PHILIPPINE COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY

Bajada Campus, Dr. Gahol Drive, Garden Park Village, Bajada, Davao City
Call us 221-0381/222-4808/295-0172. Email us: pctdvo@yahoo.com/Visit us: www.pct davao.edu.ph

DENOTATIVE AND CONNOTATIVE MEANINGS IN POETRY

OBJECTIVES: At the end of the lesson, the students are able to:

1. differentiate denotation from connotation;

2. read closely the connotative meanings in the poetric lines;
3. give the importance of connotation in appreciating poetry;
4. infer meaning from a literary text;
5. discuss larger issues and bigger meanings in literary text;
share insights and experiences associated with how women feed about their role as set by
society.

MOTIVATING ACTIVITY

Write down in a sheet of paper the first thing that enters your mind as the teacher reads the
following words:

a. closed door f. bird

b. open door g. nakedness
c. oven h. toasted bread
d. woman i. candle
e. man j. change

PROCESSING ACTIVITY Small Group Sharing

1. Which answers have literal interpretations?

2. Which answers don’t have literal interpretations?

INPUT

Elements of Poetry

 Poetry is different from prose in shape and in form. The basic units of structures fpr prose
are the sentences and the paragraphs; whereas the unit structure for a poem are the lines
and strictly marked stanzas which give the poem a definite and distinct pattern.
 The fundamental components of poetry are connotation, imagery, rhythm, figurative
language, and sound structure.

DENOTATION AND CONNOTATION

 Denotation is the actual meaning of a word or the literal and dictionary meaning, whereas
connotation refers to associations and implications that go beyond a word’s literal meaning.
It is meaning suggested or implied beyond the actual meaning.

Types of Connotation

1. Personal Connotation - a word is related to the experiences of the person who uses or
reads/hears it.

1|Page Diagbel, Kynneza

 PHILIPPINE COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY
Bajada Campus, Dr. Gahol Drive, Garden Park Village, Bajada, Davao City
Call us 221-0381/222-4808/295-0172. Email us: pctdvo@yahoo.com/Visit us: www.pct davao.edu.ph

2. General connotation - a word is based on one’s general experiences; hence, a relationship

exists between personal and general connotations.

 Connotation is very important in poetry because it is the means by which the poet can
concentrate or enriching the meaning by saying more in fewer words.

ACTIVITY 1: Sharing Ideas

Read the poem. “OPEN-END QUALITY” by Lilia Lopez-Chua

Discussion Questions:
1. What are the things that the speaker likes and doesn’t like?
2. What must be his/her struggle?
3. Why do you think he/she is in this situation?
4. What might be the real yearnings of the speaker?
5. What kind of feeling is expressed in this line: “always waiting for Jackie Boy”?
6. What are th other implications and suggestions of the poem?
7. Recall the times in your life when you just wanted to be free and be yourself.

ACTIVITY 2:

Fill in the table with the appropriate information taken from the text. Number one (1) has
been for you. You can work in pairs.

What are things that the speaker likes, doesn’t like, wants and doesn’t want?

What she likes/wants What she doesn’t like/want

1. Open ends not some bread

OUTPUT 1

POEM ANALYSIS
Read the poem “Change” by Angela Manalang-Gloria and give the denotative and connotative
meanings of the following lines:

1. the dolls that overran my childhood days

2. the books I ravished
3. music that like delirium burned my days
4. the golden calf I fashioned to adore
5. this jewelled ecstacy
6. drink and bread
7. Change

2|Page Diagbel, Kynneza

 PHILIPPINE COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY
Bajada Campus, Dr. Gahol Drive, Garden Park Village, Bajada, Davao City
Call us 221-0381/222-4808/295-0172. Email us: pctdvo@yahoo.com/Visit us: www.pct davao.edu.ph

INTEGRATION

REFLECTION: Write an instance in your life where you had been treated as a “Jack-in-the-box” or a
“bread stuffed in a toaster”. What were your reactions to the situation? What kind of change would
you like to take place in your life? How can you initiate this?

3|Page Diagbel, Kynneza