EXERCISE 23.4
Study the italicized words in each of the following passages, and decide what each word’s connotations contribute to your understanding of the passage. Think of a synonym for each word, and see if you can decide what difference the new word would make on the effect of the passage.
If boxing is a sport, it is the most tragic of all sports because, more than any human activity, it consumes the very excellence it displays: Its very drama is this consumption. — Joyce Carol Oates, “On Boxing”
Then one evening Miss Glory told me to serve the ladies on the porch. After I set the tray down and turned toward the kitchen, one of the women asked, “What’s your name, girl?” — Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
The Kiowas are a summer people; they abide the cold and keep to themselves; but when the season turns and the land becomes warm and vital, they cannot hold still. — N. Scott Momaday, “The Way to Rainy Mountain”