Introduction
This guide is aimed at providing GCSE level students with a plethora of vocabulary which they can employ in their writing. As well as a list of words, I’ve provided a short explanation for how these words could be used.
As a general note, if you are in need of an alternative for any word / phrase, search PowerThesaurus. I use this website often and you can use it to find synonyms as well as antonyms. If you are writing in Microsoft Word, you can also right-click a word to find synonyms quickly.
Referencing the Writer
You should not capitalize whichever word you use to refer to the writer unless it is their surname (Shakespeare). You will almost never reference the author with only their first name (William) although you can use it alongside their surname (William Shakespeare). Only use ‘playwright’ for plays and ‘poet’ for poems. As a general rule, if you have referred to the author in a specific way at the top of a paragraph, for the rest of that paragraph you may use he / she / they as long as you are certain that the reader will not be confused as to whom you are referring to.
- The author
- The writer
- Shakespeare
- The playwright
- The narrator
- The poet
- He / she / they
Introducing a Point
Each of these words / phrases makes use of a metaphor which aims to describe how the author and their text interact with the reader. These metaphors range from the common (‘shows’ is often used because readers often visualise the text in their minds) to the specific (‘depicts’ should only be used when the author is creating a more vivid image as a painter would). If you are confused as to how any of these words may be used in sentence, you can Google ‘word + definition’ which should give you the definition and example sentences.
- Shows
- Illustrates
- Exemplifies
- Highlights
- Demonstrates
- Clarifies
- Brings to light
- Shines light on
- Serves to
- Acts as
- Displays
- Exhibits – express something clearly or show as a sign or symptom
- Establishes
- Reveals
- Conveys – communicate a message or information or make an idea known / understandable
- Portrays – describe something in a particular way
- Indicates
- Illuminates – shines a light on something that was previously in the dark
- Underlines
- Foregrounds – brings an element from the background to the foreground
- Expands upon
- Depicts – to portray in words or represent by an art form
- Elicits – to evoke or draw out (something) from (someone)
- Disproves – shows a belief or theory to be incorrect
- Supplements – to add to an idea
- Confirms
- Asserts
- Seeks to
- Aims to
Introducing and Concluding
My main advice for writing introductions and conclusions is that it is often helpful to look to the introduction / title / conclusion of the text itself. Your essay’s structure may benefit from chronological (in order) analysis of the text.
- To conclude
- In summary
- In order to
- Ultimately
- For the purpose of
- The object of which is to
Final Notes
This webpage is only a starting point and you will probably want to add to or change this list as you broaden your vocabulary and hone your own style. I would also remind you can always vary your sentence structure simply by reordering the sentence.
For example:
- In order to engage the reader, the author shows that the sky is blue
- The author shows that the sky is blue in order to engage the reader
- Showing that the sky is blue, the author engages the reader