Figurative and Connotative Meanings, Specific Word Choices, Tone

BP 4 Reading

Game Piece 6.1

Objective

Students will be able to determine the meaning of words and phrases including figurative and connotative meanings, analyze the impact of specific word choices and identify words that add special meaning to the text.

Craft and Structure

Skill Focus

The skill for this week is...... Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone.

Skill Focus

In other words,be able to understand what words mean and how those words impact the text including figurative language.

Vocabulary

Analyze: breaking down information with supporting evidence.

Figurative: words or expressions with a meaning that is different from the literal interpretation.

Connotative: an association or idea suggested by a word or phrase; implication

Vocabulary

Determine: firmly decide.

•Technical: words or phrases that give the reader information to perform a task or have a particular meaning within a specific industry

Tone: the speaker's or narrator's attitude towards the subject.

Prior Knowledge

How can the words used to express an idea affect how the message is received?

Have you ever gotten advice from your parents?

How did their word choice impact the way you received the advice?

Read the following text. Select one line of figurative language that impacts the meaning of the text and explain how.

Anticipatory Set

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave by Frederick Douglass

Slavery soon proved its ability to divest her of these heavenly qualities. Under its influence, the tender heart became stone, and the lamblike disposition gave way to one of tiger-like fierceness. The first step in her downward course was in her ceasing to instruct me. She now commenced to practise her husband’s precepts. She finally became even more violent in her opposition than

Anticipatory Set

her husband himself. She was not satisfied with simply doing as well as he had commanded; she seemed anxious to do better. Nothing seemed to make her more angry than to see me with a newspaper. She seemed to think that here lay the danger. I have had her rush at me with a face made all up of fury, and snatch from me a newspaper, in a manner that fully revealed her apprehension. She was an apt woman; and a little experience soon demonstrated, to her satisfaction, that education and slavery were incompatible with each other.

Anticipatory Set

Step 1: Read the assigned passage.

Step 2: Copy one example of figurative language found in the text.

Step 3: What is the literal meaning of the figurative quote?

Steps

Step 4: Explain the connotative meaning of the figurative quote.

Step 5: How is the literal meaning different from the connotative meaning?

Steps

Step 6: How does the figurative phrase enhance your understanding of the text?Step 7: What is the main idea of the passage?Step 8: Explain how the figurative language that you identified helps you understand the main idea.

Steps

Step 9: Find an example of technical language that impacts the text.

Step 10: What is the meaning of this technical language?

Step 11: Explain how this phrase impacts the text.

Steps

Step 12: What is the tone of the passage?

Step 13: Explain how the language used in the passage affects the tone.

Step 14: Provide evidence from the text to support your analysis.

Steps

Textual Evidence

Read the text. Select one line of figurative language that impacts the meaning of the text and explain how.

“Under its influence, the tender heart became stone, and the lamblike disposition gave way to one of tiger-like fierceness.”

This line is showing the way the slave mistress turns from a kind person to one that has toughened due to the institution of slavery. The comparisons shown here make it easier for readers to understand the transformation that the slave mistress undergoes.

Flip Slip: What do you Remember?

Remember: Rewrite this week’s skill in your own words.

In your own words, define the vocabulary words from this week.

Flip Slip: What do you understand?

Understand: Write the steps.

a. What is the main idea of the passage? b. Copy one example of figurative language found in the text.

c. What is the meaning of this technical language?d. How is the literal meaning different from the connotative meaning?e. How does the figurative phrase enhance your understanding of the text?