denotation & connotation
Introduction to Literature, Fall, 1998 &
Poetic Elements&
last updated 11/10, 98
Discussion-- ;
(1): Figures of Speech&
(pictorial) --Similes, Metaphors & Personification
(rhetoric) Figures
of Speech (2):
Understatement, Paradox, Pun, etc.&
Examples:&&
Denotation
and Connotation&
Denotation refers to the literal meaning
of a word, the "dictionary definition."& For example, if you look up
the word snake in a dictionary, you will discover that one of its
denotative meanings is "any of numerous scaly, legless, sometimes
venomous reptiles&Khaving a long, tapering, cylindrical body and
found in most tropical and temperate regions."
Connotation, on the other hand, refers
to the associations that are connected to a certain word or the emotional
suggestions related to that word. The connotative meanings of a
word exist together with the denotative meanings. The connotations
for the word snake could include evil or danger.
(pictorial) Figures
of speech&
Poets often deviate from the denotative
meanings of words to create fresher ideas and images. Such deviations from
the literal meanings are called figures of speech or figurative
language. If you giddily whisper to your classmate that the introduction
to literature class is so wonderful and exciting that the class sessions
seem to only last a minute, you are using a figure of speech. If
you say that our textbook is your best friend, you are using a figure
of speech. There are many different kinds of figures of speech,
such as metaphors, similes, personification, hyperbole, understatement,
paradox, and pun. It's important that you understand several kinds of figures
of speech.&&
A simile is a comparison between
two dissimilar objects using a word like as or like to connect
them. For example, if you say, "my boyfriend is like a watermelon in
the summer,"& you are creating a simile that compares your
boyfriend with a watermelon. If on the other hand you are mad at your boyfriend
and say, "he's like a typhoon in the house," you're comparing your
boyfriend with a typhoon.&&
A metaphor is similar to a simile,
except that a metaphor compares two dissimilar objects without using
a word like as or like. If you write, "my boyfriend is an
angel" or "my motorcycle is a bomb on wheels," you are creating metaphors.&&
If you present an inanimate object, animal,
or abstraction with human qualities and characteristics, as though it were
a person, you are using personification. If you tell yourself that
you have to put your new pencil back in the pencil box because it's lonely
and wants to go home, you are personifying your pencil. If you say
that you have to talk sweetly to your computer because it is temperamental,
you are personifying your pencil.
of Speech(2): verbal Irony&&
Irony involves a contradiction.&
"In general, irony is the perception of a clash between appearance and
reality, between seems and is, or between ought and
is" (Harper Handbook).&&
Verbal irony--"Saying something
contrary to what it means" (Harper Handbook).&& In daily
language, being ironic means that you say something but mean the opposite
to what you say.& "Oh, how lucky we are to have SO MANY online materials
offered by the Introduction to Literature class!" you said, and you might
mean it, or you might be just ironic.& If you are ironic, there
is a contradiction between your literal meaning and your actual
meaning--and this is what we call verbal (rhetoric) irony.&&
When the narrator in Shirley Jackson's
says, "Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and
lost the original black box, they still remembered to use stones," the
tone is ironic because the villagers seem civilized, but they are
actually barbaric.&&
&&&& Besides verbal
irony, we have two other kinds of irony: dramatic irony and situational
irony.& "Dramatic irony"--"saying or doing something while
unaware of its ironic contrast with the whole truth.& Dramatic irony,
named for its frequency in Drama, is a verbal irony with the speaker's
awareness erased" -- so that the irony is on the speaker him/herself, but
not what s/he talks about.&&
There are a lot of examples in .& For instance, when the duke in "" says of the late duchess, "There she is, as if alilve,"
the irony is on him because the duchess IS dead (though seems
alive).& Here the irony is not the duke's; it is on him because he
thought he posesses her, though he cannot --& alive or dead.&&
Situational irony-- "events turning
to the opposite of what is expected or what should be.&& The
ironic situation --the "ought" upended by the is -- is integral
to dramatic irony"(Harper Handbook).& In Alanis Morissete's
we can see a lot of situational ironies -- or ironies of fate.&
(Rhetoric)
Figures of Speech (2)&
Hyperbole (sometimes called overstatement)
occurs when you exaggerate a point that you are trying to make. If you
say that the lights in our classroom are too bright because they are brighter
than ten thousand suns, you are using an example of hyperbole. Or
if you say that you're so hungry you could eat a million cookies and six
gallon of ice cream, you're using hyperbole.&&
Others:&&&&&&
Understatement is related to hyperbole
in that understatement is the opposite of hyperbole: understatement
implies more than is actually stated. Let's say on the exam over short
stories, you receive a grade of 100 when the class average is 71. If one
of your classmates ask you how you did on the test and you reply, "I did
okay," that is understatement.&&
A sentence that contains a paradox
seems initially to have contradictory elements in it but after some reflection
those elements later make sense. To say, for example, that morning is the
darkest time for me is paradoxical since mornings are bright and
full of light but they seem mentally "dark" to me because I'm a night-person.&&
A pun is a play on words that occurs
when one word is used that reminds you of another word or words. You can,
for example, use a word that looks like or sounds like another word. For
example, if my dad says, "he is the son and all the world to me," there
is a pun on the words son and sun.&
Wilbur& "A Simile for her Smile" (1950 p. 556)&&
What is a simile? Notice how
the spelling of the word itself suggests a relationship with the word smile.
Does this poem contain many
similes or just one simile developed in detail? What two elements does
the speaker compare? What do the two elements have in common? How are they
similar? What words in the poem can be used to refer to both elements?
Is the speaker comparing her
smile to the arrival of a riverboat, or is he comparing his own experience
of her smile, the memory of her smile, or the hope for her smile to the
arrival of the riverboat?
Why is the word slip
repeated? Why do you think the poem is divided into two similar stanzas?
Rich& "Aunt Jennifer's Tigers" (1951 p. 620)&&
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Aunt Jennifer's tigers are symbolic,
and in the poem, there are several metaphors or metaphoric expressions.&
For instance, the tigers are compared to "bright topaz denizens," and their
pace is "chivalric."& What do you make of these expressions?&
How do they help convey the symbolic meanings of the tigers?
Another pair of metaphoric expressions
are those about her fingers: first, her fingers "flutter"
second, the wedding band "sit heavily" upon her hand, and her hands "ringed"
with ordeals.& How are these two movements in contrast to each other,
or related to each other?& What do they suggest about Aunt Jennifer's
marriage life?&
Plath& "Metaphors" (1960& p. 555)&&
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Just as the speaker sees herself
as a riddle, this poem is also a riddle composed of a series of metaphors.&
There is a lot of fun in finding out that the poem is actually about pregnancy.&
However, the poem is not just to have us get the answer.& Examine
each metaphor, be attentive to the tone(s)--humorous, ironic, excited,
resigned, etc, -- in which the speaker presents them, and find out how
this pregnant woman looks at herself differently from giving one
metaphor to another.&
Do you find the poem ironic?&
How and why?
Altogether what do these metaphors
say about pregnancy?& In what way are the images of the pregnant woman
in this poem different from the stereotypical one you see on those milk
and diaper commercials?
Dickenson& "I'm Nobody!& Who are you?" (1861? p. 530)&&
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
This poem offers itself also
to a careful study of .&
Pay close attention to how the tones vary from one line to the next.&
The poem's language is simple,
concise, but suggestive.& We need to think more about the metaphors
("an admiring bog") and simile(Somebody as a "frog") that center around
Somebody to know what Somebody represents--just as the Nobody-speaker expresses
herself in many ways: in her words, her tones, as well as the contrast
she makes between Nobody and Somebody.&
"I Heard a fly buzz--when I
died"(1862& p. 740)&&
Why does the speaker talks about
the people around her in terms of Eyes and Breath?&
Some similes and metaphors are
used to give us a picture of the moment before death.& Why is Stillness
associated with Storms?& What is the "assignable portion" that the
speaker signs away?&& Why does the fly have "Blue--uncertain
stumbling Buzz"?& What is the Windows that fail at the end?
What can the Fly be symbolic
Questions&
In the "Lyric and Tone"
section, we talked about the poets' identities (as minorities or
whites).& In this unit, we have four poems by women, and one by man
(Richard Wilbur).& Do these four poems by women (one in the
nineteenth century, one modern period and one contemporary) share any similarities
or differences (because of their times)?&扫二维码下载作业帮
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英语翻译I'm sorry,I did not take good care of you,Hope that we do not want to say to each other to give up,i hope that we can love each other more and more with times goes by,love you forever
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写这的家伙英文还行,但是还是出了一些问题.比如应该说 as time goes by翻译如下.对不起,我没有好好照顾你.希望我们不想要对彼此说放弃.我希望随着时间迁移,我们能爱彼此更多.我永远爱你.
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其他类似问题
报歉,我没有好好的照顾你,希望我们都不要放弃,希望我们越来越相爱,爱你到永远 .
我很抱歉。我没有照顾好你。我希望我们不要轻易言弃，不要放弃彼此；我希望随着时间的推移我们之间的爱越来越浓郁，我们越来越深爱着彼此。永远爱你。
对不起，我没有照顾好你，只希望我们不会对彼此说要放弃，我希望随着时间的流逝，我们能更加深爱彼此，永远爱你！
我很抱歉，没有照顾好你。我希望我们之间不要轻言说放弃。我希望我们可以随着时间的流逝而更加的爱对方。永远爱你！
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