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Name: __________________________________________________ Connotation Review with The Outsiders *Use this sheet to help you study for the benchmark.* connotation—a cultural or emotional association we make with a word denotation—a word’s dictionary definition A connotation can be positive, negative, or neutral. For example, strong-willed and pig-headed have a similar denotation, stubborn. However, strong-willed has a positive connotation (someone admirable) and pig-headed has a negative connotation (someone frustrating to deal with). Fill in the spectrum below with words that have a positive and negative connotation for the neutral word, house: Positive Neutral Negative <______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________> Home House Dump __________________________ ________________________ PART 1: Study the words below. Circle if the word connotes a positive, negative, or neutral association for you. 1. tagalong positive neutral negative 2. cold positive neutral negative 3. tough positive neutral negative 4. broad positive neutral negative 5. brainy positive neutral negative 6. handsome positive neutral negative 7. rich positive neutral negative 8. gang positive neutral negative PART 2: Now study the same words as they are used in passages from The Outsiders. Determine if the bolded word connotes a positive, negative, or neutral association based on how they are used in the sentences. 9. “He (Steve) didn’t like me—he thought I was a tagalong and a kid; Soda always took me with them when they went places if they weren’t taking girls, and that bugged Steve” (9). positive neutral negative 10. “His eyes were blue, blazing ice, cold with a hatred of the whole world” (10). positive neutral negative 11. “Two-Bit nodded sagely, ‘Nice cut, too. Makes you look tough’” (12). positive neutral negative 12. “ ‘Yeah, and this time it’s for good. That little broad was two-timin’ me again while I was in jail’” (14). positive neutral negative 13. “Don’t let him bug you. He’s really proud of you ‘cause you’re so brainy” (17). positive neutral negative 14. “Soda’s movie-star kind of handsome, the kind that people stop on the street to watch go by” (7). positive neutral negative 15. “I’m not sure how you spell it, but it’s the abbreviation for the Socials, the jet set, the West-side rich kids” (2). positive neutral negative 16. “I could have gotten one of the gang to come along, one of the four boys Darry and Soda and I have grown up with and consider family” (3). positive neutral negative PART 3: Reflect on the words you have studied today. Respond to the following questions in complete sentences. How do words with multiple meanings affect what connotations we make with those words? For example, the word cold can mean “chilly,” but it can also refer to someone who is “unfriendly.” Do both meanings have the same connotation, or does it depend on the meaning of the word? How do context clues affect our meaning-making of a word, as well as our connotations with words? Did the connotation you circled (positive, neutral, negative) change from Part 1 to Part 2? If so, why do you think that is? How does looking at a word from another person’s perspective, in this case Ponyboy’s, affect a word’s connotation? In The Outsiders, the greasers use two different spellings of “tough” to describe things: tough and tuff. What feelings are connoted with each version? Are the versions both positive or negative? Re-read the following passage to help you: “Tough and tuff are two different words. Tough is the same as rough; tuff means cool, sharp—like a tuff-looking Mustang or a tuff record. In our neighborhood both are compliments.”