Type 4: Cutoff modifier - A sentence-combining approach to the problem of fragments - Sentence combining: basic strategies and common problems

Better sentence-writing in 30 minutes a day - Dianna Campbell 1995

Type 4: Cutoff modifier
A sentence-combining approach to the problem of fragments
Sentence combining: basic strategies and common problems

The last type of fragment involves a modifying phrase that is cut off from the sentence it describes. Here are some examples:

(a) Used to cure headaches and insomnia. Opium was extracted from poppies in Persia and Asia Minor for centuries before it was discovered in other parts of the world.

(b) Hoping to keep a friendship from breaking up. Some people whisper “bread and butter” whenever anything, such as another person, a tree, or a child on a bike, momentarily separates two friends out for a stroll.

(c) The ancient Greeks valued thyme highly. Believing that the herb’s fragrance restored one’s energy.

Again, you can see how easily these would be solved. Once more, it is just a matter of changing the period to a comma and making the following letter lowercase.

Exercise 2.7

Label each item OK or F. Then rewrite the fragments, using a variety of sentence-combining techniques. Please do the rewrites on your own paper.

1. ________ The Statistical Abstract, which is produced annually by the U.S. Commerce Department. Fills almost 1,000 pages.

2. ________ In one recent year, The Statistical Abstract offered a number of interesting tidbits of information about the 50 states in the union.

3. ________ Massachusetts, for example, being the state with the highest number of doctors per 100,000 people.

4. ________ The fact that New York has more lawyers per person than any other state.

5. ________ The state with the highest percentage of people over the age of 65 is, not surprisingly, Florida.

Exercise 2.8

Label each item OK or F Then rewrite the fragments, using a variety of techniques.

1. ________ Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat, which is a book about superstitions and folklore.

2. ________ The most interesting superstitions being the ones about love and marriage.

3. ________ Here are two especially quirky ones.

4. ________ If you pull a hair from the head of someone you love, he or she will love you back and love you deeply.

5. ________ The object of your desire will also love you if you give him or her a bowl of soup. Which is flavored with three drops of your blood.