Representing actions with nouns

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Summarising nouns used to give a positive 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:

The Bible says you should always treat other people the way you would like to be treated yourself. And in fact you don't have to be a Christian to realise that if everyone followed this advice, the world would be a much more agreeable place.

The words this advice are used to refer back to a previous stretch of writing, ie the details of who did the advising, plus the gist of what was advised: you should always treat other people the way you would like to be treated yourself. By referring back in this way, the writer not only links the given information with the new idea which follows: "people will be happier", but interprets the stretch of writing positively, as advice .

Here is a list of evaluative summarising nouns which are typically used to give a positive evaluation of the words being referred to :

  acknowledgement     advice     affirmation     apology
  assurance     compliment     eloquence     endorsement
  eulogy     imagery     insight     proof
  vision

For further information about writing coherently, see 04conten.gif (549 bytes) Developing cohesion: Using this to point backwards.

04conten.gif (549 bytes) Introduction
04conten.gif (549 bytes) Expressing ideas concisely
04conten.gif (549 bytes) Expressing ideas in an appropriately technical manner
04conten.gif (549 bytes) Manipulating the elements in a text
04conten.gif (549 bytes) Expressing ideas coherently
04conten.gif (549 bytes) Neutral summarising nouns
04conten.gif (549 bytes) Summarising nouns used to give a negative evaluation
square.gif (58 bytes) Summarising nouns used to give a positive evaluation
04conten.gif (549 bytes) Summarising nouns referring to actions and events