阅读技能/reading skill: Denotation（本义）and Connotation（言外之意）

Denotation（本义）and Connotation（言外之意）
    Both denotation and connotation refer to the meanings of words. Denotation is the literal meaning of a word — what you find in a dictionary. Connotation, on the other hand, is the implied meaning of a word — what a word suggests to you, or what it makes you feel or think of. For the word “die”, for example, the denotation is “stop living”. But in the sentence “Some die at 30 but are not buried until they’re 70”, the word “die” connotes “stop living spiritually” or “stop growing intellectually”.
    In Book 2 (Unit 5 and Unit 10) and Book 3 (Unit 4) we talked about the appreciation of figurative language. In order to fully understand figurative language, or figures of speech, we need to be aware of the context in which the words appear. Generally speaking, the more we perceive the connotations of the words, the more we can understand how a writer wants us to feel or think.
    Read carefully the following sentences taken from Passage A, paying close attention to the underlined words. These words all have clear denotations, but each has a number of connotations. Write the denotation of the word and at least one of its connotations. 
Example 1: 
    Among sailors, it is known as “the Graveyard of the Atlantic” because of the strange weather found there.
    Denotation: a piece of ground, sometimes near a church, where dead people are buried 
    Connotation (s): a place for the dead; a very dreadful place. It has a frightening and horrifying sense.
Example 2:
    Stranger yet are the numerous “ghost” ships that have been found floating crewless within the triangle.
    Denotation: a dead person who appears again
    Connotation (s): mysterious; dreadful. It also has a frightening and horrifying sense.


Denotation and Connotation
    In Book 2 (Unit 5 and Unit 10) and Book 3 (Unit 4) we talked about the appreciation of figurative language. In order to fully understand figurative language, it is necessary to make a careful or even delicate distinction between denotation and connotation. Generally speaking, the more we perceive the connotations of words, the more we can understand how a writer wants us to feel or think.
    Here are more examples from Passage A. Please pay close attention to the underlined words. These words all have clear denotations, but each may have a number of connotations in a particular context. Write the denotation of the word and at least one of its connotations. 


Example 1:
    The captain of the Ellen Austin installed a new crew to sail it, but two days later, during a rough storm, the two ships temporarily lost sight of each other.
Denotation: set up an apparatus so that it is ready for use
Connotation(s): assign; get … aboard. It’s implied here that the boat was empty on one hand, and on the other, the “new crew” was treated as one of the captain’s tools.


Example 2:
    These include the swift Gulf Stream current, the unexplored submerged valleys of the Atlantic and the often violent weather within the mystery zone.
Denotation: (of a person) uncontrollably fierce (and dangerous) in action
Connotation(s): too changeable to be predicted; with forces too strong to control. Here weather is personified, compared to a person who is uncontrollably fierce and dangerous in action.