TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface i
Acknowledgements ii
Abstract iv
Table of Contents v
List of Tables vii
List of Appendices viii
Chapter I Introduction 1
1.1 Background of the Research 1
1.2 Purposes of the Research 5
1.3 Research Questions 5
1.4 Significance of the Research 6
1.5 Organization of the Thesis 7
Chapter II Theoretical Review 9
2.1 Reading 9
2.2 Text, Reader, and Transaction 14
2.3 Reader Response 16
2.4 Literature 20
2.5 Related Research Findings 22
Chapter III Methodology 25
3.1 Research Design 25
3.2 Research Sites 26
3.3 Participants of the Research 27 3.4 Characteristics of the Participants 28
3.5 Data Collection Techniques 37
3.6 Data Analysis 39
3.7 Short Description of the Novels of Harry Potter 41
4.1 Classification of the Data 44 4.2 Analysis of the Data, Findings, and Discussion 45 4.2.1 The Students’ Responses to the Novels of Harry Potter 45 4.2.2 Similar Response to the Novels of Harry Potter 48 4.2.3 Different Response to the Novels of Harry Potter 50 4.2.4 Factors Influencing the Students’ Reading Habit 52
Chapter V Conclusions and Suggestions 56
Bibliography 58
LIST OF TABLES
Tables
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Reseach
Reading is an activity that literate people can do for getting information and
pleasure. By reading we could obtain a lot of benefits e.g. widening our
perspective, extending our knowledge. Asfadiyar, General Manager of Mizan
Publisher Bandung, (Pikiran Rakyat, 4 July 2003) convinces us about the
importance of reading developed since the early age. He says:
Melalui membaca, anak-anak akan mendapatkan pengetahuan dan pengalaman yang luas sehingga mereka bisa mengikuti dan menikmati suatu diskusi dibandingkan dengan teman-temannya yang tidak suka membaca. Mereka lebih mudah mengolah informasi baru, punya lebih banyak tambahan ide dan lebih cepat melihat kepelikan yang ada. Selain itu, karena memiliki kosakata yang banyak dan beragam, mereka akan mudah menulis dengan baik dan mengekspresikan pikiran dan perasaan mereka. (Pikiran Rakyat, 4 July 2003)
(By reading children could extend their knowledge, and it makes them more able to have and enjoy a discussion compared to their friends who are not interested in reading. Those who love reading are easy to keep up with new information, have a lot of ideas, see existing problems. Due to possessing a lot of vocabulary, they will be easy to write and to express their thought and feeling.)
In fact, reading habit among Indonesian people has not been developed well
yet, since the oral tradition is still very strong in Indonesia (Campbell, 1995).
Saputra, the Vice Governer of West Java, (Pikiran Rakyat, 4 July 2003) says the
same statement that:
(Lack of good human resources in West Java is due to the lack of reading habit. The interest of reading on the levels of educated people- from elementary school students to higher education ones- is not quite ideal.)
Meanwhile, teaching learning process of literature in schools is considered
not to encourage the development of reading habit as a core of the lesson. Since
teachers still focus on efferent stance and neglect aesthetical stance (Alwasilah,
Media Indonesia, June 30, 2001). They do not give a chance to students to
express their feeling and thought when or after reading a literary work. Concerning
with this issue, Morrow, et al (1990 cited from Sweet, 1993) presents their research
finding that it is important to provide children daily with positive experiences
involving stories and other literature. Such experiences include reading and
retelling stories, discussing stories critically, role-playing, responding to stories both
orally and in writing or through expressive art (e.g. drawing), and sharing books
with peers. Cox and Many (1992) believe that by asking the students to respond to
a story, the literary evocation will be revealed. They quote the meaning of literary
evocation from Rosenblatt (1985) that it is the process in which the reader selects
out ideas, sensations, feelings, and images drawn from his past linguistic, literary,
and life experience, and synthesizes them new experience. Pugh (1988) adds that
the most frequently given advice for stimulating creative reader response is simply
to surround children with good reading.
Toffler (cited from Campbell, 1995) says that the world has passed from the
industrial age to the age of information, information is the new capital and control of
and keep up with new information is that people have to read, and a facility to read
is reading material. It consists of many kinds of material, various written genres are
shaped in books and novel is one of them, it is a long written story (Longman
Dictionary of Contemporary English, 1992). It could be enjoyed by all levels of
ages, from children to adults. The importance of books is stated by Cooper-Mullin
& Coye (1998 cited from Heine, et al, 1999). They say that books play an important
role in development and growth of ideas. Our future is shaped by our childhood,
and the books of our childhood are such an important part of our journey. It is also
added by Hunt (1994) saying that children’s books are important tools in reading
education.
In line with the increase of educated people and high technology applied,
people are getting aware of the importance of developing reading habit from the
early age and the way we read. To develop reading habit, people have to be aware
of their reading experience, and the reading experience is influenced by the
stances readers take towards texts (Briton et.al., 1984 cited from Beach & Hynds,
1991). Reader response is one of the ways to identify reader stance. Sweet, et al
(1993) says that responding is a natural part of reading process. By responding to
the stories students read, the students have a chance to express what they feel
and think when they are reading or after reading, they are expected to enjoy what
they read and think critically. In turn, this event is assumed to be able to trigger
To respond to a text, we need an object to read, and the choice of the object
has to be considered appropriately. The following statement revealed by Bishop
(1990) could be base of the choice of the book:
We ought to help young people to choose literature that can engage them in the kind of thinking and feeling and imagining that will help them grow into decent, contributing members of this society. Building literary experiences on books that deal with individual freedom, love, friendship, loyalty, courage, and hope, can be a powerful beginning.
Many publishing companies try to accommodate people’s interest in
developing their reading habit by cooperating with authors and translators to
publish books for all levels of ages, whether the books are original or translated.
Professional authors have created many kinds of books from fiction to science.
Even, amateurs have participated in writing, some of them turn out to be brilliant, it
is proved by the number of the books sold. One of the amateurs was J.K. Rowling,
a single parent who was raising her daughter living in Edinburgh (at the time she
wrote her first novel of Harry Potter). Surprisingly, her first novel, Harry Potter and
the Sorcerer’s Stone written in a local café during her daughter’s naps, is
acclaimed as an international phenomenon. Her novel was analyzed in mass
media and got several awards including Children Book of the Year from British
Book Awards and the Smarties Prize
(http://www.scholastic.com/harrypotter/author/index.htm).
Based on the description above, the choice of the novels of Harry Potter to
be the object of the response is quite reasonable. The power of the stories of Harry
is also supported by the statement of Hunt (1994) saying that a book for children is
not a good book unless it is enjoyed by the majority of children.
From the issues and statements above, it can be inferred that this report
was attempted to investigate the study of how students felt and thought when
reading the novels of Harry Potter, i.e., how they responded to the stories when
they were reading them. This study was also aimed to seek the similar and
different responses to the stories made by Indonesian students and foreign ones to
find the background of the similarity and the difference. Factors influencing the
students’ reading habit were also investigated.
1.2 The Purposes of the Research
To make it clear, it is necessary to present the purposes of the research.
This study was attempted to seek explanation of kinds of stance the students had
in responding to the stories. The similar and different responses made by
Indonesian and foreign students were explored to get the background of the
similarity and the difference. This study was also held to investigate the factors
influencing the students’ reading habit.
1.3 Research Questions
This study was conducted to answer the following questions:
1.3.1 What kinds of response did the students give to the Harry Potter stories
1.3.2 Were there any similar and different responses to the stories made by the
Indonesian and foreign students?
1.3.3 What factors influenced the students’ reading habit?
1.4 Significance of the Research
A research on “Readers’ Responses to the Novels of Harry Potter” is
expected to gain information that contributes significantly to the instruction of
literature. Knowing how the students respond to the story will indicate their reading
ability, so their teachers will be more easily to develop their belief and strategy to
enhance their reading habit.
Response to literary works by writing provides an opportunity to promote
reflection about the literary works. It involves students in linking their ideas to those
put forward by the author, teacher, or other students. In this way, the students have
a chance to think critically, and understand the difference of their responses to the
same text. Therefore, the students will be used to thinking critically, and democratic
teaching will be created.
The factors influencing the students’ reading habit are expected to be found
out by examining the background of the students. Thus, the factors are more
1.5 Organization of the Thesis
This thesis consists of five chapters preceded with Approval forms of the
Supervisors and the Examiners, Preface, Acknowledgment, Abstract, Table of
Contents, List of Tables, List of Appendices, and followed by Bibliography and
Appendices.
Chapter I Introduction presents Background of the Research; Purposes of
the Research; Research Questions; Significance of the Research; and
Organization of the Thesis. Chapter II Theoretical Review reveals the theories
dealing with the research, the theories are about Reading; Text, Reader, and
Transaction; Reader Response; Literature; and Related Research Findings.
Chapter III Methodology describes Research Design, Research Sites, Participants
of the Research, Characteristics of the Participants, Data Collection Techniques
consisting of Open-ended Questionnaire and Semi-structured Interview, Data
Analysis, and Short Description of the Novels of Harry Potter. Chapter IV Data
Analysis, Findings and Discussion presents analysis of the data gained from
respondents, the data was classified into categories to make it easy to interpret.
Measure of reader stance towards a literary work on efferent to aesthetic
continuum proposed by Rosenblatt was used to evaluate the responses of
students. After the data has been analyzed, findings are gained and then they are
discussed to see how they fit into the research questions and the existing theories.
Suggestions for those who are concerned with developing reading habit especially
reading habit from early age.
the background of the students, the factors influencing the students’ reading habit are found out, thus they are more readily designed to make them
successful readers.
to gain their responses to the stories.
4. To categorize the reader’s response towards a story, the
CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
This chapter consists of sub topics discussing Research Design,
Research Sites, Participants of the Research, Characteristics of the Participants
of the Research from Assalaam (Indonesian Respondents, R1 - R4) and from
Bandung International School (Foreign Respondents, R5 – R9), Data Collection
Techniques consisting of Open-ended Questionnaire and Semi-structured
Interview, Data Analysis, and Short Description of the Novels of Harry Potter.
3.1 Research Design
In this study, qualitative research was used. It is interpretative research
(Creswell, 1994). As such, the biases, values, and judgment of the researcher
become stated explicitly in the research report. Some assumptions of qualitative
designs revealed by Merriam (1988) cited by Creswell (1994) are suggested.
Qualitative researchers are concerned primarily with process, rather than
outcomes or products. They are interested in meaning – how people make sense
of their lives, experiences, and their structures of the world. Qualitative research
is descriptive in that the researcher is interested in process, meaning, and
understanding gained through words or pictures. The process of qualitative
research is inductive in that the researcher builds abstractions, concepts,
In this qualitative research, a case study was employed because the case
selected took place in some primary students of Assalaam and Bandung
international School/ B.I.S and it is based on what Maxwell (1996) says that in a
case study, the researcher often selects the case and then states the questions
in terms of the particular case selected. He continues his statement about the
case study that it, on the other hand, justifies the selection of a particular case in
terms of the purposes of the study and existing theory and research, and a
different kind of argument is needed to support the generalizability of its
conclusions.
After the case had been determined, the participants and the sites of the
research, instruments (open-ended questionnaire and semi-structured interview)
were used to gain the data from the participants. Then, the data collected from
the respondents was classified to make it easy to analyze and interpret based on
the research questions. The measure of reader stance on an efferent to aesthetic
continuum proposed by Rosenblatt was used to analyze students’ response. It
was then interpreted and discussed in line with the existing theory to make the
data meaningful. The following sub topics are presented to give a clearer
description
3.2 Research Sites
Before mentioning research sites, it is necessary to put forward the
purposes of the research, because the purposes will determine the research
had in responding to the novels of Harry Potter. The similar and different
responses made by Indonesian and foreign students were explored to get the
background of the similarity and the difference. This study was also held to
investigate the factors influencing the students’ reading habit.
From the purposes stated above, the study required two different groups
of population – one from Indonesian group and another from international one, as
one of the purposes of the research was aimed at seeing the similar and different
responses made by the students from Indonesia and foreign countries.
Therefore, two elementary schools in Bandung were decided to be the research
sites, they were Assalaam representing Indonesian students and Bandung
International School (B.I.S) representing foreign students. The choice of
Assalaam and B.I.S. considered an assumption that students from the two
schools were familiar with the novels of Harry Potter, had been able to read the
novels and were from the same level of education and social status.
3.3 Participants of the Research
The technique of purposive sampling (Maxwell,1996) was employed for
this study in choosing participants of the research, because the students involved
were the ones who had read Harry Potter stories. So that they were able to
provide important information in line with the research questions and the
purposes of the research.
The participants/ respondents at Assalaam were selected from three
to get the students required: those who had read Harry Potter’s stories. Most of
them watched the film but did not read the books. On the contrary, at B.I.S. all
the students at the sixth grade had read the books and watched the film.
Therefore, it was also difficult to choose the respondents. Finally, with the help of
their teacher and the requirements needed for the research, it was decided to
choose 5 primary students of Bandung International School (2 girls and 3 boys),
and 4 primary students of Assalaam (2 girls and 2 boys) with the assumption that
they were familiar with Harry Potter’s stories, had been able to read them, and
were from the same level of education and social status.
The number of the students was only 9 considering what Maxwell (1996)
says that qualitative researchers typically study a relatively small number of
individuals or situations and preserve the individuality of each of these in their
analyses, rather than collecting data from large samples and aggregating the
data across individuals or situations. Thus, they are able to understand how
events, actions, and meanings are shaped by the unique circumstances in which
they occur.
3.4 Characteristics of the Participants from Assalaam (Indonesian Respondents, R1 - R4) and from Bandung International School (Foreign Respondents, R5 - R9)
Social and Literacy Background of Respondent 1 (R1)
She was born in Bandung, 23 August 1991 (11 years old at the time she
was interviewed), the youngest child of the two. Her parents were graduates,
since there were so many interesting novels and comics available that she was
always eager and curious to read them. She liked reading since she was a child
(the 1st year at elementary school). The first story she read was Majalah Bobo
that she got from her mother. Since then she has continued reading books/
stories/ comics of her sister’s which were considered to be interesting to read.
She had been a member of the school library since she was at the 3rd year
of elementary school. She often borrowed novels because of their long and
interesting stories. She collected the stories of Harry Potter and Detektif Conan.
In her surroundings, her father, sister, niece, and uncle liked reading. Her
sister and teacher supported her to like reading. She knew exactly by reading
she could extend her knowledge and by reading she would get some ideas to
write. She was used to writing stories and pantun since she was at the 4th year of
elementary school. When reading she enjoyed the story played by the main
character. Although she confessed that there was no effect on her after reading
the story. Sometimes she had a problem in reading (difficult words) and she
would read them many times to get the ideas of the reading materials. She was
the 1st rank of the class.
Social and Literacy Background of Respondent 2 (R2)
She was an 11 year old girl in 2002—at the time to be one of the research
respondents. She was raised in well educated family, her parents were
graduates. She was the 1st child of the three. She liked reading any kinds of
were folk stories with their native places because they were not only interesting
but also could extend her knowledge.
She read the 1st story--Cinderella, when she was at pre school. She
bought it from a bookshop. Since then she has developed her reading by
collecting and reading scientific books, comics, scary novels and stories
(including Harry Potter and outstanding people like Issac Newton, Isadora
Duncan, Hellen Keller). She had been a member of the library school since she
was at the 3rd year of elementary school. She liked to borrow the stories of
outstanding people in the world. Her father, mother, sisters and cousins were
also fond of reading. Her parents, friends, and teacher always encouraged her to
like reading.
When she read an article/ a story, she always paid attention to its content
and enjoyed the words (diction). After reading it, she always got something
useful, knew about the difference between good and bad things, and could
enlarge her knowledge.
Sometimes, she had difficulty when reading (difficult words). To overcome
it, she consulted a dictionary. In her opinion, reading and writing were closely
related since we read a writing. She had written summaries of readings/ stories,
poems, pantun since she was at the 1st year of elementary school. She was an
Social and Literacy Background of Respondent 3 (R3)
He was a twelve year old boy in 2002. He was a jolly boy brought up in a
well educated family (his parents were graduates), the youngest of the 3 children.
Like his character, his favorite readings were any kinds of readings which had
something to do with funny things, but he also liked scary and mysterious ones.
He read the first story, Dora Emon, when he was a child. He bought it from
a bookstore. Since then, he has continued reading many books (Dora Emon and
Ghostbump were some of his collection). He had been a member of the school
library since he was at the 1st year of elementary school, he liked borrowing
mysterious stories.
He did not mention the members of his family, instead he mentioned a
name, Ferdi, when asked to mention the people around him who liked reading.
He got no support from his surroundings to encourage him to love reading.
When he read an article, he knew that he could learn from good
characters. He enjoyed the middle part of the story very much (usually the most
difficult scene in the story). After reading it, he had something good. If he got a
problem in reading, he would try to understand the content by asking the people
considered to be able to help him.
He had no opinion about the relationship between reading and writing.
Instead, he said that the forms of his writing had something to do with class
assignments. He had done it since the 1st year of elementary school. He had a
good achievement dealing with reading and writing, but he did not mention what
Social and Literacy Background of Respondent 4 (R4)
He was an eleven year old boy when he became one of the respondents.
He was a quite careful kid raised in a middle class family with well educated
parents. He was the 2nd child of the four.
He read the 1st story when his parents gave him the Dragon Ball story.
Since then he had continued reading other books especially after becoming a
member of KIKI library near his house since he was 10 years old. (He did not
mention his membership in his school library). Novels and comics were the
readings he borrowed most because the contents of the stories were always
great. His collection consisted of Harry Potter, Dragon Ball, Hot Shot Challenge.
He mentioned his name first followed by his brother, mother, and father
who liked reading. His friends were also the ones who loved reading. Parents
and teacher were the people who supported him to love reading. When he read,
he always imagined what he was reading e.g. if he read a scary story, he felt
scared. He enjoyed the most strained part of the story (the climax). When he got
a difficulty in understanding a reading text, he tried to understand it himself. If he
failed to do it, he would ask for help to someone else.
After reading, he admitted that he always got something to learn from the
story. He had an opinion about writing and reading that they were closely related
Social and Literacy Background of Respondent 5 (R5)
She was a Malaysian, turned to be 12 years old on May 16, 2003. She
had been in Indonesia for 11 years. She had 1 sister and was raised in educated
family and good socio-economic class. Inside her family--her mother and father—
and outside her family—her friends in class: Arpit, Sharon, and Arlin--were the
ones who loved reading. Her parents, her teacher at school, and her English
teacher supported her to love reading.
She read the first short story when she was at grade 1, and continued
reading short stories regularly to improve her reading and language. She was
fond of adventurous stories, for they were interesting to read, and always finished
reading them. She had been a member of the school library (Bandung
International School/ B.I.S.) since she was a student at B.I.S. Enyd Bliton, Harry
Potter, and short stories were some of her collection.
When reading a story, she was curios to know what was going to happen
next. The climax and the ending were the parts she enjoyed most. Sometimes,
she was influenced by the story she read, she could not stop thinking about it.
She, sometimes, got a problem in understanding a reading, as she was not very
good at English. To find the meanings of the difficult words, she looked up the
words in a dictionary or asked her mother for help.
In her opinion about the relationship between reading and writing, she said
that reading was to improve our reading, and writing was to improve our writing.
and short stories. She won a competition of writing a poem when she was at
grade 5.
Social and Literacy Background of Respondent 6 (R6)
She was a German, a twelve year old girl on April 9, 2003 and had been
living in Indonesia for 8 years. She was raised in educated family and good
socio-economic class. She had a sister.
She read the first story when she was 3 years old, it was a fairy tale from
his parents. Since then, she always attempted to read as much as she could.
She became a member of the school library. She liked reading mystery, legend,
and any kinds of reading materials to make her mood good especially when she
was bored, and she could learn a moral from them. She also enjoyed reading
comics and interesting stuff from Jakarta Post, for there was always “the odd
world.” History, science fiction, non fiction- fantasy- were some of her collection.
His father, sister, uncle, cousins, and mother were the ones who loved reading,
but only her father supported her to develop a good reading habit.
When she was reading e.g. an article about war and terrorists, then she
would think of it and asked whether or not it would get better. Sometimes, she
got a problem in understanding a reading e.g. when words were too difficult or
she missed a part of the article. Then, she would ask her father for help and
consult a dictionary.
After reading e.g. some stories, she admitted that she always had
writing when she was asked to give opinion about the relationship between
reading and writing. She began to write a story when she was 5 years old, but
she never got any achievement on reading and writing.
Social and Literacy Background of Respondent 7 (R7)
He was an Indian, 12 years old on March 3, 2003, grown up in good
socioeconomic class and educated family. He had been living in Indonesia for 11
years.
He read the first story when he was at pre school 2, it was a fantasy,
borrowed from a library, for he became a member of the school library at pre
school 1. Since then, he tried to develop reading habit by reading as many books
as he could. He was fond of reading adventure, for it made him feel as if he were
in the situation in the book. He read it to spend time and it was fun for him. He
did not mention his collection of reading materials. Inside his family--his sister--
and outside his family—Aaroon and Ms Gillece, his teacher-- were the ones who
loved reading. His sister and Ms Gillece encouraged him to develop reading
habit.
He had nothing but the topic in his mind when he was reading. He was not
quite sure whether or not he got an influence from the story after reading it. It
depended on the type of the story. He had no difficulty in understanding a
reading. In his opinion, reading was different from writing because in writing we
needed ideas and in reading we needed enthusiasm. He began to write when he
Social and Literacy Background of Respondent 8 (R8)
He was a British, a twelve year old boy at the time he was a respondent of
the research. He had been living in Indonesia for 4 years, was raised in a good
socioeconomic class and a well educated family.
He read fairy tale at the first time he could read story, but he did not
mention the time when he did it. He got it from bookstore. Since then, he had
attempted to develop reading habit by writing anything. He liked reading action
and science fiction stories because they had a lot of interesting details. He
became a member of the school library at the time he joined the school whether
it was in England or Indonesia. He got many kinds of reading materials in his
collection. His mother, father, and brother were the ones who loved reading
inside his family. His parents and teachers supported him to develop reading
habit.
When he was reading, he was curious to know what happened next. The
climax was the part of the stories he enjoyed most. After reading, he got an
influence from the stories, they made him want to write something. Although he
could not tell anything when asked to give opinion about the relationship between
reading and writing. He started writing when he was at pre school, and he
expressed it by writing anything. He had no achievement dealing with writing and
Social and Literacy Background of Respondent 9 (R9)
He was a Scottish boy, aged twelve at the time he was one of the
participants of the research, was the only one child in his family, and had been
living in Indonesia for six years.
Chapter books and magazines were the kinds of reading material he read
regularly. Talking about people around him who loved reading, he mentioned his
mother and friends and he got an encouragement to like reading from his mother
and English teacher.
When he was reading, he imagined what was happening in the story. If he
liked a story e.g. a novel, he read the novel many times. He never had any
difficulty in reading. When he was asked about the relationship between reading
and writing, he said that they were different and similar, people only wrote things
for people to read.
3.5 Data Collection Techniques
The techniques used to collect the data were semi-structured interview and
open-ended questionnaire. The open-ended questionnaire consisted of 3
categories: the first one asking about social background (4 items for Assalaam
respondents and 5 items for Bandung International School/ B.I.S respondents);
the second one asking about literacy background (15 items); and the third one
dealing with reader response to Harry Potter stories (6 items including a space to
express anything they wanted to say about the novels of Harry Potter). The
actual response preferences or proclivities (Cooper et al, 1981 cited from Beach
and Hynds, 1991. The response was conducted in writing based on Halpern’s
argument (1986 cited by Jerry, 1990) that students will learn more about
literature if they personally respond to the books in writing.
Semi-structured interviews were conducted in groups during the school
break for about an hour in a room at B.I.S., and after school in a class at
Assalaam. It was done to make them comfortable during the interview, and the
statement of Farrel & Bishop (1990) supports the way of the interview. They say
that each reader is unique, each also shares particular cultural, social and
interpretative experiences with other readers. The interview was guided by 15
open questions: some of them were the same questions as the ones in
questionnaire, it was done to be confirmed and required more explanation and or
a medium to ask other questions related with the one in questionnaire. The
interview was done to give more information dealing with the data required for
the research. It is in line with Johns’ statement (1997) that one important purpose
for interview is questionnaire follow up: to gain additional insights into how and
why faculty responded in certain ways.
The librarians and the principals of the two schools were very cooperative,
they did not only give some information required, but also helped to determine
the respondents.
Before doing the real research, a pilot study was taken to try out the
instrument to know whether or not it worked. From the pilot study, there were
research. The layout was improved, space for response was added, grammatical
mistakes were corrected, the questions were classified into certain categories to
make the students convenient to respond and aware of the data required.
3.6 Data Analysis
Coding was one of the ways to classify the data to make it easy to
analyze. Strauss (1987 cited from Maxwell, 1996) describes it that in qualitative
research, the goal of coding is not to produce counts of things, but to “fracture”
the data and rearrange them into categories that facilitate the comparison of data
within and between these categories and that aid in the development of
theoretical concepts. Contextualizing strategy was another way to analyze the
data. According to Maxwell (1996) it is used in case studies, since it looks for
relationships that connect statements and events within a context into a coherent
whole. Thus, the data was classified into categories by using those strategies
and gained three categories: the first one dealing with students’ social
background, the second one concerning with their literacy background, and the
third one dealing with their response to the novels of Harry Potter.
The measure of reader stance on an efferent to aesthetic continuum
proposed by Rosenblatt (1986 cited from Cox and Many, 1992) was used to
examine the reader’s response towards a story. It comprises five categories: 1 up
to 5: 1 is most efferent response, 2 is primarily efferent response, 3 is elements
of both aesthetic evocation and efferent analysis, 4 is primarily aesthetic
characteristics, so that the reader response can be classified into each of the
measure. The table below shows the measure of reader stance.
The rest of the data was analyzed sensibly based on the existing theory.
Any conflicting data was resolved through discussion with supervisors and
colleagues.
Table 3.1
The Measure of Reader Stance towards a Literary Work on an Efferent to Aesthetic Continuum
(proposed by Rosenblatt,1986 cited from Cox and Many, 1992)
3.7 Short Description of the Novels of Harry Potter
From the title of this research, it can be seen that there are two variables:
readers’ responses and the novels of Harry Potter. The responses were gained
from the students by giving them the questionnaire and interviewing concerned
with the stories. Therefore, it is necessary to give a description about the stories
of Harry Potter written by J.K. Rowling. She was a single parent who was raising
her daughter living in Edinburgh (at the time she wrote her first novel of Harry
Potter). Surprisingly, her first novel, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone written
in a local café during her daughter’s naps, is acclaimed as an international
phenomenon. Her novel was analyzed in mass media and got several awards
including Children Book of the Year from British Book Awards and the Smarties
Prize (http://www.scholastic.com/harrypotter/author/index.htm).
Now, she has published six novels of Harry Potter adventures: Harry
Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of the
Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and Goblet
of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the
Half-Blood Prince (she has planned to write and publish seven novels of Harry
Potter). The novels have been translated into native languages all over the world.
In Indonesia, Harry Potter stories have been translated into Indonesian by
Srisanti Lusiana and published by PT. Gramedia, Jakarta since 2000. The first to
the fourth books have been transferred into movies and they had been shown in
The novels have got warm welcome not only from children but also from
teenagers, and adults, it is known from the data given by the respondents. They
really liked the stories of Harry Potter – an orphan who is a small, skinny,
bespectacled boy with an unusual lightning-bolt shaped scar on his forehead.
The stories begins on his eleventh birthday, he receives letters inviting him to
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry learns that his parents did not
die in a car crash but were killed by Voldemort, the Lord of Darkness, and that
makes him famous in the world of wizardry. So Harry leaves the home of his
Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, and their hateful son Dudley, who are muggles
(humans without one drop of magic in them), and embarks on a new life. And the
changes continue as Harry spends year after year at Horgwarts, a place where
he not only learns about being a wizard, but also about friendship with Ron and
Hermione, loyalty, fear, and courage, and about his own past, his family, and his
destiny. In each of the stories, there were fun and laughter, pranks and pitfalls,
mystery and suspense, Harry’s battle against the evil Lord Voldemort provides
the major conflict (good against evil) and the existence of many eccentric
characters (such as Nearly Headless Nick who was not quite completely
beheaded, Moaning Myrtle who haunts the girls’ bathroom), brilliantly original
CHAPTER V
CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
5.1 Conclusions
Based on the data analysis, findings, and discussion on the previous chapter the following conclusions are drawn:
Students responded uniquely to the same text based on their previous knowledge with texts and life. This is in accordance with the statements revealed in the theoretical review by some experts that previous experience with text and knowledge will frame the student response to a text.
Students from different countries responded similarly to the same story, if they were impressed by the story dealing with universal values like love, friendship, loyalty, courage. They responded differently to the same story, if it dealt with familiarity of the characters, events, places of the story. The foreign respondents identified the natural character with their own ones, because the character was recognized in their daily life.
5.2 Suggestions
From the issues revealed in the first chapter, the existing theory, methodology of the research, the analysis, the findings, and discussion, there are some suggestions put forward to give contribution to the parties interested in reading.
To make students interested in reading, their people around them-inside and outside their family- should facilitate them to create a good atmosphere and provide facilities to love reading.
To teach students to respond aesthetically to a text, teachers should possess good reading skill, good teaching skill, and favorable attitude to literature as it is cited from Alwasilah ( 2001).
It is advisable to conduct a longitudinal research on the development to know more about development of reading habit of children,
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