Навигация
Avoid Overusing Word Modifiers
62632
знака
0
таблиц
0
изображений
8. Avoid Overusing Word Modifiers
Avoid overusing adjectives and adverbs. These modifiers have their place, but in the most vigorous prose, action is expressed in verbs, and the agents of that action are expressed in nouns. This principle applies to both ornate, pompous modifiers and to such commonplace intensifiers as really, pretty, and very.
One of the best ways to avoid overusing modifiers is to select specific, self-modified nouns and verbs—ones that don't require adjectives and adverbs to supplement their meaning. For example, you might replace long black car with limousine or ran very quickly with sped or bolted.
9. Clarify the Logical Relationship Between Your Ideas
In order to make your writing coherent and the transitions between your ideas smooth, you must clearly express or imply the logical relationships between your ideas. If you fail to do so, one idea is simply juxtaposed with another, and readers are left to make the logical connections for themselves. In this situation, experienced readers will suspect that you have not clarified the logical relationships between your ideas because you don't know what those relationships are—or worse, because there aren't any.
There are a variety of ways to express or imply logical relationships; some of the smoothest and most subtle use the very structure of the sentence. For example, you can use the principle of order and emphasis (see #4) to indicate that one part of the sentence is more important than another; you can use subordination (see #6) to indicate that one idea is less important than (or subordinate to) another; and you can use parallelism to indicate that two or more ideas are of equal importance.
You can also use punctuation to indicate the logical relationships between ideas. For example, you can use a colon to indicate that what follows is a further explanation of what's just been said; you can use commas to indicate whether or not a clause restricts the meaning of the sentence; and you can use dashes to indicate that the enclosed material is important to the discussion and should be emphasized.
Of the various means of establishing the logical relationships between ideas, the most blatant is the use of transitional devices, such as therefore, thus, however, and hence. These devices are more prevalent in analytical writing—where logical relationships are more important—than they are in narration or description. There is a point, however, at which such devices begin to be abused. Properly used, transitional devices signal logical relationships—they do not create them. In fact, there is no transitional device in the English language that can wrench two ideas into a logical relationship that simply doesn't exist. The table below (taken from the Harbrace College Handbook) lists eight logical relationships and some of the transitional devices that may be used to indicate each of them:
1. Addition: moreover, further, furthermore, besides, and, and then, likewise, also, nor, too, again, in addition, equally important, next, first, second, third, in the first place, in the second place, finally, last
2. Comparison: similarly, likewise, in like manner
3. Contrast: but, yet, and yet, however, still, nevertheless, on the other hand, on the contrary, even so, notwithstanding, for all that, in contrast to this, at the same time, although this may be true, otherwise
4. Place: here, beyond, nearby, opposite to, adjacent to, on the opposite side
5. Purpose: to this end, for this purpose, with this object
6. Result: hence, therefore, accordingly, consequently, thus, thereupon, as a result, then
7. Summary, repetition, exemplification, intensification: to sum up, in brief, on the whole, in sum, in short, as I have said, in other words, that is, to be sure, as has been noted, for example, for instance, in fact, indeed, to tell the truth, in any event
8. Time: meanwhile, at length, soon, after a few days, in the meantime, afterward, later, now, in the past.
10. Prune Deadwood
Deadwood is material that adds nothing to the meaning of the sentence, words that serve only as filler. When you edit your writing, eliminate any words or phrases that can be removed without damaging the meaning of the sentence or paragraph:
no: I spent my first six weeks on the job in a state of shock, but today I have a completely different perspective on the company in general, as compared to when I first started.
yes: I spent my first six weeks on the job in a state of shock, but today I have a completely different perspective on the company.
Occasional exceptions to this principle may be justified for the sake of emphasis or rhythm.
11. Avoid Redundancy
Redundancy, the unnecessary repetition of information, is a subset of deadwood, but one that is important enough to deserve separate mention:
no: Brackets are used in a command format description to indicate that the enclosed parameter is optional and, therefore, may be supplied or not at the user's discretion.
yes: Brackets are used in a command format description to indicate that the enclosed parameter is optional.
Occasional exceptions to this principle may be justified for the sake of emphasis or coherence.
Похожие работы
... as in his defective stories, or terror, as is the case of “The Cask Of Amontillado”. Poe’s tales of terror are perhaps, more widely known to the general reader than his defective stories. Poe’s short narrative prose style as found in the two categories characteristic of his fiction has widely influenced the form and purpose of the short story, not only in the United States, but also around the ...
of promoting a morpheme is its repetition. Both root and affixational morphemes can be emphasized through repetition. Especially vividly it is observed in the repetition of affixational morphemes which normally carry the main weight of the structural and not of the denotational significance. When repeated, they come into the focus of attention and stress either their logical meaning (e.g. that of ...
... materials based on electric devices manuals are studied. In the next chapter lexical and grammatical peculiarities have been reviewed. 2. Lexical and grammatical peculiarities of scientific-technical texts In any scientific and technical text, irrespective of its contents and character, can be completely precisely translated from one language to other, even if in an artwork such branch of ...
ams, elegies, songs, satires and sermons. His poetry is noted for its vibrancy of language and inventiveness of metaphor, especially as compared to that of his contemporaries. John Donne's masculine, ingenious style is characterized by abrupt openings, paradoxes, dislocations, argumentative structure, and "conceits"--images which yoke things seemingly unlike. These features in combination with ...
0 комментариев