Part of Speech: Noun

Definition: A gap in one’s memory.

Source: Merrian-Webster

Found in: My mother tells me to fix my hair (line 12)

Meaning in Context: “but what they / mean is we’re the best at swallowing amnesia, in a cup of / [Spanish], dreaming because we’d rather do that than live in this reality…” I believe what the speaker is saying is that they would rather forget and live in a dream than face truth. One cannot physically swallow amnesia but it trying to convey that it is a willing forgetfulness.

Part of Speech: Noun

Definition:  Korean dish similar to a Western stew. There are many varieties; it is typically made with meat, seafood or vegetables in a broth seasoned with gochujang, doenjang, ganjang or saeujeot.

Source: Wikipedia (I know it is not 100% credible but since it is a foreign word I lack a proper source.)

Found in: Choi Jeong Min (line 27)

Meaning in Context: “My korean name / is the star my mother cooks into the jjigae / to follow home when I am lost” Her name is not literally cooked into this stew but it is referencing that her culture, her name, is being remembered when this stew is made.

Part of Speech: Noun

Definition: a fictitious name

Source: Merrian-Webster

Found in: Choi Jeong Min (line 22)

Meaning in Context: ” Grace is not / her pseudonym, though everyone in my family is a poet.” This is saying grace is not a pen name that a poet or writer would usually use, it is her real name. But in reading the poem it is clear that it IS a fake name made by her mother to hide her  Korean origins.

Part of Speech: verb

Definition: to open or part widely

Source: Merrian-Webster

Found in: Field Trip to the Museum of Human History (line 7)

Meaning in Context: “we shuffled in the dim light / and gaped at the secrets buried / in clay, reborn as warning signs.” In this context I believe it’s referring to their mouths being open in shock or surprise at what they are seeing. It adds to the story that they are surprised to see such things meaning they are not common in their current civilization.

Verb

Definition: To seek favors from (a person) in an obsequious manner; fawn over

Source: Dictionary.com

Found in All American Girl by Julia Alvarez , Stanza 2  Line 4

Knowing the definition of brown nosing helped me understand how she felt about the American culture and how she wanted to be apart of it so bad, even though no one in a sense is all American. The speaker fawned over the thought of it, but she felt her culture seeping through and I personally believe that is what made the speaker more American, because America is mixed with all different cultures and the different people make the country and the culture.

Extinguish

Part of Speech: verb

Definition: to put an end to; destroy or to render ( a right or obligation ) void

Source: Oxford Dictionaries

Found in ” Field Trip to the Museum of Human History ” line 10

I looked up this word as I wanted to help Li Pan, who looked up the accurate definition but that’s the first basic definition of the word. I mean no disrespect to my classmate, I just want to make sure everyone fully understands the word and that it means more than just putting out fires.

part of speech:  verb

definition: Cause (a fire or light) to cease to burn or shine.

Source: Oxford Dictionary

Found in the line 10 on “Field Trip to the Museum of Human History” by Franny Choi

The word “extinguish”  in the stanza means the nightstick stops or destroys the light in people’s eyes . I believe the hidden meaning of the sentence is that it breaks people’s dream, or hope for their future.