Strong verbs for history essays

4 Responses

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1. john doe says

   nothing great. could have thought of these myself.

   December 6, 2009, 6:36 pm
2. molly clare says

   I agree, you absolutely could have! (And you should – brainstorming words will be good for your writing). So why do I post it? Two reasons:
   1) It’s a powerful illustration of all the the actions that happen in history. You need verbs other than ‘was’ to write history – the past is a crazy dynamic place, as this verb list illustrates.
   2) Even my good writers get mired in ‘was’. I can tell students to use active verbs until I’m blue in the face, but we all know that a lot of what a teacher says goes in one ear and out the other. However, I know that some of them read this blog, so my posting this is a sneaky, underhanded way to get them using better verbs – an alternative teaching avenue, if you will.

   December 6, 2009, 7:47 pm
3. U.S. History Student says

   ” I know that some of them [students] read this blog, so my posting this is a sneaky, underhanded way to get them using better verbs – an alternative teaching avenue, if you will.”

   Haha. I would have to agree because instead of defining U.S. History terms, this is what I do on my day off. And to boot, I found a really helpful list that will make my U.S. History paper flourish.

   January 8, 2010, 1:10 pm
4. molly clare says

   My nefarious plan is working. Q.E.D.

   January 11, 2010, 8:46 pm