Advanced English 9

Ms. Engelke
Name: _________________________ Hour: _____

Denotation, Connotation, Irony, and Theme

DENOTATION: literal meaning of a word; whatever is written next to a word in the dictionary
Example: blossoming means to produce flowers
CONNOTATION: feeling that a word evokes; the emotion or perception associated with a word
Example: blossoming evokes a feeling of newness; the reader perceives new life
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------IRONY: what happens is the opposite of what one would expect
SITUATIONAL: when the reader expects one outcome but the opposite happens
Example: Billy was invited by a coworker to play poker later that night; when
Billy got there, he and his coworker were the only two men. Typically poker night
consists of a bunch of dudes sitting around eating a variety of dehydrated meats
and other salty snacks while playing cards; the reality did not match Billys
expectations.
VERBAL: when someone says one thing but means another; or the use of words to say
something other than what they mean
Example: Its pouring rain. Frank turns to Jill and says, Beautiful weather.
Frank doesnt really believe the stormy weather is beautiful. Hes using verbal
irony.
DRAMATIC: when the reader knows more about whats going to happen than they
characters do
Example: The reader knows little Johnny is hiding behind his bedroom door, but
his mother does not. When she walks into the room, Johnny jumps out and scares
the bJesus out of her. In this scenario, the reader knows more than the character,
Johnnys mother, knows.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------THEME: the central idea or message of a story; stories can have more than one theme
Examples: love and hate, beauty, right versus wrong, power, etc.