Today's example of poor writing and worse editing comes from the Detroit News, which tells the sad tale of extreme bullying. Thankfully, specifics are not shared, which at least excuses the news source from being a provocateur of scandal. However, the ambiguous writing makes it unclear if a school bus is the scene of the crime, or an objectified inanimate co-victim.
Remember, the prepositional phrase is a series of two or more words insufficient to be comprehended as a sentence, yet intended to communicate an idea. These phrases tend to modify the noun (making it adjectival) or the verb (adverbial) nearest to it in proximity. If the phrase in this case is intended to specify the boy by location, the phrase should have been placed by the noun "boy" and not by the verb "acts."
December 19, 2007 6:29 PM | TrackBack