Word Choice Analysis at Higher Level.
Connotation and Denotation • Denotation: the dictionary definition of a word. E.g. Spinster = unmarried woman. • Connotation: the emotional associations or links attached to a word. E.g. Spinster = a woman who is perhaps elderly, rather oldfashioned and unattractive as well as unmarried. Compare ‘singleton’.
Understanding Word Choice • Questions about word choice are very common in the Higher Close Reading papers. Often a question will ask you to deal specifically with word choice. Other questions might ask you to consider word choice among other techniques.
• Words used in different contexts can have different connotations. When you answer a question about word choice you are not only being asked what that word means but to consider how that meaning is affected by the context of the passage. You will be able to infer a great deal about writers' opinions from the words they use. • Word choice questions ask you to focus on the connotation rather than the denotation of a word.
• Considering word choice is all about thinking beyond the obvious meaning of a word in order to explore what it suggests. Often words meaning almost the same thing imply quite different things. You need to be alert to recognise these when they occur.
Look at the following table‌ house
home
property
place
Abode
minor
youth
juvenile
teenager
youngster
boy
man
gentleman
male
lad
girl
woman
lady
female
laddette
mature
old
experienc ed
senior
elderly
demonstra tor
rioter
protestor
terrorist
guerrilla
Freedom fighter
Connotations/Denotations • You should have noticed that each set of words had the same denotation, but different connotations. • See page 3 of “Higher English” Close Reading and look at “baby, infant, neonate.” • See page 41 of “How to Pass Higher English.” Look at Example one.
Example 1 • “Transferring the sultry sensuality of a Latin street dance to Edinburgh on a wet winter’s night would not appear the easiest of tasks. The rain batters the glass roof of the studio, competing in volume with the merengue blaring from the sound system. In the background, the castle, lit up, stares down grandly against the foreboding skies.” • Show how the word choice in these lines helps to point up the contrast described here.
Answers • When you are asked about contrast, you should give examples from both sides of the contrast. • “Sultry sexuality” suggests something hot and sexy which is normally associated with warm sunny places in contrast with “foreboding skies” which suggests something dark and threatening and gloomy or “wet winter’s night” which suggests cold, which is inhibiting to the emotions.
OR • “The rain batters” suggests an assault on the roof, as if the rain is trying to get in and drown out the dancing in contrast with the “merengue blaring” which suggests something enjoyable, loud, warm and confident. • N.B • “batter” and “blaring” are over dramatised or exaggerated. Useful words to describe that are: hyperbole or hyperbolic. We will cover this when we look at exaggeration.
Hints and Tips • Note that word choice may be extended to cover a short phrase, as well as single words, but you have to quote exactly what word or phrase you are going to consider in your answer. You can do this by putting the word or phrase you are going to deal with in inverted commas, or you could underline the relevant words. You have to show the marker which words or phrases you have chosen. You can’t write down something as long as “the castle lit up, stares down grandly against the foreboding skies.”
KEY POINTS TO REMEMBER • It is important to realise that normally you get NO MARKS for identifying interesting words • If you wrote down “sultry sensuality” and “batters” you would get no marks • If you wrote down “sultry sensuality” and “batter” and simply say what the words mean you get no marks. • All the marks that you are going to get will arise from the connotations which you discuss.
Examples
•One question asks, 'Should parents be allowed to smack their children?' and another asks, 'Should parents be allowed to strike their children?' •Both are asking almost the same but the first seems to be less against 'smacking' than the second speaker, because the word 'strike' suggests something more violent and aggressive than 'smack', which has connotations of a more gentle action, a slap rather than a blow.
Example two •Would you rather have a 'crowd' outside your house or a 'mob'? Probably a crowd, since 'mob' has connotations of an unruly, rather threatening group. •When a group of workers is looking for a payrise, newspapers who support them will usually write something like: 'Sheet metal workers are asking for a 20% increase' while newspapers who are opposed to them will probably say they are 'demanding a 20% increase'. Why? Because, although the figures are the same, 'demanding' suggests a more aggressive, unreasonable approach.
Example three 'She looked at Sharon's new hairstyle, and sniggered.' What does the choice of the word 'sniggered' here suggest about her attitude to Sharon? Friendly? Sympathetic? Respectful? Surely not. If the writer had wanted to suggest that, she'd have chosen a word like 'chuckle' or 'giggle' that suggest a more friendly, warm kind of laughter. 'Sniggered' suggests a bit of contempt, a bit of a sneer
Which of these statements conveys the author’s disapproval of the suggestion that all the dingoes should be killed? •
1 'A nine-year-old boy is attacked and killed while fleeing from dingoes on a beach at Fraser Island, in north-eastern Australia. The news, as rare as it is horrifying, elicits the predictably violent response. There have been calls for the wholesale destruction of the island's 160 protected dingoes. Past attacks are dredged up and enumerated in graphic detail.'
The writer does this using words like 'violent', 'destruction', 'dredged up', 'enumerated' and 'graphic' which all show how strongly he feels. The word 'predictably' implies people are responding automatically, without thought and that they are unoriginal and dull; while 'dredged up' implies they are digging deep into the past to come up with any old excuse they can find. The words 'violent' and 'destruction' both suggest how aggressive the people's response is and the writer makes it clear he disapproves of this. The writer uses many words that show how irresponsible, thoughtless and aggressive these people are being and so makes his disapproval quite clear.
Show how the word choice in the sentence 'We must not ... latest tragedy' is important in emphasising the writer's point of view: 2 'Inevitably, there will be isolated casualties. I know of a mountain lion that killed a jogger in Denver, Colorado. A child died after it was mauled by an urban coyote in the States. And now the tragic case of the boy killed by a rogue dingo. But these cases make news precisely because of their extreme rarity. We must not be provoked into a frenzy of over-reactive culling as a result of this latest tragedy. The key to harmonious co-habitation is encapsulated in one word: respect.'
'culling' is an emotive word suggesting extensive, possibly unnecessary, killing.
'frenzy' suggests they're mad.
It emphasises the writer's point of view by using the word 'provoked'. This means we must not be provoked into something we should not do and also 'over-reactive' which means people must not overreact to the situation.
'provoked' means the other people are trying to make us do something against our will; 'must not' is very strong and assertive.
Show how the writer's word choice in this paragraph makes clear her contempt for fast food restaurants 3 'I'm not sure what to call them, since it is hard to describe these constructions, with their inanely grinning, appallingly-paid staff dressed like circus clowns dispensing lumps of fatty meat and slices of crumpled salad in soggy buns, accompanied by tubs of steaming hot French fries and teeth-rotting drinks, as 'restaurants'. True, they are 'places where food is bought and eaten', but it would be a sad world if these were really considered restaurants.'
She says they are 'inanely grinning, appallinglypaid staff dressed like circus clowns' and that they serve 'lumps of fatty meat and slices of crumpled salad in soggy buns' - she thinks it is all terrible. She says the food is unhealthy, the staff are badly paid and stupidly dressed. She calls them 'constructions' which sounds unfriendly.
The use of 'circus' and 'clowns' makes them seem ridiculous, and 'lumps' does not sound very appealing or healthy. She is contemptuous of the staff ('inanely grinning' suggests they look almost mad, and 'circus' makes the whole thing sound like an elaborate sideshow) and of the food (she uses 'lumps' rather than 'portions' to suggest something unappealing and inelegant, and describes the salad as 'crumpled' and 'soggy' making it sound lifeless and weak).
Show how the word choice in this paragraph emphasises the writer's interest in museums: 4 Ever since I was a child, museums have fascinated me. I love them. Even the most dusty and drab have a magic for me. I was the despair of my mother when I was a child, for I was always bringing home fossils, bits of interesting rock, and such like, to add to the overburdened windowsill museum which I had.
He tells us how much he likes museums and that he always has liked them. He likes every type of museum, no matter how old or drab. 'Magic' suggests enchantment and pleasure; 'fascinated' has connotations of being deeply and enjoyably absorbed. The writer emphasises his interest in museums by using the word 'magic' which suggests there is something special, almost unexplainably appealing about them.
Words like 'magic' and 'fascinated' show how the writer is attracted to museums.
Show how the word choice in this paragraph make clear the writer's feelings about football today: 5 'Football today is being
hijacked and often corrupted by commercial interests, the fans exploited, their loyalty taken for granted or abused. The men and women who have supported the game all their lives are treated as mere consumers of a product on which those who run the clubs have a monopoly of supply. The more cash they can screw out of the fans the better. And they call it sport. Welcome to the world of commercial football.'
The writer's anger and despair are conveyed by words like 'hijacked' which suggests something being illegally, almost violently, changed from its true purpose; 'corrupted' which has connotations of immorality and deceit; and 'screw' which makes the football bosses sound like cheap fraudsters.
He says the fans are being 'abused'. This suggests they are being treated in a harmful way. He uses words like: 'hijacked, corrupted, exploited, abused, mere, monopoly, screw'; all these words show he feels that the fans are being treated badly. A 'monopoly' is usually considered to be a bad thing because it means that only one person or group is in control, restricting the rights of others.