Lesson+2+-+Connotation+and+Denotation

Purpose and Objectives: Another important framework for examining photography and how it tells a news story would be to apply the concepts of connotation and denotation.

LAE.1112.6.1.1 The student will explain how text features (e.g., charts, maps, diagrams, sub-headings, captions, illustrations, graphs) aid the reader's understanding;

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to analyze a piece of photography by using connotation and denotation.

For overt instruction:

Many students might be familiar with the concepts of connotation and denotation of words. Students can extend this concept to reading images. Here are the concepts that the teacher will introduce to her students:

Connoted image: the implications or associations of the image beyond what is on the page Denoted image: what the viewer can actually see in the image

This handout can be helpful to give to your students for addressing these terms:

Here is an excellent image to use with your students for applying connotation and denotation of images:

Put this image up on a projector screen, and on the board, create a chart with two columns labeled "Denoted images" and "Connoted images." Call on students to point specifically to what they see (denoted images) and then ask them to extend these ideas by thinking of the implications or associations (connoted images). Try parlaying this into a discussion drawing on what they have learned about the Vietnam War in American History class or elsewhere. What message does this image send? How might it be interpreted multiple ways? Encourage students to connect their interpretations to the "story" of the photo--after all, photography is another component of the news that is used to tell a story.

Because not every student will have the opportunity or desire to speak out in whole class discussion, the teacher should then set up some situated practice for students to apply these new concepts for themselves:

Divide the class into groups and hand each group one of the following photos. Note that these photos are paired (which will matter later), but you will hand out only one to each group:

Headline: Michael Phelps Wins!

Headline: Oil Engulfs the Gulf

Headline: Soldiers Return Home

In handing out these photos, the teacher will instruct the groups to apply connotation and denotation to these images. Students should work together to consider how the connoted and denoted images in the photos tell the story. The teacher will provide the general headlines for each photo (listed above), but then, as a group, students must write the captions underneath their selected photo to tell the story of the photo.

Next, the Michael Phelps groups, the oil spill groups, and the soldier groups will match up to compare their photos and the captions they wrote. They will discuss how the photographers have differed in their choices and how their choices have made the story different.

To wrap-up the lesson, give your students construction paper to post their pictures and captions on the walls around the room. Allow students to walk around to examine the work of their peers. Parlay this into a final group discussion in which students reflect upon what they have seen.

Assessment:

For further practice, have students practice their new interpretive skills at home! Here is an assignment sheet for students to practice what they have learned using VoiceThread:

The teacher may use individual student recorded responses as means of assessing her students. Some important criteria to consider when evaluating these responses:
 * Associations and implications--How much does the student expound upon connoted images?
 * Connection to story--Does the student address the overall message or story told by the photo?
 * Clarity--Is the student's response coherent?

For a more formal method of evaluation, apply an Oral Presentation rubric such as this one provided in the IB curriculum: