Common Core Standards
Grade 8
Reading RL.8.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts.
In other words, students need to be able to describe why the author or character is thinking the way he or she is thinking without just saying "I'm not sure; I just know." The easiest way to do that is by looking at words' connotative meanings—after all, students should know that we have multiple words in the English language that mean "a place where people live" ("house" and "home" among them), and each one tells us something different about how a character feels about that place where he or she lives. Analogies and allusions also contain connotative meanings themselves (for example, if something's really easy, it could be described as being "a piece of cake") which help reveal what the author or character is thinking about a situation.
Example 1
Here's an example of a lesson to use when students are reading Animal Farm.
As a class, have students come up with a list of times in the book when Napoleon almost loses control of the animals. Then, in small groups, have students discuss each section and analyze how Napoleon uses language to keep things going his way. Have students discuss specific rhetorical devices he uses.
Aligned Resources
- ASVAB Word Knowledge 4.2 Word Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes
- ASVAB Word Knowledge 2.2 Word Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes
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