Author: dayanaM05

Accordig to the Merriam-Webster the word whir is a intransitive word and means to fly revolve or move more rapidly. This word can be found in “ A jury of her peers” by Susan Glaspell and it says “ A tremendous stir inside there, another series of animal screams, the intermittent whirr of the reptile.“ This word means that the rattlesnake moved very rapidly. The author used this word in a way for us too see and feel how the rattlesnake was moving. I will use this word in my writing to describe when animals move fast.

The word incisively is an adverb and according to Merriam-Webster means impressively direct and decisive (as in manner or presentation). This word can be found in “A jury of her peers” by Susan Glaspell. In the text it says, “ ‘No, Peters, ‘ said the county attorney incisively; ‘it’s all perfectly clear, except the reason for doing it….’” This shows that while Mrs. Hale was trying to tell the county attorney that a jury would believe that Mrs. Wright killed her own husband even if they don’t know the reason why. The county attorney in this section is trying to clear and percise that it’s obvious this was murder even though they can’t see the reason behind it. Using this word will help prove my points in writing because it’ll make me sound sophisticated.

The word queer is an adjective and according to Meriam-Webster’s thesaurus it means affected with nausea. I first encountered this word in “ A Jury Of Her Peers” by Susan Glaspell and the text says, “He didn’t begin at once, and she noticed that he looked queer–as if standing in that kitchen and having to tell what he had seen there yesterday morning made him almost sick.” This shows that Mr. Hale was still feeling queasy and nauseous after discovering the body of Mr. Wright and being in the room again didn’t help that feeling go away. I think this word will be hard for me to use in my writing since there’s so many definitions but with the write sentence structure and concept I should use it well.

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.

The word longitudinal is an adverb and according to Merriem-Webster it means, “involving the repeated observation or examination of a set of subjects over the time with respect to one or more study variables.” This word can be found in the text “How to raise a feminist son” by Claire Cain Miller. The article says, “ Yet longitudinal studies suggest that toy segregation has long-term effects on gender gaps in academics, spatial skills and social skills, according to Campbell Leaper, chairman of the psychology department at the University of California, Santa Cruz.” This illustrates that repeated studies have shown that separating what toys girls and boys should be playing with according to their gender has had long term effects. Knowing and understanding this word will help me get my points across on my masculinity essay.

According to the merriam-Webster elixir is a noun and means the essential principle. In the article “ How to help kids disrupt ‘bro culture’” by Ana Homayoun it says, “ Bro culture uses the formidable elixirs of power and status to create a toxic social environment, and tends to be characterized by manipulative charm, entitlement and a so-called ‘rules don’t apply attitude’— as well as an inability to express emotion, show remorse or be vulnerable.” This is significant because it shows that the culture of “bro” has been demoralizing men in our society because they have no idea how to show their emotions anymore and they don’t know what’s right and wrong anymore. The word “bro” has been making men think of how they should act but it’s wrong because it’s rules made by other men. Learning this definition is going to help me further explain some points in my essays.

According to the Merriam- Webster the word meritocracy is a noun but the word used in the text is meritocratic which is an adjective. The word is defined as a system in which the talented are chosen and moved ahead on the basis of their achievement. This word can be found in the text “The boys at the back” by Sarah Rich and it says, “Universities that had been dominated by affluent white men embraced meritocratic values and diversity of gender, race, and class.” This shows that white men embrace the recognition they get from what they’ve achieved and that the universities that they go to help show that. When I first discovered this word I thought it meant that men embraced the values that they were taught by their fathers. Now that I understand this word I can use it to write out my argumentative essay.

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the word Caricatures(Noun) means exaggeration by means of often ludicrous distortion of parts or characteristics.  This word can be found in page 99, “But we’re all guilty of reducing our image of rappers to caricatures. When they tell us what’s wrong, do we listen?” This shows that people pay attention to rappers talking about drugs, money, and sex then calling out for help in their rap songs. Instead of us realizing their cry for help we criticize them for making inappropriate remarks in their songs. Learning the definition of this word helped me get a clearer understanding of the point that Smith is trying to make about seeing rappers cry of help as an exaggeration.

The word Carnage is a noun. According to Merriam-Webster, the word means great and usually bloody slaughter. This word can be found in the article ” The Boys Are Not Alright” by Michael Ian Black. The sentence where the word can be found says, “Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School now joins the ranks of Sandy Hook, Virginia Tech, Columbine and too many other sites of American carnage.” This shows that America has become a place of mass slaughter and its because the boys are going through things that they can not talk about to others. Now that I understand the meaning of this word I can use it to when mentioning war. Knowing and understanding this word helps me sound professional when writing and helps show that I know words to replace sad ones.