Have a look at this extract:
The men walked down the streets to the
mine with their heads bent close to their
chests. In groups of five or six they
scurried on. It was impossible to recognize
individuals from the small gaps between
their caps, pulled down over their eyes,
and the tightly bound scarves tied tightly
over the bottom half of their faces.
Now answer this question:
What was the weather like as the men
walked to the mine?
You should have been able to work out
that it was very cold and windy. You
probably arrived at this answer because
you associated hats pulled down and
scarves with winter or cold weather at
least. You know from personal experience
people keep their heads down when
walking against the wind and the author
gave you another clue with the word
"scurried" which suggests the men were
hurrying to reach their destination.
To tackle this question you have used the
skill of inferring . This is sometimes called
'reading between the lines' . Writers expect
you to use this skill to get the most out of
any piece of reading.
So, to really understand a piece of
reading you need to be like Sherlock
Holmes and be a first class detective!
Inference can be used in several ways to
help you respond fully to a piece of reading.
• You can infer a general fact or a precise
piece of information.
• You can infer emotions and feelings of
characters in passage.
• You can infer information about the author his/her opinions, feelings, point of view.
To infer successfully you can:
• Work out answer from clues or references
in the text.
• Work out answer from the connotations of
words used in text.
• Match something in the text to your own
understanding or experience or knowledge
to come up with the correct answer.
Have a look at the following extract and
questions and spot how the clues help you
come up with the answer.
"Rain lashed against the windows as Jane stamped up and
down the room stopping only to check the time on the
mantle clock every five minutes. Her book, bought with
such enthusiasm the day before, was flung carelessly in
the corner beside the abandoned picnic basket. Jane
stamped her feet and began to repeat her earlier tedious
complaints against nature. Emily merely smiled to herself
and carried on reading the newspaper without as much as
a nod of the head.”
Inferring information:
What plans had Jane had for the day?
HINT: the abandoned picnic basket
Inferring about a character:
How would you describe Jane’s mood?
HINT: unable to sit still, watching the clock,
fed up with reading, complaining
Inferring about the author:
What expression does the author use to
suggest her disapproval of the main
character’s behavior?
HINT: a word with negative connotations is
used to describe Jane’s behavior
Read the following passage and then answer
the questions on the next slide:
"Only those of an imposing stature were chosen to play
football by the natural team leaders who emerged every playtime.
My chore was to sit behind the goal at the river end of the field and
retrieve any balls stupid enough to avoid the grasp of Tam Knight or
"Spite" as he was referred to in whispers by most of the lower
school.
On occasion this meant removing my boots and socks - if I
happened to be wearing any that day. This particular day the water
was higher than usual and as I tried to reach the ball I slipped off
the slimy rock on which I perched and plunged into the murky
wetness.
While this was bad enough, I stood up just in time to see my
left boot float down the river and disappear under the bridge.
The roars of laughter and finger pointing were nothing
compared to what I would have to endure when I went home
bootless!"
Make inferences to decide if the following
statements are TRUE or FALSE:
The narrator was quite small as a child.
The narrator enjoyed helping out at
playtime.
Tam Knight was a popular boy.
The narrator came from a wealthy family.
The narrator enjoyed a happy childhood.
The dictionary definition.
The additional meaning a word may carry.
Is there more to a word than how it
is
defined in the dictionary?
Yes, there is more. In fact, every
word has at least two definitions:
connotative and denotative
So, what’s the difference?
The denotative definition is based
literal
on the________definition
of a
word.
The connotative definition is
figurative or emotional
the________________________
meaning of a word.
Connotation
The emotional
associations of a
word or phrase, as
opposed to its exact
meaning.
 “Greasy” has a
denotation meaning
slippery but also
has a connotation
when referring to a
“greasy” person.

Denotation and Connotation
Denotation
The strict
dictionary
meaning of a word
Connotation
The emotional and
imaginative
association
surrounding a
word
Purpose of Words
To label things
I live in a house.
Purpose of Words
To express a
point of view
You may live in a
house, but we live
in a home.
Point of View
 Positive
We bought
inexpensive
souvenirs at the
amusement park.
 Negative
We bought
cheap souvenirs
at the amusement
park.
Point of View: Positive
Everyone had a
(smile, smirk) on
his/her face on
the ride home.
 Everyone had a
smile on his/her
face on the way
home.

Point of View: Negative
I ate a
(soggy,moist)
sandwich.
I ate a soggy
sandwich
Positive? You Decide!
average
mediocre
childish
childlike
spit
saliva
antique
old-fashioned
Context Clues
Words or
phrases that
help the
reader
understand a
difficult word
Using Context Clues
The parrot was
able to (mimic,
mock) human
voices.
 The parrot was
able to mimic
human voices.

Context Clues: You Decide!
1. The (odor, fragrance) of apple blossoms
filled the entire valley.
2. A (swarm, bunch) of bees filled the
air near the hive.
3. Tammy (delayed, hesitated) for a
moment, then went on speaking.
•The connotative meanings of a word exist
together with the denotative meanings.
•The denotation of the word snake is “any of
numerous scaly, legless, and sometimes
venomous reptiles”
•The connotations for the word snake could
include evil or danger.
Connotation
 Positive
 Negative
We bought inexpensive
souvenirs at the
amusement park.
We bought
cheap
souvenirs at the
amusement park.
I ate a moist sandwich.
I ate a soggy sandwich.
I am a bargain shopper.
I am a cheapskate.
For more examples:
Check out:
 http://www.dowlingcentral.com/MrsD/are
a/literature/Terms/Connotation.html


Scroll down and take the practice quiz!
Example

The word “gaze” has the following synonyms gape, stare,
glare, peer, gloat
 Gaze:





________________________________________________
Gape:
________________________________________________
Stare:
________________________________________________
Glare:
________________________________________________
Peer:
_________________________________________________
Gloat:
________________________________________________
Activity

For this assignment you will need a
dictionary and a thesaurus. Here are the
steps to follow:
 Look up two different words of your choice in the
thesaurus.
 Under each, locate four synonyms that you like.
 Write down the denotation of the five words in
the group (should be the same denotation for all
five).
 Give the connotation of each word in the group.
(Each one should differ slightly.)
WORDS: fat, obese, plump, large,
stout


DENOTATION: being overweight or too heavy
for your size.
CONNOTATION:
 fat:
▪ a greasy, flesh way, lack of self control
 obese:
▪ clinical word, grossly overweight
 plump:
▪ pleasantly overweight, a bit round and cute.
 large:
▪ heavy, but also have a bigger frame than average; more
flattering word than others
 stout:
▪ bulky and strong, like a football lineman
Let’s use the word HOT
The denotation (or dictionary definition – remember d in
denotation = dictionary) of HOT is: having a
temperature higher than that of a human body.
However, when you say “Man! He/She is hot!”,
are you saying “Man! He is having a
temperature higher than that of a human
body!”? No!!
You are saying the CONNOTATION of HOT –
which could mean a variety of things – man
he/she is cute, attractive, beautiful, and
many other meanings – those come from
personal experiences and cultural meanings,
etc.
Advanced Info
•
Connotation is extremely significant in
poetry, mainly because nuances of words
provide shades of meaning.
•
In poetry, words are chosen purposefully.
Connotations are never ignored, but utilized
to their full advantage.
•
Similarly, words are chosen or discarded
because of their sound (assonance and
alliteration).
• In Robert Frost’s poem, “Mending Wall,” two neighbors
walk along a wall of loose stones that separates their
properties.
• As they walk they pick up and replace stones that have
fallen out of the wall but Frost thinks it’s unnecessary to
repair the wall since they have no animals that could
harm one another's properties.
•His neighbors responds in the last line of the poem
saying “Good fences make good neighbors.”
• The wall in this poem has both a denotative meaning
and a connotative meaning.
•The wall is both a boundary (denotation) as well as a
barrier that prevents Frost from getting to know his
neighbor and prevents any communication or
involvement with one another (connotation).
• In the poem, “Autumn,” by Christopher Brennan, the
poet describes many aspects of the autumn season using
denotation and connotation.
•One line in the poem, “the silent woods brood over an
anxious deep, and in the faded sorrow of the sun.”
•The word silent is used here to describe the woods
both literally as “making no sound or noise” as well as
emotionally since the word silent helps us visualize
the woods as “dull, peaceful, and tranquil.”
• “The Sun Rising” is a famous poem by John Donne
which uses the sun to demonstrate the relationship
between denotation and connotation.
“Busy old fool, unruly Sun, Why
dost thou thus,
Through windows, and through
curtains, call on us?”
• The denotation of the sun in this poem is “the star that
is the basis of the solar system,” which is the dictionary
meaning of the word.
• However, the sun also has a connotation meaning in
the poem.
•The sun is used to represent time, the beginning and
end of each day, and the figure that our lives revolve
around.
•The connotation of the sun is the significance and
meaning that the word has in the poem besides its literal
meaning.
By Brian Lodato, Jim Dunleavy, and Pat Amice