Word Choice Writers choose their words with care How are these three examples different? The man walked down the road. The rascal slunk down the alley. The gentleman sauntered down the avenue.

HOW to answer Word Choice Quote the word(s) Denotation (what it means) Connotation (what it suggests) Answer the question

Practice question: Excerpt: “In fifty years the Danakil will be a national park, visited by rubbernecking tourists in helicopters.” Q. Explain fully the appropriateness of the word choice of “rubbernecking tourists in helicopters”. (2 marks)

Answer Word choice: “rubbernecking” – suggests insensitivity/ghoulishness “tourists” – suggests invasive/superficiality “helicopters” suggests intrusive modernity or detachment or (financial contrast)

“Grayling imposed on the prison population such shameful underfunding and criminal understaffing that a system – which had long creaked and groaned under the strain – effectively collapsed.” How does the writer’s word choice suggest his disapproval of Grayling. (4)