Examples from Literature
Notice earlier when I said that the two neighborhoods in Fort Lauderdale were divided by railroad tracks? 'The other side of the tracks' is a phrase with both denotative and connotative meanings. The phrase denotes something benign that you are crossing railroad tracks - but can also have deep cultural and socio-economic connotations.
Railroad tracks often separate more well-off neighborhoods from other less-prosperous neighborhoods. In communities like Fort Lauderdale, the 'other side of the tracks' or the 'wrong side of the tracks' has negative connotations as rundown or unsafe. And, like Sistrunk, these tracks frequently separate one racial group from another, so the phrase can have racial implications as well.
Authors, and poets in particular, choose their words carefully, using connotations as a shorthand to say a lot all at once and give a work of literature an added layer (or layers) of meaning. Take this excerpt from the poem Mending Wall by American poet Robert Frost:
- 'And on a day we meet to walk the line
- And set the wall between us once again.
- We keep the wall between us as we go.'
In the poem, the speaker and a neighbor meet to repair their shared stone fence, but the word choice and the connotations those words have, gives the poem meaning beyond the literal. 'Walk the line' denotes the 'practice of walking along and securing a property line,' as both owners do in the poem. However, 'walk the line' also means 'following the rules and doing what is socially accepted. Both men do what they are supposed to do, setting the wall between them.
However literal the wall between the two neighbors is, there exists an interpretation of 'a wall' between two people that is more figurative, something that keeps two people apart and separated from one another emotionally. Often we say 'there is a wall between them' or, in this case, 'the wall between us.' So, later in the poem when Frost writes, 'Good fences make good neighbors,' he is saying the opposite. The fences or 'walls' between the two people keep them apart physically and emotionally.
As a former classroom teacher, I often joke that there are few names with which I don't have very specific associations. Names as commonplace as Jacob or Julia have personal connotations related to specific students I taught, sometimes going back several years in the past. Even variations of names (Thomas, Tom, Tommy) all have connotations for many people. My little brother might go by the more-formal Thomas professionally, but to me he'll always be Tommy Joe.
Think about the names in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter book series. Professor Snape's first name 'Severus' means 'serious, strict, severe,' and those are the connotations we also have with his character. Similarly, Dolores Umbridge's name comes from 'dolor' meaning 'pain,' and the similar-sounding word 'umbrage' denotes 'resentment,' which the character carries a lot of in the novels. Even if you didn't know the meanings of these names, after reading even one of the books you will forever associate the name 'Severus Snape' with his 'severe' personality.