"A man with a scant vocabulary will almost certainly be a weak thinker." ~Henry Hazlitt (Thinking as a Science)
Vocabulary Illustrations
Often, you will have to be descriptive in your writing so that the reader can visualize what you are trying to say. The following is an example of the expectation:
Write an illustration of the definition of a word without using the word. Write the word and part of speech in parentheticals after your example.
Ex.: Vocabulary Word = Beautiful
Illustration: This morning’s sunrise was breathtaking. The rays of red, pink and orange waltzed with the dark blue and purple twilight sky until it became a single melody of brilliance. The glistening reflection of the sun tangoing on the ocean was the crescendo. (Beautiful; adj.)
Ex.: Vocabulary Word = Generic
Illustration: When the package arrived it was in a plain, brown wrap. Nothing spectacular. No fancy writing nor even an identifying post mark. I opened it. The contents inside was also very unassuming. Plain. Just like...me. (Generic; adj.)
Note: You cannot use the definition of the word as your illustration.
Ex: Vocabulary Word = Acquiesce
Do not do this: Although he will do so reluctantly, my dad will give in and let my sister drive his car instead of listening to her yell and scream.
Do this instead: Instead of just saying no, my dad thought of everything he could not to let my sister drive his car, but in the end, he ran out of ideas and let her drive it anyway instead of listening to her yell and scream. (acquiesce; verb)
Write an illustration of the definition of a word without using the word. Write the word and part of speech in parentheticals after your example.
Ex.: Vocabulary Word = Beautiful
Illustration: This morning’s sunrise was breathtaking. The rays of red, pink and orange waltzed with the dark blue and purple twilight sky until it became a single melody of brilliance. The glistening reflection of the sun tangoing on the ocean was the crescendo. (Beautiful; adj.)
Ex.: Vocabulary Word = Generic
Illustration: When the package arrived it was in a plain, brown wrap. Nothing spectacular. No fancy writing nor even an identifying post mark. I opened it. The contents inside was also very unassuming. Plain. Just like...me. (Generic; adj.)
Note: You cannot use the definition of the word as your illustration.
Ex: Vocabulary Word = Acquiesce
Do not do this: Although he will do so reluctantly, my dad will give in and let my sister drive his car instead of listening to her yell and scream.
Do this instead: Instead of just saying no, my dad thought of everything he could not to let my sister drive his car, but in the end, he ran out of ideas and let her drive it anyway instead of listening to her yell and scream. (acquiesce; verb)