Representing actions with nouns
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Reasons for representing actions with nouns | page 7 of 9 |
Summarising nouns used to give a negative evaluation
When a neutral summarising noun is chosen, eg announcement, explanation, the writer's personal opinion about the previous stretch of writing is not emphasised. However, in a different context, a writer might wish to project their own interpretation on the situation, and can do this by choosing an evaluative summarising noun. The selection of such a noun is a very useful device by which a writer or speaker can manipulate the reader or hearer's response to a given situation.
For example, if someone makes a statement that you happen to disagree with, you can re-express their utterance according to your own interpretation (which might be markedly different from their original meaning or intention). Consider the following explanation offered by a local student:
I was late because of the traffic congestion. (Hong Kong Student)
If you were to report this in neutral terms, you could do so by using a neutral summarising noun as in:
Her reason for being late was that the traffic congestion was bad.
However, if you knew this student well, and wanted to impose your own, more subjective viewpoint on her habitual tardiness, you might say:
Her excuse for being late was the traffic congestion - yet again.
or even add a subjective adjective:
Her pathetic excuse about traffic congestion convinced no one.
Different summarising nouns are associated with different patterns of usage, and it is important to be aware of how certain words are typically used. For example, the summarising noun claim is typically used when reporting something that cannot be proved, and which may even be false (or which the writer disagrees with):
The African National Congress has accused the police of complacency in dealing with the right wing, charging that the police force itself houses members of right-wing paramilitary groups. General Stadler dismissed this claim as, in his words, "absolute nonsense". (Bank of English)
The words this claim summarise two main ideas about the police 
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They are complacent in dealing with the right wing. |
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They house members of right-wing paramilitary groups. |
Here is a list of evaluative summarising nouns which are typically used to give a
negative evaluation of the words being referred to :
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For further information about writing coherently, see 
Developing
cohesion: Using this to point backwards.
Summarising nouns used to give a negative evaluation
