AP Lit - Verbs for Effective Commentary

emphasis/reinforcement

underscores, reinforces, amplifies, accentuates, highlights, foregrounds, heightens, intensifies, magnifies, stresses, illuminates, crystalizes, punctuates, drives home, sharpens

comparison/connection

echoes, mirrors, parallels, reflects, aligns with, resonates with, evokes, recalls, reinforces the pattern of, extends, builds upon, complements, rhymes with (thematically), corresponds to, reiterates

contrast/tension

undercuts, subverts, complicates, destabilizes, disrupts, unsettles, counters, defies, resists, clashes with, juxtaposes, contradicts, undermines, problematizes, strains against, cuts against, belies

shift/turn

signals, marks a turn toward, pivots toward, transforms, transitions into, gives way to, dissolves into, collapses into, reframes, redirects, complicates the trajectory of, destabilizes the earlier, veers toward, unravels into, recasts

suggestion/implication (more like “hints” than “shows”)

implies, suggests, gestures toward, hints at, intimates, conveys, captures, conjures, frames, positions, casts, insinuates, alludes to, evokes a sense of

causation/consequence

precipitates, catalyzes, triggers, sets in motion, culminates in, anticipates, foreshadows, prefigures, engenders, gives rise to, paves the way for