OCR GCSE Poster Connotation Lesson

A focused OCR GCSE Media Studies lesson teaching students how to apply denotation and connotation to TV series poster analysis.

This fully editable PowerPoint (.pptx) lesson is designed for GCSE Media Studies students and works well early in the course, after an introduction to media language or as a follow-up to a denotation and connotation lesson.

The lesson begins with a colour association Do Now, asking students to consider how colours such as pink, white, red and green create different emotions, moods, associations and feelings. Students then apply this to the idea of designing a crime drama poster, considering how colour choices can create meaning for an audience.

Students recap the key terms denotation and connotation, with denotation defined as the literal or straightforward meaning and connotation as the deeper meaning or association. The lesson uses clear examples such as darkness, where the denotation is the absence of light, but the connotations may include fear, loneliness, evil and death.

The lesson then develops student understanding through a Think Write Pair Share task using images of a red rose and a cross. Students identify what they can literally see before exploring how meanings may differ depending on audience background, culture, belief and personal experience.

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