namely a place, time, and social. Backgrounds on the location of the place suggest the occurrence of the events recounted in a work of fiction. Elements may be used where the places with a certain name, initials, there may be certain locations without exact name.
Background of time associated with the problem of "when" of events recounted in a work of fiction problem "when" is normally associated with the factual, the time to do or be associated with historical events. Social background suggested on matters relating to the conduct of social life of the community in a place that is told.
Wellek and Warren (1956: 131) concerned setting with the places where story take a place. Setting refers to geographical location of the story, time period, daily lifestyle of the characters and climate of the story. When the reader reads a novel, they actually are faced a world that had been completed by the character and the events in the novel. But of course, those things are less complete because the characters need living space, place and time, like human’s living in the real world.
UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA In other hand, novel not only needs characters, story and plot, but also setting.
Setting usually directs to the definition of place, connection of time and social environment where the event happens. Setting gives the basic of story correctly and clear. The setting is important to give realistic impression to the readers, created a certain situation at a glanced is really happened. So, the readers feel easier to create their imagination and participation to criticize the story.
2.2.4. Point of View
Understanding about point of view, point of view, suggests the way a story is
told. It is a way and or views of the author used as a means for presenting the
characters, action, background and events that make up the story in a work of fiction
to the reader. Today the importance of perspective in works of fiction no longer
challenged. Viewpoint is considered as one of the important elements of fiction. The
deviation angle of view is not just a matter of first or third person, but rather a
selection of characters who "he" or "I", anyone who tells it, kids, adults, the villagers
who do not know anything, politicians, students, or other
The point of view or narrative perspective, characterized the way in which a
text present a person, event and setting. The point of view discusses about who is
telling story, or from which position the events are perceived. In general, point of
view is differentiated into three kinds: first person, third person, dramatic, or
omniscient point of view (Jones, 1968:29).
In the first person point of view, the narrator is a participant in the action. He or she may be either a major character or a minor character and may be close to the event in time or distant from it. In this research, the novel of Negeri 5 Menara by A.
UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA Fuadi translated by Angie Kilbane as a main instrument is using the first person point of view. Next, the third person point of view, the story is told as it happens to one of the charaters: he, she, it, or they. Then, in the dramatic point of view, the reader is an observer. He is permitted to see and hear as he might with real people, but he is not permitted into thoughts. The last, is omniscient point of view, the author can tell anything he wants his reader to know. He can reveal the innermost thoughts of his characters, and may comment upon them.
2.2.5. Plot
Plot is the main role of the story. There will be no story without plot. Then
Plot will be exlained in the next page.
UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA 2.3. Plot
Plot is a literary term used to describe the events that make up a story or the main part
of a story. These events relate to each other in a pattern or a sequence. The structure of a
novel depends on the organization of events in the plot of the story.
Plot is known as the foundation of a novel or story which the characters and settings
are built around. It is meant to organize information and events in a logical manner. When
writing the plot of a piece of literature, the author has to be careful that it does not dominate
the other parts of the story.
According to Lukens (2003:6) states plots as the sequence of events showing character in action. In another book Gorden (1975:1) defines plot as an author careful arrangement of incident in a narrative to achieve a desire effect. In short, the writer can conclude that the plot is the serial arrangement of incidents, ideas or events. In literature, the plot encompasses all the incidents and provides aesthetic pleasure. The story of the novel progresses through various plots and conflicts.
In the other hand, Jones (1968:63) states that the plot is the sequences of events involving the character or characters. It may be simple or complex. The simple one deals with one character or a single group of characters, and it follows their fortunes to the conclusion.
Whereas, the complex one has several groups of characters, the story deals with one, takes up another, return to the first, then takes up another.
The plot is what forms a memory in the readers’ mind, allowing them to think about
the book and even making them want to read it again. By identifying and understanding the
plot, the reader is able to understand the message being conveyed by the author and the
explicit or implicit moral of the story.
UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA A plot is one of the most important parts of a story and has many different purposes.
Firstly, the plot focuses attention on the important characters and their roles in the story. It motivates the characters to affect the story and connects the events in an orderly manner. It creates a desire for the reader to go on reading by absorbing them in the middle of the story, wanting to know what happens next. The plot leads to the climax, but by gradually releases the story in order to maintain the reader’s interest. During the plot of a book, a reader gets emotional and connects with the book, not allowing himself to put the book down.
Eventually, the plot reveals the entire story and gives the reader a sense of completion that he has finished the story and reached a conclusion.
2.3.1. Types of Plot
1. Progressive plot
This is a chronological structure which first establishes the setting and conflict, then
follows the rising action through to a climax (the peak of the action and turning point),
and concludes with a denouement.
UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA 2. Episodic Plot
3. Parallel Plot
||||------|||||------||||------||||------||||------
Plot line for main character1
-----||||------||||------||||------||||------||||------
Plot line for main character 2
Each main character has a separate but related story line that merges in the end.
Each segment of the story moves the plot forward in time. An occasional scene may overlap in time, but the general movement should be forward.
In a parallel plot, the characters might start out together and separate to follow their own paths, or they may not connect until the end. Their story lines are related and the climax occurs when the two (or more) come together at the end.
UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA Parallel plots may have more than two main characters. Once each main character is introduced, the writer then returns to the first character and repeats the cycle. Additional examples: School reunions, earthquakes and other natural disasters.
4. Flashback (or flash forward)
This structure conveys information about events that occurred earlier. It permits authors to begin the story in the midst of the action but later fill in the background for full understanding of the present events. Flashbacks can occur more than once and in different parts of a story.
5. Concentric Circles
Virginia Woolf’s novels often center on a character and their perceptions of the world, rather than following a traditional linear path.
UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA
2.3.2. Structure of Plot
Also called Freytag’s pyramid, the narrative arc is made up of the following pieces:
1. Exposition — The opening of the story, including a reader’s introduction to characters and
settings.
2. Rising Action — A series of events that complicates matters for your characters, and results
in increased drama or suspense.
3. Climax — The big1 showdown where your characters encounter their opposition, and either
win or lose.
4. Falling Action — A series of events that unfold after the climax and lead to the end of the
story.
5. Resolution — The end of the story, in which the problems are resolved (or not resolved,
depending on the story.) Also called the denouement, catastrophe, or revelation.
UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA Freytag's pyramid
In 1863, Gustav Freytag, a German writer, advocated a model based upon Aristotle's theory of tragedy. This is now called "Freytag's pyramid," which divides a drama into five parts, and provides function to each part. These parts are: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and denouement.
Exposition
The first phase in Freytag's pyramid is the exposition, which introduces the characters, especially the main character, also known as the protagonist. It shows how the characters relate to one another, their goals and motivations, as well as their moral character. During the exposition, the protagonist learns their main goal and what is at stake.
Conflict
Freytag's definition of conflict refers to the second act in a five-act play, a point of time in which all of the major characters have been introduced, their motives and allegiances have been made clear, and they have begun to struggle against one another.
Rising action
Rising action is the second phase in Freytag's five-phase structure. It starts with a conflict, for example, the death of a character. The inciting incident is the point of the plot that begins the conflict. It is the event that catalyzes the protagonist to go into motion and to take action.
Rising action involves the buildup of events until the climax.
UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA In this phase, the protagonist understands his or her goal and begins to work toward it.
Smaller problems thwart their initial success and their progress is directed primarily against these secondary obstacles. This phase demonstrates how the protagonist overcomes these obstacles
Climax
The climax is the turning point or highest point of the story. The protagonist makes the single big decision that defines not only the outcome of the story, but also who they are as a person.
Freytag defines the climax as the third of the five dramatic phases which occupies the middle of the story.
At the beginning of this phase, the protagonist finally clears away the preliminary barriers and engages with the adversary. Usually, both the protagonist and the antagonist have a plan to win against the other as they enter this phase. For the first time, the audience sees the pair going against one another in direct or nearly direct conflict.
This struggle usually results in neither character completely winning or losing. In most cases, each character's plan is both partially successful and partially foiled by their adversary. The central struggle between the two characters is unique in that the protagonist makes a decision which shows their moral quality, and ultimately decides their fate. In a tragedy, the protagonist here makes a poor decision or a miscalculation that demonstrates their tragic flaw.
UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA Falling action
According to Freytag, the falling action phase consists of events that lead to the ending.
Character's actions resolve the problem. In the beginning of this phase, the antagonist often has the upper hand. The protagonist has never been further from accomplishing their goal.
The outcome depends on which side the protagonist has put themselves on.
Resolution
In this phase the protagonist and antagonist have solved their problems and either the protagonist or antagonist wins the conflict. The conflict officially ends. Some stories show what happens to the characters after the conflict ends and/or they show what happens to the characters in the future.
There are five main elements in a plot. The first is the exposition or the introduction.
This is known as the beginning of the story where characters and setting are established. The conflict or main problem is introduced as well. The second element of a plot is known as the rising action which occurs when a series of events build up to the conflict. The main characters are established by the time the rising action of a plot occurs and at the same time, events begin to get complicated. It is during this part of a story that excitement, tension or crisis is encountered. The third element of a plot is known as the climax or the main point of the plot. This is the turning point of the story and is meant to be the moment of highest interest and emotion. The reader wonders what is going to happen next. The fourth element of a plot is known as falling action or the winding up of the story. Events and complications begin to resolve and the result of actions of the main characters are put forward. The last
UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA element of a plot is the resolution or the conclusion. It is the end of a story and ends with either a happy or a tragic ending.
UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA 3. THE DESCRIPTION OF PLOT
3.1 Exposition
The exposition of this novel is beginning from Mia Hall was the cellist. Mia grew up by a family who loves music, his father is a drummer of a rock band as well as his mother who also likes rock music and even his sister as well. But Mia is the only one in her family who loves classical music. Mia started choosing Cello since she was seven years old.
On a snowy day, Mia, her mother, her father, and her little brother, Teddy, were having a breakfast while turned on the Radio. It announced that almost all of the roads are covered with the snow and it was enough snow to cancel school.
“ i wake up this morning to a thin blanket of white covering our front
lawn. It isn’t even an inch, but in this part of Oregon a slight dusting
brings everything to a standstill as the one snowplow in the county gets
busy clearing the roads. It is wet water that drops from the sky – and drops
and drops and drops- not the frozen kind. It is enough snow to cancel
school. My little brother, Teddy, let’s out a war whoop when Mom’s AM
radio announces the closures, Snow day! he bellows. Dad, let’s go make a
snowman.
I can tell Dad is happy. Barely an inch of snow means that all the schools
in the county are closed, including my high school andd the middle school
where Dad works, so it’s an unexpected day off for him, too. My mother,
who works for a travel agent in town, clicks off the radio and pours herself
a second cup of coffee. Well, if you lot are playing hooky today, no way
UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA I’m going to work. It’s simply not right.She picks up the telephone to call
in.“(If I Stay, 2009 : Page 3-4)
After Mia’s Mom calls her office to ask permission, Mia and her family decided to spend their short holiday time by going to visit the old friends of Mia's father, Henry and Willow, to see their baby.
“Indeed. But, we migth take advantage of this unexpected boon and go
somewhere,” Dad says. “ Take a drive. Visit Henry and Willow. “ Henry
and Willow are some of Mom and Dad’s old music friends who’d also had
a kid and decide to start behaving like grown-ups. They live in a big old
farmhouse. Henry does Web stuff from the barn they converted into a
home office and Willow works at a nearby hospital. They have a baby
girl. That’s the real reason Mom and Dad want to go out there. Teddy
having just turned eight and me being seventeen means that we are long
past giving off that sour-milk smell that makes adults melt.” ( If I Stay,
2009 : p.9 )
They pile into the car, a rusting Buick that was already old when Gran gave it to them after Teddy was born. First, Mia’s father refuses to drive a car, he prefers to ride bikes everywhere until mother had gotten pregnant with Teddy and Dad stops to argue. He thought something had changed, finally he tried to get a driving license. Suddenly something happened to the car that they were traveling on. Halfway through their car journey collided with a four-ton pickup truck.
UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA “the car is eviscerated. The impact of a four ton pickup truck going sixty
miles an hour plowing straight into the passenger side had the force of an
atom bomb. It tore off the doors, sent the front-side passeger seat through
the driver’s-side window. It flipped the chassis, bouncing it across the
road and ripped the engine apart as if it were no stronger than a spiderweb.
It tossed wheels and hubcaps deep into the forest. It ignited bits of the gas
tank, so that now tiny flames lap at the wet raod. “ ( If I Stay, 2009: p.15)
After the accident, Mia initially felt all was well. She noticed her whole body was as intact as she wore this morning. Then she walked to see what was going on. First, Mia finds her father lying on the asphalt with some of the scattered parts of his brain. Then she found her mother who barely made blood but her lips were blue and her eyes were all red. Then Mia tried to find her brother, Teddy. But Mia found herself lying in the blood with her clothes.
“I run back toward the ditch where I came from and I see a hand sticking
out. “Teddy! I’m right here!” I call. “Reach up. I’ll pull you out.” But
when I get closer, I see a metal glint of a silver bracelet with tiny cello and
guitar charms. Adam gave it to me for my seventeenth birthday. It’s my
bracelet. I was wearing it this morning. I look down at wrist. I’m still
wearing it now. I edge closer and now I know that it’s not Teddy lying
there. It’s me. The blood from my chest has seeped through my shirt, skirt,
and sweater, and is now pooling like paint drops on the virgin snow. One
of my legs is askew, the skin and muscle peeled away so that I can see
white streaks of bone. My eyes are closed, and my dark brown hair is wet
and rusty with blood.” (If I Stay, 2009 : Page 17-18)
UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA Mia realizes that she is not dead because if she died she should have been with her parents now. Mia follows the paramedics who took her physical use of ambulance and then her body was taken by helicopter to the hospital. Arriving at the hospital, ia know her true condition.
“There are a lot of things wrong with me. Apparently, I have a collapse
lung. A ruptured spleen. Internal bleeding of unknown origin. And most
serious, the contusions on my brain. I’ve also got broken ribs. Abrasions
on my legs, which will require skin grafts, and on my face, which will
require cosmetic surgery- but, as the doctors note, that is if only I am
lucky. “ (If I Stay, 2009 : p.40)
The doctors decide to do surgery on Mia’s body by remove her spleen, insert a new tube to drain her collapse lung, and stanch whatever else might be causing the internal bleeding. But the doctors can’t do a lot for her brain. In operating room, the dostors were debating what music to play before they do some operations to me. The anesthesiologist, request classical so it goes. Mia realizes that operating room is small and crowded, full of bright lights. Blood is everywhere and it doesn’t faze the doctors. They slice and sew and suction through a river of it, like they are washing dishes in soapy water. Meanwhile, the doctors pump an ever-replenishing stock into Mia’s veins. The operations goes on and on.
Doctors are standing still.
They take me into a small room with bright lights. A doctor dabs some
orange stuff onto the side of my chest and then rams a small plastic tube in
me. Another doctor shines a flashlight into my eye. Nonresponsive, he
tells the nurse. The chopper’s here. Get her to Trauma. Now!” (If I Stay,
2009 : P.28 )
UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA Mia spotted several people lying in the hospital but found that no one had the same experience. Then Mia follows a nurse into a small waiting room and Mia sees her grandparents there. Mia's memory returns to the moment where she remembers that grandma was the one who advised her to apply to Juilliard. Juilliard is one of the best and most expensive music schools in New York. Her parents love the idea and hope Mia can become a cellist. Even Professor Christie says that Mia is one of her most potential students to be accepted at Juilliard.
“At the lodge, I gave a little concert one night, in the main room, with my
relatives and the dead game animals mounted on the wall as my audience.
It was after that that someone mentioned Juilliard, and Gran became taken
with the idea. At first, it seemed far-fetched. There was a perfectly good
music program at the university near us. And, if I wanted to stretch, there
was a conservatory in Seattle, which was only a few hours’ drive. Juilliard
was across the country. And expensive. Mom and Dad were intrigued with
the idea of it, but I could tell neither one of them really wanted to
relinquish me to New York City or go into hock so that I could maybe
become a cellist for some second-rate small-town orchestra. They had no
idea whether I was good enough. In fact, neither did I. Professor Christie
told me that I was one of the most promising students she’d ever taught,
but she’d never mentioned Juilliard to me. Juilliard was for virtuoso think
that they’d give me a second glance.” (If I Stay, 2009: p.47).
Mia tries to follow the advice of her family to sign up for Juilliard. ShSe has not told
Adam about this because she thinks it's too early and the journey is still so long to get into
Juilliard. On the other hand, Mia feels betrayed to Adam because Juilliard is in New York and Adam is in Portland. Therefore, Mia plans to tell Adam if she has received an audition
UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA invitation. Then after she received the invitation, she told Adam about it. The auditions were held in San Fransisco, Dad has some big conference at the school that week and Mom started a new job at travel agency, so Gran volunteered to accompany Mia. But a week before they leave, Gran tripped over a tree root and sprained her ankle. It means she can’t accompany
Mia. Then Gramps insisted on taking Mia.
“It was Gramps who insisted on taking me. We drove down together in his
pickup truck. We didn’t talk much, which was fine by me because I was
so nervous. I kept fingering the Popsicle-stick goodluck talisman Teddy
had presented me with before we left. “Break an arm,” he’d told me.
Gramps and I listened to classical music and farm reports on the radio
when we could pick up a station. Otherwise, we sat in silence. But it was
such a calming silence; it made me relax and feel closer to him than any
heart-to-heart would have. Gran had booked us in a really frilly inn, and it
was funny to see Gramps in his work boots and plaid flannel amid all the
lacy doilies and potpourri. But he took it all in stride. The audition was
grueling. I had to play five pieces: a Shostakovich concerto, two Bach
suites, all Tchaikovsky’s Pezzo capriccioso, which was next to
impossible, and a movement from Ennio Morricone’s The Mission, a fun
but risky choice because Yo-Yo Ma had covered this and everyone would
compare. I walked out with my legs wobbly and my underarms wet with
sweat. But my endorphins were surging and that, combined with the huge
sense of relief, left me totally giddy.”( If I Stay, 2009 : P. 49-50)
It’s 3:37 P.M. The doctors just moved Mia out of the recovery room into the trauma intensive-care unit, or ICU. There are so many tubes attached to her. No one, aside from the
UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA doctors and nurses and a social worker, has been in to see Mia. Then, the social worker spoke to Gran and Gramps in hushed symphatetic tones. She tells them about Mia’s condition.
“It’s the social worker who speaks to Gran and Gramps in hushed
sympathetic tones. She tells them that I am in ‘grave’ condition. I’m not
entirely sure what that means—grave. On TV, patients are always critical,
or stable. Grave sounds bad. Grave is where you go when things don’t
work out here. I wish there was something we could do, Gran says. I feel
so useless just waiting.”(If I Stay, 2009: p.52)
Mia has quite the crowd. Gran, Gramps, Uncle Greg, Aunt Diane, Aunt Kate and three of her cousins, Heather, John and David. Mia’s relatives gathered in the hospital waiting room. Then Mia sees Kim, her bestfriend. She is very happy. Kim comes with her mother. Mia is reminded of all her memories with Kim, how they are friends and have many things in common.
3.2 Climax
When Mia’s Gran has gone. Willow has gone. The ICU is tranquil. Gramps is here.
He’s crying but not making any noise. And when the well grief is momentarily dry, he steps forward and kisses Mia on her forehead. He looks like he’s about to leave,but then he doubles back to Mia’s bedside, bends so his face is level with Mia’s era, and he whispers into it. He says that he lets Mia go if she want to go.
“It’s okay,” he tells me. “If you want to go. Everyone wants you to stay.
I want you to stay more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life.” His
voice cracks with emotion. He stops, clears his throat, takes a breath, and
UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA continues. “But that’s what I want and I could see why it might not be
what you want. So I just wanted to tell you that I understand if you go.
It’s okay if you have to leave us. It’s okay if you want to stop
fighting.”(If Istay, 2009: p. 181)
3.3 Resolution
Mia sees Adam is crying and she could feel that somewhere inside of her is crying too. Mia really has to decide if she wants to stay, wake up and continue her life.
“And then I squeeze. I slump back, spent, unsure of whether I just did what
I did. Of what it means. If it registered. If it matters. But then I feel Adam’s
grip tighten, so that the grasp of his hand feels like it is holding my entire
body. Like it could lift me up right out of this bed. And then I hear the sharp
intake of his breath followed by the sound of his voice. It’s the first time
today I can truly hear him. Mia?he asks.” (If I Stay, 2009: p. 234)
UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA 4. CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION
4.1 Conclusion
The plot used in the novel of IF I STAY is flashback plot. Flashbacks show us something about the character, explain why he behaves the way he does, or expose something important to the development of the plot that would otherwise not be known. It’s contains the exposition to introduce the conflict, climax and resolutions.
Exposition of the story is When Mia and her family suffered a tragic accident. The car they were in collided with a four-ton pickup truck. Her father and mother died in a terrible condition, while her brother, Teddy was critical and Mia suffered a coma that made her having out of body experience.
Climax of the story is when Mia has to decide whether she should to stay or leave.
After her Gramps said that he will let her go if she wan to go, but Adam asks Mia to stay with him.
Resolution of the story is Mia choose to stay and continues her life though she knows it will be hard to face the reality without her parents and Teddy.
4.2 Suggestion
Plot is the soul of literary work, so it is important to look at the plot first when analyzing literary work. Analyzing the plot can help the reader to understand the entire story of the novel. Plot refers the conflict, so the reader can read a literary work if it is fundamentally related plot.
UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA This novel told about Mia’s out of body experience when she is in her coma. Not only that, this novel also tells about the close family relationship. Thus, readers are asked to deal with this novel for futher research.
UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA BIBLIOGRAPHY
Forman, Gayle. 2009. IF I STAY. New York : Dutton
Eagleton, Terry. 1996. Literary Theory : An Introduction. United States : University
Minnesota Press
Eagleton, Terry. 2005. The English Novel : An Introduction. USA : Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Watson, George. 1979. The story of the novel. London : THE MACMILLAN PRESS
Wellek, Rene & Austin Warren. 1985. Theory of Literature. New York : Penguin Books
UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA APPENDICES
A. Biography of Gayle Forman
Gayle Forman (born June 5, 1978) is an American young adult fiction author, best
known for her novel If I Stay which topped the New York Times best sellers list of Young
Adult Fiction and was made into a film of the same name.
Forman began her career writing for Seventeen Magazine, with most of her articles
focusing on young people and social concerns. Later she became a freelance journalist for
publications like Details Magazine, Jane Magazine, Glamour Magazine, The Nation, Elle
Magazine, and Cosmopolitan Magazine. In 2002, she and her husband Nick took a trip
around the world and she garnered experiences and information which later served as the
basis for her first book, a travelogue, You Can't Get There From Here: A Year On The
Fringes Of A Shrinking World. In 2007, she published her first young adult novel Sisters in
Sanity which she based on an article she had written for Seventeen.
UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA In 2009, Forman released If I Stay, a book about a 17-year-old girl named Mia who has been involved in a tragic car accident. The novel follows Mia's experience as she lies in a coma fully aware of what is going on around her and everything her visitors say and do.
Feeling the agony of the loss of those closest to her, yet aware of the abounding love of those that remain, she must make the choice to hang on or let go. Forman won the 2009 NAIBA
Book of the Year Awards and was a 2010 Indie Choice Honor Award winner for If I Stay.
The film adaptation of If I Stay, starring Chloë Grace Moretz, was released in the United
States on August 22, 2014. The sequel to If I Stay, titled Where She Went, was released in
2011. Told from Adam's point of view, the novel is about Adam and Mia's relationship after the accident.
In January 2013, Forman released Just One Day. The novel follows Allyson Healey, who, on the last day of a post-graduation European tour, meets a Dutch vagabond actor named Willem. In an uncharacteristic, spur-of-the moment decision, Allyson goes to Paris with Willem, where they spend a day together before he disappears. The sequel to Just One
Day, titled Just One Year, was released in October 2013. The novel follows the same chronological path as Allyson's story, but told from the perspective of Willem. The final installment of Allyson and Willem's story, titled Just One Night, is a 50-page novella that was released in ebook format on May 29, 2014.
In January 2015, Forman released I Was Here, about an 18-year-old girl dealing with the sudden suicide of her best friend. Movie rights to the book were picked up by New Line
Cinema one month later. Forman is currently working on her first adult novel, titled Leave
Me and due to be released in 2016.
Forman won the British Fantasy Award (2010), and the ALA/YALSA Quick Pick for
Reluctant Young Adult Readers (2010). She was nominated for the South Carolina Book
UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA Award for Young Adult Book Award (2011), the TAYSHAS High School Reading List
(2010), the Goodreads Choice Award for Young Adult Fiction (2009) and the Milwaukee
County Teen Book Award (2010).
Forman resides in Brooklyn, New York with her husband and two daughters, one of whom is adopted. At the 2010 annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, Forman participated in panel discussions. She was on the panel “Young Adult Fiction: Teens and
Turmoil” with Jandy Nelson, Cynthia Kadohata and moderator Sonya Sones.
UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA B. Summary of If I Stay
If I Stay follows the story of seventeen-year-old Mia, who suffered in a car accident that took the life of her two pare
nts and her little brother. Mia learns this after having an out-of-body experience which let her see what is occurring around her. Mia is now given the chance to stay alive or die.
The story begins before the car accident, the amount of snow on the road caused schools to close for the day. As a result Mia and her brother Teddy were home for the day, so was their father, who is a middle school English teacher. Her mother decided to take a day off work and decided that the family should go out on a family day trip.
Mia is a classical music lover, which was the last thing she was hearing when a truck hits their family car instantly killing her parents and injuring her brother and herself. After the accident, Mia is unconscious from a head injury, she begins to have an out-of-body experience where she is allowed to see everything around her without feeling pain. At first, she believed she was dead.
Mia and Teddy are rushed to the hospital, where she undergoes surgery and placed in I.C.U.
Her grandparents, her best friend Kimand her boyfriend Adam dropped in to visit her.
Time passes, Mia walks back and forth looking at everything that is going on, while also reflecting on her life at that point. He remembers the time when her brother was born, the time when her father transformed from rocker to teacher. Her friendship with Kim, her love for playing the Cello and falling in love with Adam.
At some point, Mia listens to the nurse saying that its her decision to live or die. Mia began reflecting how her life would be if she lives, but she also thinks of the pain her loved
UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA ones would suffer if she decides to die. Later, Mia learns that her brother died which crushed her.
However, before she decides to die, Adam put some headphones on Mia and played music from her favorite cellist, Yo Yo Mama. Listening to the music, she realized that she can't think about what she has lost, but on what is ahead of her life.
Mia squeezes Adam's hand finally deciding on staying alive.
UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA