CLOSE READING SKILLS
WORD CHOICE
Learning Intention:
I can demonstrate my analysis of specific words a writer uses
WORD CHOICE
 When considering the language used by a writer, you can think of another word or
expression the writer could have used. This will then allow you to compare the word
used against an alternative and consider what the advantage was of using the word
selected for the text.
 Think about the connotations of the word – in other words, what do you associate it
with?
 For example, ‘slender’, ‘slim’, ‘thin’, ‘lean’ and ‘skinny’ may all have similar meanings
but their connotations can be either negative or positive. If asked to comment on the
writer's use of one of these words, thinking about the connotations will help you come
up with a suitable comment.
HOW TO ANSWER – WORD CHOICE
Step 1: Quote the word (or sometimes phrase)
Step2: Discuss the words connotations
Step 3: Relate back to the question

EXAMPLE
 One day, a grey rat squirted out of a bag of potatoes and Henry
had leapt with fright, his heart exploding in his chest. He was
afraid of a lot of things - the closet door that never stayed closed
in his bedroom, spooky movies about vampires - but most of all,
the rats.
 What is unusual about the writer’s use of squirted in this sentence
EXAMPLE
Steps
Example
Step 1: Quote the word (or sometimes phrase) “Squirted”
Step2: Discuss the words connotations
he word 'squirted' is usually associated with
liquids and the rat's movement is being
compared to liquid being forced out of a tube
or a bottle.
Step 3: Relate back to the question
It reveals the speed and liquid movement of
the rats. Shows the rats are a solid mass
QUESTION ONE
 As I bent, buckled and squeezed myself into the drysuit, the
threat of a dose of marine indigestion seemed a poor defence
against the flat-eyed terrors of the deep.
 Show how the writer’s use of word choice reveals that the writer struggled
to get into the drysuit.
QUESTION TWO
 Childhood memories of underwater programmes on TV flooded
in, mixing with books and magazines on sharks.
 Show how the writer’s word choice conveys the way his memories
returned.
QUESTION THREE
 The session is drawing to a close and the teacher opens a bag of
teddy bears and passes them round. “We’re going to sing
 Rock-a-Bye Baby to help our teddies get to sleep.”
 Millie, 3, suddenly pipes up. “I don’t like Rock-a-Bye Baby,” she
says firmly.
 Show how the writer’s word choice conveys one aspect of the girl’s
personality.
QUESTION FOUR
 So why not tackle the bagpipes?’ I think, as I eye a YouTube
performance by the Red Hot Chilli Pipers, the closest thing the
piping world has to pin-ups. They have teamed the bagpipe with
electric guitars and keyboard, punching out dazzling
arrangements of rock anthems, attracting new audiences and
players in the process.
 Explain why any example of the writer’s word choice in the sentence in
 lines 19–21 effectively conveys how impressive the band are
QUESTION FIVE
 I thrust the giant gearstick into first and ease my foot tentatively off
the clutch. In principle it is just like in a car, but in practice the
difficulty of everything required—effort, concentration, even aim—
has been multiplied many times. I start moving and, for the first time
in 20 years, remember why I never go on rollercoasters. The
excitement is tremendous but so is the fear of something so
powerful. I am not only in the grip of a monster but, supposedly, in
control of it.
 Look at lines 55–60. Identify and explain one example of contrast in the
writer’s word choice
QUESTION SIX
 Within 30 minutes I am soaring around the training ground,
doing nifty turns and even managing to reverse into a tight
parking space. “
 Look at lines 61–62, and then show how one example of the writer’s
 Word choice illustrates a point about how her driving improved.
QUESTION SEVEN
 We sat on for several minutes in an amiable silence punctuated
by the cries of the killdeer and the faulty muffler of the pick-up.
 Show how the writer’s word choice suggests that the two strangers are
comfortable in each other’s company.
QUESTION EIGHT
 So on the afternoon of 16 December, when Greenwood, my
elementary school, dispatched its happy hordes into the snowy
streets to begin three glorious weeks of yuletide relaxation (and
school holidays in those days, let me say, were of a proper and
 generous duration).
 Look at lines 7– 9.
 Explain how any one example of the writer’s word choice in these lines
helps emphasise the fact that the writer has pleasant memories of
Christmas time when he was a boy.
QUESTION NINE
 He modified his routes and always remained far from the
overhang of the roof where the boy – changing his tactics, trying
to be selective – was perched, rock in hand, directly above the
bait on the ground, waiting to crush the rat’s back.
 What does the writer’s use of the word “perched” add to image created
that a simpler word like “sitting” would not.
QUESTION TEN
 At length we parked in an enormous parking lot that was
 almost comically empty—we were one of half a dozen cars, all
from out of state—and strode a few paces to a grand entrance,
where we stood with hands in pockets looking up at a fabulous
display of wrought iron
 Show how the writer’s word choice shows that Disneyland was an
impressive place