Misplaced Modifier

Question

1.Based on accounts of various ancient writers, scholars have painted a sketchy picture of the activities of an all-female cult 2.According to a survey, minority graduates are nearly 4 times more likely than are other graduates in planning to practice in socieconomically deprived areas .I believe Sentence 1 has a misplaced modifier Based on accounts of various ancient writers and  should modify sketchy picture rather than scholars themselves.. Assuming my aforementioned logic is correct, why cant I apply same logic as in first sentence to the second one ...Should According to a survey not modify survey results rather than Minority graduates...Why is first incorrect and the second correct?Please clarify.Thank you

Avangi · Accepted Answer

pokh1.Based on accounts of various ancient writers, scholars have painted a sketchy picture of the activities of an all-female cult.

"Based on accounts of various ancient writers" modifies the entire main clause.
The author is stating that the picture painted by [modern] scholars is very inadaquate, when viewed in the light of these ancient accounts.

Your author is accusing these scholars of sloppy work, and basing this accusation on the ancient accounts.

pokh2.According to a survey, minority graduates are nearly 4 times more likely than are other graduates in planning to practice in socieconomically deprived areas.

"According to a survey" modifies the entire sentence. It's common to place such phrases at the beginning.

(The following statement is true, according to a survey:)

You can also place them at the end:

John frequently came home drunk, according to his wife. (It works equally well at the beginning or the end.)

CalifJim · Answer

pokhI believe Sentence 1 has a misplaced modifier Based on accounts of various ancient writers

Actually, you can get by with this. Scholars have painted ... based on accounts ... is inverted to Based on accounts ..., scholars have painted .... It's not much different from these:

Everywhere you look, people are dancing.

People are dancing everywhere you look.

Nevertheless, if you wanted to make that introductory phrase specific to the scholars, you could write:

Basing their work on accounts of various ancient writers, scholars have painted ...

______________________________

pokhShould According to a survey not modify survey results rather than Minority graduates

I would not describe the relationship as modification of any particular noun phrase in the sentence. It's a sentential modifier.

CJ

Avangi · Answer

CalifJimActually, you can get by with this. Scholars have painted ... based on accounts ... is inverted to Based on accounts ..., scholars have painted ....

I've tried for 20 minutes to grasp your point here, and I'm afraid it's just going over my head.
Get by with this instead of what?

I'll try again tomorrow.

- A.

Edit: I think I may see what's happening. We're parsing it differently. I'm parsing it the same as the second example, as I explained.

You're saying that scholars have USED the accounts of ancient writers to paint their sketchy picture.

I read "sketchy picture" as something which no self-respecting scholar would produce. (context, context)

That is, if you go to the real source, it's obvious what a poor job they've done.

CalifJimBasing their work on accounts of various ancient writers, scholars have painted ...

So this is what the sentence really means, according to your reading. Right?

Rgdz, - A.

CompileR · Answer

He is saying that you could also switch the order of clauses:

"Scholars have painted a sketchy picture of the activities of an all-female cult, based on accounts of various ancient writers."

English 1b3 · Answer

Avangi
CalifJimActually, you can get by with this. Scholars have painted ... based on accounts ... is inverted to Based on accounts ..., scholars have painted ....
I've tried for 20 minutes to grasp your point here, and I'm afraid it's just going over my head.Get by with this instead of what? I'll try again tomorrow. - A.

Isn't CJ just saying it's fine as is, just as it is fine leaving the phrase to the end of the sentence. He more or less has agreed with you.

Avangi · Answer

English 1b3Isn't CJ just saying it's fine as is, just as it is fine leaving the phrase to the end of the sentence

You mean that there is no misplaced modifier? Yes, we all agree on that.

- A.

"Actually you can get by with this:" sounds like a second-best alternative.

Avangi · Answer

compileRHe is saying that you could also switch the order of clauses:

Hi, compileR,
Yes, he's saying at least that.

I guess my original reading was closer to "According to accounts of various ancient writers," which transfers to the end a bit less elegantly.

I'm just now realizing that his reading is probably different from mine.

I hope he forgives us for discussing this while he's trying to sleep. [A]

CalifJim · Answer

Avangi"Actually you can get by with this:" sounds like a second-best alternative.

Hi, all! Yes, I'm awake now.

I was opining that yes, the original form of the sentence "Based on ..." does contain some of the flavor of a misplaced modifier, or could be read that way, but that - unless you had a very finicky editor who insisted on a rewrite - you could "get by" with it. In other words, I accept it as is while recognizing that someone might be able to come up with an improved version, maybe with the "based on ..." at the end.

And my interpretation of "sketchy" is "incomplete", so my interpretation is different from yours. However, I don't see that that difference affects anything with regard to the "Is it a misplaced modifier?" problem.

I see the sentence thus:

Based on accounts of various ancient writers, scholars have painted a sketchy picture of the activities of an all-female cult.

= ~

Basing their accounts of various ancient writers, scholars have now been able to paint at least a [small though incomplete picture / rough outline] of the activities of an all-female cult.

Edit: Instead of the underlined portion immediately above I meant, as I wrote in a previous post above,

Basing their work on accounts of various ancient writers,

CJ

Avangi · Answer

CalifJimBasing their accounts of various ancient writers, scholars have now been able to paint at least a [small though incomplete picture / rough outline] of the activities of an all-female cult.

Yes, I finally tumbled to the fact that this was your interpretation. I think reading the OP's two examples together led me down the garden path. I jammed the first into the mold of the second.
Based on ancient sources, we note that modern scholars have painted a sketchy picture.

CalifJimBasing their accounts of various ancient writers,

(Is something amiss here, beyond a possible typo?)

I agree that my "alternative" interpretation doesn't inform the misplaced modifier issue in any way. I didn't mean to say that it does, but I can see that it's implied.

I myself had tried to make the point that the "sentential" modifiers here could be the engine or the caboose.

Somehow, I thought you were saying something completely different.

Note my colon in "Actually, you could get by with this:"

I misparsed that too!

Thanks for the reply!

- A.

CalifJim · Answer

AvangiBasing their accounts of various ancient writers, ... (Is something amiss here, beyond a possible typo?)

Yes. Thanks for catching that. I misremembered what I had written earlier in the thread, namely Basing their work on accounts of various ancient writers, which I was just trying to reproduce in place from memory. (It's a bit of a hassle trying to copy material from five or six posts back in the thread.)

I went back to that post and put in an edit to this effect.

CJ

Misplaced Modifier

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