21 Strategy: using a Thesaurus

What is a thesaurus and why should you use one?

Sometimes when writing a paper, you want to avoid repetition or redundancy.  Sometimes, using the same word or phrase repeatedly in a paper detracts from the flow, voice, and professionalism of the writing.  Almost every writing program has a built-in tool to assist, aid, help, support, or contribute in completed any written work. In Google Docs, you can highlight the word of choice, ctrl+shift+y, which will bring up the dictionary and provide a definition and synonyms for the word.   To use the thesaurus in Word, highlight the word and right-click to bring up the options drop-down menu, and synonyms to show other options for the word.  If you are using a different program, you might use the website https://www.thesaurus.com/.

Best Practice

Generally, an uncommon term or phrase should be used no more than 2-3 times in an essay.  If you notice this in your writing or in a peer’s writing, notate and suggest the use of a thesaurus to improve the quality of the writing.