A Lesson on - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

A Lesson on Dangling, Misplaced, and Squinting Modifiers

Prepared by

John

Tacapan

AP and AVID Teacher (DHS)

Adjunct

Faculty (Long Beach City College)

Assistant Professor of Education (

Westcliff

University)Slide2

What Is a Dangling Modifier?

A common way to

save words

and

combine ideas

is by starting a sentence with a phrase that provides additional information about an element in the sentence without having to make a whole separate sentence to say it. In the following example, notice how three choppy sentences condense into one smoother sentence with the use of such an opening phrase, which is called a

modifier

:Slide3

Original: The Student Council exists to represent students to the faculty and administration. It also oversees student organizations. The Student Council plays an important role in campus life.Rewrite:

Responsible for representing students to the faculty and administration and overseeing student organizations, the Student

Council

plays

an important

role

in campus life.Slide4

Here are some other examples of sentences that begin with a phrase providing this sort of additional information:

An example of bottom of the pyramid targeting,

microcredit ventures lend small amounts of money to those with minimal assets.

Found in tropical southern Asia,

the Asian

Koel

belongs to the cuckoo order of birds.

After completing the experiment,

the most bacteria appeared in the scraping taken from the drinking fountain.

Notice something

odd

about the

last one

? The modifier --

"After completing the experiment"

-- doesn't match what follows it: The

bacteria didn't complete the experiment

(presumably, a researcher did)! The

rule for using modifiers at the beginning of a sentence

is that

the thing being modified

must immediately follow

the modifier

. Sometimes this requires you to rearrange the sentence; other times you have to "spell out" what is being modified if you didn't include it.Slide5

Examples

Dangling modifier:

Covering most of Minnesota

, the

illustration

showed the glacier that left the state with its thousands of lakes.

Corrected:

Covering most of Minnesota

, the

glacier

left the state with its thousands of lakes, as depicted on the illustration.

Dangling modifier:

Trekking across the desert

,

fierce winds

swirled around the riders.

Corrected:

Trekking across the desert

, the

riders

were assaulted by fierce winds.

Dangling modifier:

First coined in 1980

, historian

Linda

Kerber

used the term "republican motherhood" to describe a phenomenon occurring after the Revolutionary War in which women were encouraged to promote the ideals of liberty and democracy to their children.

Corrected:

First coined in 1980

, the

term "republican motherhood"

was used by historian Linda

Kerber

to describe a phenomenon occurring after the Revolutionary War in which women were encouraged to promote the ideals of liberty and democracy to their children.Slide6

What Is a Misplaced Modifier?

Whereas a

dangling modifier

is

"left hanging,"

so to speak, with its

referent missing in action,

a

misplaced modifier's

referent is present and accounted for, but as its name implies,

the modifier itself is out of place within the sentence

, such that it

seems to modify another referent in the sentence

, resulting in

ambiguity

or

confusion.Slide7

Examples

Misplaced:

Erik couldn't ride his bicycle

with a broken leg.

Misplaced:

The little girl walked the dog

wearing a tutu.

Misplaced:

Just

don't stand there.

Correct:

With his broken leg

,

Erik

couldn't ride his bicycle

Correct:

Still wearing a tutu

, the little

girl

walked the dog.

Correct:

Don't

just

stand

there.Slide8

What Is a Squinting Modifier?Unlike a dangling modifier or a misplaced modifier, a squinting modifier

is

placed right next to the word it refers to

, but it is

also near another word that it might be modifying

, which can cause confusion.Slide9

Examples

Squinting:

Cycling uphill

quickly

strengthens the leg muscles.

Correct:

Quickly

cycling uphill strengthens the leg muscles.

Or

Correct:

Cycling uphill can

quickly

strengthen the leg muscles.

Squinting:

Using modifiers

clearly

will improve your writing.

Correct:

Clearly

using modifiers will improve your writing.

Or

Correct:

Using modifiers will

clearly

improve your writing.Slide10

Identify the error in each of the following sentences and rewrite them correctly

1. Sharon put the hat on her head that she bought yesterday.

2. I am writing a research paper about Queen Elizabeth in my

English class.

3. Priscila only took one test yesterday.

4. Slamming on the brakes, the car skidded into the guardrail.

5. While pouring the eggnog, her dog bounded into the room

and smashed into her, causing her to splatter all over the

guests.

6. The waiter finally served us after sitting at the table for

nearly an hour.

7. The victims who swallowed the antidote rapidly recovered.

8. Kevin's mom asked him when he finished his homework to

take out the trash. Slide11

Below are four versions of the same sentence. One version contains a misplaced modifier. Read the sentences and indicate which sentence is incorrect.

Several concerns about falling revenues were expressed during the meeting.

During the meeting, several concerns about falling revenues were expressed.

Several concerns during the meeting were expressed about falling revenues.

During the meeting about falling revenues, several concerns were expressed.

Slide12

Only one of the sentences below is correct. Each of the others contains a dangling modifier. Read the sentences and indicate which sentence is correct.

Coinciding with another class, I had to revise my schedule.

Reaching into his wallet, the $50 bribe flashed at the officer.

3. Waiting for class, she heard the alarm.

4. Out of breath, the race was finally finished. Slide13

Only one of the sentences below is correct. Each of the others contains a squinting modifier. Read the sentences and indicate which sentence is correct.

I promised after class to help him rebuild his

engine.

Cassie dashed through the rain to reach her next

class.

The discount rates on Friday only appealed to Mrs.

Jones.

People who use cell phones during movies loudly

disturb other moviegoers.