Denotation is the literal meaning of the word as found in a dictionary. Connotation is the opposite; it has to do with the emotions felt when you hear the word, positive or negative, it’s what the word implies.

So, the denotation of someone who is intelligent is someone who has a lot of knowledge and knows how to use it with skill. When someone who is described as intelligent, it generally means that everyone thinks that person has knowledge. But, the next word, “smart”, can have a totally different meaning from “intelligent”, even though intelligent always means smart, smart doesn’t always mean intelligent. Smart can mean a negative thing, like “That kid has a smart mouth,” meaning the kid talks back and disrespects people in authority. Smart can also have in implied meaning of “good looking”. “That sure is a smart outfit.” Certainly no one would say, “That’s an intelligent outfit.” When someone gets hurt, and they say “Gee, that smarts!”, they aren’t saying, “What I just did was very intelligent”. Hardly! They are saying, “Man, that HURT!”

I hope I was able to give you inspiration for your paper. Two pages is a lot, but if you give plenty of examples of the implied meaning of smart (its connotation), then you will likely take up plenty of room.

Google: “define: smart”, — leave out the quote marks — and it will pull up dozens of connotations you can work with.

Google: “define: intelligent”, and it will give you the few meanings of the word.

You can easily write 2 pages on this subject. Short of my actually doing it for you, I can provide a good definition you can use. The denotation of a word is its literal meaning. A word can have several denotations depending on usage. On the other hand, a word can also have several connotations, again depending on usage. A connotation is more a figurative meaning. A word can connote a feeling, a memory, a frame of mind, etc. As an extreme example, I would point to a word like homosexual. The literal meaning is either a person who wants a loving relationship with a partner of the same gender, or the movement among all sexuality that has to do with acts of lovemaking among partners of the same gender. You could add to this list with other shades of meaning. The connotation, however, can be accusing (If the speaker uses it against another person who may or may not be homosexual); prideful (when the speaker is proud to be homosexual); pejorative (when the speaker wishes to degrade another person by making fun of them being homosexual, whether true or not) or any other way the speaker means it or the receiver hears it. An important part of what connotation means is that the speaker doesn’t necessarilly mean the meaning which the receiver connotes from the word. Also, the speaker may mean to have a certain effect in using a word that the receiver doesn’t see. So you see, the words denotation and connotation are loaded with meaning and you can write severl pages giving examples. Good luck!

I’m not sure what the essay is supposed to be about, but…

Denotation is the dictionary definition of a word…

Connotation is the feelings and thoughts that the word provokes in the individual.

For example:

smell, aroma, stench, stink, fragrance

They all mean the same thing…

But if something has a fragrance or aroma, it’s typically a pleasant smell. (Pos. Conn.)

If something has a stink or a stench, it’s typically a bad smell. (Neg. Conn.)

If something has a smell, it could go either way. (Neutral Conn.)

Denotation is what something, for instance a word, actually means, like a dictionary definition. Connotation is what something means to you, and the connections and impressions it leaves you with.

Connotation:

A narrow fellow in the grass

Occasionally rides;

You may have met him,–did you not,

His notice sudden is.

The grass divides as with a comb,

A spotted shaft is seen;

And then it closes at your feet

And opens further on.

He likes a boggy acre,

A floor too cool for corn.

Yet when a child, and barefoot,

I more than once, at morn,

Have passed, I thought, a whip-lash

Unbraiding in the sun,–

When, stooping to secure it,

It wrinkled, and was gone.

Several of nature’s people

I know, and they know me;

I feel for them a transport

Of cordiality;

But never met this fellow,

Attended or alone,

Without a tighter breathing,

And zero at the bone.

= = = = =

Denotation:

Hey, there’s a snake!