Final answer:
The correct answer to the student's question is 'C. connotative meaning,' which refers to the emotional and associative aspects of words, beyond their literal denotative meanings.
Step-by-step explanation:
The feelings and associations that accompany a word are known as its connotative meaning. When you consider a word like "home," its denotative meaning is simply a place where one lives, but its connotative meaning might include a sense of warmth, security, and belonging. The denotation of a word is its literal or dictionary definition, like "cow" being a four-legged herbivorous mammal, whereas the connotation could evoke broader associations such as farm life or freshness of dairy products.
In literary analysis, both denotation and connotation are important. Words with positive connotations contribute to a more optimistic tone in poetry. Meanwhile, cultural settings and personal experiences shape the connotations we associate with specific words, making their implications subjective.
For instance, the color green may signify prosperity in Western cultures, while red represents fortune in Eastern traditions. It's also critical to consider the connotations of words in academic writing, where a casual term might carry a negative connotation inappropriate for formal essays.