Put Modifiers Where They Belong and "Undangle" Them

Running up the stairs, the clock struck midnight. Mary hurried to her room with a glance toward her parents' room. Sitting on the side of her bed, the house seemed very quiet. Her heart slowing down, the knowledge that she wasn't in trouble made her smile. She decided that she must leave earlier parties during the times she had a curfew. She hadn't known only the clock was three minutes fast. What? A clock runs up stairs? A room glances toward another room. A house sits on the side of a bed? Knowledge has a heart? She leaves parties during times of curfew? Only the clock was fast? The first paragraph confuses a reader because modifiers are misplaced or dangling. A misplaced modifier appears to modify the wrong word. A dangling modifier, a prepositional or participial phrase, has no word in the sentence that the modifier can logically modify. Let's look at these problem areas and see how we can make the original paragraph understandable. * Reword the main part of the sentence to include a word that the dangler can modify. Revised sentence: Running up the stairs, the girl heard the clock struck midnight. Revised sentence: Sitting on the side of her bed, she thought the house seemed very quiet. * Place the adverb only before the word or phrase it modifies. Revised sentence: She hadn't known the clock was only three minutes fast. * Move the modifier as close as possible to the word or phrase it modifies. Revised sentence: With a glance toward her parents' room, Mary hurried to her room. Revised sentence: She decided that during the times she had a curfew she must leave parties earlier. * Reword the dangling modifier as a subordinate clause, reflecting the relastionship fo the main idea in the modifier to the main idea of the sentence. Revised sentence: After her heart slowed down, the knowledge that she wasn't in trouble made her smile. We can now write an understandable, intelligent paragraph by using the guidelines of correct modifiers. Running up the stairs, the girl heard the clock struck midnight. With a glance toward her parents' room, Mary hurried to her room. Sitting on the side of her bed, she thought the house seemed very quiet. After her heart slowed down, the knowledge that she wasn't in trouble made her smile. She decided that during the times she had a curfew she must leave parties earlier. She hadn't known the clock was only three minutes fast. Making sure that modifiers actually modify the word it should allows a reader to understand what is written and meant. Sources: 1. Writer's Companion, Prentice Hall 2. Literature:Platinum, Prentice Hall 3. Lesson plans from Vivian Zabel