discussion: writing exercise #2 – choosing your words well

Effective writing involves making conscious choices with words. When you prepare to sit down to write your first draft, you likely have already completed some freewriting exercises, chosen your topic, developed your thesis statement, written an outline, and even selected your sources. When it is time to write your first draft, start to consider which words to use to best convey your ideas to the reader.

Some writers are picky about word choice as they start drafting. They may practice some specific strategies, such as using a dictionary and thesaurus, using words and phrases with proper connotations, and avoiding slang, clichés, and overly general words.

Once you understand these tricks of the trade, you can move ahead confidently in writing your assignment. Remember, the skill and accuracy of your word choice is a major factor in developing your writing style. Precise selection of your words will help you be more clearly understood—in both writing and speaking. (15.3 Word Choice, n.d., paras. 1–3)

In this discussion on writing, you will utilize two of the most beneficial resources for effective business writers: a dictionary and a thesaurus, as well as tap into popular and scholarly research to consider the words contained in the Virtuous Business Model—and with good reason—to critically assess the word choices. After all, whether in one-on-one discussions or group discussions, speeches, or written communication—we all must choose our words well.

Upon successful completion of this discussion, you will be able to:

• Integrate the Virtuous Business model into their reading, research, writing, and reporting.

Background Information

The Discerning Reader and Writer

Even professional writers need help with the meanings, spellings, pronunciations, and uses of particular words. In fact, they rely on dictionaries to help them write better. No one knows every word in the English language and their multiple uses and meanings, so all writers, from novices to professionals, can benefit from the use of dictionaries.

Look at the following sample dictionary entry and see which of the preceding information you can identify:

myth, mith, n. [Gr. mythos, a word, a fable, a legend.] A fable or legend embodying the convictions of a people as to their gods or other divine beings, their own beginnings and early history and the heroes connected with it, or the origin of the world; any invented story; something or someone having no existence in fact.

—myth • ic, myth • i • cal

Like a dictionary, a thesaurus is another indispensable writing tool. A thesaurus gives you a list of synonyms, words that have the same (or very close to the same) meaning as another word. It also lists antonyms, words with the opposite meaning of the word. A thesaurus will help you when you are looking for the perfect word with just the right meaning to convey your ideas. It will also help you learn more words and use the ones you already know more correctly.

precocious, adj., She’s such a precocious little girl!: uncommonly smart, mature, advanced, smart, bright, brilliant, gifted, quick, clever, apt.

Ant. slow, backward, stupid. (15.3 Word Choice, n.d., paras. 1–3)

Do words amaze you? If not so much, or if you haven’t really given any thought to it before now, consider this:

• There are only 26 letters in the English alphabet.
• Although no exact count is available, there are about 470,000+ English words in current use. (Merriam-Webster, n.d.)
• English-speaking people tend to use only about 20,000 to 30,000 thousand words.
• Of all the English words in existence, there are just 8 parts of speech: noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, interjection (The Eight Parts of Speech, n.d.)

Perhaps what is MOST AMAZING of all is that with just 26 letters in the alphabet, we each have our own way of saying things—the way we communicate in speech and writing. We truly have a voice all our own. Yes, we have a voice in print much like we have in sound when we speak. That is why people can sometimes recognize the work of an author they are familiar with just by reading a few lines of text. (An instructor also recognizes the voice of their students, even in print.) And to think we can conduct a plagiarism checker – comparing one person’s written work against thousands and thousands of written works by others – with some written texts being hundreds of years old – and all from the construct of just 26 words. It boggles the mind! We now begin to fathom how significant it is that we each have a ‘knack’ of uniquely crafting our sentences – and selecting the words that form them.

How regularly do you access a dictionary, in print or online? When did you last use a thesaurus—in print or the tool located in Word? The two resources will be highly indispensable when writing your applied doctoral project consulting report. And while there may be exceptions, typically, neither resource should be used to replace any ‘formal’ words that are specific to a theory, model, academic concept, or business practice. When using the example of a formal theory name, Adam’s equity theory would not be replaced with Adam’s impartiality theory or Adam’s fairness theory even though the substituted words have similar meanings. Rather, when looking at a theory, model, academic concept or business practice, we should build on the work of other researchers—especially if we aim to alter the wording or its meaning in some way. There should be a valid reason for making changes to formal social science constructs—including the conceptual model known as the Virtuous Business Model.

Consistency of word and definition use is beneficial for comparative purposes in research. There are times, however, when it may be necessary to revise previously accepted definitions to advance knowledge. In fact, alterations in definitions often indicate progression but, of course, they may also merely indicate differences in research findings or differences of authorial opinion. For this assignment, you are going to progress in your critical thinking and writing skills by taking a close look at the Virtuous Business Model and, particularly, the words making up the model.  As you look at the model, ask the following:

• Are the words the best selection to convey the various concepts of the model—individually and collectively?
• Is the correct form of speech used in each instance (noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, interjection)? 
• When aligning each word with its correlative of BE, KNOW, DO, is the correct form of speech used? Look closely at the top of each triangle. Also refer to the word chart below for the word associations.
• Are there words that should be replaced entirely with other words having a completely different meaning, rather than only change the form a word(s)? If so, why?

You are invited to think critically about the VBM and the word choices comprising it.

References

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). How many words are there in English? https://www.merriam-webster.com/help/faq-how-many-english-words(new tab)

The eight parts of speech. (n.d.). Butte College. http://www.butte.edu/departments/cas/tipsheets/grammar/parts_of_speech.html(new tab)

Instructions

1. Review the rubric to make sure you understand the criteria for earning your grade.
2. Read chapters 1, 2, and 3 in How to Critique Journal Articles in the Social Sciences.  
3. Read “What is the Definition of OD?”(new tab) by Smendzuik-O’Brien and Gilpin-Jackson (2021).
4. Download and read the article “What is the Definition of OD?” by Smendzuik-O’Brien and Gilpin-Jackson (2021).
5. Download and review the Excel file Defining Terms in the Virtuous Business Model(Excel spreadsheet).
   1. Note there are three worksheets in the Excel file: (1) VBM, (2) VBM Definitions, and (3) References.
6. Review the Virtuous Business Model (VBM), especially taking note of all the words embedded in the model, including the additional words heading each angle.
7. Select 5 words in the Virtuous Business Model to conduct a Boolean search for definitions and to critically analyze their form (and use).
8. Use the Excel worksheet that is like the one used by Smendzuik-O’Brien and Gilpin-Jackson (2021) to compile your VBM word definition searches. Refer to the example listing for ‘Social Capital’ in the VBM Definitions worksheet.
   1. Definitions. Locate and place into the Excel file three types of definitions for at least 5 words currently shown in the VBM model:
      1. Dictionary definition
      2. Popular Journal, Magazine, or Trade/Industry definition
      3. Scholarly definition
   2. Word Form. For each of the 5 words you selected, identify the present form of the word in the VBM model (i.e., noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, interjection) in the designated column of the Excel worksheet.
      1. Be, Know, Do. For each of the 5 words you selected, determine if the present form of the word matches its correlate: Be, Know, Do. For example, the word associated with ‘respectful’ is ‘be’ and the determination would be that there is good correlation: “be respectful” is proper English.
   3. Remain, Revise or Replace. After you have defined each of the 5 words and identified their current form, complete the Remain, Revise, and Replace columns in the Excel file. For each word, identify if it should
      1. remain in its present form as shown in the VBM,
      2. be revised in a different form (e.g., rather than be formatted as a noun, be revised to a verb), or
      3. be replaced with a synonym or a different word altogether.
9. Write your initial post in response to the following prompts in a minimum of 250–300 words:
   1. Remain, Revise, Replace. Explain your decision to keep all words the same or to revise or replace specific words.
   2. Virtuous Business Model. How has this exercise impacted your understanding of the VBM?
   3. Lessons Learned. In the text How to Critique Journal Articles in the Social Sciences, Harris (2014) discusses arbitrariness, definitional discord, and definitional diversity in Chapter 3—Defining Key Terms.
      1. Based on your experiential learning in this assignment, what lessons have you learned?
      2. Were there any surprise findings?
      3. How will you apply new learning to your ADP research?
10. Use Grammarly to edit the first two paragraphs.
11. Ensure all citations and references in the Excel spreadsheet are in proper APA format.
12. Submit the initial discussion post by Day 5 of the workshop.
13. Read and respond to at least one of your classmates’ postings and any follow-up instructor questions directed at you by the end of the workshop. When responding, utilize at least one of the following ways to engage in scholarly dialogue: 
    1. Extension: Expand the discussion.
    2. Relevancy: Relate the topic to a current event.
    3. Exploratory: Probe facts and basic knowledge. 
    4. Challenge: Interrogate assumptions, conclusions or interpretations. 
    5. Relational: Make comparisons or contrasts of themes, ideas, or issues. 
    6. Diagnostic: Probe motives or causes. 
    7. Action: Identify application or an action in personal or work life. 
    8. Cause & Effect: Cite causal relationships between ideas, actions or events. 
    9. Hypothetical: Pose a change in the facts or issues. 
    10. Priority: Seek to identify the most important issues. 
    11. Summary: Elicit synthesis.