THESAURUS – the SYNONYM SEEKER!!
(synonym – words that mean the same or similar)
HOW/WHEN TO USE A THESAURUS
Why?
Not to… ‘find big, obscure words with lots of syllables to impress readers with my large vocabulary and obvious intelligence.’
But to… be able to communicate clearly, concisely and with a variety of words to eliminate boring writing. When you can use one word for three, obviously use it. The English language is enormous and using a variety of words just MAKES SENSE!
VERBS TO BE AWARE OF:
Come
Do
Get
Give
Go
Have
Like
Make
Take
To be (is, are, was, were, etc.)
In other words, DON’T USE THEM!!! Why??
You can’t see them, feel them, hear them, taste them…they get the job done, but that’s about it. They are too imprecise.
Using a thesaurus, look up the words below and find at least 2 synonyms for each.
Come ______
Do ______
Get ______
Give ______
Go ______
Have ______
Like ______
make ______
Take ______
THE REALLY BAD WORDS!!
These are the words I find most often in your writing that do not add emphasis or detail or intensity, even though you may think so.
Absolutely just so
All kind of sort of
(a) big (a) little totally
Completely quite very
Definitely really would
A REALLY BAD PARAGRAPH example:
Every night at camp, when we were totally tired out from playing the game, we would all sort of fall down in a big pile on the floor of our cabin. We would just laugh and laugh—it was really so much fun. Then, after we would calm down a little big, we would suddenly be very, very hungry. Our counselor would be quite mad that our cabin was always awake after lights out, but hopefully we could get her to just chill out and let us eat chips and stuff we really weren’t supposed to have at camp.
THE MODIFIED PARAGRAPH:
At night, after we were exhausted from playing the game, we collapsed in a heap on the floor of the cabin. We lay there in a tangle of arms and legs and shook with giggles. When the laughter died out, hunger took over. We were starving. We drove our counselor crazy that summer because when the other cabins were quiet and dark, ours was alive with the sounds of eight girls shrieking, roughhousing, and rattling bags of forbidden junk food.
For example:
If someone is ‘very funny’, couldn’t he be ‘hysterical’ or ‘witty’ or ‘absurd’?
If someone is ‘kind of’ bold, wouldn’t she be ‘bold’ or ‘brave’ or even ‘fearless’?
Now it’s your turn. Write a paragraph (5-6 sentences) on a topic of your choice and then exchange it with someone for suggestions on the topics above.