1. AP Language and Composition 2012

2.   Modality is a type of amplification: a space running between 2 positive and negative poles  Modality can be interpreted as a resource for grading polarity: a setting of degrees of positivity or negativity What is “modality”?

3.   Modality can expose how certain we are of something; how much we like or dislike something, agree or disagree, how badly we desire something, etc.  When analyzing modality, we can learn if the writer is confident, sure, demanding, exaggerating or making dichotomies (whether they are false or not), and how much power someone has over another. Modality

4.   Negotiating demands for a services: positive : Do it You must do it You should do it You could do it negative: Don’t do it Example

5.  Negotiating how obligated you are: Positive: I will I must I should I might Negative : I won’t Example

6.   How often something occurs Positive: always often sometimes rarely Negative: never Example

7.  Hargid: “Dear Harry, I know you get Friday afternoons off, so would you like to come and have a cup of tea with me around three?” (Rowling, 135). Is Hagrid sure of Harry’s answer? Why “would you” and not “can you,” or “you must”? Modality Practice

8.  Snape: “I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death—if you aren’t as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach” (Rowling, 137). What does Snape’s modality say about how he sees teaching? His students? How does the modality show Snape is in a position of power? Modality Practice