Download 7 English Summer Work

Grade 7
English
Summer Work
2015
“To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark.”
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-Victor Hugo
Table of Contents
Pages
Title
Skills
3-8
“Thank You Ma’am” by Langston Hughes
Literary analysis, reading comprehension
9-16
“Seventh Grade” by Gary Soto
Literary analysis, reading comprehension
17-28
“There Will Come Soft Rains” by Ray Bradbury
Literary analysis, figurative language, reading
comprehension, vocabulary, semantic maps
29-33
“A Bird Came Down” by Emily Dickinson
Literary analysis (poetry), figurative language,
standardized test prep, reading
comprehension, vocabulary
34-35
“Nothing Gold Can Stay” by Robert Frost
Literary analysis (poetry), figurative language,
reading comprehension
36-39
“Urban Farms” by Susannah Edelbaum
Informational text (current events, science,
agriculture), reading comprehension
40-44
"A Time for Jazz”
Informational text (literary), reading
comprehension, standardized test prep
45-48
Identifying and Correcting Run-Ons and
Fragments
Grammar, run-on sentences and fragments,
identification and correction, editing
49-51
Simple Verb Tenses
Identify and use simple verbs (past, present,
future simple)
52-55
Progressive Verb Tenses
Identify and use progressive verbs (past,
present, future progressive)
56-58
Perfect Verb Tenses
Identify and use perfect verbs (past, present,
future perfect)
59-61
Troublesome Verb Pairs
Identify transitive and intransitive verbs,
differentiate between similar sounding verb
pairs (raise/rise, sit/set, lay/lie)
Helpful Links & Apps
Websites, apps, and online quizzes to practice
grammar and vocabulary skills
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Pre-reading questions:
1. What motives the characters’ actions? (Why do they do the things they do?)
2. What details does the author give to help you imagine the setting? How would you
describe the setting?
3. What can you infer about the characters based on their actions, the way they
speak, and the food they eat?
Thank You Ma’am
By Langston Hughes
She was a large woman with a large purse that had everything in it but hammer and
nails. It had a long strap, and she carried it slung across her shoulder. It was about
eleven o’clock at night, and she was walking alone, when a boy ran up behind her and
tried to snatch her purse. The strap broke with the single tug the boy gave it from
behind. But the boy’s weight and the weight of the purse combined caused him to lose
his balance so, instead of taking off full blast as he had hoped, the boy fell on his back on
the sidewalk, and his legs flew up. the large woman simply turned around and kicked
him right square in his blue-jeaned sitter. Then she reached down, picked the boy up by
his shirt front, and shook him until his teeth rattled.
After that the woman said, “Pick up my pocketbook, boy, and give it here.” She still
held him. But she bent down enough to permit him to stoop and pick up her purse. Then
she said, “Now ain’t you ashamed of yourself?”
Firmly gripped by his shirt front, the boy said, “Yes’m.”
The woman said, “What did you want to do it for?”
The boy said, “I didn’t aim to.”
She said, “You a lie!”
By that time two or three people passed, stopped, turned to look, and some stood
watching.
“If I turn you loose, will you run?” asked the woman.
“Yes’m,” said the boy.
“Then I won’t turn you loose,” said the woman. She did not release him.
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“I’m very sorry, lady, I’m sorry,” whispered the boy.
“Um-hum! And your face is dirty. I got a great mind to wash your face for you. Ain’t
you got nobody home to tell you to wash your face?”
“No’m,” said the boy.
“Then it will get washed this evening,” said the large woman starting up the street,
dragging the frightened boy behind her.
He looked as if he were fourteen or fifteen, frail and willow-wild, in tennis shoes and
blue jeans.
The woman said, “You ought to be my son. I would teach you right from wrong. Least
I can do right now is to wash your face. Are you hungry?”
“No’m,” said the being dragged boy. “I just want you to turn me loose.”
“Was I bothering you when I turned that corner?” asked the woman.
“No’m.”
“But you put yourself in contact with me,” said the woman. “If you think that that
contact is not going to last awhile, you got another thought coming. When I get through
with you, sir, you are going to remember Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones.”
Sweat popped out on the boy’s face and he began to struggle. Mrs. Jones stopped,
jerked him around in front of her, put a half-nelson about his neck, and continued to
drag him up the street. When she got to her door, she dragged the boy inside, down a
hall, and into a large kitchenette furnished room at the rear of the house. She switched
on the light and left the door open. The boy could hear other roomers laughing and
talking in the large house. Some of their doors were open, too, so he knew he and the
woman were not alone. The woman still had him by the neck in the middle of her room.
She said, “What is your name?”
“Roger,” answered the boy.
“Then, Roger, you go to that sink and wash your face,” said the woman, whereupon
she turned him loose—at last. Roger looked at the door—looked at the woman—looked
at the door—and went to the sink.
Let the water run until it gets warm,” she said. “Here’s a clean towel.”
“You gonna take me to jail?” asked the boy, bending over the sink.
“Not with that face, I would not take you nowhere,” said the woman. “Here I am trying
to get home to cook me a bite to eat and you snatch my pocketbook! Maybe, you ain’t
been to your supper either, late as it be. Have you?”
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“There’s nobody home at my house,” said the boy.
“Then we’ll eat,” said the woman, “I believe you’re hungry—or been hungry—to try to
snatch my pocketbook.”
“I wanted a pair of blue suede shoes,” said the boy.
“Well, you didn’t have to snatch my pocketbook to get some suede shoes,” said Mrs.
Luella Bates Washington Jones. “You could of asked me.”
“M’am?”
The water dripping from his face, the boy
looked at her. There was a long pause. A very
long pause. After he had dried his face and not
knowing what else to do dried it again, the boy
turned around, wondering what next. The door
was open. He could make a dash for it down
the hall. He could run, run, run, run, run!
The woman was sitting on the day-bed. After
a while she said, “I were young once and I wanted things I could not get.”
There was another long pause. The boy’s mouth opened. Then he frowned, but not
knowing he frowned.
The woman said, “Um-hum! You thought I was going to say but, didn’t you? You
thought I was going to say, but I didn’t snatch people’s pocketbooks. Well, I wasn’t going
to say that.” Pause. Silence. “I have done things, too, which I would not tell you, son—
neither tell God, if he didn’t already know. So you set down while I fix us something to
eat. You might run that comb through your hair so you will look presentable.”
In another corner of the room behind a screen was a gas plate and an icebox. Mrs.
Jones got up and went behind the screen. The woman did not watch the boy to see if he
was going to run now, nor did she watch her purse which she left behind her on the daybed. But the boy took care to sit on the far side of the room where he thought she could
easily see him out of the corner of her eye, if she wanted to. He did not trust the woman
not to trust him. And he did not want to be mistrusted now.
“Do you need somebody to go to the store,” asked the boy, “maybe to get some milk or
something?”
“Don’t believe I do,” said the woman, “unless you just want sweet milk yourself. I was
going to make cocoa out of this canned milk I got here.”
“That will be fine,” said the boy.
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She heated some lima beans and ham she had in the icebox, made the cocoa, and set
the table. The woman did not ask the boy anything about where he lived, or his folks, or
anything else that would embarrass him. Instead, as they ate, she told him about her job
in a hotel beauty-shop that stayed open late, what the work was like, and how all kinds
of women came in and out, blondes, red-heads, and Spanish. Then she cut him a half of
her ten-cent cake.
“Eat some more, son,” she said.
When they were finished eating she got up and said, “Now, here, take this ten dollars
and buy yourself some blue suede shoes. And next time, do not make the mistake of
latching onto my pocketbook nor nobody else’s—because shoes come by devilish like
that will burn your feet. I got to get my rest now. But I wish you would behave yourself,
son, from here on in.”
She led him down the hall to the front door and opened it. “Good-night! Behave
yourself, boy!” she said, looking out into the street.
The boy wanted to say something else other than “Thank you, ma’am” to Mrs. Luella
Bates Washington Jones, but he couldn’t do so as he turned at the barren stoop and
looked back at the large woman in the door. He barely managed to say “Thank you”
before she shut the door. And he never saw her again.
***
Answer the following questions about the story “Thank You Ma’am.”
1. Why do you think Mrs. Jones handles the situation the way she does in the story?
What is she trying to accomplish? How do you think this experience is likely to affect
Roger?
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2. Why do you think Mrs. Jones makes a point of getting Roger to wash his face? Why
does she give him food? Why does she tell him about her past? Why does she avoid
asking him about his family or background?
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3. Why do you think Roger decides he “[does] not want to be mistrusted”?
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4. What does Mrs. Jones mean when she says that “shoes got by devilish ways will burn
your feet”?
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5. Why do you think Roger can’t say “thank you” to Mrs. Jones as he is leaving?
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6. What themes does the story express? What does it suggest about some people who
commit some crimes?
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7. How do you think this experience will change Roger?
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Pre-reading questions:
1. Based on the title, what do you think the story will be about?
2. What motives the characters’ actions? (Why do they do the things they do?)
3. What emotions is each character feeling and why? Have you ever experienced
similar emotions?
4. Research the author Gary Soto. Do you think that parts of the story could be based
on or inspired by his own life?
Seventh Grade
By Gary Soto
On the first day of school, Victor stood in line half an hour before he came to a wobbly
card table. He was handed a packet of papers and a computer card on which he listed his
one elective French. He already spoke Spanish and English, but he thought some day he
might travel to France, where it was cool; not like Fresno, where summer days reached
110 degrees in the shade. There were rivers in France, and huge churches, and fairskinned people everywhere, the way there were brown people all around Victor.
Besides, Teresa, a girl he had liked since they were in catechism classes at Saint
Theresa’s, was taking French, too. With any luck they would be in the same class. Teresa
is going to be my girl this year, he promised himself as he left the gym full of students in
their new fall clothes. She was cute. And good in math, too, Victor thought as he walked
down the hall to his homeroom. He ran into his friend, Michael Torres, by the water
fountain that never turned off.
They shook hands, raza-style, and jerked their heads at one another in a saludo de
vato “How come you‘re making a face?” asked Victor.
“I ain‘t making a face. This is my face.” Michael said his face had changed during the
summer. He had read a GQ magazine that his older brother had borrowed from the
Book Mobile and noticed that the male models all had the same look on their faces. They
would stand, one arm around a beautiful woman, and scowl. They would sit at the pool,
their rippled stomachs dark with shadow, and scowl. They would sit at dinner tables,
cool drinks in their hands, and scowl.
“I think it works,” Michael said. He scowled and let his upper lip quiver. His teeth
showed along with the ferocity of his soul. “Belinda Reyes walked by a while ago and
looked at me,” he said.
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Victor didn‘t say anything, though he thought his friend looked pretty strange. They
talked about recent movies, baseball,
their parents, and the horrors of picking
grapes in order to buy their fall clothes.
Picking grapes was like living in Siberia,
except hot and more boring.
“What classes are you taking?” Michael
said, scowling.
“French. How ‘bout you?”
“Spanish. I ain‘t so good at it, even if
I‘m Mexican.”
“I’m not either, but I‘m better at it than math, that‘s for sure.”
A tinny, three-beat bell propelled students to their homerooms. The two friends
socked each other in the arm and went their ways, Victor thinking, man, that‘s weird.
Michael thinks making a face makes him handsome.
On the way to his homeroom, Victor tried a scowl. He felt foolish, until out of the
corner of his eye he saw a girl looking at him. Umm, he thought, maybe it does work. He
scowled with greater conviction.
In the homeroom, roll was taken, emergency cards were passed out, and they were
given a bulletin to take home to their parents. The principal, Mr. Belton, spoke over the
crackling loudspeaker, welcoming the students to a new year, new experiences, and new
friendships. The students squirmed in their chairs and ignored him, they were anxious
to go to first period. Victor sat calmly, thinking of Teresa, who sat two rows away,
reading a paperback novel. This would be his lucky year. She was in his homeroom, and
would probably be in his English and math classes. And, of course, French.
The bell rang for first period, and the students herded noisily through the door. Only
Teresa lingered, talking with the homeroom teacher.
“So you think I should talk to Mrs. Gaines?” she asked the teacher. “She would know
about ballet?”
“She would be a good bet,” the teacher said. Then added, “Or the gym teacher, Mrs.
Garza.”
Victor lingered, keeping his head down and staring at his desk. He wanted to leave
when she did so he could bump into her and say something clever.
He watched her on the sly. As she turned to leave, he stood up and hurried to the
door, where he managed to catch her eye. She smiled and said, “Hi, Victor.”
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He smiled back and said, “Yeah, that's me.” His brown face blushed. Why hadn‘t he
said, “Hi, Teresa,” or, “How was your summer?” or something nice.
As Teresa walked down the hall, Victor walked the other way, looking back, admiring
how gracefully she walked, one foot in front of the other. So much for being in the same
class, he thought. As he trudged to English, he practiced scowling.
In English they reviewed the parts of speech. Mr. Lucas, a portly man, waddled down
the aisle, asking, “What is a noun?”
“A person, place, or thing,” said the class in unison.
“Yes, now somebody give me an example of a person—you, Victor Rodriguez.”
“Teresa,” Victor said automatically. Some of the girls giggled. They knew he had a
crush on Teresa. He felt himself blushing again.
“Correct,” Mr. Lucas said. “Now provide me with a place.”
Mr. Lucas called on a freckled kid who answered, “Teresa‘s house with a kitchen full of
big brothers.”
After English, Victor had math, his weakest subject. He sat in the back by the window,
hoping that he would not be called on. Victor understood most of the problems, but
some of the stuff looked like the teacher made it up as she went along. It was confusing,
like the inside of a watch.
After math he had a fifteen-minute break, then social studies, and finally lunch. He
bought a tuna casserole with buttered rolls, some fruit cocktail, and milk. He sat with
Michael, who practiced scowling between bites.
Girls walked by and looked at him, “See what I mean, Vic?” Michael scowled. “They
love it.”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
They ate slowly, Victor scanning the horizon for a glimpse of Teresa. He didn‘t see her.
She must have brought lunch, he thought, and is eating outside. Victor scraped his plate
and left Michael, who was busy scowling at a girl two tables away.
The small, triangle-shaped campus bustled with students talking about their new
classes. Everyone was in a sunny mood. Victor hurried to the bag lunch area, where he
sat down and opened his math book. He moved his lips as if he were reading, but his
mind was somewhere else. He raised his eyes slowly and looked around. No Teresa.
He lowered his eyes, pretending to study, and then looked slowly to the left. No
Teresa. He turned a page in the book and stared at some math problems that scared him
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because he knew he would have to do them eventually. He looked at the right. Still no
sign of her. He stretched out lazily in an attempt to disguise his snooping.
Then he saw her. She was sitting with a girlfriend under a plum tree. Victor moved to
a table near her and daydreamed about taking her to a movie. When the bell sounded,
Teresa looked up, and their eyes met. She smiled sweetly and gathered her books. Her
next class was French, same as Victor‘s.
They were among the last students to arrive in class, so all the good desks in the back
had already been taken. Victor was forced to sit near the front, a few desks away from
Teresa, while Mr. Bueller wrote French words on the chalkboard. The bell rang, and Mr.
Bueller wiped his hands, turned to the class, and said, “Bonjour.”
“Bonjour,” braved a few students.
“Bonjour,” Victor whispered. He wondered if Teresa heard him.
Mr. Bueller said that if the students studied hard, at the end of the year they could go
to France and be understood by the populace.
One kid raised his hand and asked, “What’s ‘populace’?”
“The people, the people of France.”
Mr. Bueller asked if anyone knew French. Victor raised his hand, wanting to impress
Teresa. The teacher beamed and said, “Très bien. Parlez-vous français?”
Victor didn‘t know what to say. The teacher wet his lips and asked something else in
French. The room grew silent. Victor felt all eyes staring at him. He tried to bluff his way
out by making noises that sounded French.
“La me vave me con le grandma,” he said uncertainly. Mr. Bueller, wrinkling his face
in curiosity, asked him to speak up.
Great rosebushes of red bloomed on Victor‘s cheeks. A river of nervous sweat
ran down his palms. He felt awful. Teresa sat a few desks away, no doubt thinking he
was a fool. Without looking at Mr. Bueller, Victor mumbled, “Frenchie oh wewe gee in
September.”
Mr. Bueller asked Victor to repeat what he said
“Frenchie oh wewe gee in September," Victor repeated.
Mr. Bueller understood that the boy didn‘t know French
and turned away. He walked to the blackboard and pointed
to the words on the board with his steel-edged ruler
“Le bateau,” he sang.
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“Le bateau,” the students repeated.
“Le bateau est sur l’eau,” he sang.
“Le bateau est sur l’eau.”
Victor was too weak from failure to join the class. He stared at the board and wished
he had taken Spanish, not French. Better yet, he wished he could start his life over. He
had never been so embarrassed. He bit his thumb until he tore off a sliver of skin.
The bell sounded for fifth period, and Victor shot out of the room, avoiding the stares
of the other kids, but had to return for his math book. He looked sheepishly at the
teacher, who was erasing the board, then widened his eyes in terror at Teresa who stood
in front of him. “I didn‘t know you knew French,” she said. “That was good.”
Mr. Bueller looked at Victor, and Victor looked back. Oh please, don‘t say anything,
Victor pleaded with his eyes. I‘ll wash your car, mow your lawn, walk your dog-anything! I'll be your best student, and I‘ll clean your erasers after school.
Mr. Bueller shuffled through the papers on his desk; He smiled and hummed as he sat
down to work. He remembered his college years when he dated a girlfriend in borrowed
cars. She thought he was rich because each time he picked her up he had a different car.
It was fun until he had spent all his money on her and had to write home to his parents
because he was broke.
Victor couldn‘t stand to look at Teresa. He was sweaty with shame. “Yeah, well, I
picked up a few things from movies and books and stuff like that.” They left the class
together. Teresa asked him if he would help her with her French.
“Sure, anytime,” Victor said.
“I won‘t be bothering you, will I?”
“Oh no, I like being bothered.”
“Bonjour,” Teresa said, leaving him outside her next class. She smiled and pushed
wisps of hair from her face.
“Yeah, right, bonjour,” Victor said. He turned and headed to his class. The rosebuds of
shame on his face became bouquets of love. Teresa is a great girl, he thought. And Mr.
Bueller is a good guy.
He raced to metal shop. After metal shop there was biology, and after biology a long
sprint to the public library, where he checked out three French textbooks.
He was going to like seventh grade.
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***
Answer the following questions about the story “Seventh Grade.”
1. “Seventh Grade” is a narrative. How is this form of writing different from a persuasive
text?
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2. Read paragraphs 7-10, who is speaking? How do you know?
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3. What is the theme of the story? Why do you think so?
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4. Select a character to analyze. How do his/her words and actions influence the
thoughts and/or actions of another character?
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5. What is the author’s attitude towards Mr. Bueller as shown through his words and
actions? Explain using evidence.
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6. This story is told from whose point of view? Why would the author choose to tell this
story using this point of view?
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7. In paragraph #62, the author says, “The rosebuds of shame on his face became
bouquets of love.” What kind of figurative language is the author using? How is
Victor feeling in this moment? Why?
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8. Read paragraph #54. What does the bolded word, sheepishly, mean? How do you
know?
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Pre-reading questions:
1. Ray Bradbury is a well-known science fiction writer (he also wrote, “All Summer in
a Day”). What kind of details help you infer that this story is science fiction?
2. What examples of sensory detail (sight, smell, taste, hearing, feeling) can you
locate? Underline and label them as you read.
3. What examples of figurative language (simile, metaphor, hyperbole,
onomatopoeia, personification, symbolism) can you find? Underline and label
them as you read.
4. Who are the characters in this story?
5. What is the setting of this story? What is so odd about this setting?
There Will Come Soft Rains
By Ray Bradbury
In the living room the voice-clock sang, Tick-tock, seven o'clock, time to get up, time
to get up, seven o'clock! as if it were afraid that nobody would. The morning house lay
empty. The clock ticked on, repeating and repeating its sounds into the emptiness.
Seven-nine, breakfast time, seven-nine!
In the kitchen the breakfast stove gave a hissing sigh and ejected from its warm
interior eight pieces of perfectly browned toast, eight eggs sunnyside up, sixteen slices of
bacon, two coffees, and two cool glasses of milk.
"Today is August 4, 2026," said a second voice from the kitchen ceiling, "in the city of
Allendale, California." It repeated the date three times for memory's sake. "Today is Mr.
Featherstone's birthday. Today is the anniversary of Tilita's marriage. Insurance is
payable, as are the water, gas, and light bills.”
Somewhere in the walls, relays clicked, memory tapes glided under electric eyes.
Eight-one, tick-tock, eight-one o'clock, off to school, off to work, run, run, eight-one!
But no doors slammed, no carpets took the soft tread of rubber heels. It was raining
outside. The weather box on the front door sang quietly: "Rain, rain, go away; rubbers,
raincoats for today…" And the rain tapped on the empty house, echoing.
Outside, the garage chimed and lifted its door to reveal the waiting car. After a long
wait the door swung down again.
At eight-thirty the eggs were shriveled and the toast was like stone. An aluminum
wedge scraped them into the sink, where hot water whirled them down a metal throat
which digested and flushed them away to the distant sea. The dirty dishes were dropped
into a hot washer and emerged twinkling dry.
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Nine-fifteen, sang the clock, time to clean.
Out of warrens in the wall, tiny robot mice darted. The rooms were acrawl with the
small cleaning animals, all rubber and metal. They thudded against chairs, whirling
their mustached runners, kneading the rug nap, sucking gently at hidden dust. Then,
like mysterious invaders, they popped into their burrows. Their pink electric eyes faded.
The house was clean.
Ten o'clock. The sun came out from behind the rain. The house stood alone in a city of
rubble and ashes. This was the one house left standing. At night the ruined city gave off
a radioactive glow which could be seen for miles.
Ten-fifteen. The garden sprinklers whirled up in golden founts, filling the soft
morning air with scatterings of brightness. The water pelted windowpanes, running
down the charred west side where the house had been burned evenly free of its white
paint. The entire west face of the house was black, save for five places. Here the
silhouette in paint of a man mowing a lawn. Here, as in a photograph, a
woman bent to pick flowers. Still farther over, their images burned on wood
in one titanic instant, a small boy, hands flung into the air; higher up, the
image of a thrown ball, and opposite him a girl, hands raised to catch a ball
which never came down.
The five spots of paint—the man, the woman, the children, the ball—
remained. The rest was a thin charcoaled layer.
The gentle sprinkler rain filled the garden with falling light.
Until this day, how well the house had kept its peace. How carefully it had inquired,
“Who goes there? What's the password?" and, getting no answer from lonely foxes and
whining cats, it had shut up its windows and drawn shades in an old maidenly
preoccupation with self-protection which bordered on a mechanical paranoia.
It quivered at each sound, the house did. If a sparrow brushed a window, the shade
snapped up. The bird, startled, flew off! No, not even a bird must touch the house! The
house was an altar with ten thousand attendants, big, small, servicing,
attending, in choirs. But the gods had gone away, and the ritual of the
religion continued senselessly, uselessly.
Twelve noon.
A dog whined, shivering, on the front porch. The front door recognized the dog voice
and opened. The dog, once huge and fleshy, but now gone to bone and covered with
sores, moved in and through the house, tracking mud. Behind it whirred angry mice,
angry at having to pick up mud, angry at inconvenience.
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For not a leaf fragment blew under the door but what the wall panels flipped open and
the copper scrap rats flashed swiftly out. The offending dust, hair, or paper, seized in
miniature steel jaws, was raced back to the burrows. There, down tubes which fed into
the cellar, it was dropped into the sighing vent of an incinerator which sat like evil Baal1
in a dark corner.
The dog ran upstairs, hysterically yelping to each door, at last realizing, as the house
realized, that only silence was here.
It sniffed the air and scratched the kitchen door. Behind the door, the stove was
making pancakes which filled the house with a rich baked odor and the scent of maple
syrup.
The dog frothed at the mouth, lying at the door, sniffing, its eyes turned to fire. It ran
wildly in circles, biting at its tail, spun in a frenzy, and died. It lay in the parlor for an
hour.
Two o'clock, sang a voice.
Delicately sensing decay at last, the regiments of mice hummed out as softly as
blown gray leaves in an electrical wind.
Two-fifteen.
The dog was gone.
In the cellar, the incinerator glowed suddenly and a whirl of sparks leaped up the
chimney.
Two thirty-five.
Bridge tables sprouted from patio walls. Playing cards fluttered onto pads in a shower
of pips. Drinks manifested on an oaken bench with egg-salad sandwiches. Music played.
But the tables were silent and the cards untouched.
At four o'clock the tables folded like great butterflies back through the paneled walls.
Four-thirty.
The nursery walls glowed.
Animals took shape: yellow giraffes, blue lions, pink antelopes, lilac panthers
cavorting in crystal substance. The walls were glass. They looked out upon color and
fantasy. Hidden films docked through well-oiled sprockets, and the walls lived. The
nursery floor was woven to resemble a crisp, cereal meadow. Over this ran aluminum
roaches and iron crickets, and in the hot still air butterflies of delicate red tissue
1
Baal: an old Levant term meaning “master” or “lord”
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wavered among the sharp aroma of animal spoors! There was the sound like a great
matted yellow hive of bees within a dark bellows, the lazy bumble of a purring lion. And
there was the patter of okapi2 feet and the murmur of a fresh jungle rain, like other
hoofs, falling upon the summer-starched grass. Now the walls dissolved into distances of
parched weed, mile on mile, and warm endless sky. The animals drew away into thorn
brakes and water holes.
It was the children's hour.
Five o'clock. The bath filled with clear hot water.
Six, seven, eight o'clock. The dinner dishes manipulated like magic tricks, and in the
study a click. In the metal stand opposite the hearth where a fire now blazed up warmly,
a cigar popped out, half an inch of soft gray ash on it, smoking, waiting.
Nine o'clock. The beds warmed their hidden circuits, for nights were cool here.
Nine-five. A voice spoke from the study ceiling:
"Mrs. McClellan, which poem would you like this evening?”
The house was silent.
The voice said at last, "Since you express no preference, I shall select a poem at
random.” Quiet music rose to back the voice. "Sara Teasdale. As I recall, your favorite….
"There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground,
And swallows circling with their shimmering sound;
And frogs in the pools singing at night,
And wild plum trees in tremulous3 white;
Robins will wear their feathery fire,
Whistling their whims on a low fence-wire;
And not one will know of the war, not one
Will care at last when it is done.
Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree,
if mankind perished utterly;
And Spring herself, when she woke at dawn
Would scarcely know that we were gone.”
The fire burned on the stone hearth and the cigar fell away into a mound of quiet ash
on its tray. The empty chairs faced each other between the silent walls, and the music
played.
2
Okapi: A reddish-brown animal native to central Africa, similar to a zebra
3
Tremulous: (adj) trembling or shaking slightly
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At ten o'clock the house began to die.
The wind blew. A failing tree bough crashed through the kitchen window. Cleaning
solvent, bottled, shattered over the stove. The room was ablaze in an instant!
“Fire!" screamed a voice. The house lights flashed, water pumps shot water from the
ceilings. But the solvent spread on the linoleum, licking, eating, under the kitchen door,
while the voices took it up in chorus: "Fire, fire, fire!"
The house tried to save itself. Doors sprang tightly shut, but the windows were broken
by the heat and the wind blew and sucked upon the fire.
The house gave ground as the fire in ten billion angry sparks moved with flaming ease
from room to room and then up the stairs. While scurrying water rats squeaked from the
walls, pistoled their water, and ran for more. And the wall sprays let down showers of
mechanical rain.
But too late. Somewhere, sighing, a pump shrugged to a stop. The quenching rain
ceased. The reserve water supply which had filled baths and washed dishes for many
quiet days was gone.
The fire crackled up the stairs. It fed upon Picassos and Matisses in the
upper halls, like delicacies, baking off the oily flesh, tenderly crisping the
canvases into black shavings.
Now the fire lay in beds, stood in windows, changed the colors of drapes!
And then, reinforcements.
From attic trapdoors, blind robot faces peered down with faucet mouths gushing
green chemical.
The fire backed off, as even an elephant must at the sight of a dead snake. Now there
were twenty snakes whipping over the floor, killing the fire with a clear cold venom of
green froth.
But the fire was clever. It had sent flames outside the house, up through the attic to
the pumps there. An explosion! The attic brain which directed the pumps was shattered
into bronze shrapnel on the beams.
The fire rushed back into every closet and felt of the clothes hung there.
The house shuddered, oak bone on bone, its bared skeleton cringing from the heat, its
wire, its nerves revealed as if a surgeon had torn the skin off to let the red veins and
capillaries quiver in the scalded air. Help, help! Fire! Run, run! Heat snapped mirrors
like the brittle winter ice. And the voices wailed Fire, fire, run, run, like a tragic nursery
rhyme, a dozen voices, high, low, like children dying in a forest, alone, alone. And the
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voices fading as the wires popped their sheathings like hot chestnuts. One, two, three,
four, five voices died.
In the nursery the jungle burned. Blue lions roared, purple giraffes bounded off. The
panthers ran in circles, changing color, and ten million animals, running before the fire,
vanished off toward a distant steaming river….
Ten more voices died. In the last instant under the fire avalanche, other choruses,
oblivious, could be heard announcing the time, playing music, cutting the lawn by
remote-control mower, or setting an umbrella frantically out and in the slamming and
opening front door, a thousand things happening, like a clock shop when each clock
strikes the hour insanely before or after the other, a scene of maniac confusion, yet
unity; singing, screaming, a few last cleaning mice darting bravely out to carry the
horrid ashes away! And one voice, with sublime disregard for the situation, read poetry
aloud in the fiery study, until all the film spools burned, until all the wires withered and
the circuits cracked.
The fire burst the house and let it slam flat down, puffing out skirts of spark and
smoke.
In the kitchen, an instant before the rain of fire and timber, the stove could be seen
making breakfasts at a psychopathic rate, ten dozen eggs, six loaves of toast, twenty
dozen bacon strips, which, eaten by fire, started the stove working again, hysterically
hissing!
The crash. The attic smashing into kitchen and parlor. The parlor into cellar, cellar
into sub-cellar. Deep freeze, armchair, film tapes, circuits, beds, and all like skeletons
thrown in a cluttered mound deep under.
Smoke and silence. A great quantity of smoke.
Dawn showed faintly in the east. Among the ruins, one wall stood alone. Within the
wall, a last voice said, over and over again and again, even as the sun rose to shine upon
the heaped rubble and steam:
"Today is August 5, 2026, today is August 5, 2026, today is…”
***
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Answer the following questions about the story, “There Will Come Soft
Rains.”
1. Bradbury wrote this story in 1950, making predictions about what life would be like
in 2026. How accurate are his predictions? How much of his story, which is fictional,
has become a reality in our current society?
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2. List three examples of figurative language.
a. _____________________________________________________
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b. _____________________________________________________
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c. _____________________________________________________
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Select one to explain in more detail. What exactly does this phrase mean?
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3. Reread the 11th paragraph, focusing on the bolded text.
Here the silhouette in paint of a man mowing a lawn. Here, as in a photograph, a
woman bent to pick flowers. Still farther over, their images burned on wood in
one titanic instant, a small boy, hands flung into the air; higher up, the image of a
thrown ball, and opposite him a girl, hands raised to catch a ball which never
came down.
These are the only “humans” mentioned in the entire story. What happened to these
people (and all the people)? Why aren’t there any human characters in this story? What
have the humans been replaced by? Explain.
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4. Reread the following paragraph:
The house was an altar with ten thousand attendants, big, small, servicing,
attending, in choirs. But the gods had gone away, and the ritual of the religion
continued senselessly, uselessly.
What kind of figurative speech is this? Why does Bradbury compare the house to an
alter? Consider what has happened to the rest of the city/world. What is so “sacred”
about this home?
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5. Reread the following paragraph:
The fire crackled up the stairs. It fed upon Picassos and Matisses in the upper
halls, like delicacies, baking off the oily flesh, tenderly crisping the canvases into
black shavings.
What kind of figurative language is this? Why does Bradbury describe the fire in this
way?
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6. What is your reaction to this story? Do you think the fictional scene Bradbury
describes could indeed become a reality? Explain your reasoning.
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7. After reading the story, explain the title. What are the soft rains? What does this title
foreshadow?
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Vocabulary: Review the following vocabulary words from the story. Then,
make a semantic map for 4 of the words.
emerged
pelted
titanic
paranoia
hysterically
regiments
parched
sheathings
1. Emerged: (verb) to move out or away from something and become visible.
EX: The puppy emerged from the closet carrying a ripped up shoe.
2. Pelted: (verb) to hurl or throw something repeatedly
EX: The raindrops pelted our car so hard that it sounded like the windows
would break.
3. Titanic: (adj) having exceptional strength, size, or power
EX: The weightlifter was a titanic man who towered over his opponents.
4. Paranoia: (noun) a mental condition characterized by delusions or jealousy
EX: The young girl had severe paranoia and always thought her friends were
saying mean things about her.
5. Hysterically: (adv) done with uncontrolled or panicked emotions
EX: The baby cried hysterically when his mom dropped him on his head.
6. Regiments: (noun) a unit of the army commanded by a lieutenant colonel
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EX: The ants looked like organized regiments walking back to their camp.
7. Parched: (adj) extremely thirsty or dry because of excessive heat
EX: After walking through the desert for 2 months, the camel was parched.
8. Sheathings: (noun) protective casing or covering
EX: We pulled the sheathings off the corn before we cooked it.
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Pre-reading questions:
1. Research Emily Dickinson and familiarize yourself with the following terms:
recluse, slant rhyme.
2. Why is the speaker so interested in this bird? What does the bird symbolize to
him/her?
3. Underline and label any figurative language you see as you read. Why does the
author use this figurative language? What are its effects?
A Bird Came Down
by Emily Dickinson
A bird came down the walk:
He did not know I saw;
He bit an angle-worm in halves
And ate the fellow, raw.
And then he drank a dew
From a convenient grass,
And then hopped sidewise to the wall
To let a beetle pass.
He glanced with rapid eyes
That hurried all abroad,-They looked like frightened beads, I thought;
He stirred his velvet head
Like one in danger; cautious,
I offered him a crumb,
And he unrolled his feathers
And rowed him softer home
Than oars divide the ocean,
Too silver for a seam,
Or butterflies, off banks of noon,
Leap, splashless, as they swim.
***
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Answer the following questions about “A Bird Came Down.”
1. According to the first two stanzas of the poem, the bird did all of the following
EXCEPT?
A eat a worm
B drink some dew
C eat a blade of grass
D move aside for a beetle
2. Read these two lines from the poem:
“He bit an angle-worm in halves”
“And ate the fellow, raw.”
Which of the following describes the relationship between these two lines?
A The lines make a comparison.
B The lines describe the order of events that occurred.
C The lines show differences between objects in the poem.
D The second sentence gives the cause of the first.
3. Which of the following conclusions about the bird is supported by the poem?
A The bird was hungry and thirsty.
B The bird did not know how to fly.
C The bird was a Blue Jay.
D The bird was injured.
4. Read these lines from the poem:
Like one in danger; cautious,
I offered him a crumb,
Based on the text, the word cautious means
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A pleased
B careful
C awake
D grateful
5. The primary purpose of this poem is to describe:
A the author’s experience of watching a bird and its actions
B the reason people should not interact with birds
C how to use imagery and metaphors when writing about nature
D the various things a person might see outside
6. The question below is an incomplete sentence. Choose the word that best completes
the sentence.
The author tried to feed the bird a crumb, _________, the bird did not accept
the offer and flew away.
A however
B before
C because
D finally
7. What did the speaker offer the bird?
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8. Why might the bird have glanced with rapid eyes? Cite evidence from the text to
support your answer.
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9. Read the following lines:
And he unrolled his feathers
And rowed him softer home
Than oars divide the ocean,
Too silver for a seam,
Or butterflies, off banks of noon,
Leap, splashless, as they swim.
What does Dickinson compare the bird to? Why do you think she compares the bird to
these things? What does this comparison reveal to us about the bird?
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10. Emily Dickinson was a recluse (someone who shuts him/herself off from society and
lives an isolated life with little interaction with the public). How might this lifestyle have
affected her writing? Do you see any evidence of those effects do you see in this poem?
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11. Vocabulary Word: convenient: easy to get to or use.
Use the vocabulary word in a sentence:
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Pre-reading questions:
1. This poem focuses on the idea of impermanence and change. Think of some times
when you were faced with a difficult change. How did you feel?
2. Research Robert Frost and familiarize yourself with his writing style and common
themes. What evidence of these styles/themes do you see in this poem?
3. What is the tone of the poem? How does the title help to create that tone?
4. What is the poem’s theme, or message, and how is it relevant to your life?
Nothing Gold Can Stay
By Robert Frost
Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
1. What is the poem’s tone? What words or phrases help to create that tone?
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2. Explain these two lines: “Her early leaf’s a flower; / But only so an hour.” What
exactly does Frost mean?
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3. Does the poem have any rhyme? If so, label them above. What is the effect of these
rhymes? How would you describe Frost’s writing style?
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4. Not that the tile and the last line are the same. Why might Frost have chosen to start
and end his poem with the same line? What does this line, “Nothing gold can stay,”
mean?
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5. What is the theme of this poem? How is that theme relevant in your life?
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Pre-reading questions:
1. How do people in big cities normally get their fruits and vegetables? How might
this affect the quality of their food? How could they change this?
2. Based on the article’s title, what do you predict the text will be about?
Urban Farms
By Susannah Edelbaum
Many people wrongly think that cities don’t have farms and that fruits and
vegetables are only grown in the country. Believe it or not, there are more and more
urban farms popping up in cities all over the world.
Alexandra Sullivan, a food systems
researcher in New York City, studies urban
agriculture. Urban agriculture is another name
for farming and gardening in a city
environment. Ms. Sullivan studies everything
from tiny gardens in empty lots between
buildings to bigger fields that have been
planted and cultivated. According to Ms.
Sullivan, “Urban agriculture has existed since
cities have, across the world.”
The number of humans living in urban areas, or cities, is increasing. The amount
of people who want to garden in urban areas is also rising. Ms. Sullivan says, “In small
gardens, on rooftops and indoors, city residents grow fruits, vegetables, grains, and
herbs, and raise animals to produce dairy, eggs, honey, and meat. City residents use
these foods as supplements [additions] to food produced by rural agriculture.” Even
though some people who live in urban areas grow crops, urban residents still need to
rely on food grown in rural areas. This is because a city doesn’t have enough space to
grow enough food for everyone living in it.
In New York City, urban farmers have come up with many different ways to grow
their own produce, even though there isn’t a lot of room. For example, Brooklyn Grange
is a farming operation that has two rooftop vegetable farms in New York City. All
together, the farms are made up of 2.5 acres of rooftop space. This makes Brooklyn
Grange one of the largest rooftop farming operations in the world.
Brooklyn Grange grows tomatoes, lettuce, peppers, kale, chard, herbs, carrots,
radishes, and beans. The farming company sells its vegetables to local residents and
restaurants. And because the farms are on rooftops, they are specially adapted to their
urban location. They use available space that is not needed for anything else. As more
urban farmers find ways to grow food in cities, urban residents will be better able to get
fresher ingredients for their meals.
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***
Answer the following questions about “Urban Farms.”
1. What is urban agriculture?
A farming and gardening in the country
B a term for cities that have farms
C farming and gardening in a city environment
D a method of growing food indoors
2. What does the passage describe?
A how to grow potatoes and beans on a roof
B agriculture in urban environments
C the history of urban agriculture
D technology used in urban agriculture
3. Urban agriculture cannot serve as the only food source for a large city. What evidence
from the passage supports this statement?
A “This is because a city doesn’t have enough space to grow enough food for
everyone living in it.”
B “In New York City, urban farmers have come up with many different ways to
grow their own produce, even though there isn’t a lot of room.”
C “‘In small gardens, on rooftops and indoors, city residents grow fruits,
vegetables, grains and herbs, and raise animals to produce dairy, eggs, honey and
meat.’”
D “Brooklyn Grange grows tomatoes, lettuce, peppers, kale, chard, herbs, carrots,
radishes, and beans.”
4. Based on the text, what is a common challenge urban farmers face?
A Growing produce during water shortages.
B Keepingurbanfarmssafefromcityresidents.
C Fighting against cities’ laws that ban urban agriculture.
D Finding the right space to grow their produce.
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5. What is this passage mostly about?
A farming in city environments
B the advantages of urban agriculture
C how people can begin their own urban farm
D the rooftop gardens of Brooklyn Grange
6. Read the following sentence: “In New York City, urban farmers have come up with
many different ways to grow their own produce, even though there isn’t a lot of room.”
What does “produce” most nearly mean as used in this sentence?
A foods grown in the country
B foods made with sugar
C fruits and vegetables
D desserts and drinks
7. Choose the answer that best completes the sentence below.
The number of people living in urban environments is increasing. ________,
the number of people in cities who want to start urban farms and gardens is
increasing.
A As a result
B In addition
C Initially
D However
Answer the following questions using the ACE method. Remember to cite
evidence when possible to support your answer.
8. How long has urban agriculture existed?
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9. Give an example of a place where urban farmers can grow their own produce.
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10. Explain how and why urban farms adapt to their city environment. Support your
answer using information from the passage.
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Pre-reading questions:
1. How would you characterize Lina? How does her character help to advance, or
change, the plot of this passage?
2. Why is Jazz/Swing music so important to Lina and her family?
A Time for Jazz
Lina had been at it for an entire hour. Her fingers were poised on the shiny white
keys of her piano. Old and crinkled sheet music sat in front of her, the black notes
blankly staring at her. She stared at them for so long, her vision started to blur. Lina had
been working on this piece for the past week, trying to master the tricky rhythm and
memorize the movements required by her long fingers. She loved the piano; she always
had, ever since she started playing at the age of six. But something was beginning to
bother her. She was growing tired of the pieces her teacher assigned her week after
week. They were all classical music pieces, and even though Lina loved them, she was
itching to try something new. She decided to take a break. She got up from the piano bench and stretched her
stiff limbs. She walked into the kitchen, grabbed some celery and peanut butter out of
the fridge, and turned on the radio. The room was suddenly filled with the sound of
blaring trumpets, beating drums, a singing saxophone, and trilling piano keys. She
assumed her dad had been listening to this station earlier in the day—he had always
been a big fan of jazz music. Lina had never really joined in on her father’s passion for
that type of music, but something about this particular song made her listen more
carefully. Lina’s trance was broken by the sound of the back door opening. “Helloooo!” her dad called out. “Hey dad, what’s the name of this song?” she asked him, eagerly. He stopped in his tracks and listened for a few seconds. “I think this one is called ‘Things Ain’t What They Used to Be’ by Duke Ellington
and his big band,” he said. “Isn’t it beautiful?”
Lina nodded her head in agreement. “I wish I could play the piano like that,” she
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“All right, I’ll ask Mr. Wilson next week at class if we can start doing some jazz
lessons!” she said excitedly. Lina continued to listen to the jazz radio
station for the rest of the evening. While she
and her dad prepared dinner, they were
serenaded by the sounds of crooning
saxophones and beating cymbals. The two
didn’t talk; they just swayed back and forth to
the rhythm of the music while chopping
vegetables and waiting for pasta to boil. Just as they were setting the dinner
table, Lina’s mom rushed through the door. “Sorry I’m late!” she said. “I had to stay longer at work than I had planned.”
“You’re just in time for dinner!” Lina replied and pulled out a chair for her mom
to sit down. As she plopped down onto her seat, she caught the melody of the tune that was
playing on the radio. “Ohhhh, I love this song. My father used to play this on our piano
when I was little,” she said with a smile. Lina asked if her mom listened to jazz while growing up. “Oh, all the time!” she exclaimed. “My dad was a huge fan. He was a pianist
himself. He learned how to play from his father—my grandfather—who was around
when swing music was just becoming popular,” she explained. “When was that?” Lina asked. “Well,swing music—a type of jazz style with a strong beat that really makes you
want to dance— was played for a long time by the African-American community before
it really became popular. My grandfather and his father were playing swing long before
it was heard on the radio. When the Great
Depression hit in the 1930s, many Americans were out of jobs and money. So of
course they needed something to cheer them up. When people heard swing music, they
forgot about their problems. The music was just so up lifting. So big bands, like the one
led by Duke Ellington, started to play at famous ballrooms and theaters all across the
United States and even Europe,” her mom explained. “And so that’s when your grandpa was around?” Lina asked. She was so excited to
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“Yes, he loved to go dancing. He even saw Duke Ellington and his band play once!
His favorite song was ‘It Don’t Mean a Thing if It Ain’t Got That Swing,’” her mother
replied. Mr. Wilson had played that song for Lina at one of her weekly classes. He had
told her that it was a revolutionary piece of music and is still listened to by jazz
audiences today all around the world. Lina loved the way music could be passed down
through generations. She wished she could have seen Duke Ellington’s band play live. “Well, it sounds like you’re interested in jazz history all of a sudden. What’s
making you ask all these questions?” Lina’s mom asked. Lina explained that she wanted to learn something new. She had learned enough
classical music and wanted to move on to something else. “Then start improvising!” Lina’s mom told her. “Jazz is all about improvising. So
many solos you hear on these records are just musicians playing what their heart feels.” Lina thought about improvising. She could hardly imagine just sitting down at
the piano and playing anything that came to her mind, just piecing together notes in a
way that would captivate her listeners. She remained silent for a while, concentrating
hard on what she could possibly play off the top of her head.
Her mom noticed Lina’s brow furrow. “The only way you’re going to learn how to
improvise is if you try,” she told her daughter. She walked over to the piano and pulled
out the bench. She patted it and looked over to the dinner table at Lina. “Let’s start now!” she said with excitement in her eyes.
***
Answer the following questions about “A Time for Jazz.”
1. What instrument does Lina play?
A. the saxophone
B. the trumpet
C. the piano
D. the drums
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2. Throughout the story, Lina asks her parents a lot of questions about jazz. What
motivates Lina’s questions?
A. Lina wants to learn something new.
B. Lina is preparing for a music history test.
C. Lina’s homework is to interview her parents.
D. Lina needs help with her piano homework.
3. Lina is anxious to learn a different kind of music. What evidence from the passage
best supports this conclusion?
A. “Old and crinkled sheet music sat in front of her, the black notes staring
blankly at her. She stared at them for so long, her vision started to blur.
B. “She loved the piano; she always had, ever since she started playing at the age
of six. But something was beginning to bother her.”
C. “Lina had been working on this piece for the past week, trying to master the
tricky rhythm and memorize the movements required by her long fingers.”
D. “They were all classical music pieces, and even though Lina loved them, she
was itching to try something new.”
4. What conclusion can be made about Lina’s family and their relationship to jazz?
A. Lina is the first person in her family to be interested in jazz.
B. Jazz has been important to many people in Lina’s family.
C. Lina’s family used to like jazz, but now they think it is too popular.
D. Lina is the only person in her family who doesn’t like jazz.
5. What is the story mostly about?
A. Lina learns about jazz and her family’s ties to the music.
B. Lina is tired of playing the piano and wants to learn something new.
C. Lina learns how to play jazz piano and improvise new melodies.
D. Lina discovers that both of her parents enjoy jazz music.
6. Read the following sentences:
“Lina thought about improvising. She could hardly imagine just sitting down at the
piano and playing anything that came to her mind, just piecing together notes in a way
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that would captivate her listeners. She remained silent for a while, concentrating hard
on what she could possibly play off the top of her head”
As used in this sentence, the word improvising most nearly means:
A. performing from sheet music
B. making something better
C. inventing new music while performing
D. playing music for an audience
7. Choose the answer that best completes the sentence below:
“_______________, swing music was played in African-American
communities before it became popular in ballrooms across America.”
A. However
B. Finally
C. Obviously
D. Initially
8. In your own words, describe swing music: its origins, its style, etc.
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
9. How important was music to the different generations of Lina’s family? How did
they pass down their appreciation from generation to generation? Give evidence
from the passage to support your answer.
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
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Identifying & Correcting Run-Ons and Fragments
Notes on Run-on Sentences and Fragments
I. What four things do you need to have a complete sentence?
Edgar loved his wife very much.
Edgar
Capital letter subject
.
loved
his wife very much
verb
predicate
full stop
II. Label the following clauses as “independent” or “dependent”
a. When Ernest went to lunch.
b. She sat alone at a small table.
An independent clause is:
A dependent clause is:
III. Dependent clauses are marked by subordinating conjunctions, or dependent
marker words. Here is a list of some common ones:
after
although
as
as if
because
before
even if
even though
if
in order to
since
though
unless
until
whatever
when
whenever
whether
while
IV. A fragment is a dependent clause written alone, or a sentence without a verb
or subject.
a. Because the wind was so strong. (dependent clause standing alone)
Correction:
b. Went to the supermarket. (no subject)
Correction:
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c. The hotdogs. (no verb)
Correction:
V. A run-on sentence is two or more independent clauses written together without
proper punctuation or conjunctions to separate them.
Ex: Annabel loves to ski she sometimes injures herself on the slopes.
a. Annabel loves to ski. (independent)
b. She sometimes injures herself on the slopes. (independent)
There are MANY ways to correct a run-on sentence. Here are four common
ways:
1. Make two complete sentences by adding a full stop and a capital letter.
2. Join the two sentences to make a compound sentence by using a comma and
a coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS).
3. Join the two sentences by using a semicolon.
4. Make one clause dependent by adding a subordinating conjunction,
creating a complex sentence.
Important notes about run-ons
* When joining independent + independent, you cannot use a comma
alone. Must use a comma AND coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS).
* When using subordinating conjunction and joining a dependent +
independent, must put a comma between two clauses.
* When using subordinating conjunction and joining independent +
dependent, do not put a comma between two clauses.
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***
A: Label the following sentences as run-ons (RO), fragments (F) or complete
sentences (C).
1. The small boy looked up he smiled. ______________
2. She went to the store. ______________
3. Seeing the store go up in flames Anne called the police they arrived in less than 5 minutes.
______________
4. Will you come with me to the pool I want to go swimming. ______________
5. When the storm hit. ______________
6. It rained. ______________
7. Because of the high temperatures. ______________
8. The doors slammed shut the students stopped talking. ______________
9. The audience roared with applause it was a fantastic performance. ______________
10. The light turned red, we raced off down the road. ______________
B: Correct the following run-ons and fragments and write your correction on the
line provided. If the sentence is already correct, write “CS” on the line.
1. Shakespeare’s plays can be grouped as comedies, tragedies, and histories, Hamlet is
a tragedy.
____________________________________________________________
2. Because our history teacher was Lebanese.
____________________________________________________________
3. Eric is a brave boy, he doesn’t complain about his illness.
____________________________________________________________
4. The water rose.
____________________________________________________________
5. The show begins at 7:30 make sure you're there before 7:15.
____________________________________________________________
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6. The zoo is a wonderful experience for everyone, you should go.
____________________________________________________________
7. A rich man in his fancy clothes.
____________________________________________________________
8. The flu is serious, you should go see a doctor.
____________________________________________________________
9. My sister was taller than me when we were young now I am the tallest it is fun.
____________________________________________________________
10.We usually leave at 11:00 but today is different we are leaving at 10:30.
____________________________________________________________
C: Read the following paragraph and make any corrections necessary to avoid runons and fragments. Rewrite your corrected paragraph on the lines provided.
[1] Last year, we went on a field trip to Ferrari World, we saw many amazing cars. [2]
It was interesting to see some of the older car models. [3] I had been saving my money
I wanted to buy something at the gift shop. [4] Since the bus ride there took us about an
hour we all brought our phones to play games. [5] When we arrived, we first took a tour
of the factory. [6] After that, we had some free time to walk around. [7] Took some
pictures. [8] My friends and I rode many rides we even raced go-karts in the Karting
Academy. [9] At the end of the long hot day. [10] We all had fun we asked if we could
go again this year.
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
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Simple Verb Tenses
A. Write whether each sentence is in past, present, or future tense.
1. He shut the door on his way out._________________________
2. Vanessa will weep when her best friend moves. _____________________
3. Matthew spread jam across his toast. ___________________
4. The princess will weave the straw into gold. ______________________
5. Daniel and I won the three-legged race. _______________________
6. The chicken soup was still too hot to eat. __________________________
7. Hannah stuck a note between the papers. _________________________
8. The magician will choose my friend to be his assistant. _______________
9. Travis liked watching his dad cook scrambled eggs. __________________
B. Write the simple present tense form of the verb in each blank.
1. Hasan _______ (watch) TV on weekends.
2. The newest students in our class ________ (be) Fadi and Suha.
3. My friend _______ (drill) for oil in UK.
4. Our teacher, Carole, ____ (be) very helpful.
5. Many students in grade 7 ______ (exercise) every week.
6. Rida, __________ you __________ (eat) breakfast before you __________
(come) to English class?
7. Ahmad and Andrew __________ (work) at Right to Read every day.
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8. Sheila ______ (speak) Spanish, but Rudy and Ameen ______ not ______ (speak)
Spanish.
9. Sally _____ (be) from Brazil and ________ (know) Portuguese.
C. In the blank before each sentence write past, present, or future.
_________ 1. Mona and Hana study English in our class.
__________ 2. English is not our first language.
__________ 3. Saeed will be a very good English speaker one day.
__________ 4. Maya helps Mr. Mark teach our class.
__________ 5. At Right to Read, Tara completed the application form.
__________ 6. Tina will join our class tomorrow.
__________ 7. Rashed and Fahad are the men in our class.
__________ 8. Nader and Aseel lived in the United States for many years.
__________ 9. Reem’s family in Cameroon misses her.
D. Fill in the blanks below with one of the 15 irregular past tense verbs in
the box.
bite
find
leave
quit
spend
choose
hold
mean
sell
tell
feel
keep
pay
shut
wear
1. I _________ my bag at school so I have to go back and get it.
2. I didn't enjoy playing baseball so I ______________ the team.
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3. He _________________ asking same question again and again.
4. I _____________ what I said.
5. He _____________ the truth.
6. When she _______________ into the apple, she saw a worm.
7. I _________________ nervous when I spoke in front of the class.
8. Lucky me! I _____________ some money on the ground.
9. He _________________ his comic book collection to a friend for $20.00.
10. I was cold so I ____________ the window.
11. There were many colors, but I ___________ a blue one.
12. It was a windy day so I ______________ a warm coat.
13. He ____________ the baby very gently in his arms.
14. She _________________ $50 on new shoes and ___________ $30 for
her pants.
E. Write the correct form of the irregular verb in simple past tense.
1) The moon ___________________ (to come) out late last night.
2) Jessica _________________ (to lose) her first tooth this morning.
3) My entire family ________________ (to catch) the flu last winter.
4) The employees __________________ (to do) a lot of work today.
5) The swimmers __________________ (to hold) their breath and jumped in
the water.
6) The baker __________________ (to make) a cake for my birthday.
7) They ____________________ (to take) a picture of the mountain.
8) The teacher ________________ (to teach) the students chemistry last year.
9) I ____________________ (to wear) my jacket to work yesterday.
10) We __________________ (to go) to the zoo last weekend.
11) Tom _________________ (to write) his family a letter.
12) I _________________ (to see) a movie last night.
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Progressive Verb Tenses
• We use the present progressive form of a verb to express an action or a condition
that is continuing in the present.
Ex: Naya is finishing her song.
The present progressive form consists of the helping verb am, are, or is and the
present participle of the main verb.
• The past progressive form of a verb expresses action or a condition that was
continuing at some time in the past.
Ex: Nell and Rashed were watching a scary show.
The past progressive form consists of the helping verb was or were and the
present participle.
• We use the future progressive/continuous tense to talk about things that have
been planned or likely to happen.
The future progressive form consists of the helping verb will be and the present
participle.
Ex: Hala will be studying when her dad comes home.
Present Progressive
When do we use it?
• To express or indicate an action that is happening at the time we are speaking (I am telling you about
verbs)
• Temporary situations (I am staying at my friends house right now.)
• To complain about an annoying habit. (You are always talking in class!)
• Changing situations (The weather is improving.)
• Definite future plans (I am going to the movies tonight.)
• With the words like: always, continually, constantly.
Form
he, she, it, singular nouns + is + verb + ing (Hana is sleeping right now)
I + am + verb + ing (I am always leaving my homework at home!)
they, we, you, plural nouns + are + verb + ing (We are traveling this summer.)
Negative Form Add “not” after the helping verb (is, am, are)
Hana is not sleeping right now
I am not always leaving my homework at home.
We are not traveling this summer.
Interrogative
(question)
Form
am/is/are + subject + verb + ing
Is Hana sleeping right now?
Am I always forgetting my homework at home?
Are we traveling this summer?
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Past Progressive
When do we use it?
• To express an action that was continuous at a specific point in the past (I was learning a lot in 5th
grade.)
• To express an action in the past that was interrupted by another action (I was eating lunch when the
phone rang)
• To express an action in the past happening at the same time as another action (I was eating while my
son played)
Form
I, he, she, it, singular nouns + was + verb + ing (The dog was running around all
day.)
they, we, you, plural nouns + were + verb + ing (You were paying attention
yesterday.)
Negative Form Add “not” after the helping verb (was, were)
The dog was not running around all day.
You were not paying attention yesterday.
Interrogative
(question)
Form
was/were + subject + verb + ing
Was the dog running around all day?
Were you paying attention yesterday?
Future Progressive
When do we use it?
• To express an action that will certainly be happening at a future time.
• To express an action that will be happening in the future, but for only a short time
Form
subject + will/shall + be + verb + ing
Lizzi will be watching the children tomorrow night.
My mother will be staying with us when she visits.
Negative Form subject + will/shall + not + be + verb + ing
Lizzi will not be watching the children tomorrow night.
My mother will not be staying with us when she visits.
Interrogative
(question)
Form
will/shall + subject + be + verb + ing
Will Lizzi be watching the children tomorrow night?
Will my mother be staying with us when she visits?
A. Rewrite each of the following sentences replacing the simple verbs with
progressive tense verbs.
1. Mohammed plays computer games.
________________________________________________________
2. The horses trotted around the track.
_______________________________________________________
3. Alaa worked hard yesterday.
_______________________________________________________
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4. Marwan will finish some work.
_______________________________________________________
5. Karen and Basel hurried to their dance class.
_______________________________________________________
6. Khaled take piano lessons.
_______________________________________________________
7. Daniel will call his friend Waleed tomorrow.
_______________________________________________________
8. Hiba sang at the concert.
________________________________________________________
B. Fill in the blanks with the correct progressive form of the verbs in
brackets.
1) Jason (listen) ____________________ to music now.
2) I (talk) ___________________ on the phone when you come home.
3) Erin and Jessica (make) __________________ a cake right last night.
4) Shhh…Be quiet! The teacher (speak) _____________________ now!
5) Marcos and I (study) ______________ English for the next few hours.
6) Were Daniel and James playing basketball last year? No, they
__________________ soccer.
7) Emily (eat) ________________________ breakfast now.
8) My car (make) _____________________ strange noises. I went to get it
checked out.
C. Fill in the blanks with the correct progressive form of the verbs in
brackets.
1) Amelia and I (move) ____________________ to California this week.
2) The bright lights (flash) __________________. They (hurt)
___________________ my eyes.
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3) Next year, you (type) ___________________ your homework on the
computer.
4) The groundskeeper (mow) ____________________ the grass next
weekend.
5) The computer (process) _____________________ a command.
6) Aunt Janet (paint) _____________________ a picture when her dad
knocked the door.
***
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Perfect Verb Tenses
The three perfect tenses in English are the three verb tenses which show action
already completed. (The word perfect literally means "made complete" or "completely
done.")
They are formed by the appropriate tense of the verb to have plus the past
participle of the verb.
Present Perfect: I have seen it. Use “has or have” plus past participle. Action is completed with respect to the present.
Past Perfect: I had seen it. Use “had” plus past participle. Action is completed with respect to the past.
Future Perfect: I will have seen it. Use “will have” plus past participle. Action is completed with respect to the future.
A) Use the correct verb form to complete each sentence.
1. Kimberly ___________________ (leave, past perfect) for school before she
realized she forgot to brush her teeth.
2. Jeremy ____________________ (run, past perfect) five miles a day before
the marathon.
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3. By the end of this season, snow _____________________ (cover, future
perfect) the whole area.
4. We ____________________________ (rent, present perfect) this car for
the weekend.
5. Robert ________________________ (do, present perfect) a wonderful
job teaching KG this year.
6. By the end of this year, you _____________________ (get, future perfect)
to know your teacher very well.
B) Proofread the following sentences.
1. In the science fiction story, computers had take over the world.
2. I have give you all the hints I can.
3. My friend has write a new short story.
4. I have make my final decision.
5. The wild horse has throw the cowboy off its back.
6. The choir has sing the final song of the program.
7. I had tear my jacket on a nail.
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C) Fill in the blanks with the appropriate perfect form of the given
verb. Use keywords, as well as the context of the sentence, to help you
decide which of the three perfect tenses you need. Pay close attention
to spelling.
1. Mrs. Polanski (know) __________________ Peter since he was a little boy.
2. That species of elephant (recently, disappear) _________________ from the
area, so we were not able to see it.
3. By the time the treasure hunt begins, Susan (hide) ___________________ all
the clues.
4. Seth (seldom, play) ____________________ soccer before he tried out for his
school's team.
5. Ariel (be) ____________________ a gymnast for eight years. She (break)
______________________ six bones since she began practicing gymnastics.
6. Christy (already, adopt) ____________________ several dogs before she
adopted Molly.
***
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Troublesome Verb Pairs
There are three pairs of troublesome verbs. They differ in two ways:
1. Meaning
2. Transitive/Intransitive (do they take a direct object or not)
RAISE/RISE
Raise: -To lift something up
-Transitive: Always has a direct object (doing the action TO something)
-EX: I raised my hand to answer the question. (my hand = Direct Obj)
Rise: -To move upward
-Intransitive: Never has a direct object; the subject is doing the action itself, not
to something else
-EX: The sun rises in the morning. (no Direct Obj, the sun does the action itself)
LAY/LIE
Lay:
- to put something down carefully
- Transitive: Always has a direct object (doing the action TO something)
-EX: Please lay that box on the couch. (that box = Direct Obj)
Lie:
-to rest in a reclined position
-Intransitive: Never has a direct object; the subject is doing the action itself, not
to something else
-EX: You should lie down for a little while; you look sick. (no Direct Obj, “you” is
doing the action himself)
SET/SIT
Set:
-to place something down carefully
-Transitive: Always has a direct object (doing the action TO something)
-EX: Sasha set the table for dinner. (the table = Direct Obj)
Sit:
-to be in a seated position
-Intransitive: Never has a direct object; the subject is doing the action itself, not
to something else
-EX: Mary was sitting at the wrong desk. (no Direct Obj, “Mary” is doing the
action herself)
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A. Select the correct verb for the following sentences.
1. I (lay, laid) there for a while.
2. I had (set, sat) the scissors down in the kitchen.
3. The cattle had (lain, laid) under the oak trees for quite a while.
4. Has the price of wheat (risen, raised) again?
5. She (raised, rose) up and started to protest.
6. Has the puppy (lain, laid) the chew toy down yet?
7. After that, we both (sat, set) quietly and thought about the future.
8. Please do not (rise, raise) the umbrella in the house.
9. Were you (laying, lying) in the hammock?
10. Myron is (sitting, setting) colorful napkins next to the plates.
B. Decide whether the underlined verb in each of the following sentences is
correct. If the verb is incorrect, write the correct form above it. If the verb is
correct, write C above it.
1. Sit the new trophy on the mantel with the others.
2. Our hopes for the soccer championship have raised.
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3. I sat on the dock for three hours waiting for the ferry to return.
4. Philip’s bicycle is laying in the middle of the driveway.
5. The stage manager had lain the props in the wrong places.
6. Fred should lay on his side to stop snoring.
7. Mrs. Nasser sat the tabbouleh and the kibbeh next to other traditional Lebanese
foods.
8. Tempers raised as the debate progressed.
C. Write the correct form of the given verb to complete the sentence.
1. I _______________ (lie, past perfect) down for a nap when the mail arrived.
2. The captain ________________ (raise, past simple) the anchor, and the ship set
sail.
3. Can you please ____________ (set, present simple) that carton of eggs down?
4. All of the students __________________ (sit, past progressive) at their seats
when Ms. Samira walked in.
5. The teachers ______________ (lay, past simple) the exams out and began
correcting.
6. The cat _______________ (lie, past simple) around all day waiting for dinner.
7. The weight lifting champion ______________ (rise, past simple) up and claimed
his trophy.
8. The price of petrol _________________ (raise, future perfect) by the end of the
summer.
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Helpful Websites:
• http://eolit.hrw.com/hlla/ccc/index.jsp?
which=blancaflor&id=1023&WebLogicSession=TF2RZfCS2C8DClIhpyi5pHz4
cf1brfp5bfWzVGrzz4wr1bM2DX xK|-4856177159716417645/1062731288/6/6001/6001/7002/7002/6001/-1
• http://www.misswhyte.com/pages/folktales.html
• http://www.longlongtimeago.com/llta_folktales.html
• http://eolit.hrw.com/hlla/writersmodel/index.jsp?id=1381&WebLogicSes sion=TGDsYsvVn2OcPmJW672uBX7lhV3d67IHikQe0dsQHY1nzI2SkF4S|81 21286389490268350/-1062731312/6/6001/6001/7002/7002/6001/-1
• http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/prepositions.htm
• http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/features/andersen/homepage.html Useful Apps for Your Phone:
• Interactive English Games
• Grammar – Up
• Shakespeare in Bits
• Hangman Pro HD
• I-Phrase ! of 62
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