Six Traits Revision Word Choice

Name ______

Six Traits Revision – Word Choice

Word choice , like many of the traits of good writing, is about striking balance. We want to be descriptive without overwhelming the reader with long strings of modifiers. We want to avoid repetition while recognizing that certain words must be repeated for effect or necessity. Use the checklist below to guide your word choice revisions.  I use active, vivid verbs as much as is possible and appropriate.  I use descriptive adjectives and adverbs to give strength to my essay and to paint a picture in the minds of the readers.  I avoid repeating words, except when necessary. (Don’t forget, if you’re writing an essay about a soccer player, you’re probably going to have to repeat the word soccer. That’s okay.)  The words I use are appropriate and fitting. (Don’t use thesaurus words unless you know and understand them!)

Follow these instructions to help you revise your essay for word choice: 1. Read your rough draft. 2. Fill out the Sentence Chart on the other side of this sheet. (Use one row per sentence.) 3. Looking at the first sentence, find each adjective and adverb (modifiers) and list them in the first column. 4. Then, find all of the verbs in the sentence and place them in the second column. 5. List pronouns in the last column (he/she, him/her, his/her/hers, they/them, etc.) 6. Repeat steps 3 – 4 for each sentence until the chart is full.

Now examine the chart. What trends or problems do you see?

I. Look at the first column. a. Are there a lot of blank spaces? If so you need to find place where descriptive words (adjectives and adverbs) would fit. b. Is every space in the first column filled? You might be “overwriting” or slowing the pace of your essay with too many descriptors. See if you can’t edit some out and simplify a few sentences.

II. Looking at the second column, how many sentences used passive or state-of-being verbs (is, was, were, will be, would be, have/has been, etc.)? Revise some of those sentences in order to use vivid, active verbs rather than state-of-being verbs. You will likely have to rewrite those sentences entirely, as active sentences differ in structure from passive sentences. III. Look at the last column. If your chart is filled with pronouns, find places in your essay where you might replace the vague pronoun with a strong noun or the person’s name to whom the pronoun refers.

IV. The chart only takes you through the first 13 sentences of your essay. LOOK FOR TRENDS THROUGHOUT YOUR WHOLE ESSAY AND REVISE ACCORDINGLY!!!! SENTENCE CHART Sen Descriptive adjectives and All verbs in sentence Pronouns t. # adverbs (modifiers)