Denotation

What do we consider innocence, and how do we hold on to it? Innocence can be defined as freedom from sin or moral wrong, but could the word take on more than just its denotation? When we are young, many of our guardians intend to preserve our innocence through thoughtfully considered exposure. However, in Richard Linklater’s Boyhood, viewers see the effects numerous emotionally charged moments can have on a child. By using cinematic realism in Boyhood, Linklater creates a work depicting loss of…

The basis of decision-making can be understood by studying the cognitive heuristics that accompany mental processing, thought, and ability to assess a situation. However, how can we examine the effects of decision-making when we skip the analyzing process – rather, how can we judge the effectiveness of following our gut in quick decisions? “Heuristics is the unconscious, or quick decisions that humans make due to integrated social norms, or mental short-cuts” (Pearl, Judea, 1983, p. 48). The use…

Autopsy. Think of the word autopsy. What does it conjure up in your mind? Corpses? A coroner? Dissection? Finality? Now think of the word window. What denotations or connotations does that hold? Visibility? Discovery? Light slanting in from outside? Does the word window remind you of the word autopsy? No? It should. These two words are etymologically related, as both ultimately derive from the Indo-European root okw- which means “to see” ("The American Heritage Dictionary Indo-European Roots…

Firstly, text and discourse are two key terms in linguistics. From a linguistic perspective, the earlier is used to “refer to any written or taped record of a certain piece of communication”. The former is used to “refer to the piece of communication in context”. (Nunan, 1993, P. 20) In addition, discourse in linguistics, is a unit of language larger than a single sentence. More broadly, discourse is known as the use of spoken or written language in a social context. Furthermore, discourses need…

Dishonesty is a common theme in many works of literature. The denotation of dishonesty will be: When one person is deceptive either by intentionally withholding information or by making a false statement to another with the intent of deceit. In Natsume Sōseki’s 1916 novel Kokoro and Mark Twain’s 1884 novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the main characters have to deal with the dishonesty that occurs in their friendships. In Kokoro, Sensei, after losing everything to his uncle, thus making…

Men all around the world play video games and follow their own version of the guy code. These two things don’t seem to be related, but they are. The guy code has been and is being promoted and developed by video games. Some people might not notice or accept it, but video games greatly impact a person’s mind and way of being. Because of this, videogames need to stop promoting homophobia and violence with the guy code because it is negatively affecting males and those around them. The guy…

Metrixing the Matrix: A Linguistic Analysis of Intertextuality on the Basis of Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway and Michael Cunningham’s The Hours Gašper Ilc To all those Mmes Richard Dalloway who have not even been Clarissas 1. Introduction Intertextuality has played a central and controversial role in the development of the postmodernist thought ever since the publication of Kristeva’s seminal works on literary theory. Strongly influenced by structuralist semiotics, Kristeva (1980) extends…

All of America is outraged at the win of Donald J. Trump on election night 2016. How could a rich, insensitive, bigoted, racist business man become the next President of the United States? Over half of the US population will be moving to Canada in the next several months in response—or will they? In a world that is becoming increasingly reliant on technology and easily accessible information, the media have insidiously crept into a position of influence over the thoughts and emotions of today’s…

situation. 1. “Until then I am a red balloon, a balloon tied to an anchor.” (page 9) In this metaphor Esperanza compares herself to a red balloon. The phrase a red balloon express herself who has the similarity. The phrase a red balloon has the denotation meaning as a balloon which is red. However it also has the connotation meaning that her house in…

A form of pathological liar makes up four percent of our total population, or roughly twelve million people in the United States alone, is destined by blood not made by choice. An abundant amount of people believe that sociopaths are developed due to the results and influences in their past as an adolescence but all sociopaths are born with a brain that differs those of the average human’s. Beverly Bird wrote an article entitled “Sociopathic traits in children” and said, “A potentially…