What You Need to Know

							                 What You Need to Know--
                  Active Reading Tools

What Tools Do You Need?

   Dictionary
     You can use paper ones or online dictionaries such as
     Merriman-Webster www.m-w.com/
     or Cambridge http://dictionary.cambridge.org/

   Thesaurus
     Again, you can buy a paper one or visit online at
     http://thesaurus.reference.com/
     What is a thesaurus? According to the web site
     http://www.une.edu.au/tlc/alo/active3.htm , “A
     thesaurus presents a collection of words associated with a
     certain topic. It provides interesting and challenging
     alternatives when you are struggling for the „right‟ word
     in an assignment, or when you are looking for alternative
     words to avoid excessive repetition. It is a very
     stimulating way of enlarging your vocabulary and
     developing sensitivity to the nuances of language. For
     example, in Roget’s Thesaurus, entries under the word
     „knowledge‟ include the following: ken; cognition;
     cognizance; apprehension; grasp; mastery; awareness;
     illumination; lore; tree of knowledge; technology;
     dilettantism; bibliomania; faculty; civilization.”

Why Do You Need to Worry about Words?
You want to use the words that carry as precise a meaning as
possible. The point is not to sound like pretentious or over-
done but why use the word “stuff” if you really mean a
blackberry white chocolate double latte?

Read this sentence and picture the action:
The guy walked into the arcade.
Now replace “walk” with these other choices:
     Saunter, skip, amble, shuffle, slouch, hop, strut, stroll,
     slink, scurry, march, sneak.
Do you see how you get different pictures of the action?

  Remember, best writing uses clear nouns and strong verbs.
       Collect words as if they were silver dollars—
                  and spend them wildly.