Transcript Misplaced Modifiers

Common Writing Issues
Identifying and fixing:
Word Choice
Awkward Word Order
Vague Pronouns
Misplaced Modifiers
Comma Problems
to improve clarity
Marissa Ross, Writing Lab Instructor
[WritingCommonErrors.pptx]
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Word Choice
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Avoid Ambiguity
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Check Your Spelling
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Here’s a recent and local goof.
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Rephrase Awkward
Word Order
Aim for clarity and avoid missing or
misplaced words by reading carefully.
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Word Order
• Look for missing words or phrases.
– Read out loud to yourself.
• Look at word order after revising.
• Look for misplaced or dangling modifiers.
• Look at subject-verb order.
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Word Order
• Look for misplaced or dangling modifiers
– Place modifiers as close as possible to the object
being modified
• Look at subject-verb order
The scholarly article explains theories on global
warming.
X Theories on global warming the scholarly article
explains.
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Vague Pronoun References
A pronoun without a clear antecedent
leaves the reader wondering to what or
to whom the pronoun refers.
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Vague Pronouns
• Find the pronouns and trace them back to
each noun in the sentence.
• If the antecedent (noun) is missing, rewrite
the sentence to make a clear antecedent for
each pronoun.
X There it was on the shelf.
The book was there on the shelf.
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Vague Pronouns Examples
Vague: The student’s paper showed little revision
between drafts. It lowered his grade.
– Replace it with a noun or noun phrase: The student’s
paper showed little revision between drafts, and the
lack of effort resulted in a lower grade.
Vague: The student’s paper showed little revision
between drafts. This lowered his grade.
– Add a noun after this: The student’s paper showed
little revision between drafts, and this problem
lowered his grade.
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Vague Pronouns Example
Vague: The student’s paper showed little
revision between drafts, which lowered his
grade.
– Add a noun before which: The student’s paper
showed little revision between drafts, a problem
which resulted in a lower grade.
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How to Fix the Problem
• Replace it with a noun:
Thomas was always unprepared for class, and
his constant unpreparedness drove his
teacher crazy.
• Add a noun to this:
Thomas was always unprepared for class, and
this habit of his drove his teacher crazy.
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How to Fix the Problem
•
Combine the two parts into a single statement:
Thomas’ constant unpreparedness made his
teacher increasingly angry.
•
Add a noun before which:
Harry was always unprepared for class, a habit
which drove his teacher crazy.
Grammar and Style 04: Pronoun Reference Slides
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Misplaced Modifiers
A modifier describes, strengthens, or
clarifies another word or group of
words in a sentence.
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Modifiers
• Place the modifier as close as possible to the
word (or words) being modified.
• Place adjectives that modify nouns in front of
the word (or words) being modified.
pretty girl
X girl pretty
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Modifiers
• Place adverbs that modify a verb or verb
phrase:
– right before or just after the verb being modified
She quickly ran away.
OR
– at the beginning or end of the sentence
She ran away quickly.
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Modifiers
• Place words such as almost, even, just, nearly,
only, or simply in front of the word (or words)
being modified.
X She almost ate the whole pie.
She ate almost the whole pie.
• Do not create a split infinitive by placing a
modifier between to + a verb.
X She wants to quickly move.
 She wants to move quickly.
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Modifiers
• Do not place a modifier between the verb and
the object being acted upon.
X The dog ate quickly his food.
 The dog quickly ate his food.
Modifiers Quiz
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Dangling Modifiers
A modifier is dangling when the word
that is meant to be modified is missing
from the sentence, or is misplaced.
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Dangling Modifiers Example
Running to class, my cell phone began to vibrate.
Q: Who is running?
As I was running to class, my cell phone began
to vibrate.
My cell phone began to vibrate as I was running
*ChompChomp Modifiers Handout
to class.
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Comma Usage
Use commas to separate, distinguish,
and help connect words, ideas, and
phrases.
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Common Commas
• Use commas to separate a series of three or
more items, actions, words, or phrases.
– I will need my backpack, computer, paper, and
textbook for my next class.
– Sharon walked across campus, entered the building,
and went to class.
• Use a comma between coordinating
adjectives(closely placed adjectives that are of
equal importance and describe the same thing).
– thorough, accurate research
– The talented musician performed a solemn,
meditative piano piece.
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Common Commas
• Use a comma before a coordinating conjunction
(fanboys: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) when it joins two
related independent clauses.
– The young woman volunteered at a local homeless shelter,
and she wrote a paper about the challenges of
homelessness.
– Are you going to attend the basketball game, or do you
plan to spend time at the library?
• Use a comma after an introductory element, such as a
dependent clause or a prepositional phrase.
– When it began to rain, many students opened their
umbrellas.
– Before dawn, the young man frequently spends time in
quiet meditation.
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Common Commas
• Used commas to set off words, phrases, or clauses
that add nonessential information or details to the
sentence.
– Justin, father of a young family, decided to
purchase a house.
– Thelma lost her driver’s license, as expected, after
she was caught drinking and driving.
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Common Commas
• Use commas to separate geographical information,
addresses, and dates.
– Tampa, Florida, USA
– The applicant lived at 101 Main Street, Appleton,
New York, 13723.
– The academic calendar lists May 4, 2013, as the
date for spring graduation.
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Comma Splices
Splices occur when two complete sentences
are incorrectly joined by a comma. This type
of splice creates a run-on sentence.
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Comma Splice Examples
Incorrect: The depressed student could hardly get
out of bed in the morning, she could not cope with
the demands of college life.
Correction A: The depressed student could hardly get
out of bed in the morning; she could not cope with
the demands of college life.
Correction B: Overwhelmed by the demands of
college life, the depressed student could hardly get
out of bed in the morning.
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How to Fix the Problem
• Use an end mark and proper capitalization to
separate the independent clauses into two (or
more) complete sentences.
• Use a comma followed by an appropriate
coordinating conjunction (fanboys: for, and,
nor, but, or, yet, so) to separate related
independent clauses.
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How to Fix the Problem
• Use a semicolon (;), colon (:), or dash (–) to
separate related independent clauses.
• Change one independent clause into a dependent
clause and join the two clauses, using appropriate
punctuation.
• Rewrite the two independent clauses as one
cohesive independent clause.
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Fragments and Run-Ons
• A fragment, also known as an incomplete
sentence, may be missing a subject, a verb, or
both.
• Sometimes, a fragment includes both a
subject and a verb but begins with a
subordinating conjunction, which makes it a
dependent clause
– When Jessica ran.
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• A comma-splice run-on occurs when two
independent clauses are separated with a comma
instead of a period or semicolon
– Jessica ran, Kyle walked.
• A fused sentence run-on occurs when two or
more clauses are joined without any punctuation
– Jessica ran Kyle walked.
Grammar and Style 03: Fragments (Slides)
• ChompChomp Comma Splices Handout
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Suggested Resources/References
OWL at Purdue University
The Writing Commons
University of Southern California
Writing Skills Webcasts (SWRK
programme)
ChompChomp: Grammar
Exercises
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