Mastering Nouns in Writing: Enhance Your Descriptive Skills with Precision

1. Sin and Syntax Presentation By Group One Tan Long Cindy Ai-Chi Jaewoo

2. Bones

3. Noun - Derived from "nomen", for "name? in Latin. - To name peole, places and things. - Things tangible and intangible. Example: - People: guard, guards - Places: cell corridor, house - Concrete things: door, arms, body, knees, gold, Rolex watches, Argentine security forces - Intangible things: luck encouragement, vestige, testimony, time.

4. Category of Noun - Common noun Refers generically to people, places, or things and so is written with all lowercase letters - Proper noun Much more specific, Referring to one and only one person, place, or thing Example: - Frances McDormand, North Dakota (initial capital letter) - PolyGram Fillmed Entertainment - Compound noun Nouns double up to express a whole that is more than the sum of its parts Example: Film star, silver screen, award winner

5. What Noun can do - Prisoner Without a name, Cell Without a Number, by JacoboTimerman - Author’s description is powered by nouns not using too much decorative adjective Example: Cell, floor, mattress, blanket guard, cigarette, security forces - Intangible nouns can convey author’s themes and offer glimpses into human condition Example: frustration: semi-air, contaminated air, temptation, time Hope: time, existence, duration, eternity

6. Flesh

7. Flesh Plain noun can be strong -> need to be strong -> specific, concrete, precise - Flesh examples: My lover, sweetie, one-and-only > domestic partner(dull) Let’s skip town in a little red Corvette > an automobile, sport-utility vehicle - Personal examples: She was able to spend more after she got her new baby, Prius > gas saver, energy efficient vehicle His kids are his future-all he has, reasons to live in this world

8. Flesh Slang and regionalism: colorful, full of verve, adopted with alacrity. - Flesh examples: Cloud burst (extreme form of precipitation, sometimes with hail and thunder, doesn’t last long but able to cause flood) > gigantic storm Roughneck > unskilled or slightly skilled labourer - Personal examples: Can’t go out without my bling(popularized in hip hop culture, referring to jewelry) > diamond ring, jewelry.

9. Flesh Right noun means exploring layers of a word, must be precise Flesh examples: - Hacienda (spanish word for estate) Victorian (house built during reign of Queen Victoria), shack (small house in state of disrepair) > house and rich to show emotion or sensation - Bungalow (one-story house with a low pitched roof) also shows coziness, homey atmosphere > house

10. Flesh Brand names are killer nouns when they work: - Flesh examples: Coca cola > soft drink Tide > laundry detergent - Personal examples: Let’s flight Southwest > airline In n’ Out > burger

11. Sloth (Laziness) Sloth means grabbing the closest shopworn words without so much as a glimmer of guilt, or hastily creating inelegant nouns out of other nouns, or even verbs. When does it mean sloth? 1. Izationization (William Safire) 2. Cliché Example 1. izationization: Disintermediation, decentralization, effectualization. She came to the realization that…. ￫ She realized…. 2. Cliché Horning my skills Bottom line It’s raining cats and dogs.

12. Gluttony (overuse) Gluttony refers to the gourmandish urge to use five words where one would do. Happen in these situations: 1. Abstraction ending in –ion, like “situation” or “condition” are setups. 2. Other words bloated with empty calories include case, character, degree, element, instance, kind, nature, and persuasion. Example: 1. A drunk -> a person in an intoxicated condition 2. “People of the artistic persuasion require a degree of freedom.” -> Artists need freedom.

13. Fog (unclear) Foggy thinking leads to vague and woolly words rather than concrete one. In these situations: 1. Pile up abstract nouns like phenomenon, element, and individual, objective. 2. Some folks seem to be in the business of manufacturing fog. 3. Government writing suffers the worst smog level. Example: 1. The phenomenon of a health anxiety ￫ anxiety about health 2. GreenTree Nutrition, Inc. called its Web site hawking health news, diet tips, and vitamins ￫ A business model focused on content-enabled commerce. 3. Occupational Safety and Health Administration(OSHA) Ways of exit access and the doors to exits to which they lead shall be so designed and arranged as to be clearly recognized as such. -> Make sure exits are clearly marked and unobstructed.

14. Pretense (showing off) Avoid resorting to pompous, ponderous, or just imponderable nouns. Pretense results when a writer preoccupied with his or her own diction loses sight of the primary goal: communicating with an audience. Example: A father uses the word” colloquy” with his seven-year-old daugher

15. Gobbledygook • Pretentious or unintelligible jargon, such as that used by officials • A few strong nouns and verbs are better than unnecessary words • "Keep it simple"

16. Gobbledygook

17. Jargon • language that is characterized by uncommon or pretentious vocabulary and convoluted syntax and is often vague in meaning • it allows professionals banter precisely and efficiently • legal writing is only the most notorious when it comes to impenetrability • avoid using jargon when trying to communicate or write for public Examples: "tennis elbow" beats "lateral epicondylitis" "Chauffeur's fracture" beats "a break to the radial styloid"

18. Euphemism • the substitution of a mild, indirect, or vague expression for one thought to be offensive, harsh, or blunt • without causing someone else even more pain and embarrassment • but such a concession is not an endorsement of euphemism - the description of offensive behavior through in offensive terms

19. Euphemism Examples a short person = vertically challenged a person who's overweight = pleasingly plump sick, ill = feeling under the weather a maid = a domestic engineer a garbage collector = a sanitation engineer X rated movies = adult entertainment losing something = misplacing it lies = misinformation, untruths not reporting income to the IRS = being paid under the table illegal alien = undocumented citizen many people killed = several casualties prostitution ring = an escort service

20. Cardinal Pleasures

21. Noun is not just too crisp and concrete to have fun with “The Girl of the Year” in New York 1964 by Tom Wolfe, Description of supermodel Bangs manes bouffant beehives Beatle caps butter faces brush-on lashes decal eyes puffy sweater French bras flailing leather blue jeans stretch pants stretch jeans honeydew bottoms éclair shanks elf boots ballerinas Knight slippers, hundreds of them, these flaming little buds, bobbing and screaming, rocketing around inside the Academy of Music Theater underneath that vast old moldering cherub dome up there – aren’t they super marvelous!!

22. Noun is not just too crisp and concrete to have fun with Cyan Inc., produced adventure game to end all adventure games, Myst sent a PR mail to editor of Wired magazine.

23. Quiz Q1: What are the categories of noun? Q2: What are the Seven Deadly Sins of using nouns? Explain in your own words. Q3: Right noun means _________ of a word. It must be ________. Q4: What job does a proper noun do in your paper? Q5: What is noun? Explain in your own words.

24. Thank You