Changing "is" to a Stronger Verb

While we practiced changing "is" to a stronger verb in class, it might help to explain in writing why it makes the essay stronger.

Using a verb that better conveys the action of the sentence makes the sentence more interesting to the reader!

For example, students will need to use outside sources for their Research Paper. Some students might try to use "is" to refer to what the author communicates.

This author is trying to tell readers how the economy will fail soon.

Instead, try rewriting the above sentence with a stronger verb...

This author tries to tell readers how the economy will fail soon.

This author attempts to tell readers how the economy will fail soon.

Readers can be impatient compared to someone who is listening to a spoken argument. If they read smaller words such as "is" they get bored quickly.

In addition, sometimes it becomes tiresome to see the same words over and over again in an essay. If the author uses a wide variety of words, the reader will appreciate it.

One more example...

The instructor for this class is more strict on essays than last semester.

The instructor for this class grades essays more strictly than last semester.

It looks and sounds better for the reader to see "grades" instead of "is" as the verb.

Eliminating "is" completely might be impossible, especially for students at the English 101 level (whether they are in the MW class or TTH), but cutting down on the verb will help essays from a stylistic standpoint. The effort will be noticed.