The word truculently means aggressive self-assertive according to Merriam- Webster. I stumbled upon this word while reading ”Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurston. In the text it says, ” She saw that Sykes had kicked all of the clothes together again, and now stood in her way truculently, his whole manner hoping, praying, for an argument.” This shows that while Sykes was standing over her he was very aggressive about it. While reading further on in the story you can tell that Sykes does this often to her. After learning this word I now know another word to use instead of writing aggressive.

According to the Merriam Webster the word retorted is to pay or hurl back .Retorted is a verb.On the short story “Sweats” by Zora Neale Hurtston it starts with “A god, an’ be dough. You all gimme twenty cents and a slice way, Clarke retorted. Ah needs a col’ slice m’self. Heah, everybody chip in. Ah’ll lend y’ll mah meat knife.” In this sentence Joe ask everybody to chip in to pay for the cold slice he bought. I thought retorted meaning to be shocked. The word retorted is used pay back for what he got. The meaning of the word retorted helped me understand what the sentence was trying to mean.

In·​quire

Inquire. An intransitive verb defined as to put a question : seek for information by questioning by Merriam Webster Dictionary. The short story ” A Jury of Her Peers” tells a story of Mrs.Hale murdering her husband and a group of girlfriends protecting her by hiding the crime. Susan Gaspell included the line “”How did she–look?” the county attorney was inquiring.” At first glance I did not understand what the word meant. I tried to re read it a couple of times to get a better understanding. After using context clues, I figured out what the author was trying to convey. The author was trying to express a sense of questioning during the interrogation.

Based on the Merriam-Webster the word “Gibberish” (noun) means foolish, confused, or meaningless words. On page #278 in “sweat”, it state that, “great dull blows upon the wood floor punctuating the gibberish of sound long after the rattle of the snake had abruptly subside.” Based on the class discussion and this quote we can said that what goes around comes back around or we can said that karma does really exist because he was trying to kill her and he end up killing himself. Sometimes us humans do not realize that when we harm other human beings we are returned the same or worse way.

Dismay: to cause to lose courage or resolution(as because of alarm or fear) (verb)

Today’s new word is dismay, which I came across while reading a short story called “Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurston, which is basically about a women named Delia who is involved in an abusive relationship and eventually survived when her husband Sykes fell into a death trap that was actually planned for Delia. The word dismay was used on page 273 to describe Delia’s emotion. The author states ” His wife gave a little scream of dismay”, which shows that how Delia lost courage in her relationship with her husband, due to his physically and mentally abusing. However she did gain strength towards the end of the story. I now know how to use dismay in writing and speaking.

-Nayideh R

Queer(adjective)

According to Marriam-Webster the word queer mean”: sexually attracted to members of the same sex ”

In the  “A Jury of Her Peers” by  Susan Glaspell, “” “How  did she look?” he county attorney was inquiring. “well,” said Hale,”she look–queer.” ”

After I knew the meaning of queer, I will be able understand the sentence, that someone asking how she look, then Hale response back and she look like same sex type of person.

According to the Meriam-Webster dictionary is an act of marked courtesy, courteous attention to a lady, or amorous attention or pursuit. This word appears in the short story “A Jury of Her Peers” by Susan Gaspell along with line “”And yet,” said he, with the gallantry of a young politician.” Now knowing the meaning of “Gallantry” I can interpret that it means he resembles a young politician in a courteous way as he talks.

Denigrate (verb): to attack the reputation of : defame.

Source: Merriam-Webster Dictionary (online)

“But these cultural activities are often denigrated as un-masculine by preadolescent and adolescent boys.” This quote is found in Andrew Reiner’s Teaching Men To Be Emotionally Honest. Prior to the quote, sociologist have noticed that boys who participate in music, art, drama and foreign language tend to have higher grades than the boys who don’t participate in them. That is why this quote tells us that these activities “attack the reputation of” what it means to be masculine. Masculinity standards were set by young boys who were taught by their parents, particularly their fathers or other male role models.

Diana Galvez

Mirth (noun): gladness or gaiety as shown by or accompanied with laughter.

Source: Merriam-Webster Dictionary (online).

   Sweat by Zora N. Hurston is about a couple whose relationship is falling apart. Sykes, the husband, messes with his wife, Delia all the time and abuses her. One day he throws a whip on her shoulder. She get frightened by the shape of it because at a fast glance it looks just like a snake. He knows she fears them which is why he threw it at her in the first place. At that moment, he laughs because he finds it amusing. Hence, Hurston’s use of the word mirth.

Diana Galvez

Extraordinary: very unusual or remarkable(adjective)

This is the meaning of the word extraordianary according to the dictionary. I first saw this word while reading “Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurston in the first page where it said “An extraordinary place by any reckoning, Hurtson’s hometown takes on an almost mythical quality in her fiction and autobiographical writing”. The author felt amazed and in wonder about seeing the hometown that she read about in person. She was highly impressed with how mystical and wonderous the place was. When I thought of it like that, I understood what the word extraordinary meant.