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A Girl Like Her by Amy S. Weber is an American drama film about high-school bullying. The main character, Jessica Burns, 16 years old is bullied by her.
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In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement For S- 1 Degree in Literature In English Department, Faculty of Humanities Diponegoro University
Submitted by: Bahriyatul Ulum 13020115140082
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The writer honestly confirms that she compiles this project by herself and without taking any results from other researchers in S-1, S-2, S- 3 and in diploma degree of any university. The writer ascertains that she does not quote any material from other publications or someone„s paper except from the references mentioned.
Semarang, 11th^ September 2019
Bahriyatul Ulum
iv
Written by Bahriyatul Ulum NIM: 13020115140082
is approved by the project advisor On 6th^ August 2019
Thesis Advisor
Dra. R. Aj. Atrinawati, M.Hum. NIP. 196101011990012001 The Head of the English Department
NIP. 196408141990011001^ Dr. Agus Subiyanto, M.A.
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Approved by Strata 1 Project Examination Committee Faculty of Humanities Diponegoro University On 11 th^ September 2019
Chair Person
Ratna Asmarani, M.Ed., M.Hum NIP. 196102261987032001
First Member
Drs. Jumino, M.Lib., M.Hum NIP. 196207031990011001
Second Member
Drs. Siswo Harsono, M.Hum NIP. 196404181990011001
Third Member
Dwi Wulandari, S.S., M.A. NIP. 197610042001122001
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Semarang, 11th^ September 2019
Bahriyatul Ulum
viii
TITLE ................................................................................................................... i PRONOUNCEMENT ........................................................................................... ii MOTTO AND DEDICATION ............................................................................. iii APPROVAL.......................................................................................................... iv VALIDATION ...................................................................................................... v ACKNOWLEDGMENT ....................................................................................... vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ..................................................................................... viii ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................... x
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A Girl Like Her by Amy S. Weber is an American drama film about high-school bullying. The main character, Jessica Burns, 16 years old is bullied by her previous best friend, Avery, and she ends up attempting suicide. The aim of this study is to analyze the bullying faced by Jessica Burns as the main character of the film. The analysis includes the types, towards Jessica Burns. The writer uses contextual effects and resolutions of the bullying method supported by the theories of bullying by Sandra Harris and Garth F. Petrie, and Ken Rigby to analyze the bullying issue in the film. This study shows that any types of bullying is able to affect its victims‟ mental state. The writer concludes that bullying should be everyone‟s concern as bullying can lead its victims into suicidal actions. Keywords : bullying, types, suicidal actions, resolutions.
1.1. Background of the Study
A Girl Like Her (2015) is a drama film written and directed by Amy S. Weber, an American screen writer and director. The film revolves around the story of bullying faced by a 16-years-old girl namely Jessica Burn, a high school student of Brookdale School. Jessica Burns, the main character, is bullied by Avery Keller, her classmate, and she ends up attempting suicide. Bullying is an act of bothering or insulting other people (Harris, 2003: 17). It involves interactions between a powerful person or group with the powerless ones. There is a tendency of students in high school to be the victims of bullying. National Center for Education Statistics states that about 21 percent of students ages 12–18 is reported being bullied at school in 2015 (201 7 : 74). The bullying issue reflected in A Girl Like Her involves the interactions between powerful and powerless sides portrayed through the characters of Jessica and Avery which attract the writer to analyze the film. Bullying in this film happens in a school which is part of social institutions and it also encourages the writer to do the analysis. The writer finds a previous study by Mina Yasuda Park on the same film. Her study focuses on the consequences of bullying faced by Jessica Burn which leads Jessica to attempt suicide (2017). Therefore, the writer does not only focus
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2.1. Intrinsic Elements 2.1.1. Characters According to Holman, a character is a short description of a figure in a literary work that symbolizes certain qualities (1980: 74). Characters in a literary work can be divided into several types. Based on the role to drive the plot of a story, characters can be divided into protagonist and antagonist characters. Protagonist is the main character or the center of a story while antagonist is a character who opposes the protagonist (Potter, 1967: 7). Characters can also be grouped into flat and round character, based on the character developments. Round character has changes in its character, including its ideology, belief, and value, as the cause of the conflict she or he faces. Flat character, on the other hand, remains stable and has no changes in its character from the beginning to the end of the story (Abrams, 2011: 53).
2.1.2. Conflicts Conflict is a struggle between at least two sides or forces that oppose with one another in a plot. It can be a conflict between a character againsts himself or so called internal conflict, and a character againsts external forces which can be called external conflict (Holman, 1980:98).
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2.2. Extrinsic Elements 2.2.1. Bullying According to Harris and Garth F. Petrie, the definition of bullying is an act of annoying other people, and an offensive behavior from one person or group that has a power to the person that has less power (2003: 17). This act of bullying creates fear, pesimism, depression, and even suicidal actions. Bullying itself can be caused by some reasons such as superiority, hate, differences, and contradiction with the others, and it has two basic forms which are physical and non-physical bullying (Rigby, 2007: 20).
2.2.1.1. Physical Bullying Physical Bullying is an offensive behavior which involves a physical attack like pushing, slapping, punching, hitting, kicking, and throwing things to the victim. Physical bullying may develop or reach high levels of violence like knifing (Rigby, 2007: 20).
2.2.1.2. Non-physical Bullying Non physical bullying mostly uses the power of words that can hurt the victim. The behaviors that can be included as non physical bullying are mocking physical aspects, spreading hates and rumor, or even ignoring someone in a group of society. It can also be classified as non physical bullying when someone underestimates or even calls the others with bad names (Rigby, 2007: 20).
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4.1. Intrinsic Elements 4.1.1. Characters There are several characters presented in A Girl Like Her. However, in this analysis, the writer focuses on the analysis of two characters of the film namely Jessica Burns as the victim of bullying and Avery Keller as the bully. 4.1.1.1. Jessica Burns Jessica Burns is the protagonist in A Girl Like Her. She can be classified into this type of character as the film itself mainly tells about Jessica Burns who faces bullying in school. Jessica can be said as the main focus or center of the film.
. A1. 00:53:47 [Disc 1] A2. 00:53:49 [Disc 1] Jessica Burns is a 16 - year-old American high schooler of the South Brookdale School. She is a cheerful girl who comes from a happy family. Pictures A1 and A2 show how lovely and cheerful Jessica is as she receives love from her mother. The pictures also shows that Jessica has a good relationship with her mother.
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However, there is a change in her character after she is bullied in the school by Avery Keller. The bullying begins when Jessica and Avery are having an exam in the class. Avery tries to cheat on Jessica‟s exam but Jessica covers her exam with her hand accidentally. After that moment, Avery starts to hate and bullies Jessica for around six months. Although Avery bullies her in the school, Jessica does not tell her family about the bullying she faces, and keeps it in secret to the point that she can not bear the pressure any longer.
B1. 00:30:42 [Disc 1] B2. 00:30:49 [Disc 1] Pictures B1 and B2 are ones of the scenes which depict Jessica‟s condition after getting bullied. She cries and becomes depressed because of the bullying. She eventually decides to attempt suicide by drinking a handful of pills. From the change in Jessica‟s character, it can be said that Jessica a round character.
4.1.1.2. Avery Keller Avery Keller is the antagonist in A Girl Like Her. She is the one who bullies Jessica in the film after Jessica refuses to help her in an exam. The character of Avery herself is portrayed as a popular girl in her school, superior in the school. Avery Keller is showed as a high-tempered girl. She gets angry easily, and her acts and words can be rude. This personality is probably influenced by her parents who are told being angry at her and scolding her often.
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D1. 00:43:09 [Disc 1] D2. 00:43:17 [Disc 1] Brian, Jessica‟s best friend who knows about the bullying, reveals to the journalist team that the bullying starts after Jessica refuses to show Avery her answers in an exam. Pictures D1 and D2 show the scenes when Brian tells that Jessica blocks her test when Avery tries to cheat off it. That particular act of Jessica hurts Avery‟s pride until she develops hate towards Jessica. After the exam, Avery starts bullying Jessica in the school verbally and phsyically. The bullying occurs for six months, and Jessica never tells her parents about it. Furthermore, besides Brian, no one else knows about what happens to Jessica because she is not able telling about her problem to someone else. Jessica becomes depressed of the bullying she faces. The conflict of bullying in this film comes into its resolution after Jessica is attempting suicide. People around her including the teachers and students‟ parents become aware of the bullying issue. Avery regrets her acts towards Jessica and apologizes to Jessica for everything she has done to her.
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4.2. Extrinsic Element In this study, the writer focuses on the analysis of the bullying faced by Jessica Burns. There three aspects of bullying reflected in A Girl Like Her namely types, impacts, and resolutios of bullying.
4.2.1. The Types of Bullying Faced by Jessica Burns Jessica Burns is the victim of bullying done by Avery Keller. She is told facing both physical and non-physical bullyings which occur for six months.
4. 2 .1.1. Physical Bullying Physical Bullying is an offensive behavior which involves a physical attack like pushing, slapping, punching, hitting, kicking, and throwing things to the victim. There are three kinds of physical bullying faced by Jessica, pushing, pouring water, and throwing a paper. 1. Pushed
E1. 00:49:44 [Disc 1] E2. 00:49:45 [Disc 1] Picturea E1 and E2 show the scenes when Jessica falls down after being pushed by Avery deliberately. This incident happens when Jessica goes to the classroom and she meets Avery in front of the door. Avery opens the door for Jessica and suddenly pushes Jessica‟s body.
