I Ate Breakfast, THEN I Went to School.I Would Rather Eat THAN Go to School

Name:______

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These examples may help you understand why then/than should not be confused.

I ate breakfast, THEN I went to school.I would rather eat THAN go to school.

What it means: After I ate breakfast,What it means: In comparison to going

I went to school. to school, I would rather eat.

Option One: I’d rather get ice cream, THEN get eaten by zombies.

Option Two: I’d rather get ice cream, THEN get eaten by zombies. CHOOSE CAREFULLY!

The English words than and then look and sound a lot alike, but they are completely different. If this distinction is harder than it should be, read this lesson and then try again.

Than

Than is a conjunction used in comparisons:

1. Tom is smarter than Bill.

2. This is more important than you might think.

3. Is she taller than you?

4. Yes, she is taller than I.

Then

Then has numerous meanings.

1. At that point in time

I wasn’t ready then.

Will you be home at noon? I’ll call you then.

2. Next, afterward

I went to the store, and then to the bank

Do your homework and then go to bed

3. In addition, also, on top of that

He told me he was leaving, and then that I owed him money

It cost $5,000, and then there’s tax too

4. In that case, therefore (often with "if")

If you want to go, then you’ll have to finish your homework.

I’m hungry! Then you should eat.

The Bottom Line

Than is used only in comparisons, so if you’re comparing something use than. If not, then you have to use then. What could be easier than that?

Let’s practice!

Directions: Circle the correct word in the following sentences.

1)It takes less time to brush my teeth (than/then) it takes to shower.

2) If the cat has been fed, (than, then) don’t give him more food.

3)Dark chocolate is more delicious (than, then) white chocolate.

4)We ate, (than/then) we began our journey.

5)He would rather ride his bike( than, then) walk.

6)First I tripped, (than, then) I sprained my foot.

7)I would rather take pain medication(than, then) suffer.

8)At first, October was warm, (than, then) it grew chilly.

9)Her stomach would not stop growling, (than, then) it grew chilly.

10)Erica would rather play sports (than, then) watch them on TV.

Read the sentences below and fill in each blank with either the word then or than.

1. If someone gave her the chance, Emily would rather ride a unicorn ______a dinosaur.
2. Sammy wished his dog would do his homework for him and ______help him study for his test. 3. Franco would much rather play video games ______do his homework.
4. If Joey had not eaten all of the candy ______there would still be some left for Luka.
5. Karyn told her mother that she would much rather be in the sun ______in the snow!
6. Laurie has to go grocery shopping and ______she can cook dinner for her kids.
7. If Chris could have a pet, he would rather have a cat ______a dog.
8. Tina told her father that she likes to draw more ______anything else in the world.

Latin/Greek root: pre(before) and post(after)

1)Posterior, adj: situated behind or at the back

2)Posterity, noun: future generations

3)Posthumous, adj: occurring or continuing after death, especially a work published after an author’s death

4)Precedent, noun: action that may serve as an example or reason for a later action

5)Preconceived, adj: formed beforehand

6)Predestination, noun: belief that what happens in human life has already been determined by some higher power

7)Preempt , verb: to take possession of something before anyone else can do so

8)Premonition, noun: a warning in advance

9)Preposterous, adj: absurd, contrary to nature or reason

10) Pretentious, adj: showy, pompous

______

Vocabulary Practice: pre, post

Circle the best answer.

1.The ballerina’s injury was on her heel, so the doctor told her it was on what region of her foot?

a)posterityb)posthumousc) precedentd) posterior

2. Every day, a member on the team arrived to practice in a limousine. What characteristic would best describe him?

a) pretentiousb) posthumousc) preemptd) predestination

3. Some religions believe that everything that will ever happen in a lifetime was prewritten. Another term for this is what?

a) pretentiousb) predestinationc)precedentd) posterity

4. My best friend could tell I was about to sneeze, so he was able to say, “bless you” before it happened. His remark was

a) premonitionb) preposterousc) posthumousd) preemptive

5. Whenever politicians call for action, they always say they are improving conditions for their children. Their wish is to benefit what?

a. posterityb) predestinationc) premonitiond) precedent

6. Vincent Van Gogh never knew the prestige he has today. Since his work was only noticed after he died, his fame is called what?

a) preconceivedb) posthumousc) preemptived) preposterous

7. Alice’s brother, who is a bulky defensive lineman for his college football team, walks the family poodle in the evenings. As he passes by, the neighbors laugh, thinking he looks how?

a) pretentiousb) posteriorc) preposterousd) preconceived

8. Eric’s brother had a dream that he would pass his chemistry test, so Eric interpreted it as a sign of good things to come. One might also call this a what?

a) premonitionb) preemptivec) posthumousd) precedent

9. The Supreme Court is responsible for setting the standards for justice. One may say that, in terms of fairness, they set a what?

a) preemptiveb) preposterousc) precedentd) predestined

10. Although the team seemed like they were acting spontaneously, the performance was actually part of a plan they had made two weeks before. Their actions were really part of a plan that was

a) preemptiveb) posteriorc) preconceivedd) predestined

Write the correct word in the blank so the sentence makes sense.

11)An argument used to support recycling is the need to leave the world a clean place for______.

12)Since I arrived to the cinema center late, the only available seats were located in the ______of the theatre.

13) Knowing that his older sister would eat all the dessert before he would finish dinner, Christ decided to make a ______move and hid a brownie before she was called to the table.

14) Ravens and crow are commonly used as a ______of death in films and movies.

15)The man did not believe in ______until a prophecy was made about his daughter.

Piri Thomas-author of Amigo Brothers

Piri Thomas was born in Harlem, New York on September 30, 1928. He was the eldest of seven children. His mother is of Puerto Rican descent and his father is Cuban. Thomas' full name is John Peter Thomas. The nickname, Piri, was given to him by his mother, whom he had a very close bond with. It comes from the name of a bird called the "pirri", which is a small bird that has enough strength to wound its enemy bird by attacking its underwing.

Thomas grew up in Spanish Harlem (El Barrio) at a time when lynching was still very prevalent in the United States, so the threat of racism was very real for him and others like him. As a young boy he attended public school in East Harlem, where he was forbidden to speak Spanish. Because the assimilation towards English was greater in school, Thomas began to lose some of his ability to speak Spanish. Thomas was faced with racism at school and in his own neighborhood, where he was taunted by whites. Thomas later writes of his experiences with racism in his books and in his poetry.

In his late teenage years, Thomas began to get involved with the street life in Spanish Harlem and later found himself facing a 7 year prison sentence. In 1950 Thomas was involved in a shoot out with police when an armed robbery attempt at a nightclub went sour. He was wounded and spent time in the prison ward at Bellevue Hospital and after his case was settled he was sent to Sing Sing prison. It was during his imprisonment that he began writing what would later become his first book, "Down These Mean Streets" which was first published in 1967, and is still very well known today.

After his release from prison, Thomas got involved in an organization called the Youth Development Incorporated (YDI). In this organization, Thomas aided young gang members in getting out of their current situations. He used his life as proof that a person can make a change towards the better. He also emphasized the benefits of attaining an education to the youths as a way to make a better life for oneself.

Thomas' works, as well as his involvement with the young, aided with his progress. After his first book "Down These Mean Streets" (1967), which was an autobiography, he wrote another autobiography called "Savior, Savior, Hold My Hand" (1972). In 1974, he wrote a prisoin memoir called "Seven Long Times" and in 1978 he wrote a book containing eight stories about his street life called "Stories from El Barrio". Thomas has also written a two act play, "Las Calles de Oro", which was produced and performed by the Puerto Rican Traveling Theater in 1972. Thomas is also a poet and has produced two CDs containing "wordsongs", which are poems set to different kinds of music.

When he wrote, “Amigo Brothers”, Thomas drew on his own experiences of having to overcome his surroundings. Thomas passed away October 17, 2011.

Please list 5 important facts about Piri Thomas and his life and writing career.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Personification Definition

Personification is a figure of speech in which a thing, an idea or an animal is given human attributes. The non-human objects are portrayed in such a way that we feel they have the ability to act like human beings.

For example, when we say, “The sky weeps” we are giving the sky the ability to cry, which is a human quality. Thus, we can say that the sky has been personified in the given sentence.

Common Examples of Personification

•Look at my car. She is a beauty, isn’t it so?

•The wind whispered through dry grass.

•The flowers danced in the gentle breeze.

•Time and tide waits for none.

•The fire swallowed the entire forest.

We see from the above examples of personification that this literary device helps us relate actions of inanimate objects to our own emotions.

Personification Examples in Literature

Example #1

Taken from L. M. Montgomery’s “The Green Gables Letters”,

“I hied me away to the woods—away back into the sun-washed alleys carpeted with fallen gold and glades where the moss is green and vivid yet. The woods are getting ready to sleep—they are not yet asleep but they are disrobing and are having all sorts of little bed-time conferences and whisperings and good-nights.”

Personification: The lack of activity in the forest has been beautifully personified as the forest getting ready to sleep, busy in bed-time chatting and wishing good-nights, all of which are human customs.

Example 2:

Katherine Mansfield wrote in her short story “How Pearl Button Was Kidnapped”,

“Pearl Button swung on the little gate in front of the House of Boxes. It was the early afternoon of a sunshiny day with little winds playing hide-and-seek in it.”

It personifies wind by saying that it is as playful as little children playing hide-and-seek on a shiny day.

Personification: It personifies wind by saying that it is as playful as little children playing hide-and-seek on a shiny day.