a negative connotation is something that suggests that something is bad by the way it’s said or the wording used
in you’re extract i would say that “the flower garden was stained” is a negative connotation because the word “stained” suggests that the garden has become worse
Connotation is the meaning we attach to a word beyond its standard definition. A writer pays special attention to connotations by choosing certain words over others in order to convey a theme. For example, while one person may describe a field as “very quiet” another may say it is “dead silent.” The second description is an example of a phrase with a negative connotation. Although a “very quiet” field would seem like a nice place for a picnic, someone might want to avoid a “dead silent” one. In the story you have attached, phrases such as “rotting brown magnolia petals” and a nest that “rocked back and forth like an empty cradle” leave the reader with a much darker impression of the scene than the beautiful flowers and singing birds that we typically associate with a “flower garden.”
November 20, 2011 
4 Comments
Oh, this will be easy!
First, you know what negative means. And now you know what connotations means — that is, the suggestions made by certain words.
So when I read words like dead, bleeding, stained, rank, untenanted, empty cradle, etc., those have “negative connotations” for me. You too perhaps?
That is what they want you to highlight, I would say.
You can see negative connotations in the choice of words used:
summer was DEAD
BLEEDING tree
STAINED with ROTTING brown
EMPTY CRADLE
GRAVEYARD flowers
It is just describing a scene, but the words carry connotations of death, decay, and loss/ isolation from other people.
a negative connotation is something that suggests that something is bad by the way it’s said or the wording used
in you’re extract i would say that “the flower garden was stained” is a negative connotation because the word “stained” suggests that the garden has become worse
good luck =)
Connotation is the meaning we attach to a word beyond its standard definition. A writer pays special attention to connotations by choosing certain words over others in order to convey a theme. For example, while one person may describe a field as “very quiet” another may say it is “dead silent.” The second description is an example of a phrase with a negative connotation. Although a “very quiet” field would seem like a nice place for a picnic, someone might want to avoid a “dead silent” one. In the story you have attached, phrases such as “rotting brown magnolia petals” and a nest that “rocked back and forth like an empty cradle” leave the reader with a much darker impression of the scene than the beautiful flowers and singing birds that we typically associate with a “flower garden.”