Question

In an effort to make her writing more engaging, Celia is going through her essay and trying to replace the word "is" with words like "exist," "thrive," "live," or "survive." How are Celia's revisions to her essay best described?

1) Deleting all the clichés
2) Adding interesting verbs
3) Incorporating more pronouns
4) Changing the active voice to passive

Answer 1

Celia is enhancing her essay by adding interesting verbs, shifting towards a more dynamic writing style which engages readers better.

Step-by-step explanation:

Celia's revisions to her essay can best be described as adding interesting verbs. Instead of relying on the static verb 'is', she's introducing more dynamic verbs like 'exist', 'thrive', 'live', and 'survive', which gives her sentences more energy and engages the reader more effectively. This process aligns with key strategies for strong writing that emphasize the use of active voice and concrete nouns, along with eliminating wordiness for clearer, more precise communication.

By searching for 'there are', 'there is', and 'it is' in her essay and replacing these weaker sentence constructions with more vivid verbs, Celia is following the advice of the "Editing Focus" section that encourages writers to use doers and actions. This not only clarifies who is performing the action but also makes the sentences more impactful. Short sentences and active-voice verbs create stronger, clearer sentences that keep readers interested and engaged in the essay.