Assignments: Batch One: Assignment Seven

Illustrate and discuss denotation and connotation in relation to three photographs of your own choice.

Guidance

For general guidance about what is expected in your essays for this module, see the general criteria.

What Key Features Do I Look For?

  • Familiarity with relevant texts
  • Evidence - the stronger the better
  • Argument - coherent and balanced
  • Theoretical discussion - relation to relevant theories
  • Understanding of relevant concepts
  • Reflexivity - reflections on methodology
  • Examples - insightfully analysed
  • Style - readability and effective presentation

Please remember to avoid footnotes and to include an alphabetical list of 'References' which have been cited in the text (not a Bibliography of anything you have read for the essay). This list should include author's names, date, book titles (in italics), place of publication and publisher. Within the text always cite author's surname, date and page number. Double-space your text and number your pages. For more detailed notes on writing essays in this department, click here.

Advice for this particular assignment:

Obviously you need to demonstrate your own understanding of what the terms 'denotation' and 'connotation' mean, and your awareness of the problematic nature of the distinction (I have argued that there is no denotation without connotation and that the distinction is an analytical one). Note that the distinction we are making here is the 'literary' one rather than the philosophical one. Most importantly, remember that denotation is about what the photograph depicts and that connotation is about what meanings it has for its viewers. You can only investigate these questions by checking how different people interpret each one. In what ways do they agree (usually this is more denotative)? In what ways do they disagree (usually more connotative)? Some photographs will reveal these patterns better than others so you may need to try with more than 3 to start with. You also need to show that you are aware of academic discussions of denotation and connotation. One of the most important theorists to refer to here is Roland Barthes (see below). Definitions of key terms can be found in Chandler and Munday (2011).

Note also that this is an assignment for which the inclusion of relevant pictorial illustrations is essential. These should be inserted electronically into your Word document rather than cut-and-pasted in. You can scan such illustrations in from print sources, save them from disk-based sources, download them from online sources (such as my Powerpoint slides) or even create them from scratch in a graphics package. Use them to help you to make points more effectively. Label each one, 'Figure 1' etc. and add a caption.

Some suggested reading

Note: Treat with extreme caution sources labelled with this symbol!


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