CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
Language has become a significant part of human life because language is
used as a means of communication. Through language human beings can
communicate with each other. Paul Roberts (1958:18) says that language is the
system of speech sounds by which human beings communicate with one another. It
means that we use language to interact or speak with another, express our feeling as
well as ideas, exchange opinions, and give information.
Language plays a great role in our life. The effects of language are
remarkable and include much of what distinguishes man from animal. Language
cannot be separated from human‘s life. It indicates the existence of human being.
Without language we cannot make a communication with other people. For
communicating ideas, desires, or opinions we need a media, tool, equipment, device
or means, which is language.
Whatever kinds of activities that human beings make, they need a language as
a means of communication. For instance talking to someone, debating, discussing
something, murmuring, teasing, chatting, and even answering a question involve
language. Just like what Diane Larsen (2003:2) tells that language is the means for
doing something ─ accomplishing some purpose, for example, agreeing on a plan for
handling a conflict.
There are several functions of language in common. Firstly, most of
Crystal (1974:30) cites, ―Language is the most frequently used and most highly developed form of human communication.‖
Secondly, language is used to maintain or establish social relationship. This
means that language is viewed as a social phenomenon. Larsen (2003:1) states,
―Language is a means of interaction between and among people.‖ It means that
language is an interactional language (language for interpersonal communication),
that is, choosing and using appropriate language within a social context.
Thirdly, language is used to give information. In this case, language is needed
for information. In the process of teaching and learning, this function really plays an
important role. Moody (1970:15) says, ―While we shall not argue which use of language ‗come first‘, there is no doubt that a principal function of language is the transmission of information.‖
Human beings use language both spoken and written to convey their ideas or
feeling in various purposes and reasons. In written language, for example, the writers
use conjunctions in expressing their thoughts, feeling, and ideas. The function of
using conjunction is to tie certain words to other words or certain sentence to other
sentences. And it will help the readers understand the connection of the sentences or
paragraphs, and easy to interpret the content through the relationship of each
elements of the sentences.
Conjunctions are words used as joiners. In the other words, it can be said that
conjunction is a word joining sentences or part of a sentence together that expresses
related ideas. Murthy (2003:212) states that word which joins together sentences or
words and clauses is known as conjunction. According to Wren and Martin
(1989:128) conjunction is a word which merely joins together sentences, and
There are three board types of conjunctions; they are coordinating
conjunction, correlative conjunctions, and subordinating conjunction. Coordinating
conjunction can combine words with words, phrases with phrases and clauses with
clauses. It can be said that coordinating conjunction is a single word used to connect
part of sentence. Coordinating conjunction is used to join two sentences which are
grammatically equal and always laid between words or phrases which it is related.
Kinds of coordinating conjunctions are for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so.
Some conjunctions combine with other words to form what are called
correlative conjunctions. They always travel in pairs, joining various sentence
elements that should be treated as grammatically equal. When joining singular and
plural subjects, the subject closest to the verb determines whether the verb is singular
or plural. Kinds of correlative conjunctions are both … and,not only … but also, not
… but, neither … nor,either … or,whether … or.
Subordinating conjunction joins a clause to another or which it depends for
its full meaning. Subordinating conjunction introduces a dependent clause and
indicates the nature of the relationship among independent clause and dependent
clause. A subordinating conjunction may appear at the beginning of a sentence or
between two clauses in a sentence. The words used as subordinating conjunction are
after, although, as, that, though, because, before, if, unless, when, where, while, etc.
In this thesis, the writer chose the novel One Day written by David Nicholls
as the source of data. It is assumed that there are many conjunctions found in this
novel which are interesting to be analyzed.
David Alan Nicholls was born in November 30, 1966 in Eastleigh — Hampshire. He is an English novelist and screenwriter. His novels include Starter for
Nicholls is the middle of three siblings. He attended Barton Peveril
sixth-form college at Eastleigh, Hampshire, from 1983 to 1985 (taking A-levels in Drama
and Theatre Studies along with English, Physics and Biology), and playing a wide
range of roles in college drama productions. He then attended Bristol University in
the 1980s (graduating with a BA in Drama and English in 1988) before training as an
actor at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York.
Throughout his twenties, he worked as a professional actor using the stage
name David Holdaway. He played small roles at various theatres, including the West
Yorkshire Playhouse and, for a three-year period, at the Royal National Theatre.
As a screenwriter, he co-wrote the adapted screenplay of Simpatico and
contributed four scripts to the third series of Cold Feet (both 2000). For the latter, he
was nominated for a British Academy Television Craft Award for Best New Writer
(Fiction). He created the Granada Television pilot and miniseries I Saw You (2000,
2002) and the Tiger Aspect six-part series Rescue Me (2002). Rescue Me lasted for
only one series before being cancelled. Nicholls had written four episodes for the
second series before being told of the cancellation. His anger over this led to him
taking a break from screenwriting to concentrate on writing Starter for Ten. When he
returned to screenwriting, he adapted Much Ado About Nothing into a one-hour
segment of the BBC's 2005 ShakespeaRe-Told season.
In 2005 he wrote Aftersun for the Old Vic's 24-Hour Play festival. The
10-minute play starred James Nesbitt, Saffron Burrows, Catherine Tate and Gael García
Bernal. Nicholls developed Aftersun into a one-off comedy for BBC One. It starred
Peter Capaldi and Sarah Parish and was broadcast in 2006.
In 2006, his film adaptation Starter for 10 was released in cinemas. The
adaptation of the memoir by Blake Morrison. His adaptation of Tess of the
D'Urbervilles for the BBC aired in 2008, and is he now working on an adaptation of
Far From the Madding Crowd for BBC Films. He has also adapted Great
Expectations; the screenplay has been listed on the 2009 Brit List, an annual industry
poll of the best unmade scripts outside the United States.
One Day was published in June 11, 2009. The novel consists of 448 pages.
Each chapter covers the lives of two protagonists on 15 July, St. Swithin's Day, for
twenty years. The novel attracted generally positive reviews, and was named 2010
Galaxy Book of the Year. Nicholls adapted his book into a screenplay; the feature
film, also titled One Day, starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess, was released in
August 2011.
It's 1988 and Dexter Mayhew and Emma Morley have only just met. They
both know that the next day, after college graduation, they must go their separate
ways. But after only one day together, they cannot stop thinking about one another.
As the years go by, Dex and Em begin to lead separate lives—lives very different from the people they once dreamed they'd become. And yet, unable to let go of that
special something that grabbed onto them that first night, an extraordinary
relationship develops between the two.
Over twenty years, snapshots of that relationship are revealed on the same
day—July 15th—of each year. Dex and Em face squabbles and fights, hopes and missed opportunities, laughter and tears. And as the true meaning of this one crucial
1.2 Problem of the Study
Based on the background that has been explained above, the writer identifies
some problems as follows:
a. What are the types of subordinating conjunctions found in the novel One
Day?
b. What is the most dominant type of subordinating conjunction found in the
novel One Day?
1.3 Objectives of the Study
This thesis is particularly intended to show the problems which have been
mentioned before and those are:
a. To find out the types of subordinating conjunctions found in the novel One
Day
b. To find out the most dominant type of subordinating conjunction found in the
novel One Day
1.4 Scope of the Study
In doing a research, it is important to limit the analysis on specific data that
has been chosen in order to avoid the over complicating of issues and analysis.
Therefore in this thesis the writer only analyzes the types of subordinating
conjunctions found in the novel One Day.
1.5 Significance of The Study
When someone does something, of course he or she owns a goal. The benefits
a. Hopefully the readers will have more understanding about subordinating
conjunctions and their important roles in producing a good novel
b. Hopefully the readers will notice that a novel is not only interesting to be read
but also to be analyzed
c. Providing underlying information for further research about subordinating
