23 I will g o and you can’t stop me
24 Now. I will tell you right now what the activity is. 25 I’ll take some of the scripts so long as you’re not expecting anything in
before next week.
Those sentences use the same modal will but expresses different degree of inclination. Sentence 23 has the high degree of inclination that the subject I is
determined to go. Sentence 24 has mid degree or level of inclination that the subject I only show intention to tell the other participant you about the activity.
Sentence 25 has the lowest degree of inclination that the modal only shows the participants willingness to take some scripts.
Further Lock defines other meanings and interpretations of the use of modals. The use of modals might show ability and potentiality of the participants.
This meaning and interpretation are likely useful in reading literary works since characters are usually characterized by their ability or potentiality. Lock mentions
that the difference between ability and potentiality lies on where the abilities or skills come from 1996: 211. Ability is internal while potentiality is external. In
addition, the modal can to show ability of the participant can be replaced by be able to.
To clarify the differences, Lock provides the following examples:
26 I am someone who can make friends easily ability 27
…this situation can and will be changed potentiality
Sentence 16 showing the use of modal to express ability can be paraphrased by I am someone who is able to make friends easily. The following
examples are the excerpts taken from the object of study that use modals to express ability:
28 I can take you no further,” said the fish.
29 There was not a wild boar elusive enough, nor a deer fleet enough, to avoid his spear, which he seemed even able to curve through the air.
In sentence 28, the modal can shows the ability of the fish to take another participant you. The modal is combined with negative, therefore, they show the
disability of the fish. Sentence 29 shows the ability by employing linking verb seemed,
that functions like to be, and able to. They show the ability of the participant he to curve through the air. In characterizing characters, the use of
modal, thus, might be useful to examine their ability or disability.
2.1.3.3. Thematic Structure
Along with the previous discussion on Transitivity and Modality as the tool in analyzing the ideational and interpersonal metafunctions in clauses, the clauses
are also observable by the textual metafunction. The textual metafunction concerns to the internal and external organization of the clauses. In this metafunction the
focus is about the Theme and the Rheme of the clauses. Theme is “the element which serves as the point of departure of the message” while the Rheme is the rest
or the remains of the message Halliday and Matthiesen, 2004: 64. In analyzing clauses by the thematic structure, the arrangement of the Theme and the Rheme,
the markedness of the Theme needs particular attention. The careful attention avoids misinterpretation towards the clauses by misidentifying the unmarked
Theme as marked one or in other way around. Unmarked Theme is the Subject of
a clause. For instance, in The duke has given my aunt that teapot Halliday and Matthiessen, 2004: 66, the Theme is the duke as the Subject of the clause. The
marked Theme might be in the forms of adverbial groups, prepositional phrase, or nominal groups but not as the Subject of a clause. For instance, in in this job Anne
we’re working with silver, the Theme is marked since it is not the subject of the clause and it is in the form of prepositional phrase in this job. In spoken language,
the markedness is identified by the intonation or by separating the tone groups. In written language, the identification of the Theme is
by the location that “the Theme of a clause is the first group or phrase that has some function in the experiential
structure of the clause” 2004: 66. Further Halliday and Matthiessen introduce several concepts in relation to
the Theme and the Rheme structure. First, they introduce thematic equative pattern. By the name or definition, the Thematic Equative has “identifying” clause.
Consequently, the Theme and Rheme are equal and the position is interchangeable. For example, the clause what happened was that the duke gave my aunt that teapot
might be reversed into that the duke gave my aunt that teapot was what happened. Second, the relation of the choice of Theme and Mood is explained. Since clauses
can form declarative, interrogative, and imperative, the Mood influences the choice of Theme in those three types of clauses. In declarative clauses, the default
unmarked assignment for Theme is in the Subject position. The marked Theme might occupy Adjunct and Complement position. In interrogative clauses, the
Theme assignment differs between the yesno interrogative and the WH- interrogative. In yesno interrogative, the Theme is the Finite verbal group and the
Subject. The Subject is considered as the Theme as well because the Finite verbal
group does not have function in the experiential structure. In imperative clauses, the unmarked Theme is the Predicator. The negative imperative has two Themes,
the Predicator and the following element of the clause. Third, Halliday and Matthiessen present the relation between Theme and the experiential elements.
Fourth, there is a concept of New and Given. However, the concept gives no contribution to this thesis since the concept works best in spoken language. The
Theme is assigned by the prosodic elements of clauses. The next concept in Thematic structure analysis is the Predicated Themes.
In the Predicated Themes, the Theme and Rheme of a clause might consist of their own Theme and Rheme. Halliday and Matthiessen exemplify the concept by the
clause 2004: 97:
30 It was his teacher who persuaded him to continue.
The clause has it was his teacher as the Theme and who persuaded him to continue as the Rheme. Inside the Theme, an organization of Theme and Rheme also exist.
To distinct them from the main Theme and Rheme, they are noted here as Theme
1
and Rheme
1
.It is the Theme
1
while was his teacher is the Rheme
1
. Inside the Rheme, there are also Theme and Rheme. They are noted here as Theme
2
and Rheme
2
. Thus, who is the Theme
2
and persuaded him to continue is the Rheme
2
.
2.1.4. Attitude in Language
Based on the Systemic Functional Linguistic Halliday, 2004, Martin and White 2005 introduce the observation on an aspect of interpersonal meaning to
analyze feelings of the language users. In introducing the book, they mention that
the interpersonal meaning in language also covers the feelings that people want to share beside the social interaction among them 2005: 7. In other words, language
can be fruitful to observe the evaluation of the users. While the social interaction between people is observable through the study of mood and modality, their focus
on the feelings of the language users is observable through the word choices in the texts. However, the analysis of appraisal is located in the discourse semantics level
that the observation of meanings is beyond the clause. The analysis should be able to explain how the evaluation is established, amplified, targeted, and sourced p.
10. Martin and White provide three reasons that become the rationale why
appraisal works in discourse semantics level. The first is that it “splashes across a
phase of discourse, irrespective of grammatical boundaries” p. 10. The evaluation might not be based only to the parts of the clause, but also because of the whole
clause. The second is that it can be realized in any grammatical categories. Martin and White exemplify by the occurrence of the same evaluation in different
grammatical categories. They modify the evaluation through adjective ‘interesting’ into verb ‘interested’ and adjunct ‘interestingly’. The third is that it might work in
grammatical metaphor. This is the expansion of the second reason that the example is the nominalization of the evaluation that makes the evaluation as a thing or a
matter. In short, then the analysis of the appraisal belongs to the discourse analysis that needs to pay attention to the production and consumption of the texts.
The analysis of appraisal covers three topics namely the Attitude, Engagement, and Graduation. They are different in nature but interconnected in the
discourse in producing the evaluation. Attitude deals with feelings such as affect,
judgment, and appreciation as emotional reactions. Engagement concerns with the sourcing behavior and the “play voices around opinions in discourse” p.35. The
Engagement analysis peruses also the interaction between the writers and the readers. Graduation concerns with the gradability of the attitude. Observing
graduation means observing how the attitudes or feelings are amplified. Concerning the nature of the study, which will be discussed in the next chapter, this thesis
employs the Attitude analysis only therefore the immediate discussion is only on Attitude or ways of feeling. Attitude is defined as the ways of feeling. In a more
practical speaking, attitude analysis classifies the feelings into some categories. Attitude can be mapped into three categories namely Affect, Judgement,
and Appreciation Martin and White, 2005: 42. Affect construes emotional reactions of positive or negative feelings. The realization of affect might range of
grammatical structures with modification of participants and processes, affective mental and behavioral processes, and modal adjuncts. Judgment is the way
language users assess behaviors according to various normative principles. Thus, in judgment analysis, the evaluation is based on the culture of the language users.
Another category is Appreciation by which the analysts mention the value of things, including natural phenomena and semiosis.
There are six factors that might classify the affects 2005: 46-49. The first is that the analysis is not concerned with the value that uncommon sense might take
influence. In other words, the analysis only regards the common value. For instance, the value of the word ‘happy’ is always positive, and the value of ‘sad’ is negative.
There is no room for other possibilities that the word ‘sad’ may belong to positive affect. The second factor is that the distinctions among feelings are constructed as
the opposition between behavioral versus mental or relational processes. The third factor is about the structure of the clause containing the feeling. Having the term
Emoter, Emotion, and Trigger, the feelings expressed through mental processes and relational processes share a difference in nature. Mental processes take both Trigger
and Emoter as the participants while Relational processes the Emoter and the Emotion are the participants but the Trigger serves as an optional circumstance. The
fourth factor is in relation to the gradation of the feelings. The gradation of the feelings is not discrete. The lexical items themselves do the gradation. Thus the
choice of words in expressing feelings would determine the degree of the feeling. Martin and White 2001 exemplify this factors by co
ntrasting ‘disliked’, ‘hated’, and ‘detested’ as the example of low, median, and high degree of feelings. The fifth
factor is including the intention of the feelings. This factor divides the feelings into those, which belong to desideration and emotive mental processes.
The sixth factor in affect classification needs to be discussed separately from the other factors since it groups affect into three major sets. The three major
sets are namely unhappiness, insecurity, and dissatisfaction. Directly quoting from Martin and White, “The unhappiness variable covers emotions concerned
with ‘affairs of the heart’, the insecurity variable covers emotion concerned with ecosocial well-
being,…the dissatisfaction variable covers emotion concerned with telos the p
ursuit of goals” 2005: 49. From this sixth factor, accordingly, the feelings can be mapped into the following tables with the examples of the words
resembling the surge of behavior and the dispositions:
Table 2.3. The Examples of Words Resembling Types of UnHappiness
UNHAPPINESS Surge of behavior
Disposition
Unhappiness
