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Ontario Tech acknowledges the lands and people of the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation.

We are thankful to be welcome on these lands in friendship. The lands we are situated on are covered by the Williams Treaties and are the traditional territory of the Mississaugas, a branch of the greater Anishinaabeg Nation, including Algonquin, Ojibway, Odawa and Pottawatomi. These lands remain home to many Indigenous nations and peoples.

We acknowledge this land out of respect for the Indigenous nations who have cared for Turtle Island, also called North America, from before the arrival of settler peoples until this day. Most importantly, we acknowledge that the history of these lands has been tainted by poor treatment and a lack of friendship with the First Nations who call them home.

This history is something we are all affected by because we are all treaty people in Canada. We all have a shared history to reflect on, and each of us is affected by this history in different ways. Our past defines our present, but if we move forward as friends and allies, then it does not have to define our future.

Learn more about Indigenous Education and Cultural Services

Misused Modifiers

Modifiers are usually phrases that contain a verb ending in -ing and modify the subject of the next part of the sentence. Modifiers are misused when they do not modify the subject, but another part of the sentence. Such mistakes are usually referred to as dangling modifiers.

 

Example:

 

  • Incorrect: Looking into the literature, some conclusions can be drawn.

 

Where:

"Looking into the literature" is the modifier and "some conclusions" is the subject.

 

This is an example of a misused modifier because the verb in it (i.e., “looking into”) does not refer to the subject of the next part of the sentence (i.e., “some conclusions”). Rather, the verb refers to the researcher(s) because they were looking into the literature and drew some conclusions. Therefore, the possible ways to fix this problem are:

1) to change the subject (from “some conclusions” to “I”, i.e., the researcher) or

2) to change the sentence structure

 

Examples:

 

  • Correct: Looking into the literature, I can draw some conclusions.
  • Correct: Some conclusions can be drawn from a review of the literature.

 

Note: The use of the first person (I”) is not always acceptable in academic writing. In such cases, the second example would be a more suitable way to fix the problem with the modifier.

 

References:

Osmond, A. (2016). Academic Writing and Grammar for Students. (2nd ed.). London: SAGE.