Connotative Power Essay Example for Free

Connotative Power Essay Self-Checked Activities Read the instructions for the following activities and type in your responses. Click the link to the Student Answer Sheet at the end of the lesson. Use the answers or sample responses to evaluate your own work. 1. Identifying Connotations a. Decide whether the bold word in each sentence is using a denotative or connotative meaning: †¢ Wendy hit the tennis ball. †¢ Phil bought a cheap car at the used car lot. †¢ They often serve a lot of strange foods at that restaurant. †¢ I told my younger brother that he shouldn’t be such a baby. †¢ Kevin studied most of the night for the SAT. Type your response here: | |Denotative or Connotative? | |hit |Connotative | |cheap |Denotative | |strange |Connotative | |baby |Denotative | |studied |Connotative | b. List the words from the previous activity that are denotative in meaning. For each word listed, rewrite the sentence that uses the word, replacing the denotative word with a connotative word (or phrase). The connotative meaning can be positive or negative. Type your response here: How did you do? Check a box below. Nailed It!—I included all of the same ideas as the model response on the Student Answer Sheet. Halfway There—I included most of the ideas in the model response on the Student Answer Sheet. Not Great—I did not include any of the ideas in the model response on the Student Answer Sheet. 2. Forms of Connotations a. For each sentence listed below, state whether the sentence has a negative, positive, or neutral connotation and then rewrite the sentence so it has a different connotation. Type your response here: |Original sentence |Connotation |Revised Sentence | |They gobbled desserts at Alison’s party. |Negative |They ate desserts at Alison’s party. | |We watched the eagle fly above the mountains |Neutral |We patrolled the eagle fly above the mountains to the west. | |to the west. | | | |Dan and Marsha have accepted twelve foster |Positive |Dan and Marsha have okayed  twelve foster children into their | |children into their house. | |house. | |Tom is studying for a job in the medical |Neutral |Tom is pondering for a job in the medical profession. | |profession. | | | b. In 1999, Elie Wiesel gave a speech called â€Å"The Perils of Indifference† in Washington, DC, to address his experiences as a prisoner in the Auschwitz concentration camp and his concerns about society’s indifference to the suffering that continues into the twenty-first century. Read the speech and find six examples of text (word or phrase) with a connotative meaning. Write these examples in the table, note whether the text has a negative or a positive connotation, and state the effect Wiesel was trying to achieve by using it. Type your response here: |Text from Speech |Connotation |Effect Wiesel Was Trying to Achieve | |Commander in Chief of the army that freed me |Positive |Show his respect to President Bill Clinton. | |and tens of thousands of others. | | | |â€Å"people who are indifferent have meaningless |Negative |People who don’t care, lives have no worth. | |lives† | | | |â€Å"In a way, to be indifferent to that suffering|Negative |People did not care about what they suffered through , so that | |is what makes the human being inhuman.† | |makes a person cruel. | |Humanity |Positive |Having all human rights. | |Indifferent |Negative |Not caring. | |Gratitude |Positive |Being thankful. | How did you do? Check a box below. Nailed It!—I included all of the same ideas as the model response on the Student Answer Sheet. Halfway There—I included most of the ideas in the model response on the Student Answer Sheet. Not Great—I did not include any of the ideas in the model response on the Student Answer Sheet. 3. Explaining Connotations a. Explain several examples of connotation in Langston Hughes’s poem â€Å"Will V-Day Be Me-Day Too?† Type your response here: There was positive connotation, where he talked about fighting for the United States. There was negative connotation, where he was talking about watching people die. There was neutral connotation, where he was talking about winning the world and them having theie own â€Å"V-Day.† b. How does Hughes use connotative language to compare the plight of African Americans to that of the Jews during World War II? Type your response here: How did you do? Check a box below. Nailed It!—I included all of the same ideas as the model response on the Student Answer Sheet. Halfway There—I included most of the ideas in the model response on the Student Answer Sheet. Not Great—I did not include any of the ideas in the model response on the Student Answer Sheet. Teacher-Graded Activities Write a response for each of the following activities. Check the Evaluation section at the end of this document to make sure you have met the expected criteria for the assignment. When you have finished, submit your work to your teacher. 1. Denotation and Connotation in Literary Works a. Write down the titles and authors of three works you will examine for use of connotative and denotative language. Choose the three works from among the novels, short stories, poems, speeches, essays, and plays you read in class this year. Type your response here: b. Read or review each text, looking for examples of denotative and connotative language. In the chart, write two examples of denotative language and two examples of connotative language for each of the three works you selected. Then, for the examples of connotative language, describe the effect, or emotional response, the author was trying to achieve by this use of language. Type your response here: |Literary Work |Denotative Language |Connotative Language (with page #) and Effect Achieved | |(Title/Author/Genre) |(with page #) | | |Out-Out by Robert Frost | | | | | | | |Desert Places by Robert Frost |BENIGHTED; |NIGHT; A negative connotation; Darkness or visionless | | | |SNOW; Also a negative connotation; Cold | |The Snow Man by Wallace Stevens | |CRUSTED; | | | |GLITTER; | Evaluation Your teacher will use this rubric to evaluate the completeness of your work as well as the clarity of thinking you exhibit. | |Concepts | |Distingui|The student has identified three literature titles and their authors. | |shed |The student has accurately identified two examples of denotative language and two examples of connotative language for each work of | |(4 |literature. | |points) |For each example, the student has accurately described the effect or emotional response achieved by the author. | |Proficien|The student has identified three literature titles and their authors. | |t (3 |The student has adequately identified two examples of denotative language and two examples of connotative language for each work of | |points) |literature. | | |For each example, the student has adequately described the effect or emotional response achieved by the author. | |Developin|The student has identified three or fewer literature titles and their authors. | |g (2 |The student has tried to identify some examples of denotative and connotative language for the works of literature. | |points) |For some examples, the student has tried to describe the effect or emotional response achieved by the author. | |Beginning|The student has not identified three literature titles and their authors. | |(1 point)|The student has not identified examples of denotative and connotative language for each work of literature. | | |For some examples, the student has failed to describe the effect or emotional response achieved by the author. |