Vocabulary (Words in Context) - Writing
Compose a paragraph with four to six sentences. Use the word 'tumult' (probably a new term for many in your
audience) in the final sentence. Understanding how context clues work; gives the reader enough clues, hints, and
suggestions to be able to define this 'strange' word. If the reader is a good detective, she will take the general sense of the
passage and comprehend the message that's being sent.
As you may already know, the meaning of TUMULT is: a huge uproar or a major disturbance as might happen in a
crowd of people. With that in mind, your composition might look something like the following:
'Angry mobs on the streets of downtown Phoenix set two sedans and four SUV's on fire, with one of the vehicles
actually exploding. The noise was deafening with scores of people screaming from being attacked and multiple alarms
blasting throughout the late night. More than a dozen storefront plate glass windows were destroyed by the hoodlums, and
the glass shards lie all over the sidewalks. Emergency responders were stretched to the limit with multiple 911 calls for
help. Because of the massive patient load, about half of the injured had to be transported to outlying emergency rooms for
treatment. This TUMULT continued for almost three hours before more than twenty additional law enforcement personnel
arrived and restored order.'
As a writer you have painted a word scene for the reader to visualize as he comprehends the passage. From the
context clues that you provided, one can see that TUMULT is describing this horribly loud chaos; this roaring state of
confusion and distress.
Again, these skills that we discuss in this course assist in sending and receiving verbal information, so that the
communication is precise.
Now, continue to do the same with the other types of context clues. For each type, select a word that might be
difficult for your reader to understand. Then place in your paragraph enough context clues to allow the reader to 'make out'
the strange term.