Dictionary Definition Emotional Response Connotation: Explain how the author uses diction to show a contrast between Jonas’s father and the act of release which he is responsible for carrying out. Diction = Word Choice Words have a denotation: Dictionary Definition Words can have a Connotation: Emotional Response Can be +/—/n

Use your notes to fill in the following: Diction = Word Choice Use your notes to fill in the following: Words have a denotation: Words can have a Connotation: Can be +/—/n

Its Connotation is POSITIVE HOUSE Denotation: A building in which people live HOME same! Connotation: Love, acceptance, belonging, family Its Connotation is POSITIVE

Connotation Practice  Label each word as having a positive, negative, or neutral connotation. giggle chuckle laugh snicker cackle 2. thin scrawny petit boney slender 3. talkative social outgoing friendly gossip

Keep in mind… Not EVERY word is meant to draw an emotional response! Look closely…which words are connotative? Circle them. The father tenderly smiled and looked at his newborn baby through the window of the room. The judge slammed down the gavel and called for order in the unruly courtroom.

Connotation Practice  Make a two-column chart for positive/negative connotations. Place each word in the appropriate column. obsessive reserved mushy curious bold timid cheap hyper romantic strong-willed withdrawn scrawny free stylish lazy cowardly stubborn nosey energetic thin self-confident determined stingy  

Arrange words from your chart into related groups or patterns. special, teeny-weeny What do these words refer to in context? Jonas’s father speaking to the twin baby

CHOOSE A STRONG WORD FROM THE CONNOTATIVE LIST: What is the context? How is it being used? To describe what? What is the denotation? What is the dictionary definition? What is the connotation? What is suggested by the word? What does it bring to your mind? What do you think of when you read the word? What emotions are stirred by the words or its connotations? Start with positive or negative, but then try to apply a more specific feeling, such as happiness, anger, compassion, guilt, sadness, loneliness, dread, shock, love, etc. What is the intended effect? What does the author want the audience to think, to feel, to do? What kind of connections does she want us to make?