1 RAINBOW 2 (1) (2013) Rainbow: Journal of Literature, Linguistics and Cultural Studies http://journal.unnes.ac.id/sju/index.php/rainbow ZOON POLITICON SYNDROME IN MODERN SOCIETY AS REPRESENTED IN AKEELAH AND THE BEE Intan Maulida Lazuardini  Jurusan Bahasa Inggris, Fakultas Bahasa dan Seni,Universitas Negeri Semarang, Indonesia Info Artikel ________________ Sejarah Artikel: Diterima Oktober 2013 Disetujui Oktober 2013 Dipublikasikan November 2013 ________________ Keywords: Syndrome, Modern Society, Akeelah and the Bee ____________________ Abstract ___________________________________________________________________ The study of Zoon Politicon Syndrome as Represented in Akeelah and the Bee is carried out to find out how modern society is represented in the novel Akeelah and the Bee and to describe how the modern society in the novel reflects signs of zoon politicon syndrome. There are several research methods used in this study, they are library research and descriptive qualitative research. By using library research method, I found the data and references dealing with the topic analysis. The data then written in descriptive and in order to answer the research questions, I also employ psychological approach. It is done to analyze how the modern society as represented in its intrinsic elements and how the modern society reflects signs of zoon politicon syndrome. The results indicate that the modern society is represented by three major groups. They are functional (ascription and acquisistion), aggregate, and category groups. The functional ascription covers the family group and the acquisition is represented by Terrencewho joined Derrick-T’s gangbang. Then the aggregate is portayed by the audience of the spelling bee. The last is the category which is represented by the Hispanic, African-American.There are many kinds of groups in society and each group has its own rules and norms. Zoon politicon syndrome happens when the group can push the members to keep align the members with its rules and norms. The signs of zoon politicon syndrome is represented by Akeelah,Terrence, and Mr. Welch. Akeelah who tried not to look smart and Terrence who aped Derrick-T’s clothes and mannerism in order not to be bullied and accepted in the society. The other sign is when Mr. Welch forced Akeelah to join competition with his power as a headmaster. © 2013 Universitas Negeri Semarang  Alamat korespondensi: Gedung B3 Lantai 1 FBS Unnes Kampus Sekaran, Gunungpati, Semarang, 50229 E-mail: intanlazuardini@gmail.com ISSN 2252-6463 Intan Maulida Lazuardini / Rainbow: Journal of Literature, Linguistics and Cultural Studies 2 (1) (2013) 2 INTRODUCTION Human is basically social creatures that cannot live alone. It matches with what Aristotle stated that human being is a zoon politicon which means that every single human being has to be social and cannot live by his own. In order to fulfil people’s need of social life, they create group which was called society. There are many kinds of society based on the boundary of group and the potential of group’s affection towards its members. Social life is created by convention. Without convention, there will not be society. Human needs to be involved in a society. Being involved in social life means being ready for following the norms and rules in society. Society has rules both written and unwritten. There are two parties grow in society, the dominant and the minor. Dominance in society can lead to discrimination because the dominant side’s ideas will indirectly be a convention. Being minority can lead into self-assumption in being proper in doing things or not, being suitable to have kinds of condition. In this case, the United States known as a country which has various raced citizens. The condition of variety in the United States made a condition where there were many kinds of group and groupings made. Rules are the written conventions and norms are the unwritten conventions which have been being part of social life. Society has big impact towards it members because society has power to push its members to keep align with its rules and or norms. Based on the group’s ability to keep members align with group’s norms, group could make a pressure towards its members to keep align. Group’s pressure effect towards its members is called conformity. It is used to make every member does everything based on group’s norms and rules. The zoon politicon syndrome here could be seen from its conformity. However literature depicts social condition as Damono in Wardani (2012:1) states “…Literature is social department which use language as the media; language itself is social creation”. Dealing with society and it’s in literature field, there is a novel which has the same case entitled Akeelah and the Bee. Akeelah and the Bee is a novel that tells us about a black girl’s efforts in gaining her dream to be a champion of National Spelling Bee. She was a genius in dealing with words, she was also smart, and she had jumped class twice. Unfortunately in her environment being smart is not a good deal. In order not to be weird, she skipped class frequently. She had to deal with her idealism of being “common” in her society, and to deal with her mother who didn’t support her at first. Akeelah herself didn’t want to be different from her society. That represents American social condition. It is not mainly about the abusive acts in society but mostly about how a society influences someone’s behaviour and thought. Based on the background above, therefore the problems are stated as follow. (1) How the modern society is represented in the Akeelah and the Bee (2) How the modern society of Akeelah and the Bee reflects signs of politicon syndrome? The objectives of the study are as follows: (1) to find out how the modern society is represented in Akeelah and the Bee. (2) to describe how modern society reflects signs of zoon politicon syndrome. Research Method The object of this study is a novel entitled Akeelah and the Bee, the novel itself is written form of the movie with the same title. It was about an eleven years old African-American girl named Akeelah, a school girl of Crenshaw Middle School in South Los Angeles. She was smart in dealing with words even she got perfect score in spelling examination. Unfortunately in her environment being smart is not a good deal. In order not to be weird, she skipped class frequently. As the detention, she needed to Intan Maulida Lazuardini / Rainbow: Journal of Literature, Linguistics and Cultural Studies 2 (1) (2013) 3 take summer class. Then she was encouraged by Mr. Welch; the headmaster; to join the Spelling Bee. In this study is used qualitative research. According to Moelong in Wardani (2012), a descriptive qualitative research is defined as the qualitative research, a type of research which does not include any calculation or enumerating. By using descriptive qualitative method, I interpret, describe and then construct the object of the study to be in line with the topic of the study held. The instrument used in this research are observation sheet and list of questions. I used psychological approach of Newcomb to analyze how the modern society is represented in the novel through the instrinsic elements such as its plot, setting of time and place and the characters. Besides that I also used Hollander’s and also freudian theory to analyze how the modern society in Akeelah and the Bee is reflects signs of zoon politicon syndrome. In order to analyze the data, I used the psychological approach. At first, the novel is analyzed to find the representation of modern society through the novel’s intrinsc elements from its characters, plot and setting. Second is analyzing the signs of zoon politicon syndrome in society. ZOON POLITICON SYNDROME IN MODERN SOCIETY AS REPRESENTED IN AKEELAH AND THE BEE 1. How the modern society is represented in Akeelah and the Bee. According to Newcomb in Hollander , The modern society is represented in Akeelah and the bee 1.1 Functional In functional group, each member has its own role to achieve the same goal. It is based on the characteristics that they have interaction to achieve same goals and they share same rules and norms. As it is found in real life, in Akeelah and the Bee the functional group is also divided into the quality in choosing membership or by individual’s volition in order to be a member of a group. 1.1.1 Functional Ascription In the Akeelah and the Bee, functional ascription mostly represented by family because there is no one can decide in which family he will be in. Neither Akeelah nor her siblings had ability to choose that they would be born in a nurse family in a black neighbourhood. The other character named Javier also shows a sign of functional ascription. He was a son of a journalist family. Both Akeelah and Javier were living in the family and sharing same norms with the other family members. In addition they could not choose to be a part of the family because they could not choose in which family they would be born. 1.1.2 Functional Acquisition The functional acquisition group in Akeelah and the Bee is indicated by the strong will of the members to keep align with the group. The next will be provided data that indicated sign of functional acquisition that are stated in Akeelah and the Bee. The indications came from Akeelah, Devon, Terrence, and the member of spelling group at Woodland Hill Middle School. Akeelah and Dr. Larabee. Akeelah stood in front of Dr. Larabee’s house then she showed how is Akeelah effort in trying to make Dr. Larabee as her coach and she persuaded to make Dr. Larabee became her coach. She even memorized all the winning words in former spelling bee finals. This was done to show her effort and how she really wanted to make him her coach. She agreed with all Dr. Larabee’s conditions. Another example of the sign of the functional acquisition group can be seen in Terrence because he decided to be Derrick- T’s companion. It can be referred to Terrence’s clothes and manner which copied Intan Maulida Lazuardini / Rainbow: Journal of Literature, Linguistics and Cultural Studies 2 (1) (2013) 4 Derrick-T, by copying Derrick-T’s clothes and manner made him identified as the member of Derrick-T’s gang, he wanted to be considered as part of them. The sign is also showed by Terrence activities where he always went with him. He also felt being in great pride could ride up front with him. In this case, Terrence kept being with Derrick-T although his mother and family dislike him being involved with Derrick-T. It needs big commitment to keep in that group. The last sign of the functional acquisition which can be found in the novel is the narration that describes condition at Woodland Hills Middle School. There was a spelling group, they practiced at the basketball court. All the spellers gathered at the basketball court after school. It needs a commitment to keep joining the spelling group because they did it after school. The spellers show that they have strong will and commitment to be involved in the spelling group and they shared same rules and norms and obey them. 1.2 Aggregate There are some signs of Aggregate in Akeelah and the Bee noted from Aggregate’s characteristic, which is a gathering of many people in a place without any goal, they are only being together in same time and place. The people can be not knowing each other. They are there for same purposes and the gathering is not last for a long time. There are some example of Aggregate in the Akeelah and the Bee. The first is the spellers with their parents were outside of the auditorium, they all gathered in one place until the bee finished. The condition at that time is the contestants came from different schools. It is also stated and districts. It can be concluded that they did not know each other because it was the gathering of students and the parents from different schools and districts. 1.3 Category In Akeelah and the Bee there are signs of Category. Because there are some data found matched with Category’s characteristic that is when a group is easily identified because of the members of the group shared same characteristics for example the African- American, Hispanic, and Korean. In Akeelah and the Bee there were some examples of Category. The neighbourhood of Anderson family represents Category because it is stated that the Anderson family lived in African-American neighbourhood. The picture of Category can also be seen in the description of the setting of Crenshaw Middle School as it is stated that in the school “African-American and Hispanic kids crammed into the overflowing classroom.” (Ellison, 2006:9) It shows the situation in Crenshaw Middle School where Akeelah studied. It clearly describes that the students there were mostly African- American descents and Spanish descents. Besides that in the Woodland Hill Middle School is stated that the students there were “Mostly full of white kids...” (Ellison, 2006:80) 2. Modern Society Reflects Signs of Politicon Syndrome In the modern society, the sign of politicon syndrome are indicated by the norms, rules and punishment in a society, the social identity, reality and support that is given by the society and the group behaviour. All of them have correlation with the sign of politicon syndrome. 2.1 Norms, Rules and Punishments In a society there must be norms or rules. In Akeelah and the Bee there are some representation of norms and rules and forms of social punishments. When a member does not obey his society’s norms, he will get punishment. The indications of norms, rules and punishments in Akeelah and the Bee can be found in its functional groups members’ Intan Maulida Lazuardini / Rainbow: Journal of Literature, Linguistics and Cultural Studies 2 (1) (2013) 5 interactions. Those indications reflected at Akeelah’s school, Anderson family, a Terrence and Derrick-T’s group. At Crenshaw Middle School there were some norms and rules that Akeelah had to get along with her friends. The norms were not to be smart and being known by the teacher because if they were considered as a smart one, the other would label them as teacher’s pet. The smart in Crenshaw Middle School was referred to the marks they usually got in the assignment and daily test. A student that was obeying teacher’s commands could be labelled as teacher’s pet. That was the reason for students keeping themselves anonymous. The portrait of the punishment can be seen afterthe other students knew that Akeelah got good marks, then they treated her bad. They judged that Akeelah was a freak as it is seen in the quotation “Hey, freak” (Ellison, 2006:25) They mocked her by calling her with some other call, they called her as a genius it is known by this quotation “How’s the genius today?” (Ellison, 2006:25) Genius here does not mean a compliment but it is a totally a mocking word. The other calling is brainiac. Besides getting verbal punishment, Akeelah also got physical punishment. She got punched at school and the way going home. All those punishments Akeelah got were the effects of Akeelah’s good marks.Those are reasons why Akeelah kept avoiding that she was smart and did not want to make herself looked smart because she had got the punishment and experienced it. She did not want to get punishments anymore and wanted to be accepted by her friends. The examples below reflected norms in family which can be found in Akeelah and the Bee Akeelah made a pact with her mother that is everyone would wait in front of her room unless invited in. The effect of this norm is Tanya who was Akeelah’s mother, she needed to knock and wait Akeelah in front of Akeelah’s room door. She waited until Akeelah asked her to go inside because she obeyed the rule they made. In the novel there was someone who did not obeyed the norms set. There was Kiana, Akeelah’s sister who did not obeyed the norms, she was called as a pest by Akeelah, it is a form of punishment because she was the only one who did not knock when entering Akeelah’s room. In the Anderson family there were also some norms set in it which every member should obey. The pictures of the other norms set in the family can be seen when Terrence is caught by the police because he wore an expensive watch.In the Anderson family, Tanya never allowed Terrence to be involved in a gangbang, using drugs, and not receiving something expensive. Then, when she knew that Terrence was in the same group with Derrick-T, she forbid Terrence having relationship with Derrick-T. Tanya asked him to obey her norm that was not to be involved with Derrick-T any longer. Tanya also felt so dissapointed because of Akeelah. She was so disappointed about Akeelah because she went to suburb to meet Javier and his friends to have a spelling practice. She went to Javier’s school without asking permission to her and she came home late. So, Tanya punished her because she did not do her obligation of being a member of a family to asking permission to her mother. The next picture of punishment is shown by Akeelah. She kept her will to win the spelling bee but her mother said no and there was an agreement letter to permit the child joining spelling bee. The letter needed to be signed by the contestants’ parent so Akeelah put his father’s name in signature column as Akeelah’s confession towards her mother. As the punishment from her mother, Akeelah needed to do help her mother doing the household works. The other example of rules are presented by Devon, he was a student of a pilot academy so he wore his USAF regalia Intan Maulida Lazuardini / Rainbow: Journal of Literature, Linguistics and Cultural Studies 2 (1) (2013) 6 uniform, wore his hair in military brush cut, and should be ready anytime he called back to the base. Besides in school and family, Akeelah also has another interaction with Dr. Larabee who became her coach in order to master words. There were He did not want to hear any ghetto talk because Akeelah is going to face spelling bee so she needs to speak with correct words, which is in dictionary znd he expressed inThen he asked her to stop talking ghetto and he would not listen to her if she used ghetto talk. He had some purposes in these norms, Akeelah could learn correct English, she would know how to speak politely and it would help her in increasing her mastery in Spelling Bee. Akeelah kept talking ghetto, then when Dr.Larabee talked to her about the rules of being his student, Akeelah just said whatever as the reflection of her careless about the rule. As the result he asked her to leave as it can be seen here “You can leave now” (Ellison, 2006:47). The word whatever means that Akeelah did not really care about what Dr. Larabee had said and it hurt Dr. Larabee’s heart. So the norm of working with Dr. Larabee is talking politely and correctly. He has told her about the norms of being with him, but she did not care. As the result, he punished her by asking her to leave his house. When Dr. Larabee met Akeelah after the bee, he told her that every single speller should have a coach. After that Akeelah asked him to be her coach but then he rejected because he did not like impoliteness. It happened because she mocked him before. He wanted to coach someone who had behaviour and talent or willing to win. After knowing the conditions of being his student, she learned all the winning words from the former spelling bee finals and showed him that she had good behaviour, talent, and willing to win. Finally Dr. Larabee accepted Akeelah after she impressed him by showing her seriousness in wanting him to be her coach and to win the bee. He told her that if she wanted him to coach her, she should not be late because he would not tolerate it. The other norms he made were she should come every day and on time. She should behave politely and did not behave impolite as what she had done before. In line with the previous norms, Dr. Larabee just wanted to couch someone who had willing to win and committed to it as he said in was a really important part of success. He did not want to coach unless she could commit to spelling bee because in his opinion a commitment is very crucial to success. The other norms he made was to do all he asked, he would do it on his way. The last norm he made was practicing with Dr. Larabee’s was not to get smart with him as it seen in the quotation “ Don’t get smart with me” (Ellison, 2006:92) He knew how to build words, how to memorize and to keep time in doing the bee, she just needed to follow his instruction. Akeelah was once asked to join spelling group in Woodland Hills Middle School to practice spelling. When she joined, there were some rules the spellers should obey. The rules that all spellers should obey were at first they gave the word that should be spelled. The next speller passed the basket ball to the first speller. The first speller guessed the part of speech and the origin of the word. After that the first speller passed the ball to the second speller. The second speller guessed the meaning and spelled the word or took a shot. If the speller missed three shots, he would be out of the game. There were also rules in the real bee, they are at the very first of the bee, all the contestants should seat in arranged seat except the four first spellers. Then, the pronouncer gave her a word and let the contestant spelled it. The next is a response is given by the pronouncer whether the answer is correct or not. If a speller is not sure about how to spell the word, he can ask the Intan Maulida Lazuardini / Rainbow: Journal of Literature, Linguistics and Cultural Studies 2 (1) (2013) 7 definition of it and the pronnouncer gave the definition. After getting definition, the speller should spell the word. If the spelling was correct, the bell will not ding. The next quotations are the other examples of the contestant’s infraction in spelling bee. It happened when the judges found that the mother of a contestant helped her child in spelling word. After knowing the fact then they disqualified the tenth finalist.The quotation above is about the strict rules that should be obeyed by all the contestants and supporters. It talks about the rule that helping contestant during competition is prohibited. It is a very serious business because it can lead it into disqualification if it is proved. Besides getting help in spelling, the disqualification can be done if the contestant got did not show when his turn to spell. 2.2 Social reality, identity and support By obeying norms and rules of society, members can have a place in society or in other word social reality and also social support. In this novel, this phenomenon can be found in Terrence acts, he was trying to be identified as Derrick T’s companion so he tried to copy Derrick T’s appearance and mannerism. After copying and being identified as Derrick T’s companion, all Derrick T’s group member accepted him even Derrick T gave Terrence a three- hundred-dollars watch. They supported him by giving him social reality, identity, and support. The next sign of the social reality identity and support is reflected by Akeelah. After she could be a contestant in National Spelling Bee, most of her neighbourhoods and family members giving her the social reality, identity and support. Akeelah got social reality and identity because her neighbourhood having place for her to be a part of them. The neighbourhood gave her social support by giving her support when she was doing her spelling practice and even just say supporting words. It shows that the neighbourhood did not only give Akeelah support by helping reading flashcards but also by giving her spirit to win. Besides the neighbourhood which keep helping her, the Anderson family also gave support by helping her each night turning the cards. Family members kept supporting Akeelah in Spelling by helping Akeelah using spelling card to add Akeelah’s vocabulary even Terrence implicitly told Akeelah that he would help her, it did not a pain for him to help her. Besides in her neighbourhood and family, Akeelah also got the support from her school friends and teachers. They kept giving support by accompanying Akeelah practicing with her flashcards and motivational words. In this novel, the social supports do not only show for Akeelah after she could enter the National Spelling Bee and for Terrence. The supports were given to Chucky, Akeelah before she did National Spelling Bee, spelling bee’s contestants. The kind of support is also showed by using body language. When Akeelah did the bee, Kiana and Mr. Welch gave her support by gaving her the thumbs up sign. As it is known that thumb up is a sign of having done something good. They gave it after Akeelah succeeded in spelling a word the Pronouncer gave her. The other contestant who got the support was Javier as his parents cheered for him. This kind of support is given by the members of functional ascription group in family form. The other speller who got the support was Polly when she spelled the given word incorrectly. Polly’s father’s held her hand and kissed her on the cheek. The social support also can be seen in the following quotation. Javier gave Akeelah help to avoid disqualification of being unable to show in her turn. Javer asked Akeelah “Where were you? I was about to start tap dancing, and if that didn’t work I plan to faint...” (Ellison, 2006:114) That was a time when Akeelah’s mother asked Mr.Welch to Intan Maulida Lazuardini / Rainbow: Journal of Literature, Linguistics and Cultural Studies 2 (1) (2013) 8 bring back Akeelah because she did not know anything about Akeelah’s participation in Spelling Bee. It means that Akeelah needed to go outside of the competition hall. There is a rule for all the participants that is if a participant cannot be ready for spelling, the participant will be disqualified. That is the reason why Javier acting strangely because he wanted to make Akeelah’s time longer so Akeelah can be ready in her position. 4.2.3 Zoon Politicon Syndrome in Akeelah and the Bee There are some signs of group behaviour in Akeelah and the Bee which represent politicon syndrome because as in real life, politicon syndrome in this novel also indicated by the conformity. Akeelah wanted to be accepted in the society and getting social support from her friends because she did not want to be seen as a freak one that represents the Id, that is the pleasure feeling she wanted to feel. The Superego was her friends who bullied her and did not consider her. Her ego is shown when she obeyed students’ norms to not looked smart and keeping herself being anonymous by not showing up for class and not submitting the assignments. But then she failed to be anonymous because however she got the good marks and her teacher knew her potention. The conformity showed in this case because she tried not to be looked smart. It is still in line with her social norms. She had a want of being accepted because she had considered as a smart person so many students treating her bad. She herself thought that everyone thought that she was a freak. Because of the conformity, Akeelah did many things to keep her in line with the norms with her friend.She had tried to obey the norms in student norms in Crenshaw. She skipped class for many times and did not turn her homework for the sake of getting bad mark and not being labelled as teacher’s pet but then she failed to do so. The other indication of the psychological aspect can be seen in another sign. The Id represents by the event when Akeelah wanted be accepted by her friends by keeping herself anonymous by not accepting to join spelling bee. Her headmaster was the obstacle because she forced her to join. The Ego is shown when she tried hard not to join the spelling bee and avoid her teacher’s and her headmaster’s ask as it is stated in “Naw, Mr. Welch. I ain’t down for no spelling bee.” (Ellison, 2006:29) The conformity is happened when Akeelah did not want to join the spelling bee because she was afraid of the social punishment. Her thought is shown in the quotation below. Being smart was dangerous. She had learned that lesson hard way, having accumulated in the past year a collection of bruises and bloody noses (Ellison, 2006:11) She was too afraid of the previous experience she had got in previous year. She had been punished before so she kept herself to obey the students’ norms. She definitely did not want to experience the punishment of being smart anymore. That is the reason why she had this kind of thought “...But why would she put herself in the position of being the school nerd-a freak for others to stick pins in?” (Ellison, 2006: 14) She did not want to join the Bee because she wanted to obey her social norm that was not being stand out or smart. She did not want to be labelled as teacher’s pet and as a smart student. Because by being labelled as teacher’s pet and as a smart student would make her being the school nerd and a freak, the other punishment was she even would be pins in and punched at school or even on the way going home. The institution also had the power to force the subordinate. It can be seen when Mr. Welch said “Now I want you to do that spelling be today...Will you do that for school?” ...“...If we can’t show that our students know how to perform and perform well, there might be no money for books, let Intan Maulida Lazuardini / Rainbow: Journal of Literature, Linguistics and Cultural Studies 2 (1) (2013) 9 alone bathroom doors...” (Ellison, 2006:29) In this case the education institution pushed Crenshaw middle school to perform well. There was no choice for the school because if Crenshaw did not perform well, they would not get money to buy books and could not even repair the broken bathroom doors. School had the power to push Akeelah. Mr. Welch did that. Mr. Welch as the headmaster was trying to get Akeelah doing the spelling bee by asking her “Now I want you to do that spelling bee today. I can’t order you to, but I really want you to. Will you do that for school?” Then Akeelah rejected by saying “Naw, Mr. Welch. I ain’t down for no spelling bee.” (Ellison, 2006:29) The next step he took was he used his power as a headmaster toward his student, it is reflected in “Well, then, maybe you’d be ‘down’ for spending the rest of the semester in detention for all your absences.” (Ellison, 2006:29) That action reflected conformity from school towards its student because if she did not want to do Spelling Bee, she should take summer class as the punishment. Another syndrome can be seen when each group has different norms and it is contradictory each other so when something that is a norm in a group can be banned in other group or being considered as a bad thing.Terrence was scolded by his mother because he received a very expensive watch from Derrick T. It was out of the norms in Anderson family. Actually the case is different when it is seen by the members of Derrick T’s group because getting very expensive watch is a pride. The other example of contradictory norms is in Akeelah school and friends’ norms. Akeelah skipped class for many times in order not to look stand out. It was the best way to obey the norms with her friends at school. The contradictory with the school institution’s norms that it’s better to perform good and to show the best thing could be done. The other example of the conformity can be seen in the Id when Akeelah wanted to enter National Spelling Bee. The Ego Akeelah needed a coach. The super ego is shown when Akeelah tried her best to make Dr. Larabee as her coach. She could make it Dr. Larabee finally accepted her to be under his coach. The Conformity showed when Akeelah obeyed all Dr. Larabee’s norms. She showed her will by starting spelling many keywords in former spelling bee. She had done something bad before, she mocked Dr. Larabee. But then she needed a coach so she tried to have Dr.Larabee as her coach, she needed to obey all his norms by speaking politely and using words from the dictionary, being discipline and committed to their goal. So, she stood in front of his house then she showed her effort and commitment by memorizing all the spelling bee winning words. Akeelah memorized all the keywords of former spelling bee finals because she wanted Dr.Larabee knew her effort and commitment in Spelling Bee. Dr. Larabee himself considered that Akeelah could do the spelling bee without him. She had showed her commitment of her willing to win spelling bee. Dr. Larabee had acknowledged the result of Akeelah’s commitment as he stated “You’ve got it all, Akeelah. Word construction. Etymology. Memorization tecniques. There’s nothing left to go over. You just need to focus on the words now. I’m putting it in your capable hands.” (Ellison, 2006:122-123) CONCLUSION From the discussion on the preceding chapter, there are some conclusion drawn as the following:The representation of modern society in Akeelah and the Bee can be seen in the setting of the novel. The modern society consists of three major groups, they are functional group, Aggregate, and Category. Functional group is a group which has characteristics having interaction to achieve Intan Maulida Lazuardini / Rainbow: Journal of Literature, Linguistics and Cultural Studies 2 (1) (2013) 10 same goals and they share same rules and norms. Functional group itself has two subs based on the membership volition, the functional ascription and functional acquisition. In functional ascription, the members do not have chance to choose for being a member, they are just getting ascribed in the group. Akeelah that lived in a nurse family in black neighbourhood and Javier who was a member of a journalist family represent functional acquisition group because both Akeelah and Javier could not choose in which family and neighbourhood they would be born. The functional acquisition is when a member needs to do something to be a member of the group they are Devon and Terrence. Devon as the pilot academy student; he needed to obey all the rules in the academy and even avoiding her mother for stopping him reaching his dream. The next group in modern society is Aggregate, the members are only being together in same time and place. The representation of Aggregate in the novel is the audience of the spelling bee, they were together in the same place and time although they do not know each other and the contestants of the spelling bee because they came from different schools and had same purpose that is to be a winner of the spelling bee. The last kind of group in modern society is represented by the use of the calling for certain people with certain characteristics. The example of it is stated in such words like white kids, black neighbourhood, African- American, and Hispanic. As it is known that people who are called as one of the Category, they shared same characteristics. As zoon politicon syndrome means a syndrome when people tend to be socialized, in Akeelah and the Bee there are some signs of politicon syndrome. The modern society in Akeelah and the Bee reflects signs of politicon syndrome in their social life when a group can influence members’ behaviour. The signs of zoon politicon syndrome can be seen in Akeelah’s and Terrence’s act. Both of their actions were influenced by the groups they joined in. Terrence was influenced much by Derrick-T gangbang and Akeelah was influenced much by her school friends, Dr. Larabee and her mother. REFERENCES Ellison, J.W. 2006. Akeelah and the Bee (1 st Ed.). 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