Useful vocabulary and phrasing for essays
Useful verbs for essays
These are not the only verbs you’ll need for essays, obviously, and some more common ones have been omitted to keep the page shorter (e.g. presents, suggests, implies), but they’re all words you should understand and use when required.
advocate - ‘publicly recommend or support’. This is useful for talking about a writer’s didactic purpose in a text. For example: This further conveys the importance of collective responsibility, an idea that Priestley advocates throughout ‘An Inspector Calls’.
compound - ‘make (something bad) worse; intensify the negative aspects of’. Useful for when you want to describe the effect of some evidence on the reader or audience, providing that effect is negative. For example: This helps to compound the reader’s dislike of Scrooge.
echo - ‘be reminiscent of or have shared characteristics with’. Useful for when you want to say something is like something else, without it being repetition. For example: Lady Macbeth’s words echo many of thing things she said earlier in the play, showing how much… etc.
emphasise - ‘give special importance or value to’. Useful for the analysis of methods. Very often writers use methods to emphasise an aspect of the meaning that is expressed in the broader text. For example: Golding personifies the pig to emphasise how horrific this moment is for Jack. For him it is… etc
encourage - ‘persuade (someone) to do or continue to do something by giving support and advice’. Useful for writing about a writer’s intentions for their audience. For example: Dickens highlights the suffering of the poor to encourage his readers to act with more charity and compassion.
establish - ‘initiate or bring about’. Useful for writing about the start of a text, when characters and themes are being introduced to the reader/audience. For example: Priestley establishes Birling as a man deeply concerned with social class and social status.
explore - ‘inquire into or discuss (something) in detail’. Useful for introducing an idea that is featured in a text, especially when the text doesn’t necessarily have a clear didactic message about that idea. For example: Both poems explore the after-effects of love gone wrong.
reflect - ‘embody or represent (something) in a faithful or appropriate way’. Useful for writing about the effect of methods, especially the effect of sound techniques and aspects of form in poetry. For example: The regularity of the rhyme scheme may reflect the calmness of the speaker.
reinforce - ‘strengthen or support (an object or substance), especially with additional material’. A useful alternative to ‘emphasise’ as a way to describe the effect of something. This is especially useful for including later on in a paragraph. For example: The natural imagery used in this metaphor reinforces the idea that growing up is natural and inevitable.
represent - ‘depict (something) in a work of art’. Useful for showing that you understand that characters are used to represent certain types of people and attitudes in literary texts. For example: This characterization of Birling is important because, throughout the play, he is used to represent the individualistic attitudes which Priestley is trying to undermine.
Useful phrases for essays
This can be seen most clearly when …
Useful for introducing the evidence in a paragraph about a longer literary text. It shows your example is not the only place that your point is evident, but that it is the best place, in your view. For example: This can be seen most clearly when Sheila gives Gerald back the engagement ring. She says that… etc.
Here, …
Useful for starting your analysis and explaining what you are trying to show in your evidence. For example: Here, not only does Birling continue to deny any responsibility for Eva’s death, but… etc.
… to describe …
Useful for putting methods in context and explaining how the method is being used. For example: Dickens uses a long list to describe the different things happening at the fair. This creates the impression that… etc.
… , according to [Writer], …
Useful for tying your discussion of ideas back to the writer and their intentions, while acknowledging that what you’re saying is not necessarily a fact. For example: Socialism is, according to Priestley, the solution to the suffering of the working class.
For [Writer], …
Useful for introducing a discussion of the writer’s views and intentions. For example: For Dickens, Christmas represents all that is good about mankind: it’s when we are our best selves.
[Writer] uses [character] to convey his/her ideas about…
Useful for transitioning from the discussion of a character to the discussion of ideas; it shows that you understand the text as a conscious construct. For example: In the extract, Golding uses Jack to convey his ideas about civilisation. It can have a powerful hold over people… etc.
[Writer], on the other hand, suggests that …
Useful for comparison essays, especially in the introduction or conclusion, when you want to convey a difference between the two texts you are comparing. For example: Hardy, on the other hand, suggests that one failed relationship can become a kind of template for all future relationships.
Here, [Writer] introduces a note of …
Useful for writing about the general mood of a text in your analysis, especially in poetry, where the mood can change suddenly but subtly. For example: Here, Dooley introduces a note of acceptance, though one tinged with regret. It is as if… etc
At this time, …
Useful for introducing some discussion of the historical context of a text. For example: At this time, defying the government would have been especially brave because… etc
Words to use when hedging
Hedging (‘to limit or qualify (something) by conditions or exceptions’) is essential for sophisticated essay-writing. It allows you to be bold and daring with your analysis, while admitting that your interpretation could be wrong, which is totally fine, providing you hedge.
arguably - useful for acknowledging that you recognise that not everyone agrees with a particular interpretation. For example: Lady Macbeth is Macbeth’s wife and, arguably, his chief corruptor.
can - useful when discussing ideas about people and society. It allows you to convey that a writer/text is not saying that all people are like this, merely that some people are, sometimes. For example: This suggests that the desire for power can have a very corruptive influence on people.
may - useful when discussing the intentions of a writer. It allows you to show that you don’t know for sure what they were saying, since you’ve never asked them, but that this is one possibility. For example: Armitage may be suggesting that some mothers find it difficult to let go of their children. Also good for more speculative analysis of language techniques, especially form. For example: The regularity of the rhyme scheme may reflect the calmness of the speaker.
perhaps - useful for inserting mid-sentence to add a bit of uncertainty to your assertions. For example: This is perhaps because Priestley does not want to vilify all upper-class people and instead wants to… etc.
Useful connectives
furthermore / moreover - these two words are essentially synonymous. They’re useful for developing a piece of analysis, adding more effects for a method. For example: Furthermore, the metaphor creates a sense of threat; the teacher is not just mean but dangerous. It is as if… etc.
however - useful for introducing a contrast. It’s best when embedded in a sentence, rather than used instead of ‘but’. For example: The “slow-stepping” could be seen as hesitant, however, reflecting a hesitancy on the part of the couple to fully commit to moving on from their difficulties.
nevertheless - useful for drawing a line under detailed analysis and bringing things back to your broader point. For example: Nevertheless, there is still considerably more hope than in Hardy’s poem.
whereas - useful for comparison. For example: Duffy’s poem looks at motherhood whereas Heaney’s poem looks at fatherhood.
while - useful for comparison. For example: While the difficulties in Hardy’s poem have killed the relationship entirely, there is still hope for the couple in Sheers’ poem.
Some other useful essay words
ambiguous - ‘open to more than one interpretation; not having one obvious meaning’. Useful for talking about poetry in particular. For example: These lines are ambiguous. They could mean… etc
ambivalent - ‘having mixed feelings or contradictory ideas about something or someone’. Useful for writing about characters’ attitudes and feelings. For example: These lines suggest Macbeth is ambivalent about the battle: he’s happy to have won, but also sad about the lives lost.
sympathetic - ‘(of a person) attracting the liking of others’. Useful for describing characters. For example: Sheila is presented as a much more sympathetic character than her father.
traditional - ‘as part of a long-established custom, practice, or belief’. Also: traditionally. Generally, a more accurate word than ‘stereotypical’, which has negative connotations and is anachronistic (‘belonging to a period other than that being portrayed’) when discussing older texts. For example: Bravery is a traditionally masculine trait.