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Chapter 6 - Changing
Pace and Adding Variety
The Noun Clause
In previous chapters, we learned about cutting clutter and using verb
forms. Here is a twist. Try using a wordy noun clause for a change of
pace. Here is an example: The player was aware of the fact that poor attendance
would be a reason for a bad season. The clause the fact that poor attendance
would be a reason for a bad season acts as a noun. A noun clause carefully
added to a section of your document can add diversity if you use it sparingly
and only if you have a specific reason to use it.
Exercise: Rewrite
the noun clause above in a verb form (the generally preferred method).
That v. Which
Many people confuse that and which, or interchange them incorrectly. Here
is a little non-technical trick to help you use the correct word most
of the time. If you ask, "which one?" answer, "that one."
For example, Jerry only eats the pizza that Jenny bakes. Which pizza does
he eat? He only eats the pizza that Jenny bakes. This is a restrictive
clause, which isolates one item from a group or one set of items from
a group. Which pizza? That pizza.
Here is the same sentence
using a nonrestrictive clause. Jerry only eats pizza, which Jenny bakes.
Do you see the difference? Here, we do not care about the particular pizza
Jerry eats. The fact that Jenny bakes pizza does not relate to a specific
pizza that Jerry eats.
Here is a twist. We
recently learned that you can replace that with which as a restrictive
relative pronoun if you do not add a comma before which. However, we prefer
"that" in most cases. Some intellectuals think which sounds
more intelligent. Hmmmm...
The Passive Voice
Most persuasive and effective writing is in the active voice. Here is
an example of a sentence in the active voice: The teacher praises the
student. For special emphasis, you could write an occasional sentence
in the passive voice: The student is praised by the teacher. The passive
voice is useful when you want to hide the identity of the subject, or
when you want to highlight a point. Can you think of other good reasons
to use the passive voice? Try to avoid it most of the time, but use it
for a change of pace.
Go Back to Chapter 5 -The Ugly Preposition
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