CHAPTER 2- WORD PRECISION: HOW DO I DESCRIBE IT?

In order to share our experiences with others through writing, we need to give much thought to our choice of words. An accurate use of words improves our thinking. Words allow us to communicate with ourselves and others. Writing helps us learn more about words and how to use them. Words are only translations of experience and not the experience itself. The thesaurus helps us when we are writing and translating nonverbal experiences and ideas into words, and the dictionary helps us when we are reading and interpreting the words of others. The first stage of critical reading is having the technical ability and the willingness to accurately reproduce its content. The test of our understanding of a word is our ability to define it. This ability is important for words representing key ideas that we want to explain or defend.