Symbol
• a word, phrase, image, or the like used for or
regarded as representing something else; a
material object or word representing
something, often an abstract concept that
you can’t see.
= USA, bravery, patriotism
= romantic love, emotion
= futility
Words as symbols
As symbols, words often have multiple
meanings; i.e. they can represent more
than one physical object or abstract
concept
Blue
=
Blue
=
Blue
=
@!!%#@!!
Denotative meaning
• a word’s literal, dictionary meaning
• The general meaning most likely to be
shared by most users of the word
Earthworm: n. any one of
numerous annelid worms that
burrow in soil and feed on soil
nutrients and decaying organic
matter.
Denotative meaning
• We often rely on the context in which the
word is placed to identify the denotative
meaning.
Headlines
Kids Make Nutritious Snacks
Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers
Juvenile Court to Try Shooting Defendant
Farmer Bill Dies in House
Astronaut Takes Blame for Gas in Space
Denotative meanings for “hit”
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to deal a blow or stroke to: Hit the nail with the hammer.
to come against with an impact or collision, as a missile, a flying fragment, or a falling body
to drive or propel : to hit a ball onto the green.
to have a marked effect or influence on; We were all hit by the change in management.
to assail effectively and sharply; The speech hits out at warmongering.
to request or demand of: He hit me for a loan.
to reach or attain (a specified level or amount): Prices are expected to hit a new low.
to be published in or released to; appear in: What will happen when the story hits the front page?
to land on or arrive in: The troops hit the beach at 0800. When does Harry hit town?
to give (someone) another playing card, drink, portion, etc.: the dealer hit me with an ace
to come or light upon; meet with; find: to hit the right road.
to agree with; suit exactly: I'm sure this purple shirt will hit Alfred's fancy.
to solve or guess correctly; come upon the right answer or solution: You've hit it!
to succeed in representing or producing exactly: to hit a likeness in a portrait.
to begin to travel on: Let's hit the road. What time shall we hit the trail?
to kill; murder.
to ignite a mixture of air and fuel as intended: This jalopy is hitting on all cylinders.
a stroke of satire, censure, etc.: a hit at complacency.
hit on, Slang. to make persistent romantic advances to
hit up, Slang..to ask to borrow money from
hit the books, Slang. to study hard; cram
dictionary.com
Denotative definition of “clown”
• n. a comic performer, as in a circus,
theatrical production, or the like, who
wears an outlandish costume and makeup
and entertains by pantomiming common
situations or actions in exaggerated or
ridiculous fashion, by juggling or tumbling,
etc.
dictionary.com
Connotative Meaning
Feelings and associations that are
not directly connected to a word’s
denotative meaning. Such
associations vary with individual
experiences, memories, emotions,
and viewpoints.
Nurse’s Song (Songs of Innocence) – William Blake
When voices of children are heard on the green,
And laughing is heard on the hill,
My heart is at rest within my breast,
And everything else is still.
'Then come home, my children, the sun is gone down,
And the dews of night arise;
Come, come, leave off play, and let us away,
Till the morning appears in the skies.'
'No, no, let us play, for it is yet day,
And we cannot go to sleep;
Besides, in the sky the little birds fly,
And the hills are all covered with sheep.'
‘Well, well, go and play till the light fades away,
And then go home to bed.'
The little ones leaped, and shouted, and laughed,
And all the hills echoed.
Nurse’s Song (Songs of Experience) – William Blake
When the voices of children are heard on the green,
And whisperings are in the dale,
The days of my youth rise fresh in my mind,
My face turns green and pale.
Then come home, my children, the sun is gone down,
And the dews of night arise;
Your spring and your day are wasted in play,
And your winter and night in disguise.
Nurse’s Song (Songs of Experience) – William Blake
When the voices of children are heard on the green,
And whisperings are in the dale,
The days of my youth rise fresh in my mind,
My face turns green and pale.
Then come home, my children, the sun is gone down,
And the dews of night arise;
Your spring and your day are wasted in play,
And your winter and night in disguise.
Assonance
The Bean Eaters
They eat beans mostly, this old yellow pair.
Dinner is a casual affair.
Plain chipware on a plain and creaking wood,
Tin flatware.
Two who are Mostly Good.
Two who have lived their day,
But keep on putting on their clothes
And putting things away.
And remembering . . .
Remembering, with twinklings and twinges,
As they lean over the beans in their rented back room that
is full of beads and receipts and dolls and cloths,
tobacco crumbs, vases and fringes.
Gwendolyn Brooks
Assonance
The Bean Eaters
They eat beans mostly, this old yellow pair.
Dinner is a casual affair.
Plain chipware on a plain and creaking wood,
Tin flatware.
Two who are Mostly Good.
Two who have lived their day,
But keep on putting on their clothes
And putting things away.
And remembering . . .
Remembering, with twinklings and twinges,
As they lean over the beans in their rented back room that
is full of beads and receipts and dolls and cloths,
tobacco crumbs, vases and fringes.
Gwendolyn Brooks
Alliteration
The Seafarer
May I for my own self song’s truth reckon,
Journey's jargon, how I in harsh days
Hardship endured oft.
Bitter breast-cares have I abided,
Known on my keel many a care's hold,
And dire sea-surge, and there I oft spent
Narrow nightwatch nigh the ship's head
While she tossed close to cliffs. Coldly afflicted,
My feet were by frost benumbed.
Chill its chains are; chafing sighs
Hew my heart round and hunger begot
Mere-weary mood. Lest man know not
That he on dry land loveliest liveth,
List how I, care-wretched, on ice-cold sea,
Weathered the winter, wretched outcast
Deprived of my kinsmen;
Hung with hard ice-flakes, where hail-scur flew,
There I heard naught save the harsh sea
And ice-cold wave, at whiles the swan cries,
Did for my games the gannet's clamour,
Sea-fowls, loudness was for me laughter,
The mews' singing all my mead-drink.
Ezra Pound
Alliteration
The Seafarer
May I for my own self song’s truth reckon,
Journey's jargon, how I in harsh days
Hardship endured oft.
Bitter breast-cares have I abided,
Known on my keel many a care's hold,
And dire sea-surge, and there I oft spent
Narrow nightwatch nigh the ship's head
While she tossed close to cliffs. Coldly afflicted,
My feet were by frost benumbed.
Chill its chains are; chafing sighs
Hew my heart round and hunger begot
Mere-weary mood. Lest man know not
That he on dry land loveliest liveth,
List how I, care-wretched, on ice-cold sea,
Weathered the winter, wretched outcast
Deprived of my kinsmen;
Hung with hard ice-flakes, where hail flew,
There I heard naught save the harsh sea
And ice-cold wave, at whiles the swan cries,
Did for my games the gannet's clamour,
Sea-fowls, loudness was for me laughter,
The mews' singing all my mead-drink.
Ezra Pound
Internal rhyme
The Cloud
I bring fresh showers for the thirsting flowers
From the seas and the streams;
I bear light shade for the leaves when laid
In their noonday dreams.
From my wings are shaken the dews that waken
The sweet buds every one,
When rocked to rest on their mother's breast,
As she dances about the sun.
I wield the flail of the lashing hail,
And whiten the green plains under,
And then again I dissolve it in rain,
And laugh as I pass in thunder.
Percy B. Shelley
Internal rhyme
The Cloud
I bring fresh showers for the thirsting flowers
From the seas and the streams;
I bear light shade for the leaves when laid
In their noonday dreams.
From my wings are shaken the dews that waken
The sweet buds every one,
When rocked to rest on their mother's breast,
As she dances about the sun.
I wield the flail of the lashing hail,
And whiten the green plains under,
And then again I dissolve it in rain,
And laugh as I pass in thunder.
Percy B. Shelley