Word Choice: Lively or Lackluster?

Each word carries great impact to your reader. Remember to focus on your audience. To whom are you addressing your essay (Admissions!)? Be sure to GRAB the reader.

Consider these examples for noun choices:

She lived in a house.

She lived in a home.

She lived in a shack.

She lived in a mansion.

She lived in a palace.

She lived in an apartment.

She lived in a cave.

Understand the difference? Now, consider verb choice:

He walks into the house.

He strolls into the house.

He slams into the house.

He charges into the house.

He saunters into the house.

He dances into the house.

He tiptoes into the house.

He marches into the house.

Each of these statements has a voice. Be sure your work reflects the voice you intend (YOUR voice). Be specific. For example, a qualifier might be written as: not a car, but a Cadillac; not a fruit, but an apple; not a bird, but a blue jay; not a character, but Macbeth, the evil, selfish servant to the king.

Just as we go about our daily lives making choices that impact our actions, writing also should reflect careful consideration, clarification, and thought. After all, every statement made elicits a response or opinion. What inferences do you want to convey to the admissions officer reading your essay?