ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the grammatical concepts of connotation and denotation, focusing on what these terms mean and why it is important for writers to carefully consider the connotations of the words they use. The chapter begins by defining connotation and denotation and providing examples of words with similar denotations but different connotations. After that, it explains why distinguishing among connotations of words with similar denotations is important to effective writing, using examples from published texts to convey the importance of connotation.
Next, the chapter presents a classroom snapshot section, which describes the author’s experience teaching this concept to a seventh-grade class. The chapter then provides key recommendations for teaching students to distinguish among connotations of words with similar denotations. It ends with a bulleted list of final thoughts on this topic.
