VERB CHOICE Unit 2 Persuasive Writing

Objective Use descriptive active verbs in active voice whenever possible.

Active Voice vs. Passive Voice Active: Subject Acts Passive: Subject is acted upon.

Active Voice vs. Passive Voice Active: Luke wielded the light saber. Passive: The light saber was wielded by Luke. Active: Yoda has an awesome voice. Passive: ?? Active: ?? Passive: The father of Luke is Darth Vader.

Use a passive voice: -Almost never -When you want to draw attention away from the action or doer of the action. -When you want to cause confusion. “Bombs were dropped on a village last night by a U.S. Army fighter jet.”

Action Verbs vs. Blah Verbs Although sometimes necessary, Blah Verbs offer no mental picture for the reader. BE Verbs- Be, Is, Are, Am, Was, Were, Been, Being DO Verbs: do, did, does, doing, didn’t, don’t HAVE Verbs: have, had, has, having MAYBE VERBS: can, could, may, might, will, would, shall, should, must

Action Verbs vs. Blah Verbs Action Verbs appeal to the senses: Chatted Giggled Shrieked Whispered Gossiped Preached Mimicked Shared Screamed Gasped Come up with a list of 100.

Action Verbs in Active Voice -To be more concise and to the point: I have been to the mall. I rocked the mall. - To be more efficient and descriptive: Yoda talks funny. Yoda gargles through his words.

TASK -TIME Magazine’s 25 best inventions of Read about your assigned invention. -Write a brief advertisement that informs the audience about your product while selling them on it. -Limit your use of BLAH verbs to 2. -No passive voice. -Be prepared to present your advertisement with enthusiasm.