On the ninth paragraph of the article “Sweat’ the word commenced stood out to me. The word commenced means to begin or start based on dictionary.com. I chose the word commenced because based on the story Delilah’s husband Skyes was upset that her job was cleaning clothes and when he knocked it down after it was finished she had to redo it which was to me petty.

Zora Neale Hurston, “Sweat”

www.dictionary.com
The new word I would add to my glossary is suppression.  The word suppression means the action of suppressing something such as an activity or publication.  In the story, the sentence that uses the word suppression says “fifteen years of misery and suppression had brought Delia to the place where she would hope anything that looked towards a way over or through her wall of inhibitions.”  At first my reaction to this word was that it meant that she lived through so much misery with her husband after so much years, that she would feel as she would not see the light down the to tunnel.  But once I looked for the definition it actually means that is an action in which suppress to something as an activity.

The definition of squatted, according to Merriam-Webster is, ” to cause (oneself) to crouch or sit on the ground”. Squatted is an “transitive Verb”. I found this word in the article, “Sweat” by Zora Neal Hurston on the second paragraph.In this scene, Delia was in kitchen when she used this word squatted. She is very organize so she tried her best to clean everything.

According to the web, truculently means having the eagerness or quickness to fight or argue and being agressively defiant. This word could be found in the story “Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurston. For example, ” She saw that Sykes had kicked all of the clothes again, and now stood in her way truculently, his whole manner hoping, praying, for an argument.” When i first came across this word, I knew it had to describe how Sykes was feeling towards Delia as if he was going to do something to her. Also, with him being quick to react or aggressive because he was the more superior one in thier relationship.

After reading “Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurston I came a really unfamiliar word and that was “sporadically”, it was used as “she sporadically finished her education” I assumed that it must have meant slowly sine it was mention something about education and finishing it, so I basically used context clues but I went to Merriam Webster dictionary and found out it means ” not regularly or constantly” which was close to what I thought it meant. I now feel like an expert when using context clues since it was really close to the exact definition of the word but most importantly now what it really means.

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.

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.

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