Aim: How does a writer create effects through the connotations of words and images?
Do Now: THINK/SHARE
What if life has a RESET button?
For the Do Now Ms. Peterson had us take a couple of minutes to think about the times where we said or done something that we regret and wish to change if a rest button is available. She also put out a disclaimer that this will only be used for learning purposes and not for judgments. This discussion will later connect to our topic for this cycle which is connotations. A couple of my classmates shared their experiences which they instant regret or regret later on after what they’ve said or mean. Some of the experiences shared are spilling secrets accidentally and yelling at a classmate to shut up during a movie but realized they are talking to the teacher. Others include having a really bad temper tantrum, wanting to put money on a game after they know their team had gone for memory, and also breaking a lot of electronic devices when they are young in a lot of different ways. One of the examples which I loved and laughed at was when they said a mean thing to their friend with no mean intention and apologized but then state how they actually meant it.
Connotations and Denotations
We had spirit reading about the meaning of connotations and denotations and also the differences between connotations and denotations. Denotation is the dictionary definition or the precise meaning of a word when the connotation is the emotional associations of a word. It is important to understand both since it helps the reader make important inferences about the meaning and authors would use words based on their connotation as well. Writers can create a certain effect they want using the connotation of a word or the images and associations the reader would be reminded of when they read. Then she provided an example to demonstrate the difference between the two. The example she used was about describing the ocean. A denotation version would be “A large body of salt water that covers approximately 70% of the earth’s surface. Appears in different shades of blue, often with waves and currents. Contains various types of plant and marine animal life.” The connotation version would be “peace, tranquility, expansiveness, the unknown, the power of nature, and etc.” Many words may have identical denotative meanings but different connotations. To demonstrate the word “youth” and “childish” may all mean adjectives that describe the state of being similar to a child. However “youth” has a positive connotation giving off the feeling of vibrant and lively whereas the word “childish” has a negative connotation and people usually associate them with immature and juvenile.
After the spirit reading, Ms. Peterson also talked to us about the importance of reading the information within the parenthesis since they are used as common as commas and shouldn’t be ignored and skipped when reading. Afterward, we watched a video on connotations and denotations. DENOTATIONS & CONNOTATIONS | English Lesson [3:32] There are opportunities during the video where we are able to earn team points by answering the questions in the video. Ms. Peterson also provided a link to more examples and exercises on connotative words since it will be important to fully understand the topic later on. It may also be difficult to understand the connotation of the words since English may not be the first language we learned. Connotative Word Examples
This picture is included in the lesson notes and I thought that it really captures what we are working on. When we think of connotations, we are basically thinking of what is in the word that allows it to have a positive or negative connotation. The question in the picture is the question we all asked ourselves, maybe unconsciously, when figuring out the connotation of the word.
Teamwork- Connotation and Denotation in Speak
We broke out into our teams and answers a couple of questions on examples from the story we had read in the previous cycles. When answering the questions we have to figure out the connotation of the verbs used that may reflect the narrators feeling at the time. We also have to rewrite the sentence and change the verbs to make the sentence neutral. Below are my answers to the four questions we answered in our teams.
Q: Consider the following sentence from Speak:
“I dive into the stream of fourth-period lunch students and swim down the hall to the cafeteria.”
What connotations do the images of diving into and swimming through other students have here?
A: The connotation of the images of diving into and swimming through other students is negative. The word stream is going in one direction only which would make it hard to join and leave the crowd. The verb swimming suggests how crowded the hall is with other students.
Q: Now rewrite the sentence, trying to keep the same denotative meaning but changing the connotations to make them neutral.
A: I entered the hall of fourth-period lunch students and walked to the cafeteria.
Q: Now consider what is conveyed by Anderson’s diction (particularly the verbs) in this sentence.
“I ditch my tray and bolt for the door.”
Based on the verbs, what inferences might you draw about the speaker’s feelings at this moment?
A: Based on the verbs the inference I draw about the speaker’s feeling at this moment is nervous and panic. The verbs both mentioned action at a fast pace and her urge to leave the situation and environment she is in right now.
Q: Now revise Anderson’s sentence to be more neutral.
A: I put down my tray and head for the door.
Connection: After we returned to the main room and discussed the questions, we made a connection between the Do Now and connotations. Since the discussion is about the experiences that we wish to change the connotation is negative since it is full of guilt and regret. When we are talking about those experiences we want to change them.
Annotation: We are then told to annotate the first paragraph of Marigolds. The annotations can be on the diction, syntax, and imagery that create the narrator’s voice and also the connotative effects on the author’s word choice and explanations of the inferences that it may lead us to think.
Homework: For homework, we are assigned to read and annotate the passage “Marigolds” before our next class so we will be able to do the classwork and add to the discussion we will have next class. There is also an annotations rubric we can use to execute our annotations.
Reflection: In this cycle, I learned the difference between denotation and connotation. I also learned the effect of using words with different connotative meanings. In addition, we learned how the connotative effect can help us infer feelings, tone, and much more of a text. I had been shown the different connotations and how a word can be negative or positive in middle school. However, I never really kept it in my mind at the time since I don’t really understand the importance of the connotations, but after this lesson, it just sticks to my mind whenever I read. I realized how much a different word choice can change a text. This lesson is important because it teaches me the effects that can be created through different connotative meanings of a word. It is important to be able to identify the connotation of a word since this skill will come in very handy and essential when trying to understand a passage. The meaning of the segment of writing can be changed when different words with identical denotative meanings but different connotative meanings. This skill will also be used when looking into the author’s word choices. This will also be important when writing because if a word with a wrong connotation is used, it can alter the whole effect and meaning of the writing to the reader. This situation would be awful if the writer doesn’t realize the effect of their word choices. I can now use this skill I learned and understand the texts I read better and more fully with the thought of connotations in my mind when I read. Although it may seem very simple and easy to identify the connotation of a word right now, there will be harder and more challenging words and it will be connotation will be important to know. All in all, this lesson is crucial to better understanding a text and I would recommend those who missed this lesson to go through the lesson on the doc fully and even used the link provided to watch the video and go through a few more examples to master the skill.
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