Misplaced Prose

LESSON 2.25
Misplaced Prose

Sometimes people put sections of their writing in the wrong place in a sentence. That causes the section to refer to the wrong thing.  In the first example, the entire house collapses. In reality, only the roof collapsed:

Wrong Place: When it collapsed from snow load, the house needed a new roof.

Corrected: The house needed a new roof when it collapsed from snow load.

-ing Words

 If a word ending in –ing is near the beginning of a sentence, then there must be the correct act-or after the pause. In the first example, the coffins and not the vampires sense the dawn.

Incorrect –ing: Sensing the approach of dawn, the coffins filled with vampires.

Correct –ing: Sensing the approach of dawn, the vampires entered their coffins.

Individual or Small Group Activity

Rewrite the sentences below to fix incorrect –ing words.

1.     While telling bear attack stories, a bear ran into our camp.

2.  Arguing all the time, the apartment seemed to grow smaller.

3.  The lamp fell and broke while rushing for the telephone.

Individual or Small Group Activity

Rewrite the following sentences to fix the problems.

1. Bill wore a hat, a scarf, and he had on his blue shoes.

2. John is handsome, wealthy, and he has a charming personality.

3. Brushing her teeth, the radio was so loud that Jessica did not hear the doorbell.

4. Deforestation contributed to the collapse of the Maya Empire because of soil erosion and it led to intra-tribal warfare.

5. Deforestation caused the Easter Island human population to collapse because of fuel consumption, clearing land for agriculture, also it was caused because they built statues.

6. The Arawak Indians, a peaceful tribe, and they had highly advanced traditions of pottery, also weaving, and they did building too

Individual or Small Group Activity

Complete the exercise:     Manitoba

Optional Activity