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Vocabulary for Writing about Literature. Mr. Cleon M. McLean Department of English Ontario High School. Note well ( nota bena ). - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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Vocabulary for Writing about Literature
Mr. Cleon M. McLean
Department of English
Ontario High School
Note well (nota bena)
The following active verbs are examples which carry positive connotations. They are meant to encourage you away from such active, yet negatively connotative words like “force”.The words which follow are NOT words to describe the author. Rather, they are words to describe some stylistic feature of the work itself. E.g., The author asserts the notion that although time is a conspiracy against everything happening at the same time, man nonetheless goes through life in a Sisyphian cycle of absurdities.
The writer (or the narrator)…
alludes to…
alters…
asserts…
changes…
clarifies…
compares…
conjures up…
connotes…
constrains…
construes…
conveys…
creates…
delineates…
demonstrates…
depicts…
describes…
The writer (or the narrator)…
differentiates…
dispels…
elicits…
elucidates..
emphasizes…
enhances…
enunciates…
evokes…
explains…
explores…
heightens/lessens…
hints at…
ignites…
implies…
inspires…
invokes…
The writer (or the narrator)…
juxtaposes…
maintains…
manipulates…
paints…
portrays…
produces…
refutes…
repudiates…
reveals…
shifts…
shows…
solidifies…
stirs…
suggests…
tackles…
transcends…
Effects on the reader…
angers
awareness
connections
contrasts
empathy
imagery/images
impacts
intensity
laughter
mood
pathos or bathos
shocks
lassitude/tedium
