A connotation is a word that has two meanings: its literal
interpretation and the cultural interpretation that it is given. Many phrases that we
use today in our language have no literal meaning in the context in which we use them,
however they have come to be accepted as having a secondary meaning, such as "raining
cats and dogs."
In "A & P," we are given a
first-person account from a young man, who, understandably, expresses things as he sees
them one day working behind the till from his own cultural understanding. Thus it is
that this account contains many connotations. Consider the following
examples:
By
the time I got her feathers smoothed and her goodies into a bag... the girls had circled
round the bread and were coming
back.
Note how the expression
"feathers smoothed" refers to the "witch" of a customer that the narrator was serving as
the girls entered. This literally of course has no meaning: the woman has no feathers,
but the narrator is referring to calming her down and restoring her composure after she
has just "given him hell." This of course is another connotation. The woman is unable to
literally give "him hell," but it refers to her sudden anger and annoyance when the
narrator accidentally rings one of her purchases up
twice.
So, hopefully with these two examples you will be
able to go on and re-read this excellent story, looking for more examples of
connotation. Good luck!
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