WRT333-Section 1: Scientific and Technical Writing
Noun Clusters and Missing Links
Week 4
Noun Clusters: Words that look like nouns can be used to modify nouns that follow. When you read them, your brain initially sees them as a noun, and must recode them into a different role of adjective, slowing reading. When several nouns appear in a cluster, it is also possible to be confused about possible meanings.
- south beach low carbohydrate weight reduction diet
- homeland security terrorist protection policy
We can break these up, making it faster to decode the modifiers, if we add connective prepositions (about, at, behind, by, for, in, on, over, past, since, to, as, except, like, of, with, etc.)(LBH-8, p. 267)
- homeland security policy for protection from terrorists
or should it be:
- homeland security and policy for the protection of the rights of terrorists
Speed up reading and enhance clarity by breaking up clusters.
Ambiguity from missing Wh-Connections: We use connectors to establish links between words. Which, who, whom, whose, and that are most common. When they are missing, we often can't tell the intended meaning.
- She said she didn't want the bookcase stored in her office.
Does this mean
- She didn't want the bookcase that was stored in her office.
or
- She didn't want someone to store their bookcase in her office.
Such ambiguities may be easy to overlook, so look twice!