Journalists generally try to be neutral; that is, they avoid words with either strong positive or negative connotations. Novelists and other authors, however, usually want to use words with
powerful connotations to evoke certain emotions in their readers. Choose one newspaper story
and one page from a favorite novel or short story. On a separate sheet of paper, make a list of six
words from each piece of writing. Rate the words on the basis of connotation, using plus for
positive, minus for negative, or X for neutral.