Which best defines a misplaced modifier?

a. a word, phrase, or clause that is incorrectly placed at the end of a sentence.
b. a word, phrase, or clause that seems to refer to or modify an unintended word because of its placement in a sentence.
c. a word, phrase, or clause that modifies the verb in a sentence.
d. a word, phrase, or clause that is incorrectly placed at the beginning of a sentence.

The correct answer is B. A word, phrase, or clause that seems to refer to or modify an unintended word because of its placement in a sentence.

Explanation:

A modifier refers to a word or phrase that describes or modifies others in a sentence and that is essential to understand the meaning of the sentence. On the other hand, a misplaced modifier is a grammatical error that occurs as the modifier is not placed correctly and therefore, the reader might believe it modifies a different word to the one the writer intends. For examples, in the sentence "I saw some flowers going to the school" the words "going to the school" act as misplaced modifier because by placing them at the end it seems the flowers were going to the school and should be corrected as "Going to the school, I saw some flowers". Thus, it is option B the one that defines a misplaced modifier.

1. read the following excerpt from franklin d. roosevelt's "fireside chat 19":

on the other side of the picture, we must learn also to know that guerilla warfare against the germans in, let us say serbia or norway, us; that a successful russian offensive against the germans us; and that british successes on land or sea in any part of the world strengthen our hands.

remember always that germany and italy, regardless of any formal declaration of war, consider themselves at war with the united states at this moment just as much as they consider themselves at war with britain or russia. and germany puts all the other republics of the americas into the same category of enemies. the people of our sister republics of this hemisphere can be honored by that fact.  

the true goal we seek is far above and beyond the ugly field of battle. when we resort to force, as now we must, we are determined that this force shall be directed toward ultimate good as well as against immediate evil. we americans are not destroyers — we are builders.

analyze the effectiveness of this excerpt. how does it function within the speech as a whole? how does the structure of the excerpt to convey the speech's purpose and key points? support your argument with evidence from the speech. (10 points)

the answer to this question