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We are encouraged in argumentative writing to say what we mean, assert what we feel, and show why we feel this way. However, these three tediously overused words, say, feel, and show, stand out in college level writing as undeserving of academic tone. Sophistication and maturity of writing often depends on, both, the variety and the precision of its diction. Repetitive use of such phrases as “the author feels”, “the writer says” or “the essay shows” often will distinguish an essay as colorless in style or unimaginative in argument.
Here are some useful synonyms for these verbs to invigorate the power of your vocabulary. If you don't recognize one of these words, please copy it and paste it into the search field of an on-line dictionary, such as Dictionary.com.
Remember, these are verbs. A word like "decries" may sound to you more like a noun than a verb, and a word like "propound" may sound more like an adjective, but that doesn't mean you can just use them in those roles without creating grammatical and syntactical error in your sentence. On the flip side, words like "question" and "advocate" can serve as, both, verbs and nouns, depending on the context. Always study how a new vocabulary word is used in context before you adopt it in your writing, and pay special attention to its Part of Speech.
verbs used to communicate facts and data, but not opinion
verbs used to assert opinions and interpretations
verbs used with proposals and recommendations, and the arguments that support these
verbs used in explication, literary analysis, and other evaluative writing
verbs used to discuss the use of support and examples
verbs used in arguments, counter-arguments, and other persuasive writing
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