Improving Your Writing with Emily Dickinson (1)

You can improve your writing by thinking about what verbs you are using. As an English tutor, I'm often asked to help students develop their writing skills.  Verbs are action words, and English has a huge range of vocabulary to use for verbs.   You can always expand your vocabulary to become a better writer.

This is the first verse of a poem by Emily Dickinson:

‘A Bird, came down the Walk - 

He did not know I saw -

He bit an Angle Worm in halves

And ate the fellow, raw.’

Actually the verbs that Emily Dickinson uses are quite straightforward!

Can you identify them?

They are “came”, “know”, “saw”, “bit”, and “ate”.

What other verbs could she have used instead do you think?

You can read the whole poem here.