The purpose of this study is to find out the students' perception on individual pictures

and comic strips as the media of teaching narrative writing. To obtain information
about the students' perception on individual pictures and comic strips, the writer
distributed two questionnaires to a group of second year students of SMP Santo
Carolus Surabaya. The questionnaries were in the form of multiple-choice items using
close-ended questions. From the first questionnaire, the weriter found out that most of
the students considered individual pictures as uninteresting media. In fact, most of
them said that individual pictures did not help them rearrange the given sentences
chronologically. The wirter also found out that the students preferred colorful picutres
to black and white pictures. Since most of them were familiar with DOnald Duck and
they like colorful pictures, so the writer presented a colorful Donald Duck comic strip
in the second questionnaire. From the second questionnaire, the writer found out that
most of the student considered comic strips as interesting and helpful media. From
these findings, it can be concluded that comic strips are more interesting and helpful
than individual pictures. Thus, the wirter suggests comic strips be used as the media to
teach narrative writing to junior high school students in writing narration. Further
studies are expected to be carried out with treatments by using more variety of tasks
and other characters of comic in teaching narrative writing so the students do not get
bored.

Keyword : Picture Series

According to Cowan (1982: 1) writing is an activity with some stages or steps. She
said that writing essay is what you will be doing in this class in similar in several
ways to building a cabin The use of pictures in teaching writing is able to support the
students to study (Raimes, 1983:11). Besides that Crimmon (1983: 3) states that
writing is the skill of arranging words to form sentences and paragraph in the larger
units so that those ideas, facts, and impression may be communicated to others. There
are many kinds of picture could be used in teaching and learning of writing in the
classroom. These kinds of pictures would be described to the area of its
appropriateness for teaching activity, namely individual picture, situational picture,
and picture series. In this research only focused in teaching and learning writing using
picture series. Picture series could be used as a support to teach writing since they
could motivate students in making composition and also brought a difference situation
and a new variation of teaching learning activity at the classroom. This research
aimed to know how are picture series used in teaching writing narrative to the second
year students of MTS. Tabiyatus Shibyan Panceng Gresik, and what are the problems
faced by the students in learning writing narrative using picture series. The subject of
the research were the second year student of MTs. Tarbiyatus Shibyan Panceng
Gresik and the English teacher ( Mohammad Moslim, S.Pd). Design of this research
was descriptive research and the instruments were observation checklist, interview,
and questionnaire.
After having observation in teaching and learning process, the writer could answer the
research question number one, how are picture series used in teaching writing
narrative to the second year students at MTs. Tarbiyatus Shibyan Panceng Gresik.
Here, the teacher divided the activity into three steps. Began with pre-activity, whilst-
activity, and ended in post activity, every step in teaching writing using picture series
was applied by the teacher successfully. The procedure of teaching writing narrative
appropriated with the theory in chapter II. From the implementation picture series in
teaching writing narrative, the students could develop their narrative paragraph related
to the orientation stage, complication stage, and resolution stage. But by using picture
series in teaching writing were problems faced by the students. The problems were;
(1). The students difficult to create sentences related to the picture series, their
difficulties were to determine verb into the sentences. (2). The students were less
interest in the picture series given; among of students considered that picture series
was not exiting, not colorful and not clear to them.
Based on the finding of this research, writer suggests that, it is expected to be
continued because it has some benefits for teaching writing, by giving some valuable
modifications particularly in the shape and the color of picture series. Therefore, it
will be more interesting for the student.

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