AN ANALYSIS OF INTRINSIC ELEMENTS IN NICHOLAS
SPARKS’ NOVEL THE LAST SONG
PAPER
BY:
JOAN SULASNI
REG. NO.102202010
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH SUMATERA
FACULTY OF CULTURE STUDIES
DIPLOMA III ENGLISH STUDY PROGRAM
MEDAN
It has been proved by Supervisor,
19580330198303 2 002 Dra.Hartisari, M.A.
Submitted to Faculty of Culture Studies, Universityof North Sumatera in partial
fulfillment of the requirements for Diploma (D-III) in English
Approved by
Head of Diploma III English Study Program,
NIP. 19521126198112 1 001 Dr. Matius C.A. Sembiring, M.A.
Approved by the Diploma III of English Study Program
Faculty of Culture Studies, University of North Sumatera
Accepted by The Board of Examiners in partial fulfillment of the requirements for
the Diploma III (D-III) of English Study Program, Faculty of Culture Studies,
University of North Sumatera.
The examination is held on June 15th
Faculty of Culture Studies, University of North Sumatera
, 2013
Dean,
NIP. 19511013197603 1 001 Dr. SyahronLubis, M.A.
Board of Examiners Signature
1. Dr. Matius C.A. Sembiring, M.A.
2.Dra. Hartisari, M.A.
AUTHOR'S DECLARATION
I, Joan Sulasni, 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.
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Name : Joan Sulasni
Title of Paper : An Analysis of Intrinsic ElementsInNicholas Sparks Novel The Last Song
Qualification : D-III/ AhliMadya
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 Department Faculty of Culture Studies
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Bismillahirrahmaanirrahiim
First of all, I would like to thank and praise to the Almighty God Allah
SWT for blessing and giving me opportunity, health, and ability to accomplish this paper. Afterwards, invocations and greetings I deliver to the last Prophet
Muhammad SAW who has brought us into the time of humanities.
I would like to thank to Dr. SyahronLubis, M. A. as the Dean of Faculty
of Culture Studies. Then, I would like to thank to Dr. Matius C. A. Sembiring,
M. A.,the Head of Diploma III English Study Program, who has shared his time to guide me in the process of my study. I would like to dedicate a deep gratitude to
my supervisor,for the valuable time to give the correct and give constructive
criticisms in completing this paper. Then, I would like to express my sincere
gratitude and appreciation to all lecturers in English Diploma Study Program for
their valuable guidance and knowledge that they have gave to me during my
study.
The most special thank is dedicated to my beloved parents, my father,
Misno and my mother, Rospita Br Siregar who have given me love, cares, advices, supports, and always pray for me in order to get my best. To my beloved
my sister and young brother thanks for the love, cares, advices, and motivations
that you have given to me. Then, I would like to thank to all of my lecturers in
much for their knowledge. I really appreciate that. Then to my all friends in
English Diploma III 2010, and the others friends, thank you very much for all of
you, for your attention and support to me.
Finally, I realize that this paper is still far from being perfect. Therefore, I
welcome any constructive criticisms and suggestions towards to this paper.
Medan, , 2013
The writer,
ABSTRACT
ABSTRAK
Table of Contents in Paper
3. AN ANALYSIS OF INTRINSIC ELEMENTS 3.1THEME……… 10
3.2PLOT……… 11
3.3MAIN CHARACTER………. 14
3.4SUPPORTING CHARACTER………... 12
ABSTRACT
ABSTRAK
1. INTRODUCTION
a. Background of the Study
Literature has many kinds or ‘genres’ such as poerty, novel and drama.
Novel has extrinsic and intrinsic elements. The reason why the writer choose to
discus intrinsic elements in a novel because, in the absence of these elements, it
can not be called a novel.
The elements are connected all together and give a total meaning. A
literary work can be analysed only by using these elements because it has an
autonomy right.
The intrinsic elements to be discussed in this small paper are theme, plot,
character, setting, and point of view. The story of the novel is always collected
from the social life, it talks about marriage, divorce, love, education, jobs, even
talks about nature and animals.
This novel titled ‘The last Song’ is important to be discussed because
love has the power in human life. It can make a better life , it can change a broken
family to be united again. Love can change hatred becomes understanding and
tolerance.
Love among the young people can motivate them to study harder to make
more friends, to understand more people and to understand their own family,
mother, father, and sister or brothers.
Finally, the write haS decided to write this paper entitled The Analysis of
b. The Problem of the study
The scope of the study is how to get the whole meaning in which one
element and the other element is related in the novel.
c. Scope of the Study
The writer is to find out whether one element and the other element is
related in the novel. In writing this paper, the writer tries to get whether the novel
entitled “ The Last Song “ covers some step which include the intrinsic elements
namely theme, character, plot, setting, and point of view.
d. Method of the Study
In writing this paper the writer uses some research methods, such as data
collecting method and method of data analysis. In data collecting, the sources of
data were taken from books and other sources such as internet and literary
criticism. Since this research is focused on documented data, the research is better
known as library research. The method of analysis is descriptive in terms of
describing the intrinsic elements as portrayed in the novel The Last Song. The
intrinsic elements become the data of this study such as theme, character, plot,
setting, and point of view. The description covers some steps which are related to
intrinsic elements found in it.
e. Reasons for Choosing The Topic
The writer chooses the topic because :
• The topic of the novel is taken from a song told inside the story created
for a special person.
• The novel talks about love and broken family which can happen in every
person life.
• The writer tries to know whether intrinsic elements namely theme, plot,
setting, character, point of view are related in the novel.
f. Purpose of the Study
The purpose of writing this paper:
a. To fulfill one of the requirements I for Diploma III English Study
Program.
b. By writing this paper, the writer wants to explore and find out how the
author described the intrinsic element that found in “The Last Song”
novel by Nicholas Sparks.
c. The paper can be used as reference for further study for those who are
2. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
a. NOVEL
The novel is an impossible history, for history has become impossible. It
is powered by a negative utopianism: it creates an image of an artificial reality,
but not of a better one as a prophet would. Modern novel are Dystopias, the sting
in the tail of the earlier desire to leave this world and so was unable to return to it.
(Coates, 1983:17). According to George Watson (1979: 3) “Novel is the name of
a literary kind, and there is a story to tell about how, over the centuries, its
substance has widened and its conventions changed.”
Novel is a way to send message in social, such as in novel find character
that plays role hero and felon. Hero in novel will be success but not felon will be
loser. From this message the reader can get inspiration that hero is good but felon
is bad. Watson (1979:3-4) said that a novel is a way of learning about how things
were or are-cognitive instrument; and those who distrust stories as evidence
should consider how often in conversation we use them to make points or answer
questions. The end of the novel, like the end of children’s dinner-party, must be
made up of sweetmeats and sugar plums. That is a plain directive from Trollope to
the reader that is novel is a novel, and not record of real events.
Novel intrinsic elements are the elements that build up in the literary
works of literature itself. The purpose of the elements that is included in the
literary work itself. In general, the intrinsic elements of literary works including
b. THEME
The theme is the basic story that dominated the subject matter of a
literary work (Suharianto: 2005). Jacobus(1993:18) said thatthe theme of a play is
its message, its central concern-in short, what is about. It is by no means a simple
thing to decide what the theme of a play is, and many plays contain several rather
than just a single theme. Often, the search for a theme tempts us to oversimplify
and to reduce a complex play to a relatively simple catchphrase.Thetheme was the
starting point in compiling the work of literary authors. This theme is to be
conveyed and solved by the author through his story. The theme became the basis
of development of the whole story; the theme was nature animates all parts of the
story from beginning to end.
c. PLOT
Storyline or plots can be defined as the way the author to establish the
events in a row by taking into account the law of cause and effect so it is a unitary
piece, round, and intact (Suharianto: 2005). Stanton (1965:14) say, the plot is a
story that contains the sequence of events, but each incident is only connected in
cause and effect, an event which caused or led to the occurrence of events. The
flow of the story consists of introduction, conflict, complication, climax,
denouement, and resolution.
Plot is beginning of introduction of the story such as information about
the characters. It means dramatic stricter in plot, as Gwynn (2002: 8) said that:
introduction about the characters, show the “trouble” in the novel. The trouble is
conflict either to him or to another character and to nature. For example the
characters get conflict one to other like hate, angry and also fighting.
Plot show the climax of event that is high point the story. In this part
determines the ending of story. Gwynn (2002:9) defines, The central moment of
crisis in a plot is the climax, or moment of greatest tension, which inaugurates the
falling action of the story, in which the built-up tension is finally released.
2.4CHARACTER
Characterization is one of the main element in a story which tells the
story of human life with all the miscellaneous life. Character is human being in
fiction who plays action in the novel. The character does action like making
conversation or doing activities. With that understanding there would have been
required as a manifestation of the human figure and his life to be told. The
characters in this story will do its job to be "a source story". Figure is a living
thing (humans) who have physical and temperament.
Characterizations often called disposition, which is depiction of the
characters. This depiction includes a state of physical and spiritual leaders. The
situation is a form of birth figures and who the characters, circumstances of birth
includes live view of the characters, character attitudes, beliefs, customs, etc.
Character divides two kind, these are protagonist and antagonist.
Protagonist is character who craved and doing the good action but antagonist is
character that is not desired in life experience because it does the bad attitude. The
good thing from actions of character. Karl (1967: 238) defines that: character is of
interest for the very personal reason that we want to see how other people live, how
they make decision and react to responsibility, how they pursue their goal. We
measure ourselves by them. Think of characters in stories and novels as real people,
and then your imagination go.” It means, novel can give effect to reader either good
thing or bad thing.
Edgar V. Roberts, (1995: 131) In fiction, a character may be defined as
verbal representation of a human being. Through action, speech, description, and
commentary, authors portray characters that are worth caring about, rooting for,
and even loving, although there are also characters you may laugh at, dislike, or
even hate.
No writer can present an entire life history of a protagonist; nor can each
character in a story get “equal time” for development. Accordingly, some characters
grow to be full and alive, while others remain shadowy. The British novelist and
critic E. M. Forster, in his critical work Aspects of the Novel, calls the two major
types “round” and “flat”.
The basic trait of round character is that they recognize, change with, or
adjust to circumstances. The round character-usually the main figure in a story-profits
from experience and undergoes a change or alteration, which may be shown in (1) an
action or actions, (2) the realization of new strength and therefore the affirmation of
previous decision, (3) the acceptance of a new condition, or (4) the discovery of
unrecognized truth. (Edgar V. Roberts, 1995: 133)
In contrast, flat characters don’t grow. They remain the same because
characters are minor (e.g. relative, acquaintance, functionaries), although not all
minor character are necessarily flat. (Edgar V. Roberts, 1995: 134)
2.5SETTING
All events that occur in human life certainly will not escape from the
bondage of space and time. Also in the short story or novel in which it is the
telling of human life and all problems. The scene and will continue to establish
the timing behavior of the life of every character in the story. Thus it can be
interpreted that the background is a place and time of occurrence or the story.
Background or setting is often called in literature prose (short stories and novels)
not only serves as a pointer place and time of the story. Background in literary
prose is also used as a place of extraction of these values to express the author of
the story.
According Nurgiyantoro (2004:227-233) background can be divided into
three main elements, namely setting the place, time setting, social setting. For
safe’s sake, we can say that setting encompasses not only the usual quantities of
time and place, as well as the element loosely called background, but also aspect
of atmosphere, a series of details, nuances, and gestures, which give a certain
shape to theme and plot (Hamalian and Karl,1967:59)
The setting of a play includes many things. First, it refers to the time and
place in which the action occurs. Second, it refers to the scenery, the physical
2.6POINT OF VIEW
Point of view is a picture that displays the life of character. Positioning of
characters to display the author of stories about the life of the characters in the
story telling is what is called the center (point of view) or sometimes also called
the point of view. In general, the central narrative is categorized into 4 types; they
are author as the main story, the author come into play but not as a main character,
the author of all present, and author of observers.
The vision of a single character use by the author as a central observer or
central intelligence through whom anything is cleared. We might call this the
observer’s point of view, though other labels would do as well. All events
observer, and we are allowed to know no more than he can see or sense. He is in a
position to tell the reader what he himself thinks or feels about himself or about
anything or anyone else, but not what other characters feel or think unless they
reveal their thinking or feeling to him through deed or dialogue.This technique,
because it arises from the experience of one individual, creates at its best a sense
of unity and realism that other techniques rarely approach; at the same time, the
limitations of the individual experience reduce the field of vision and do not allow
the character at sometime vital juncture of the story to tell us what we may want
to know about the responses of the other characters. Finally, there is what is
3. AN ANALYSIS OF INTRINSIC ELEMENTS
a. Theme
The theme of this novel is about love. The main character in the story is
named Ronnie Miller. As young women, she is very disappointed that her father
suffers from cancer. The family should live separately because the father wants to
live in his village near the beach. Ronnie feels trustrated and angry. But when
Ronnie meet s Will, a young man who lives near the beach. They be come close
friends and working together near the beach, and finally they love each other.
At last Ronnie can understand the problem in her own family. She
doesn’t hate her father an mother any more. Now, she can understand her father
and she feels sad knowing that the father is so sick because of the cancer, the
father may be dead soon. Ronnie tries to care and gives special attention for the
father.
So, we can say that love can change hatred becomes understanding, love
can change sadness becomes happiness.
Such a picture can be seen in the following statement :
Hi, sweetheart I’m proud of you.
You and Jonah have always been the greatest blessings in my life. I love you, Ronnie, and I’ve always loved you. And never, ever forget that I am, and always have been, proud of you. No father has ever been as blessed as I.
Dad
b. Plot
Stanton (1965:14) say, “The plot is a story that contains the sequence of
events, but each incident is only connected in cause and effect, an event which
caused or led to the occurrence of events. The flow of the story consists of
introduction, conflict, complication, climax, denouement, and resolution.
Plot show the climax of event that is high point the story. In this part
determines the ending of story. Gwynn (2002:9) defines, “The central moment of
crisis in a plot is the climax, or moment of greatest tension, which inaugurates the
falling action of the story, in which the built-up tension is finally released.”
a. Introduction
Introduction is the beginning stage of a story that began with an event,
but there is no information.
In the beginning the story tells about the broken family, the family live
separately because the father is sick and moves to his village near the beach.
Ronnie the first daughter, 17 year old, feels very disappointed and angry about the
problem. She hates the situation why she should face the sadness in the family.
b. Conflict
Conflict, which is actually quite important events (so, it will be
functional events, major, or kernel), is an essential element in the development of
the plot. Conflict is something that dramatic, referring to the struggle between two
forces are balanced and imply action and retaliation (Wellek& Warren, 1989:285)
When Ronnie meets her father in the beach, she speaks very rudely. She
refuses her father offering her to the piano, because the father can play the piano
very well and work in church. Ronnie feels hopeless she doesn’t know what to do
even at time she spends her vacation at the beautiful beach in the summer. There
are many friends who want to play with her but she refuses them. At the moment,
she really feels in doubt.
In the beach she only wants to talks to Will. They are working together to
help the turtles that are in dangerous situation. Some wild raccoons try to eat the
eggs of the turtles. After this event Ronnie and will become close friend and later
they love each other
c. Complication
Complication is the stage where the tension begins to feel the growing
and complex.
Since Ronnie shoplifted once before in New York, a second conviction
would land her in serious trouble. Meanwhile, Steve and Jonah fly kites and enjoy
the beach. Steve shows Jonah a stained-glass window he's building for his church.
The church burned down several months earlier, injuring his friend and mentor,
Pastor Harris. Steve wants to play a meaningful role in restoring the sanctuary
where he learned to play piano and heard about God's love. Jonah begs to help
with the project, and Steve teaches him to work with the glass. After Ronnie's
shoplifting arrest, Steve affirms his belief in her innocence and vows to stand
behind her. He shows her a family of endangered sea turtles nesting on the beach
concern for her, Ronnie warms up to her dad. Ronnie wants to protect the
endangered turtles from the raccoons that often eat their eggs. She sleeps outside
to watch the nest. She and Steve call the aquarium the next morning so someone
can install a protective cage. The aquarium sends a volunteer named Will, the
volleyball player who spilled soda on Ronnie her first night in town.
d. Climax
Conflicts and the climax are of paramount importance in the structure of
the plot, both of which are the main elements of plot in fiction. Stanton (1965:
16), is when the conflict has reached the highest level itensitas, and when (it) is
something that is inevitable happened.
Climax is the stage where the tension begins to mount ( fate has begun to
change in the suspect ).
When Ronnie meets her father in the beach, she doesn’t want to speak
with him politely. She refuses her father offering her to play piano, because the
father is a skillful pianist who works in their church. Ronnie feels hopeless she
doesn’t know what to do even at time she spends her vacation at the beautiful
beach in the summer.
e. Resolution
Resolution is the final stage of the story, in this section the final strage of
the story contains an explanation for what has happened to the characters after a
peak event.
The turtles finally hatch. Ronnie has a moment of joy and satisfaction,
covers Steve's face. He says that he needs to go to the hospital, and he finally
reveals he has terminal cancer. He'd asked the kids to spend the summer with him
so he could say goodbye. Jonah insists that he, Will and Ronnie should complete
Steve's stained glass window.
The summer is ending. Jonah tearfully returns home, and Will prepares
to leave for his first semester of college. In her grief, Ronnie breaks up with Will.
Now 18, she decides to stay with her dad to care for him during his final months.
Blaze comes to the house and thanks Ronnie for helping her. She says she's talked
to the police and cleared Ronnie of the shoplifting charges. Will's father provides
funding to complete the construction of the church. As Steve's condition
deteriorates, he and Ronnie search fervently for God's presence and His peace.
Ronnie secretly finishes the song her dad was writing. When he is rushed to the
hospital, Ronnie prays for a miracle. Steve wakes up and asks her to take him
home. She plays the song for him there, and he realizes God's presence has been
with him all along. After he dies, Ronnie returns to New York, where she applies
to Juilliard. Will appears and surprises her. He's transferred to a school in the area
so they can be together.
c. The Main Character : Ronnie Miller and Will Blecklee
1.
Ronnie Miller is the daughter of Steve and Kim Miller. When Ronnie is
still a little girl, she learns to play the piano. She is very clever in playing that
instrrument. Her father expects her to be a famous pianist oneday in the future.
2. Will Blakelee
Will Blakelee is Ronnie’s boyfriend. He is handsome and many girls like
him. Beside popular among students in the university, he becomes volunteer at the
Georgia aquarium.
d. Supporting Character
1. Steve Miller
Steve Miller is Ronnie ‘s father , he works as professor in Juilliard school
and as a pianist in the church. He from New York to Georgia after divorce. He
knowing that his illnes can kill him very soon plans to create a song for he
dougther who want to continue her college and expect her to become the famous
pianist.
2. Kim
Kim is Ronnie’s mother.
3. Jonah Miller
Jonah is Ronnie’s younger brother. He lives with his mother when her
gets education. But is when he gets vacation, he goes to live with his father in
Georgia.
4. Marcus
Marcus is a rude man who likes Ronnie.
5. Blaze
Blaze is Ronnie’s friend in Tybee Island. In the begining Ronnie and
Blaze are good friend. Finaly they become anemy because Blaze boyfriend like
6. Ashley
Ashley is the ex-girlfriend of Will and still loves him. Because she has
bad manner, Will breaks her up and dates with Ronnie. Seeing Ronnie and Will
dating she is very jelous and tries to plan to separate them.
7. Charlie Harris
Charlie Harris is a godly pastor of local church that. He is Steve piano
teacher, parental figure and best friend Steve for growing up.
3.5 Setting
Setting take place in the eastern North Carolina.Sparks uses of the setting
in The Last Song helps to add to the overall tone of the work. In the town of
Wilmington along the Atlantic Coast. The beach plays a large role in the lives of
all the characters. It is in fact that the story of life in the novel is the beach as a
place for new begining. On Ronnie’s first day in North Carolina, she literally runs
into Will while she is walking on the beach. The two of them meet during Will’s
volleyball game after he hits her with the ball and accidentally spills her drink on
her.
As a place for new beginnings, the beach also develops the sense that
another large part of the story is the life of the baby sea turtles. These turtles bring
Ronnie and Will together as they both share in the rescuing and protection of the
turtles for the duration of the time when they are still eggs. Had the setting not
been along the beach, the meaning behind the sea turtles would have been
nonexistent, and Will and Ronnie may never have met with common ground to
Seventeen-year-old Veronica “Ronnie” Miller’s life was turned upside down when her parents divorce and her father moved to Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. Three years later, she remains alienated from her parents, particularly her father…until her mother decides it would be in everyone’s best interest if she and her brother spent the summer with him. Resentful and rebellious, Ronnie rejects her father’s attempts to reach out to her and threatens to return to New York before the summer’s end. But soon Ronnie meets Will, the last person she thought she’d ever be attracted to, and finds herself falling for him, opening herself up to the greatest happiness-and pain- that she has ever known.
The Last Song (Back Cover)
3.6Point of View
The author of The Last Song novel uses the narrator omniscient point of
view as his technique of writing. The narrator is telling the story of Miller as the
main character in the novel. Miller often appears in every series of the story and
the most influence in the story and all events. The narrator uses the second person
(she/he) to show all the characters.
The Last Song (2010:7)
Ronnie slouched in the front of the car, wondering why on earth her mom and dad hated her so much. It was the only thing that could explain why she was here visiting her dad, in this godforsaken southern armpit of a place, instead of spending time with her friends back home in Manhattan. No, scratch that. She wasn’t just visiting her dad. Visiting implied a weekend or two, maybe even a week. She supposed she could live with a visit. But to stay until late August? Pretty much the entire summer? That was banishment, and for most of the nine hours it had taken them to drive down, she’d felt like a prisoner being transferred to a rural penitentiary. She couldn’t believe her mom was actually going to make her go through with this.
4 CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
4.1Conclusions
After analyzing the intrinsic elements of The Last Song novel, the writer
concludes that all the intrinsic elements are related one into other. Those intrinsic
elements cannot be separated from each other.
The instrinsic elements of the novel revolve around love and broken
family. Seventeen year old Veronica Ronnie Miller’s life was turned upside down
when her parent divorced and her father moved to Wrightsville Beach, North
Carolina. Three years later, she remains alienated from her parents, particularly
her father until her mother disides it would be in everyone’s best intrest if she and
her brother spand the summer with him. Resentfull and rebellious, Ronnie rejects
her father attempts to reach out to her and threatens to returne to New York before
the summer’s end. But soon Ronnie meets Will, the last person she thought she’d
ever be attracted to, and finds herself falling for him, opening herself up to the
4.2Suggestions
After writing the paper, the writer suggests that it’s very important for
reader and writer to study the intrinsic elements. The instrinsic elements found in
the novel The Last Song writen by Nicholas Sparks support to each other. In true
Nicholas Sparks fasion, the reader is engaged from the first to last page the
character are authentic and the plot is engrossing and emotinally charge. The
depth and richness that Sparks bring to the reader are so moving they bring one
tears. It is truly a very fluent and expressive work of the human heart and brought
REFERENCES
Castle, Gregory. 2007. The Blackwell Guide to Literary Theory. Australia: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Hamalian, Leo andFrederick R. Karl. 1967. The Shape of Fiction ‘British and American Short Stories’. United States of America: McGraw-Hill, Inc
Peck, John and Martin Coyle. 1984. Literary Terms and Criticism. London: Macmillan Education Ltd.
Rees, R.J. 1973. English Literature. London: Macmillen Education Limited.
Roberts, V. Edgar and Henry E. Jacobs. 1995. An Introduction to Reading and Writing. New Jersey: Prentice Hall Inc.
Sparks, Nicholas. 2010. The Last Song. USA: Hachette Book Group, Inc.
Stanton, Roberts. 1965. An Introduction to Fiction. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Taylor, Robert. 2007.TeoriFiksi. Yogyakarta: PustakaPelajar.
APPENDICE
The Biography of Nicholas Sparks
Nicholas Sparks is one of the world’s most beloved storytellers. All of
his books have been New York Times bestsellers, with nearly 80 million copies in
print worldwide, in over 45 languages, including over 50 million copies in the
United States alone, and his popularity continues to soar.Sparks wrote one of his
best-known stories, The Notebook, over a period of six months at age 28. It was
published in 1996 by Warner Books. He followed with the novels Message in a
Bottle (1998), A Walk to Remember (1999), The Rescue (2000), A Bend in the
Road(2001), Nights in Rodanthe (2002), The Guardian (2003),The
Wedding (2003), True Believer (2005) and its sequel,At First Sight (2005), Dear
John (2006), The Choice(2007), The Lucky One (2008), The Last
non-fiction memoir Three Weeks With My Brother, co-written with his brother
Micah.Safe Haven, filmed in Southport, North Carolina is scheduled for release
on February 14, 2013, and marks Sparks’s eighth film adaptation, following The
Lucky One, Message in a Bottle, A Walk to Remember, The Notebook, Nights in
Rodanthe, Dear John and The Last Song
Sparks lives in North Carolina with his family. He contributes to a
variety of local and national charities, and is a major contributor to the Creative
Writing Program (MFA) at the University of Notre Dame, where he provides
scholarships, internships, and a fellowship annually. Along with his wife, he
founded The Epiphany School in New Bern, North Carolina. As a former full
scholarship athlete (he still holds a track and field record at the University of
Notre Dame) he also spent four years coaching track and field athletes at the local
public high school. In 2009, the team he coached at New Bern High School set a
World Junior Indoor Record in the 4 x400 meter, in New York. The record still
stands.In 2011, Nicholas and his wife launched the Nicholas Sparks Foundation, a
501(c)(3) nonprofit committed to improving cultural and international
understanding through global education experiences for students of all ages.
Between the foundation, and the personal gifts of Nicholas and Catherine Sparks,
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, which thus far have a cumulative
Summary of The Last Song
Divorce of her parents apparently have a major impact on self Veronica
Ronnie. 17-year-old Veronica "Ronnie" Miller is a troubled teenager who is trying
her very best to ignore her divorced parents: Kim, her mother with whom she
lives in New York, and Steve, her father who lives in his hometown of
Wrightsville Beach, NC. Her mother decides that it would be in everyone's best
interest if Ronnie and her 10-year-old brother, Jonah, spent the summer in
Wrightsville Beach with Steve. Jonah is excited, while Ronnie can only wonder
why her parents hate her so much as to send her there for the summer.
Once they arrive in Steve’s house Ronnie runs off to the carnival down at
the beach, where she watches a volleyball game in the crowd. As she turns to
leave, one of the players, the priveliged Will Blakelee, knocks into her while
trying to reach the ball, spilling her soda all through the front of her shirt.
When she tries to find a stand selling shirts, Ronnie bumps into Blaze, an
estranged teenager like herself, spilling the remaining soda on her again. Blaze
helps her find a T-shirt booth and they leave to watch a show by Marcus, Blaze's
boyfriend, on the pier. The show includes "harmless" fireballs, and when it's over,
the police runs Marcus off. They go to sit under the pier, where Blaze heads off to
find food. In Blaze's absence, Marcus attempts to touch Ronnie's breasts, causing
her to leave.
Later, when Ronnie finds a nest of Loggerhead turtle eggs in danger of
that Will volunteers at the aquarium, and after a few nights of talking with him on
the beach, she realizes she has feelings for him. They talk about their favorite.
Ronnie unbelievably happy to have friends like Will. Ronnie slowly began to feel
the beauty of the summer together Will.
When Ronnie comes to Blakelee Brakes, where Will works, he kisses her in
front of Will's best friend Scott. Scott is furious because he can't have sex with his
crush, Cassie, if Will doesn't date Cassie's best friend Ashley.
After two months together, Ronnie attends Will's sister's wedding, where
they kiss. They go down to the boat Will owns to have sex, but Marcus stops them
and ruins the wedding, causing Ronnie to break up with Will in fear that the
Blakelee family hates her. But after talking with Will's sister, she reconciles with
him at his volleyball tournament. During the tournament, Blaze catches herself on
fire while doing a fireball show and Will and Ronnie rush her to the hospital,
forcing Scott to forfeit the tournament. Will and Scott fight, and Ronnie takes him
to her house to show Will the stained-glass window Jonah and Steve have been
working on for the new church. While there, Ronnie and Will begin to have sex
but Ronnie stops them, claiming that her dad will see. When Will leaves, it turns
out Jonah was watching them, after all.
Ronnie then finds out that her dad has stomach and lung cancer. She is
very sad and decided to live with her father after the summer ends. She wanted to
take care of her father because she knows that her father no longer age. After
finding out, she, Jonah, and Will finish the window; Ronnie finishes a song for
church. Kim arrives to say goodbye to Steve one last time and take Jonah home.
Ronnie stays with Steve. Will had left in August to go to Vanderbilt; however, he
shows up at the funeral once Steve has passed. He leaves again for Europe, and
Ronnie returns to New York. While at
up to surprise her; he reveals that he's decided to go to Columbia to be closer to
her. Ronnie was very pleased with the decree of Will moved to New York to
