A lot of writers really struggle very much with adding a lot of qualifiers and intensifiers in their writing. Part of a larger series to improve writing skills, a handout on the topic provides tips to help reduce a reliance on these descriptive words and ensure that their use is deliberate and effective. For example, writers learn the difference between absolute and qualified words to help them express the appropriate degree of doubt in a paper.

Concepts

adjectives, writing styles, character descriptions

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Additional Tags

english language arts

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Instructional Ideas

• Have scholars come up with different adjectives to use that convey the same feeling without a qualifier; for example, instead of "The dog was very cute," they could say "The dog was adorable."
• Role play a conversation in which one speaker uses absolute phrases and one uses qualifiers, and then discuss the differences in their commitment levels

Classroom Considerations

• Designed to use when revising or editing for style

Pros

• Includes charts, bulleted lists, and bold text to draw attention to key words and concepts
• Offers encouragement for learners who struggle with overuse of qualifiers in their writing

Cons

• Unlike other handouts in the series, it fails to provide a list of additional resources

Common Core

W.9-10.4 W.9-10.5 W.11-12.4 W.11-12.5