Marigolds: Connotative & Denotative Meaning
Aim: How does a writer create effects through the connotations of words and images?
Do Now: Think/Pair/Share
It’s a terrible thing to drop your grandmother’s prized china vase on the kitchen floor. And did you really have to be so mean to your sibling yesterday? At one time or another, we’ve all done or said something that makes us cringe with regret. We wish we could turn back the clock by a minute or a day and just do the whole thing over.
Based on your understanding of the aforementioned, share a time when you did or said something that you regret, and explain why you felt that way.
My answer for this question was that one day, I had a lot of homework assigned to me. I was extremely frustrated while trying to get all of the work done. While I was working on my assignments, my mom asked if I was done with my homework. I angrily told her no. Looking back at it, I regret acting like that as my mom was just asking me a simple question.
Connotation & Denotation
We learned the difference between a connotation and a denotation. A denotation is the precise definition of a word while a connotation is the association or emotional overtone attached. Two different words with the same denotation could have either a positive or negative connotation.
Example: The words “youthful” and “childish” both mean being in a state similar to a child but one has a positive connotation and the other has a negative connotation. The word “youthful” has a positive connotation(vibrant, lively, energetic) while the word “childish has a negative connotation(immature, juvenile, having the maturity of a child)
We were also shown a video on denotations and connotations. The following examples in the video were:
Aroma vs Stench: both mean the word “scent” but aroma gives a positive connotation while stench gives a negative connotation.
Mob vs Crowd - both mean a large group of people but mob gives a negative connotation while crowd gives a positive connotation.
Selective vs Picky - both mean to be careful in choices but selective gives a positive connotation while picky gives a picky connotation.
TEAMWORK
CONNOTATION and DENOTATION in Speak
We are given sentences from Speak. There will be two words with different connotations. We also made inferences on the speaker’s feelings. Then, we will change the sentence to make it sound neutral
Sentence: “I dive into the stream of fourth-period lunch students and swim down the hall to the cafeteria.”
“Diving” has a negative connotation. It gives people the idea of someone charging straight into the crowd while “swimming” gives a positive connotation. It makes it sound like the speaker’s going along with the crowd.
Neutral sentence: I walked into the stream of fourth-period lunch students and went towards the cafeteria.
Sentence: “I ditch my tray and bolt for the door.”
The speaker‘s feelings at this moment are embarrassment and frustration. The words ‘ditch’ and ‘bolt’ show the desperation the speaker had when they tried to leave the cafeteria.
Neutral sentence: I leave my tray and walk to the door.
Reflection:
Today, I was able to learn that although two words may have the same meaning, it might not necessarily give off the same feeling. The connotation of a word really impacts the way a reader thinks about what they’re reading. An author uses words with specific connotations to set the tone and emotions
No comments:
Post a Comment