Denotation & Connotation

Anchoring meaning with a caption

Denotation

• There are two little girls in the picture, one is walking towards the corner, the other is squatting by the wall.

• The girl in gray is playing with a pink , square-shape object, attached to a string.

What information can we recieve from this picture directly?

Caption 1

"On the way back home"

The focus of this picture is the girl in blue jacket, walking with long steps with a happy face. She is probably on her way back home.

Connotation

Caption 2

Connotation

"little trick works wonders"

This time, the focus of attention moves to the girl in grey coat. She is naughtily quite happy playing with a pink purse, trying to

trick her friend.

Caption 3

Connotation

"Happy day, happy friends"

Now both girls are the main focus of the picture. It represents a relationship between them, let's assume they are quite close

friends and both playing happily together.