Guide to Connotative Analysis

[literally lauren]

Guide to Connotative Analysis

If you think back to your first experiences with Language Analysis (circa Year 8 or Year 9 usually) you'll probably remember being introduced to these magical things called rhetorical devices which authors use to persuade people. The trouble is, everyone in the state is exposed to the same lists of stuff like 'inclusive language' and 'appeals to patriotism,' so if you think you can get by at a Year 12 level using these kinds of basic techniques and nothing more, you're unlikely to score very highly.

Identifying devices is still a very necessary part of L.A. tasks, but ultimately it's a fairly minor part and one which the assessors don't give a lot of credence to nowadays. An essay that does everything else right but neglects to mention sufficient techniques can still attain ~9/10 (or maybe even full marks even though it'd be a flawed 10/10) whereas an essay that only identifyies techniques and does nothing by way of close analysis and discussion of the effect on the audience won't be breaking that upper-range 8+ barrier any time soon.

Thus, the aim of this guide is to take you beyond the basics of technique identification and help you get a handle on the intricacies of CONNOTATIVE ANALYSIS!

'But Lauren?' I hear you ask. 'What are connotations?'

...well maybe if you'd stop interrupting I could tell you.

Ahem.

Connotations are like associations that come from words. For instance, when I say the word 'celebration,' you might think of things like 'happiness,' 'fun,' 'togetherness,' 'gratitude,' and so on. But if I brought up a word like 'bloodthirsty,' then you'd be thinking of an entirely different class of words, including 'violence,' 'murder' or 'viciousness.'

These associated words are what we call connotations, because connotations are, in formal terms:
   'ideas or feelings which a word invokes in addition to its literal or primary meaning'

Connotations are distinct from 'literal or primary meanings,' which are instead known as denotations.

So for example, the word 'tree-hugger' has:
• denotations of someone who cares for and campaigns for the environment, and...
• connotations of 'activism,' 'naivete,' and 'idealism,' amongst other things.

And the word talented has:
• denotations of someone who is skillful or proficient at something, and...
• connotations of 'accomplishment,' 'deftness,' and  'capability.'

You get the idea.

Denotations = what the word means
Connotations = stuff the word makes you think about

Both of these can be kind of valuable to us, since you might want to draw attention to an author's choice of words by commenting on what they literally, denotatively mean...

eg. 'The author seeks to emphasise the foolishness of the captain of the local soccer team by calling him a "half-wit," which literally denotes that he has half the wits or intelligence of an average person, thereby implying that he is an inferior captain compared to the opposing team's.'

...but more often than not, calling out the author's use of connotative language is more valuable, and can really add layers of depth to your analysis that wouldn't otherwise be present with basic technique identification.

The biggest advantage here is that spelling out connotations not only impresses your assessors (I mean, if you've just read 40 essays that say 'the author uses 4 rhetorical questions and 2 emotive languages' with no actual analysis, you'd be super grateful to read the work of someone who knows what they're doing too!) but it's also a good way to learn how to show your workings in English.

It's not sufficient to say something like:

'The author uses the word "misery," which connotes sadness and reinforces his contention.'

...or worse:

'The author uses the phrase "better than expected" which has positive connotations."

...OR EVEN WORSE:

'The author uses connotative language like "potential" and "discovery." '    <-- WHAT ARE THE CONNOTATIONS!?

Rather, good connotative analysis will spell out the following:
1. The quote (can be a phrase or just a word) containing the connotative language
2. The specific connotations this word is loaded with
3. How these connotations affect readers
4. What the author does with these connotations and why it aids their contention

For example:

The author's use of the words "abhorrent" and "evil" when describing her new English teacher suggests there to be something immoral and sinister about him, which is designed to encourage readers to share in her fear and castigation of him. These connotations of cruelty and maliciousness also serve to reinforce the author's attempts to convince readers that the new teacher deserves to be fired for assigning so much homework since the homework itself is inferred to be an "evil" product of the teacher's wickedness.

You'll notice that I haven't necessarily stuck to a '1-2-3-4' run-through, and this makes the analysis seem more fluid and less formulaic. Obviously doing the exact same process multiple times in every paragraph is going to be very noticeable, but if you're able to vary the form so that sometimes you'll pack three or four bits of information into one sentence and other times you'll space it out, or so that sometimes you'll revisit the specific connotations after briefly describing the effects, then your teacher won't pick up on the repetition at all.

'But Lauren!' you cry. 'That all sounds rather complicated. How am I meant to do this in my analysis?'

...what did I say about interrupting? -.-

What follows is an implementation guide, along with some sample sentences to get you started. These are great if dealing with connotations are things you've never heard of or dealt with before, and I tend to just give these to my own students as blanket formulae to use early on so that they can get the hang of the process. Gradually, as you become more confident with this kind of analysis, you'll hopefully be able to vary these formats and create your own based on what you find is most effective and efficient.

Step 1. Identify a word or phrase that has connotations

Some words come pre-packaged with connotations, meaning that whenever you hear them, you'll always think of certain things. Often extremely negative words fall into this category (e.g. 'war,' 'kill,' 'indoctrination,' 'taxes,' etc.) but other words will be given connotations by the author because of the context in which they occur.

Take the following sentence:

He was only using her for her money.

The word 'using' is pretty neutral, normally - it just means 'to make use of' something - but here, it's given connotations of exploitation and deceit... but we can only know that if we know what the author is trying to say overall.

If you've ever found a bit of a language analysis piece that you knew was persuasive but couldn't quite identify a specific technique to go along with it, chances are that was an example of connotative language, and you now have the capacity to comment on it.

So you can be on the lookout for words that come loaded with connotations, and words which appear to have been loaded by the author; just make sure you can back up your judgments in the next stage...

Step 2. Specify what these connotations are

This is where you'll need a decent vocabulary. You can use a thesaurus to help out (& simply googling 'synonyms: word' should bring up an assortment of related concepts for that word). To talk about connotations, you sometimes have to rack your brain and force yourself to think things like 'what's another word for 'professionalism'' or 'how can I say 'detrimental' without using the word 'detrimental'?' because you don't want to end up with analysis like...

'The author's use of the word 'professionalism' has connotations of being professional.'

or...

'The author states that the program would be detrimental, which connotes that it would have seriously detrimental effects on the people involved.'

Instead, you want wide word webs that let you describe the associations of certain words without just reduntantly restating that 'the word victim connotes victimhood.' Try and think of related ideas, for instance...

'Victimhood'
--> suffering, harm, unhappiness, misery,
--> injustice, cruelty, maltreatment, abuse
--> exploitation, vulnerability, isolation
              etc.

This was just the product of my twenty second brainstorm for these three starting points. So when I start from a word like 'victimhood,' my brain goes straight to 'suffering,' 'injustice,' and 'exploitation.' Then I've expanded upon each of these to tease out some other possible avenues of analysis. In most cases, one or two of these words would be more applicable in any given circumstance, so I might not have to explore too many, but the more options I have, the broader my vocabulary becomes. Give yourself one word to start from and see where things go. Be careful not to follow that train of thought too far though... you don't want to lose sight of the original word, à la...

'Victimhood'
--> suffering, agony, torture, punishment, jail-time
--> injustice, discrimination, bias, lies
--> exploitation, manipulation, influence, guiding

...'victimhood' doesn't necessarily connote jail-time, nor does it have anything to do with 'lies' or 'guidance,' so you have to watch out that your main doesn't run off on tangents and leave the task behind.

Keep a clear focus in your head, even when exploring words in isolation. Always come back to the piece itself and consider the author's point. This becomes even more vital for the next stage...

Step 3. Work out the function of this language

You're almost through the hard part now; the only other thing you have to worry about is linking these connotations to the author's intentions. Imagine if you just left your analysis at 'this word connotes these things' and moved on straight away... doesn't it seem like there's a step missing? We're meant to be talking about how language is used to persuade, right? So how and why are these contentions persuasive? <-- Answer that, and your work is done.

eg. 'The author highlights the carelessness of his English teacher by branding his handouts as "inaccurate" and "riddled with errors." In particular, the use of the word "riddled" implies that the worksheets are plagued by mistakes, and that there are so many errors, it's as though they have completely permeated the task to the point where it cannot be completed. This compels his fellow students to reject their teacher's assessment tasks because they are portrayed by the author as filled with faults and are therefore invalid exercises.'

The extra effort you go to in spelling out how and why the author is doing this will be the cherry on top of your delicious connotative ice cream desert, and it gives your analysis that sense of completion that basic bits and pieces often lack.

You won't have to go into too much detail here every time - especially not if you're combining this discussion of connotations some other points of analysis - but even half a sentence that makes an overt and specific connection between the associations and the effects can be vital in shifting your mark from good to great.

Finally, we reach the last stage...

Step 4. Slot the above information into place using the GOLDEN FORMULA... or a variant of it

'Lauren,' you yell 'what's this golden formula I've heard so much about!?'

ALRIGHT ALRIGHT, calm down. I'll tell you.

The easiest, most efficient, most impressive, and all-round most magniflorious way of analysing connotations is to fill in the following sentence with the necessary information:

The word "____," with its connotations of ____ (verbs)...

You can change a few of these details around to make it a little more flexible...

eg. 'The word/phrase "____," with it connotations/associations of ____ and ____ suggest/imply/establish/reinforce/form part of the author's attempts to...'

or even alter the sentence structure like so...

The author attempts to... through his/her use of the word/phrase "____," which connotes ____ and ____. These connotations...

whereby the ellipsis (...) mark the places that you'd expand your discussion of the effect and intention.

But of course, once you know how to apply this formula with ease, feel free to move beyond these restraints and freely analyse connotations however you see fit. This is just a nice 'once-size-fits-all' safety blanket that you can roll out if necessary. I've found it's a great learning tool for early in your studies, or for those who find the idea of connotations fairly new and unfamiliar, and it's not like it's some kind of embarrassing set of training wheels that you should ditch as soon as possible - I'm pretty sure I would've had this exact formula two or three times in my actual exam piece. It's a perfectly functional and hyper-clear way to demonstrate your understanding; you just have to be careful not to make it your only option when attempting to comment on connotations.

And it's as simple as that! Identify the language, state the connotations, link that to the author's intent, and just package the information nicely.

'So Lauren,' you ask, 'how many times do I have to do this in my essays?'

Man, you've got a real problem with interrupting me today... I was just getting to that...

Connotative analysis shouldn't make up the bulk of your discussion, but it is the kind of thing you should look to do at least once per paragraph (assuming you go for the traditional 3 or 4 body paragraph essay structure). Because the kind of material you'll get in the L.A. Club will vary in length week by week, it's tough to put a strict numerical restriction on how many connotations you should explore, but...

I challenge you to find at least one example of connotative language in each week of written material!

I can guarantee there'll be something there, and working on your skills in identifying and then articulating these connotations will serve you very well in the exam when you have around 1000 words (or two pages worth) of stuff to unpack.

Plus, if your brain gets so used to finding connotations wherever it looks, it'll mean that you'll have a veritable buffet of choices at the end of the year; VCAA love to pack in the opportunities for close analysis, and if you work at it, you may just be one of the lucky students in the enviable position of looking over the material and thinking 'wow, I can say so much about so many of the words and phrases in this piece; now I can choose the very best of the best to showcase my analytical skills.'

That's all for now. Hopefully you've got a clearer understanding of what connotations are and how you can integrate these into your analysis. Post below if there's anything you'd like clarified!