MIDTERM EXAMINATIONS

LACS 40113: Systemic Functional Linguistics Approach in Reading Literature

Ersweetcel C. Servano

Name: Santos, Matthew Christian dS

General Directions: Read and answer each item carefully. Please send via email the
PDF version of your answers. You may submit until 4:00 PM only. This already
gives you a one-hour allowance. Submissions after 4:00 PM will not be counted
anymore.

I. Coding. Divide Kate Chopin’s Story of an Hour into clauses, and present a
Transitivity analysis. Transitivity is a resource for making and analyzing the
ideational meanings at the level of the clause. It is done by identifying process
types, participants, and circumstances. The following tables and an example are
provided for your guidance.

Example:

He remembers the past today.

He remembers the past today

 Senser Pro: Mental Phenomenon Circ: Time

Answer:

1 Knowing that Mrs. Mallard Was afflicted With a heart trouble

Pro:mental Senser, actor phenomenon Circ: time
2 Great care Was taken to break To her As gently as possible
Pro: material actor Circ: the lightness of
3 It was Her sister Josephine Who told her In broken sentences

4 Her husband’s friend was there too near her

Richards
carrier
5 It was he who had been in the newspaper office
Pro: relational carrier Identifying the Circ: linking where he
location had been
6 he Had only To assure himself of By a second telegram
its truth
actor Pro: material Circ: what had taken Which it was taken
7 She Did not hear As many women Have heard the same
senser Pro: mental phenomenon Circ: similar context that
is heard
8 She wept at once
actor Pro: material Circ: time
9 she Went away To her room alone
actor Pro: material Where she went Circ: time of being alone
10 she Would have No one Follow her
carrier Pro: relational Circ: link to the wanting
to follow the carrier
11 she Sank, press down By a physical That haunted her body
exhaustion
actor Pro: material The reason for the Circ: where she felt the
process exhaustion
12 A physical That haunted her And seemed to reach Into her soul
exhaustion body
Circ: the reason of an Circ: where the Pro: material actor
action exhaustion comes to
an effect
13 she Could see In the open square The tops of trees
before her house
Senser Pro: mental phenomenon Circ: what the senser see
14 In the street below A peddler Was crying His wares.
 Circ: where the sayer Pro: verbal The reason of process
peddler was crying hi
wares
15 The notes of distant Which some one Was singing reach her
song

16 What was received The sayer of the Pro: verbal receiver

distant
the notes of a distant Which some one Was singing reach Her faintly.
song
17 What was being actor Pro: Material Circ: Portrayed the
reached distance of the song.
countless sparrows Were twittering In the eaves.
18 Circ: portrayed the sayer Pro: verbal Circ: where the
number of twittering occurs.
participants
She Sat with her head Upon the cushion of Quite motionless
thrown back the chair
19 actor Pro: material Where the action Circ: portrayed the action
occurs and describe the posture
A sob came up Her throat And shook her
20 Pro: verbal sayer Where the sob came Circ: the effect of the
process
As child Who has cried itself Continues to sob In its dreams
to sleep
21 sayer Circ: the condition of Pro:verbal Where the sob continues
the participant
she was Young, with a fair, Whose lines bespoke
calm face repression and even a
certain strength.
22 possessor Pro:relational possessed Circ:what was the
characteristics represents.
There was A dull stare in her eyes
23 Pro:existential Circ: the existing existent Where was the existing
condition of the eyes occurs
of the participant
Her eyes Whose gaze Was fixed away off Yonder on one of those
patches of blue sky
24 Senser/actor Pro: mental Pro: material Circ: where the eyes gaze
There was Something coming to her And she was waiting for
it
25 Pro: existential The existing existent Circ: the response to
something what is coming
Something coming to her And she was waiting fearfully
for it
phenomenon senser Circ: the response to Pro: mental
what is coming
What was it she Did not Know
Phenomenon Senser Circ: provide pro; mental
cognition about what
is not identified
she Did not know It was Too subtle and elusive to
name
Carrier Relating to the thing Pro: relational Circ: what is the nature
that is not identified of unknown thing
She Feel It Creeping out of the sky
Senser Pro:mental Phenomenon Circ: the direction from
which the participant
perceived the unknown
Reaching Toward Her Through the sounds, the
scents, the color that
filled the air.
Pro: material Portrayed the Affected Circ: the unknown
direction feeling reaching toward
her through the sensory
elements in the
environment.
Her Bosom Rose and fell Tumultuously
actor Refer to the part of Pro: material Circ: described the
the participant manner and intensity of
the actions
she Was Beginning to This thing that was
recognize approaching to possess
her
Possessor Pro: relational Present time relating Circ: what the participant
to the thing was beginning to
recognize
she Was beginning to Recognize This thing that was
approaching to possess
her
Senser Time Pro: material Circ: the approaching
phenomenon that the
participant was about to
perceive
She Was striving to beat It Back with her will
Actor Pro: material Phenomenon Circ: how the participant
used her will to confront
the phenomenon thing
she Abandoned herself A little whispered Escaped her slightly
word parted lips
 Actor Pro: material What escaped in Circ: where did the word
parted lips escape
When She Abandoned herself a Escaped her slight;y
little whispered word parted lips.
Time sayer Pro; verbal Circ: where did the word
escape
She said It over and over under “free, free, free!”
her breath

sayer Pro: verbal Circ: how the What was said

participant said the
repetition words

II. Interpretation. Based on the patterns revealed in the coding, interpret the text in
an essay of three paragraphs. Begin with a clear argument in the form of a thesis
statement. Develop supporting paragraphs too. Lift textual evidence to enrich your
interpretation.

The narration of Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” define as a story of

Victorian period where Mrs. Mallard, a widow who’s very traditional receives a news
that gives her an angst emotion as grief fueled her emotions. As emotions linger her,
time pass as she goes on and began to see the light of opportunity and freedom as a
dove that liberate the unwilling mind.

Kate chopin’s writing deals to experiences of grief, sadness, emotional

rollercoaster, and complex of anxiety as define perse to writing and narrations. This
kind of emotion overload accompanied by liberation as she dives to a great journey of
emotions and how the readers reaction accompanies.

To continue, in the basis of textual evidence pattern, I conclude the emotions as a

pattern to narrates her story to define by in first paragraph – as she receives a
horrifying news that Mrs. mallard’s husband succumb on accident. With this, you can
see that the first pattern on her narrations brings pain, sympathy, agony of loss, and
death as the character of Mrs. Mallard feels it. One thing also is how it grapples to a
conflict and also how it draws a line of liberation on the persona’s emotions.
As the story continues, you will see how it highlight some agenda that relieves the
character’s emotions that plugged a greatly liberating action on the grief emotions of
the character as it develops a great solitude of narrative. Complexity is great as I
conclude; perse, I conclude also the emotions on the text “physical exhaustion” as it
definitely defines by construction of texts per paragraphs. This kind of construction
also leads to navigation of emotions of Mrs. Mallard that carefully weld to great
strength and also balance the taste of grief and peace like a coffee. The sourness,
saltiness, and great bitterness relieves on the sweet yet great fact of goods on the
story.