Positive/Negative Connotation & Denotation
This is the dictionary definition of a word — its literal, factual meaning.
What is denotation?
"The classroom was a zoo" is an example of this type of figurative language.
What is a metaphor?
"It's raining cats and dogs" is an example of this type of figurative language, in which the phrase means something different from its literal meaning.
What is an idiom?
This is the central message or life lesson the author wants readers to take away from the story.
What is the theme?
This is the part of the plot diagram where the author introduces the characters, setting, and background information.
What is the exposition?
The word 'home' and the word 'house' have the same denotation, but 'home' carries this kind of warmer emotional feeling.
What is a positive connotation?
"The thunder clapped and boomed" uses this device, where words imitate the sounds they describe.
What is onomatopoeia?
"Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers" is an example of this device — the repetition of a consonant sound at the beginning of nearby words.
What is alliteration?
A struggle between a character and an outside force — such as nature, society, or another person — is called this.
What is conflict or complications?
All the events that build tension and complications are called this.
What is the rising action?
The words thrifty, cheap, and stingy all refer to someone who spends little money, but this word has the most NEGATIVE connotation.
What is stingy?
"She was as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs" uses this device to compare two unlike things using 'as.'
What is a simile?
"The stars winked down at her from the dark sky" is an example of this device, since stars cannot actually wink.
What is personification?
This term describes the time, place, and environment in which a story takes place.
What is the setting?
This is the turning point of the story — the moment of highest tension where the main conflict comes to a head.
An author who wants to make a character seem brave rather than reckless would choose a word with this type of connotation.
What is a positive connotation?
"The wind sang a lonely tune through the trees" gives the wind a human quality using this device.
What is personification?
This type of figurative language uses an object, person, or place to represent a larger idea — for example, a dove representing peace.
What is symbolism?
When a story is told using 'I' and 'me,' and the narrator is a character in the story, it is written in this point of view.
What is first-person point of view?
The events AFTER the highest tension that show the results of the turning point and lead to the ending are called this.
The words notorious and famous share a similar denotation, but this word implies something bad or shameful.
What is notorious?
"I've eaten so much I could literally burst" is an extreme exaggeration for effect, known as this.
What is hyperbole?
In the sentence "The silence was deafening," two contradictory ideas are combined. This figure of speech is called this.
What is an oxymoron?
This character drives the story forward and faces the main conflict — they are often called the main character.
Who is the protagonist?
This is the final part of the plot diagram where the story comes to a close.
What is the resolution?