Word choice and its effect · Grade 8
Writers choose every word for a reason. Words with similar meanings can create very different pictures and feelings, so explaining the effect of a single word is a key reading skill.
Key facts
- Connotation: the feelings and ideas a word suggests. slim (positive), thin (neutral) and skinny (negative) all mean not fat.
- Precise verbs show exactly how something happens: crept (slowly, secretly), stormed (angrily), devoured (hungrily).
- Know the word class you are writing about: noun, verb, adjective or adverb. The writer uses the verb "howled" to…
- Explain the effect: what the word makes the reader see, hear or feel. The verb "howled" makes the wind sound wild, like an animal.
- Useful phrases: suggests, implies, emphasises, creates a sense of, makes the reader feel.