In literature, context clues are words or phrases, such as synonyms, antonyms, or metaphors, that are used as 'clues' or 'hints' when an unfamiliar or complicated word is used by the author. It allows the reader to <u>understand the meaning of the word in regard to the context it is used in.</u>
Context clues could be more useful in comparison to dictionaries because it allows the reader to comprehend the word in a more profound way by knowing <em>how the word could be used, in what context, how is it similar or different to other words</em>, etc. instead of only known the definition - which could also be complicated to understand in many cases.
In my opinion, I think that is something that is a personal preference with each person. Everyone has their own way of doing things and you really cannot say someone is wrong just because it is not the way you would have done it. In my experience as a student, I really had a mixture of all three of these techniques when trying to figure out the meaning behind a word. If I see a word while reading a passage that I have not seen, or heard about, I can simply use context clues that surround the word and kind of put two-and-two together to figure it out. If I had to choose the easiest way, or fastest way without having to pull out a dictionary, it would be context clues. Yet, a lot of the time, when trying to find these context clues I find myself second guessing, and having to resort to a dictionary. Related words and context clues kind of have a very similar meaning to them in my opinion. Using context clues that are given to you in the passage above, or even in the same sentence is the fastest way to find the answer that you are looking for, but this method may not be the best for your personal taste, or preference. If allowed, looking up words in a dictionary is a solution that really cannot go wrong, as long as you have an idea of how to use one properly, and efficiently. All three of these different solutions are great ways to figure out meanings of words, it is really based on your opinion which one is best.
