Exercise: Choosing synonyms

EXERCISE 30.4

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 write it in the text box below along with your explanation of what difference the new word would make on the effect of the passage.

  1. 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”

    Question

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    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”
  2. 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

    Question

    ldg+62U9/QpVTCwImqPFWRQkXpUwfnRUMSdknuxgRFecQWrdti1d3wz+gNnpTDzUG8EE17yANR2NhCxYaq11FROj4hKNF4d6eS+98Hp1DDR69ZQwidGJZ08AGUh99wQuZANkW8Ge+y1KQuZCXo9b2t2pkz+45H4CrVnzFMT8CkDCVLcrvJUPC2ggBFOO3whqpV03QOxt2gbnhvDK+qoCiWPMEoEZg6nAmWGhP0r4wWyqBylQIeHSOuUFpqnqmWREsYJ0loQnXID3/3AFReL2C087FMjmir9NruVgQdU/35G8XYjdc0NBFcbsDzcRkIGs7I+HMexiUDE4k46p77DxQZXPP7wnUJXXp9wPsAGFHn/r3Apm/x1RiW7KwgJlgIW8w9Nurh52kzBHfI6kOvRGEnXg+DP5bqLtnAyJ5TmWJYZv/WSP8dcSGS78/+L6gC7S
    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
  3. 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”

    Question

    Ltii5mv0Pida4NvCghBD74e2+3H1bn0jKMYVHrmu141mrFHyK7DQtTEm8MM4nN8zxR/DDO32hQY26NNZd5F2Tj/t3vT8YWY2R9/DjCUHJsYfIwB0Hg8Q6qBJuNEQsZh5eOMsrIoeV6cJLx8fnDdS2xtk/W98Ag4XEdidpvCJaEpfGrGepuhrx3+tFUOHuOdfOD4uP15fsfWo04oXpv/uSYgakGc8Ae5PO03kejIyoUiUWBRW87hYrDpHqZy2zoNfm6Kc/M+HBLjVRyzxZ/sPvM010V+eQxJp4rl/e5Cc5KXWormK6AHzwFwG2D8dCOblVyw39IhiFM4XOD9QJIOP3fXKyylscEYhDk3J+zInCRdT/+pwrYnk+GQptW4C8tH8vQaeQ5zUz7nzSs4xW+0QBEmAMuUYHRp43EwcY02bIPZ0SsnT+tSKoJizWM1c0TsI
    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”