Take Action on these verbs!!

You're about to have an Action Reaction to words.  (No, not an allergic reaction; that's something different.  I suspected my students used to have those when I posted their assignments....)

Action verbs DO SOMETHING to sentences:  they make ideas HAPPEN.  They indicate HOW or WHY an idea makes sense, has values, has merit to be used, quoted, or displayed--and they add EMPHASIS to the idea being presented.  (They also look good on your resume; that is, they're great for showing YOU did something worthy in a job function, learned a skill, or handled responsibility.)  

So learn and USE these Action verbs when it comes to essays and writing assignments (especially in SAT writing): they show that you have INTERPRETED and IDENTIFIED the way someone has made and presented their perspective.  (By the way, I love "extrapolated" and "juxtaposed" because of the "x" factor.)  And Action Words LOOK and SOUND a lot better than the old has-been phrase of "said."  Wouldn't you rather say "Mr. Lopate juxtaposed his blog so that students can creatively locate ideas" rather than saying "He said ideas in a helpful way."  Go on and ACTIVATE your papers with Action Words!

Action verbs indicate authority of a source: the credibility of the information; the value of the person who is being quoted or paraphrased.  They show how the source/author “emphasizes” the importance of what is quoted/paraphrased: the action verb shows how the information may be interpreted as “authentic.”  Action verbs take the place of “said” or “says” in this manner—but with more “oomph” to it. 

Accelerates
Accepts
Acknowledges
Adds
Admires
Affirms
Allows
Amortizes
Analyzes
Announces
Answers
Argues
Assaults
Assembles
Asserts
Asserts
Assists
Believes
Buttresses
Categorizes
Cautions
Challenges
Claims
Clarifies
Compares
Complicates
Concludes
Condemns
Confirms
Conflates
Confronts
Confuses
Considers
Contradicts
Contrasts
Convinces
Criticizes
Critiques
Declares
Defends
Defies
Demands
Denies
Describes
Destroys
Determines
Diminishes
Disagrees
Disconfirms
Discusses
Disputes
Disregards
Distinguishes
Edits
Emphasizes
Endorses
Enumerates
Exaggerates
Experiences
Experiments

Explains
Exposes
Extrapolates
Facilitates
Flattens
Formulates
Grants
Guides
Hammers
Handles
Hesitates
Highlights
Hints
Hypothesize
Identifies
Illuminates
Implies
Infers
Informs
Initiates
Insinuates
Insists
Interprets
Intimates
Judges
Juxtaposes
Lists
Maintains
Marshals
Narrates
Negates
Observes
Outlines
Parses
Perceives
Persists
Persuades
Pleads
Points out
Postulates
Praises
Proposes
Protects
Provides
Qualifies
Quotes
Ratifies
Rationalizes
Reads
Reconciles
Reconsiders
Refutes
Regards
Rejects
Relinquishes
Reminds
Repudiates
Resolves
Responds
Retorts
Reveals
Reviews
Seeks
Sees
Shares
Shifts
Shows
Simplifies
States
Stresses
Substitutes
Suggests
Summarizes
Supplements
Supplies
Supports
Synthesizes
Tests
Toys with
Treats
Uncovers
Urges
Verifies
Warrants

Warns