Activity: Diction

After learning about these types of diction problems and how to fix them, get some further practice revising sentences with more than one diction problem by doing this practice activity. When you are done, compare your answers to the answer key.

Diction Review Activity

Rewrite the following sentences keeping in mind everything you have learned about diction. Be on the lookout for wordiness, repetition, and non-active language. While it is fine to reword, please make sure that your rewritten sentence still contains all of the information and meaning of the original version.

  1. There was a call put in by someone for a plumber to come and fix the dishwasher which was broken and would not work.
  2. The city council came to the resolution that an additional test should be conducted due to the fact that the results were still uncertain.
  3. If my boss doesn't stop getting on my case, this project will never be completed.
  4. Considerable memory is required for some computer apps which need a high quantity of memory to function.
  5. When Trinh started on her research paper, it was realized that at this point in time, she did not have enough resources and that she needed to head back to and return to the library.
  6. My friend Ahmed just got a sweet set of wheels due to the fact that his brother got a company vehicle with his new job and didn't need his old one.
  7. It was known by Ryan and his friends that any course they took with Dr. Hough would be a real trip with all of her badass classroom activities and field trips.
  8.  An ant has the ability to carry over one hundred times its weight and is incredibly strong and full of strength.
  9. My classmates and I are unsure what to do concerning the matter of our professor's crappy tardiness policy.      
  10. Zoey has a hectic and chaotic time getting ready in the morning by virtue of the fact that her kids have way too much energy and will not even hold still to get dressed to go to daycare and kindergarten all while she tries to prepare for school and work. 

Source: Erin Severs
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