Citizen Journalism and the Use of the Thesaurus

A citizen journalist should always have a thesaurus on hand when writing. Using the perfect word or words when creating upbeat and engaging sentences is crucial to good writing. The thesaurus is a blessing for finding an exhaustive list of synonyms to match the word you want to change. It is important to know how to use a thesaurus and why you should always follow up with a dictionary.

How to use a thesaurus

In order to demonstrate how to use a thesaurus, take a look at the online version, www.thesaurus.com. In the search bar, type the word "important" and click search. Eighty-six results appear for this word. Now we have to sift through this to find the correct word to use.

For example, my sentence is "It's important for a citizen journalist to use a thesaurus." To me, this is a generic and very basic sentence. There's nothing wrong with writing a simple statement, but let's try to liven it up a bit. Scroll down the page of results and look at what choices we have. Under the main entry word, the part of speech is given. This is extremely significant to pay attention to and make sure you're replacing a noun with a noun or an adjective with an adjective.

Since we're looking for another word to replace "important" in the sentence, go through each word to find what we're looking for. The first synonym is "big," but that's not going to make much sense in this context. The next word that can be used is "crucial." Click on the word "crucial" and you'll see a list of synonyms that relate to that word. Notice that even though "crucial" also means "important," there are different synonyms listed for "crucial" than listed under the term "important."

Scroll up to the top of the page, notice that the word "crucial" is in the search bar. Under the word, there is a "Dictionary" tab. Click it. You are automatically connected to the dictionary definition of the term "crucial." Scroll down for the five results. The definitions include "involving an extremely important decision or result."* This is the perfect word to use.

Sounds like a lot of work, right? At first, it is. As you develop a habit of using the thesaurus and dictionary to create your writings, you'll find that it gets easier each time. If you are a citizen journalist, you need to develop a relationship with the thesaurus and dictionary. As you learn new words, you'll consult the thesaurus and dictionary less often. Remember that the use of a variety of words, even though they have the same meaning, is crucial.

Works Cited:

American Psychological Association (APA):

crucial. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Retrieved March 02, 2008, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/crucial

Chicago Manual Style (CMS):

crucial. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/crucial (accessed: March 02, 2008).

Modern Language Association (MLA):

"crucial." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 02 Mar. 2008. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/crucial>.