1. Warm-Up
October 4, 2011
Essential Question: How do words “describe” or
“modify” each other?
• Read the following sentences. Is the meaning of the
sentence clear? Why or why not? How can you fix the
sentence to make the meaning clear?
 A tarantula bit one of the dockworkers that had a hairy,
huge body.
 Reading a book, my cat crawled into my lap.
 The piano teacher said she had been to New York during
today's lesson.

2. Pardon Me, Your Modifier is
Dangling
"The other day, I shot an elephant in my
pajamas. How he got in my pajamas, I'll
never know.”
-Groucho Marx

3. Modifiers
 A modifier is a word or a phrase that describes something else in a
sentence.
He kicked the ball barely twenty yards.
I began doing the laundry piled up next to the washer.
On the evening news, I heard that there was a revolution.
 You should place modifying words or phrases as close as possible to
what they describe. If you don’t, your intended meaning may not
be clear.
 Remember: If you give your readers a chance to interpret
something in more than one way, they'll usually get it wrong! By
placing your modifiers correctly, you'll eliminate this possibility and
have a better chance of getting your point across.

4. Misplaced Modifiers
 Misplaced modifiers are modifiers that modify something
you didn't intend them to modify.
Covered in wildflowers, Sarah pondered the hillside's
beauty.
In this sentence, Sarah—not the hillside—is covered with
wildflowers because the word Sarah is what comes directly
after the modifying phrase, covered in wildflowers.

5. More Misplaced Modifiers
 If you want Sarah to ponder a wildflower-covered
hillside, you need to write something like:
“Covered in wildflowers, the hillside struck Sarah with
its beauty.”
Here, the words the hillside immediately follow the
modifying phrase, covered in wildflowers. Or, better
yet, you could write:
“Sarah pondered the beauty of the wildflowers that
covered the hillside.”

6. Misplaced Modifiers Practice
Consider the unintentional meanings in the following:
 The young girl was walking the dog in a short skirt.
 The dog was chasing the boy with the spiked collar.
 I like to listen to rock music doing my homework.
 Sam screamed at the barking dog in his underwear.

7. Modifier Placement
 You also need to watch the placement of modifiers such as almost, even,
hardly, nearly, often, and only.
Big Dog almost ran around the yard twenty times.
He nearly ate a whole box of treats.
In both sentences--when he "almost ran" and "nearly ate"--nothing
happened! He didn't quite get around to doing either thing.
 Consider the difference in meaning when the sentences are rewritten:
Big Dog ran around the yard almost twenty times.
He ate nearly a whole box of treats.

8. Dangling Modifiers
 A dangling modifier is a modifier that describes something that isn't
clearly present in your sentence. Usually, you are implying the subject and
taking for granted that your reader will know what you mean—not a good
strategy.
 A modifying phrase or clause is said to dangle when it has no stated word
to describe.
Hiking the trail, the birds chirped loudly.
The way the sentence is written, the birds are hiking the trail because they
are the only subject present in the sentence. If that's not what you mean,
you need to rewrite the sentence to something like, “Hiking the trail,
Connor and John heard birds chirping loudly.”

9. More Dangling Modifiers
While smoking a pipe, my cat curled up next to me.
 Did the cat smoke the pipe? Obviously not, but the sentence does not
identify who smoked the pipe. You must supply a subject
and, sometimes, supply additional words to create verbs, clauses or
phrases. In the following sentences the new subject and additional words
are in bold letters.
CORRECTED EXAMPLE: While I was smoking a pipe, my cat curled up
next to me.
Who is the subject of these sentences?
 While talking on the phone, the doorbell rang.
 Running across the floor, the rug slipped beneath me.
 After putting a new ribbon in the printer, my papers looked better.

10. Now, it’s your turn…
 Consider the sentences on the handout, all of which have either
misplaced or dangling modifiers.
 Chose ONE sentence from the list. Consider the meaning of the
sentence as it appears written on the handout. Who is the subject of the
sentence? Who is doing or receiving the action in the sentence?
 Next, copy your sentence onto a piece of construction paper. Underline
the misplaced or dangling modifier.
 Underneath your sentence, draw a picture that illustrates the action of
the sentence—more than likely it will be silly! You may use markers,
colored pencils, or crayons to color your illustration.
 Finally, on the back of your picture, revise your sentence to reflect its
true, intended meaning, removing the misplaced or dangling modifiers.