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Proposal-Nilla Rizqiyah
Proposal-Nilla Rizqiyah
THESIS PROPOSAL
BY:
NILLA RIZQIYAH
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
2022
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................3
1.1 Background of study............................................................................................................3
1.2 Research Problem................................................................................................................5
1.3 Significance of study............................................................................................................5
1.4 Scope and limitation............................................................................................................6
1.5 Definition of key terms........................................................................................................6
1.6 Research method..................................................................................................................6
1.6.1 Data Source..................................................................................................................6
1.6.2 Data Collection.............................................................................................................6
1.6.3 Data Analysis................................................................................................................7
2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK.............................................................................................7
2.1. New Criticism.......................................................................................................................7
2.1.1. Character.......................................................................................................................8
2.1.2. Characterization............................................................................................................8
2.2. Comparative Study..............................................................................................................9
3. POINT TO DISCUSS..................................................................................................................9
3.1 Description of the female characters in Madame Mathilde The Necklace and Della's The
Gift of The Magi...............................................................................................................................9
3.1.1 The female characters in The Necklace..............................................................................9
3.1.2 The female characters in The Gift of The Magi................................................................10
3.2 The similarities and differences of the female characters' attitudes in The Necklace and
The Gift of The Magi short story..................................................................................................10
4. RESEARCH SCHEDULE............................................................................................................11
5. REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12
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1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the study
Thus, as the title suggests, this study aims to analyze and compare the
female characters in two different short stories; The Gift of The Magi by O. Henry
and The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant. the researcher is interested in
comparing both the short stories is because the both of stories have similar social
life struggle with the same economic problem which faced by a couple young
married. The researcher thought this study would be fascinating to the reader
because it will reveal how the female character as a wife faced hardship in their
marriage life.
The researcher chose both of the short stories because both of them
represent social life in nowadays life. The Gift of The Magi by O. Henry and The
Necklace by Guy de Maupassant tells about the social life that faces by Mathilde
in The Necklace and Della in The Gift of The Magi. Both stories contain couples
who are underprivileged and young. The hardship in life, which they face, are
hinted at throughout the short stories. Furthermore, the researcher only focuses on
analyzing only on the female characters, which are Madame Mathilde and Della.
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This study will reveal how the female characters solve the hardship in life
problem in both of the short stories.
Additionally, Rehman et al. (2018) and Zala & Joshi (2017) looked at the
same theme of love to analyze the short story. Rehman et al., (2018) looked to the
story's content to determine the subject of sacrifice for pure love. The result is that
They are poor and afford rent. However, they give up everything they own in
order to obtain the spirit of purity, love, and affection, which deepens their
passion. While Zala & Joshi, (2017) discovered the topic of love, its meaning, and
the moral of the stories. Their research results in both stories being full of love and
sacrifice. A reality of life is always found in O Henry's short stories.
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he loves. In addition, he has to face an internal conflict that makes him have to let
go of something precious within him.
Furthermore, not only "The Gift of The Magi has been researched by
several researchers, but also, there are several pieces of research about The
Necklace short story. Nurmalasari, (2018), analyzed socioeconomic stratification
in nineteenth-century France portrayed in the necklace short story. Nnyagu &
Victor (1967) explored the function of “The Necklace” fiction in assisting couples
in living meaningful lives in a society. And Yadav (2019) is interested in Mathilde
Loisel's characterization portrayal in Albert Guy de Maupassant's "The Necklace."
The result of his research is that as a young married woman, Madame Loisel is
gorgeous and endearing, but her conceit causes her to believe as though she is
entitled to more than she has. In actuality, she feels that she failed and was meant
for more due to her appearance. Her unhappiness and vanity led to her demise,
and she lost everything she had, including her youth, beauty, and modest way of
life.
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hopes that the reader will learn more about the short story from this research,
which might be beneficial for further research.
Moreover, in practice, the author believes that this research will fill gaps in the
research area of the comparative study by analyzing the similarities and
differences of the female characters in The Necklace and The Gift of The Magi
short story and also help the reader gain a better understanding of the economic
problem that faced by the female characters in their young married life.
1.4 Scope and limitation
This research focused on the female characters in The Necklace and The Gift
of The Magi short story, which is Madame Mathilde in The Necklace short story
and Della in The Gift of The Magi short story. This research also focused on the
differences and the similarities of female characters described in the short story,
based on their hardship in facing the economic problem in their marriage.
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Library research gathers information through studying and comprehending
data from books, theories, notes, and papers related to the problems. It is a
generic or specialized library that collects resources for in-depth study
initiatives (Mary George, 2008). Hence, the steps are as follows:
1. The researcher will read the short stories three times in each short
story.
2. The researcher will make a data table and interpret each line to
understand the short stories.
3. Then, the researcher will collect the quotations from the short
stories and other sources that related to the issue.
4. The researcher will characterize the select data based on the
research question.
5. The researcher will compile the quotation from the short stories,
which show the similarities between the female characters in both
the short stories.
6. The researcher will classify the data based on the topic categories
that show similarities between the short stories.
1.6.3 Data Analysis
1. The researcher will divide the discussion into two major categories;
the characterization of the female character and the differences in
the female characters' attitudes between The Necklace and The Gift
of The Magi.
2. The researcher will explain the differences in attitude between
Madame Mathilde (the female character in The Necklace) and
Della (the female character in The Gift of The Magi).
3. In the end, the researcher will interpret and conclude the results.
2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
2.1. New Criticism
The researcher will analyze using a new critical theory. Both Madame
Mathilde and Della's characterization will analyze using this theory. The new
criticism is also the term given to a diverse and fervent attempt by Anglo-
American writers to draw critical attention to literature. The new criticism,
like Russian Formalism, advances speculative viewpoints on reading
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procedures that give a necessary complement to the literary and aesthetic rise
of modernism (Carter, 2006). In brief, new criticism focuses on explication, or
"close reading," of the work itself (Syahadatud, 2012). It dismisses
historicism's focus on biographical and social issues. Instead, a detailed
examination and study of literary work can provide objective insight into "how
a piece works." The term "new criticism" refers to a philosophy that focuses
on the inherent elements of a work. The intrinsic elements are the theme, point
of view, plot, setting, symbol, character, and characterization (Carter, 2006).
2.1.1. Character
Character is one of the intrinsic elements of literary works. The
character is the main point in prose. Characters have an important role in the
running of a story. In Abram's books, E. M. Forster coined a flat and around
people. A flat character is sometimes known as a type or a two-dimensional
character. It is based on "a single concept or characteristic" and delivered
without much personalization and define it in a sentence. An around character
has a complicated temperament and shown with nuanced particularity. As a
result, describing around character is as difficult as describing a real person
(Abram, 2009). According to the definition above, the character is a real or
imagined entity participating in the act of literary work. The author then uses
language to depict the character's features, bringing the character to life. The
character creates the act with the storyline to create a story.
2.1.2. Characterization
The author of various literary works shows characteristics of their
personality. The character might be fictional or real. Meanwhile, in a fiction
work like a drama, book, or short story, the author explores the personalities of
fictional characters. The trait of a person is called characterization.
Characterization creates imagined people who can live as real people for the
reader within the confines of fiction (Holman, 1985). It explains that
characterization is a strategy used by an author to portray the personality and
character of a fictional character. People must be aware of a character's
primary characteristics to comprehend them.
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second is the author's description of the character in their act with no explicit
comment in the hopes that the reader may identify the characters itself.
Finally, without the author's remarks on the character, the portrayal of
characterization can be assumed from character's inner-self (Holman, 1985).
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3.1.1.3 Psychology: Mathilde is a furious, envious woman who will do
anything to fix the "fault of destiny" that she believes has led
her into a completely wrong and insufficient life.
3.1.2 The female characters in The Gift of The Magi
The female character in the story is named Della.
3.1.1.4 Physiology: Della is a young woman. She is the wife of Jim.
She has long, beautiful hair.
3.1.1.5 Sociology: Della lives with her husband, Jim, with modest life.
Their life is far from the wealthy.
3.1.1.6 Psychology: Della is a youthful, caring, unselfish, and
emotional woman who needs Jim's comfort when she is
unhappy. Jim, his husband, is someone she adores.
3.2 The similarities and differences of the female characters' attitudes in The
Necklace and The Gift of The Magi short story
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4. RESEARCH SCHEDULE
3 Highlighting the
data that suit the
issue
4 Collect the
highlight data
from the data
table
6 Draw a
Conclusion from
the research
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5. REFERENCES
Abrams, M.H. 2009. A Glossary of Literary Terms. Ninth Edition. USA: Wadsworth
Cengage Learning.
HARDSHIP | meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary. (n.d.). Retrieved July 10,
2022, from https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/hardship
Hornby (1995). Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English. Oxford : Oxford
University Press.
Maupassant, Guy de, 1850-1893. ( 2003). The necklace and other tales. New York :Modern
Library,
Peter, Z. W. (2010). the Depiction of Female Characters By Male Writers in. December.
Rehman, H. ur, Siddique, M. A., Ahmed, S., & Rehman, S. ur. (2018). Sacrification of
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beloved things for the sake of true and pure love with the special reference of the Gift
of Magi by O. Henry. International Journal of English and Education, 7(1), 264–269.
Wandansari, M. D., & Yulistiyanti, Y. (2020). Archetype analysis of the main characters in
O. Henry’s short story the Gift of the Magi (1905). Dinamika Bahasa Dan Budaya,
15(1), 29–39. https://doi.org/10.35315/bb.v15i1.7892
Zala, K., & Joshi, D. R. . (2017). Theme of love in O ’ Henry ’ s short stories in reference to
a service of love & the gift of Magi. International Journal of Research and Analytical
Reviews (IJRAR), 4(4), 2348–2349.
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