| Word |
Part of Speech |
DefinitionSourceContextExplanation |
Initials |
| -A- |
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| Acquiescence |
Noun |
(Chap 5, Thylias Moss "Interpretation of.." paragraph 1): Acceptance without protest"The interloper in this scene, a young black girl in Moss’s interpretation, obeys the boundaries set by Jim Crow “even in the absence of a fence” (5), signifying her acquiescenceto the unfair laws."this girl blindly accepted these laws that with or without a barrier she wouldn't rebel against the idea of segregation, though they are unfair |
D.C |
| Amalgam |
noun |
(Chap 8) A mixture or blend."The speaker is addressing a well-intentioned person, possibly an amalgam of all the people who have acted out the unheard portion of similar conversations." - in regards to Diane Burns, Sure You Can Ask Me A Personal Question |
D.C |
| Ambiguity
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noun |
This word appears in chapter three.1) Allows for two or more simultaneous interpretations of a word,a phrase, an action, all of which can be supported by the context of the workEx: Giving words or ideas two different connotations (chicken as an animal, and chicken as a coward person.)
2) Definition in the dictionary: Doubtfulness or uncertainty of meaning or intention.Ex: There are several ambiguities in this text
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R.S |
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| -B- |
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| Briskly |
Adj |
quickly, rapidly in a brisk manner; "she walked briskly in the cold air"; "`after lunch,' she said briskly" |
S.D |
| Bivouac |
Verb |
To rest assemble in such an area; encamp (dictionary.com) "Battle-Piece"(pg108) Seldom, they quickstep as far downhill as this bivouac; they miss string, snap. Ex: they built a wall like so they wouldn't be strucked with abullet or cannon. |
M.S |
| Braggarts |
Noun |
"a person who boasts loudly or exaggeratedly; bragger" http://www.thefreedictionary.com/braggarts "... Black and better than boastful braggarts belittling our best and brightest ..." The B Network - Haki R. Madhubuti (B.1942) pg 206 Chapter 7 (Fifth Edition) |
S.P. |
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| -C- |
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| Cambric |
Noun |
A fine thin white linen fabric - Meriam-Webster (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cambric) An example of this can be found in the poem "Scarborough Fair." "Tell her to make me a cambric shirt." |
GSL |
| Caper |
Verb |
To leap or skip about in a sprightly manner, to prance, or to frisk. (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/caper) "Player Piano" by John Updike (pg 188) Ex:My paper can caper; abandon is broadcast by dint of my din, and no man or band has a hand in the tones I turn on from within. Updike is referring to how the sheet music is moving. |
M.H. |
| Churn |
noun |
A machine or container in which butter is made by agitating milk or creame(The New Oxford American Dictionary 2nd ED) |
SJ.P |
| Chortled |
Verb |
to make, or utter with, a gleeful chuckling or snorting sound http://www.yourdictionary.com/chortledChapter 5 "To a Wasp" - "You must have chortled finding that tiny hole" |
S.P. |
| contradiction |
noun |
a statement or proposition that contradicts or deniesanother or itself and is logically incongruous.direct opposition between things compared; inconsistency. |
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| Connotations |
Noun |
CHapter 3 Associations and implications that go beyond a word's literal meanings. Connotations derive from how the word has been used and the associations people make with it. Connotations of a bird may include fragility, vulneberality. |
P.C |
| Converge |
Verb |
To come together, intersect or unite. Can also mean to approach a limit, or an end.Source: Merriam-Webster OnlineReference to "Convergence of the twain" (1912) by Thomas Hardy |
H.C |
| Coyness |
Adjective |
Definition: (esp. in a woman) The quality of feigning shyness or modesty in an attempt to seem alluring (google dictionary). From Andrew Marvell's Poem To His Coy Mistress. Example: The girl who performed at the talent show as a comedian began to show a misleading coyness when I attempted to talk to her. |
D.K. |
| -D- |
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| Diction |
Noun |
Like all good writers, poets are keenly aware of diction, their choice of words.This word appeared in chapter 3 first paragraph. Diction is the way of speaking or writing that the authors decides to use in order to bring out the meaning or value of his or her work. For Ex. This author in this poem expressed his idea in a stylish diction. |
P.C |
| Die |
Verb |
"To have an orgasm" (wordnik.com)The word "die" was used in this context in many of Shakespeare's works and in the poem "Last Night" by Sharon Olds.In the poem "Last Night", the poet was describing an intense sexual experience and in lines 18-19, she says "...the screaming I groan to remember it, and when we started to die, then I refuse to remember..." |
GSL |
| Denotations |
Noun |
Denotations are the literal dictionary meaning of a word. For example, Bird denotates a feathered animal with wings ( other denotations for teh same word include a shuttle cock, an airplane, or an odd person). Chapter 3 |
P.C |
| -F- |
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| Fen |
Noun |
"Low land that is covered wholly or partly with water unless artificially drained and that usually has peaty alkaline soil and characteristic flora (as of sedges and reeds)" - Merriam-Webster(http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fen). For example, in the poem "London, 1802" by William Wordsworth, England is described as "...a fen of stagnant waters.." |
GSL |
| Figure of Speech |
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is where a word or words are used to create an effect, often where they do not have their original or literal meaning.You fit into me by Margaret Artwood p. 135 "Like a hook into an eye" |
KR |
| Ford |
Noun |
"A shallow part of a body of water that may be crossed by wading" - Merriam-Webster(http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ford). The word "ford" can be found in Whitman's "Cavalry Crossing a Ford" which describes a troop of soldiers on horses lazily crossing a shallow stream. |
GSL |
| Farce |
noun |
A funny play for the theatre based on ridiculous and unlikely situations and evets(The New Oxford American Dictionary 2nd ED) |
SJ.P |
| -G- |
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| Geezer |
Noun |
"a queer, odd, or eccentric person —used especially of elderly men" Merriam-Webster (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/geezer). For example, in Andrew Hudgins's "The Cow", it is mentioned that "We all love beeefsteak - from baby to geezer" signifying that they love beefsteak from young to old. |
GSL |
| Gossamer |
noun |
a flim of cobweb floating in the air in calm weather. |
apd |
| Gristle |
noun |
Definition: Cartilage, esp. when found as tough, inedible tissue in meat. (dictionary.com).Many people cut off all the gristle before preparing meat in-order to eliminate the need to cut it off during the meal.Elaine Magarrell's "The Joy of Cooking" pg 154. |
D.K. |
| Guidon |
Noun |
'A small flag or streamer carried as a guide, for marking or signaling, or for identification." -http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/guidon This word was found in Walt Whitman's "Cavalry Crossing a Ford." Whitman writes,"The guidon flags flutter gaily in the wind." It seems that guidon flags are used in the military for the reasons explained in the definition. |
M.H. |
| -H- |
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| -I- |
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| Itinerant |
Adjective |
(Chap 6) Traveling from place to place especially to perform work or a duty. Describing a person who has no fixed home |
D.C |
| Images |
Noun |
This word appeared in chapter 4 first page and first paragraph. An image is language that addresses the senses. The most common images in poetry are visual; they provide verbal pictures of the poets' encounters- real or imagined- with the world. To my understanding images are things that we are able to see or imagine from what an author or poet describes. |
P.C |
| Incongruous |
Adjective |
Not in place; unsuitablechapter 4 (paragraph 2 of Jane Kenyon, The Blue Bowl)
The bowl’s blueness calls attention to other colors in the poem that may have otherwise been overlooked: the cat’s “long red fur” (7) and the incongruous “white feathers / between his toes” (7–8)
the white feathers are incongruous because the typical use of the color white conflicts with the mood of the poem. |
D.C |
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| Irony |
Noun |
the use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning:An example of this would be "that's great, my car just broke down". |
K.R. |
| -J- |
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| Japonica |
Noun |
the camellia having waxy flowers in a variety of colors. "Naming of parts" (pg 177) dictionary.com |
M.S |
| -K- |
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| -L- |
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| Laity |
Noun |
the body of religious worshipers, as distinguished from the clergy. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/laity
"To tell the laity our love" A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning, pg 150 5th Edition line 8 |
S.P. |
| Luffed |
verb |
to set (the helm of a ship) in such a way as to bring the head of the ship into the wind. Dictionary.com"essayed to say her frisky sail she luffed" |
M.S |
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| -M- |
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| maelstrom |
Noun |
a powerful often violent whirlpool sucking in objects within a given radius |
KR |
| Mead |
Noun |
The online dictionary Reference.com (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/mead) defines mead as follows:
(i) an alcoholic drink made by fermenting a solution of honey, often with spices added
(ii) an archaic or poetic word for meadow
The word 'mead' can be found in William Blake's poem 'The Lamb.' In the line which states "By the stream and o'er the mead", the word mead is used to refer to meadow and not the alcoholic beverage. |
GSL |
| metaphor |
figure of speech |
A metaphor is a literary figure of speech,that uses an image, story or tangable thing to represent a less tangible thing or some intangible quality or idea; e.g., "Her eyes were glistening jewels. |
SM |
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| -O- |
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| onomatopoeia |
noun |
An onomatopoeia or onomatopœia ( pronunciation (US) (help·info), from the Greekὀνοματοποιία;[1] ὄνομα for "name"[2] and ποιέω for "I make",[3] adjectival form: "onomatopoeic" or "onomatopoetic") is a word that imitates or suggests the source of the sound that it describes.Onomatopoeia (as an uncountable noun) refers to the property of such words. Common occurrences of onomatopoeias include animal noises, such as "oink" or "meow" or "roar". Onomatopoeias are not the same across all languages; they conform to some extent to the broaderlinguistic system they are part of; hence the sound of a clock may be tick tock in English, dī dā inMandarin, or katchin katchin in Japanese |
SM |
| Ode |
Noun |
A lyrical poem typically marked by exaltation of feeling and style, varying length of lines, and complexity of stanza formats.Source: Merriam-Webster OnlineReference to both "Ode to American English" (1929) by Barbara Hamby & "Ode to a Grecian Urn" (1819) by John Keats |
H.C. |
| Opulence |
Noun |
1. wealth, riches or affluence (plentiful, an abundant supply of thoughts or words; profusion)Connotation of the word opulence in my opinion means plentiful, variety and sophistication in the part of the text. As we see in the text that theaters are described as a (variety of things) such as we see actors and actress with different imaginations, visualization, we see sophistication of using different things to make viewers feel emotion, a mood, and a tone. There are plenty of things we see at the theater including a genre of a movie or a play.Source: Poetry : An IntroductionMichael Meyer(Pg 69) : Denotation and Connotations" Theater, for instance was once associated with depravity, disease and sin, whereas today the word usually evokes some sense of high culture and perhaps visions of elegant opulence". |
H.A |
| oxymoron |
part of speech |
An oxymoron (plural oxymorons or oxymora) (from Greek ὀξύμωρον, "sharp dull") is a figure of speech that combines contradictory terms. Oxymorons appear in a variety of contexts, including inadvertent errors such as ground pilot and literary oxymorons crafted to reveal a paradox. |
SM |
| -P-plashless |
verb |
this means the same as splashlessand the root word is splash: todash and strike about in liquid |
apd |
| Piety |
noun |
(William Wordsworth My Heart Leaps Up) reverence for god or devout fulfilment for religious obligations.
The child is the father of the man
And i could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety
I assume the speaker is hoping for a day where the world is bound together by religion and a love of god |
D.C |
| Presentiment |
Noun |
Definition: a feeling of evil to come; ”a steadily escalating sense of foreboding”"; [from obsolete French, from pressentir to sense beforehand; see pre-, sentiment] (www.thefreedictionary.com)From Emily Dickinson’s (pg. 136) ”Presentiment – is that long Shadow – on the lawn -"Example: I had a presentiment that my dog was not alright and later I found out he was hit by a car.” |
D.K. |
| Prose |
noun |
The ordinary form of spoken or written language, without metrical structure, as distinguished from poetry or verse.
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R.S |
| Plough/Plow |
noun |
A large farming implement with one or more blades fixed in a fram, drawn by a tractor or by animals and used for cutting furrows in the soil and turning it over.(The New Oxford American Dictionary 2nd ED) |
SJ.P |
| Promontory |
noun |
A high point of land or rock projecting into the sea or otherwater beyond the line of coast. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/promontoryA Noiseless Patient Spider by Walt Whitman |
M.H. |
| Poetic diction |
Noun |
The use of elevated language rather than ordinary language was highly valued in English poetry but since the nineteenth century poets have generally overrridden the distinctions that were once made between words used in everyday pseech and those used in poetry. |
P.C |
| plethora |
noun |
overabundance, excessive |
apd |
| -Q- |
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| Quill |
noun |
a pen made of a bird's feather |
apd |
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| -R- |
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| Reticence |
noun |
one that is not open or communicative;one that is reserved in speech source: mentioned in chapter 3 context: "Her reticence mimics their fatalistic pose" in regards to Brooks' "We Real Cool" |
D.C |
| Reified |
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Make (something abstract) more concrete or real. Used in page 281 Alzheimer's line 10, used to describe the structure of the house. |
S.S |
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| Simile |
Noun |
A Simile makes an explicit comparison between two things by using words such as like as than appears or seems. Ex. A sip of Mrs. Cook's coffee is a punch in the stomach. The force of the simile is created by the differences between the two things compared. Chapter 5 |
P.C |
| Scythe |
Noun |
An implement consisting of a long, curved single-edged blade with a long bent handle, used for mowing or reaping. www.thefreedictionary.com Battle-Piece - ".... stroking the clean edge of a scythe, these boys achieved" |
S.P. |
| Schizophrenia |
Noun |
A complex mental disorder that makes it difficult to differentiate the feeling between reality with delusion and hallucinations, thus sometimes leading to extreme behavioral responses variations include Catatonic and Paranoid...Source: Merriam-Webster OnlineReference: Ch 5 (Pg. 50) "Schizophrenia" (1992) by Jim Stevens |
H.C. |
| Syntax |
Adjective |
1) the grammatical principles by which words are used in phrases and sentences to construct meaningful combinations.Syntax was discussed in class. It was mentioned to be apart of the poem or the "building block" of the poem. It is the unification of the poem its self. |
S.D |
| Sojourn |
noun |
it reffers to a " tempoary stay"( Merriam Webster Online) |
APD |
| Sublunary |
adjective |
characteristic of or pertaining to the earth; terrestrial. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sublunary "A Valediction:Forbidding Mourning" pg 150, 5th Edition. "Dull sublunary lovers' love ..." |
S.P. |
| -T- |
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| Translucent |
Adjective |
Permitting light to pass through but diffusing it so that persons, objects, etc., on the opposite side are not clearly visible. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/translucent?s=tContext: The Clarinettistby Ruth Fainlight p.155 Line 12Describes the clouds the speaker is taking about. |
M.H. |
| thesaurus |
noun |
a dictionary of synonyms and antonyms |
sm |
| -U- |
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| Victual |
Noun |
food or provision for human beings. Source:"Battle-Piece"(pg 108)"Keen to victual, nearly home, feature the sharp surprise when, smooth as oiled stone"(dictionary.com" |
M.S |
| Visage |
Noun |
The face or facial expression of a person. Appearance; aspect. Source: Free online dictionary. Context: The Author to Her Book. Pg. 137 (line 10). Explanation: The speaker uses the word to refer to her appearance. From the context of the lines below there is further description of this appearance which does not seem too desirable. |
IM |
| -W- |
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| Wantonness |
Noun |
ch.8 Robert Herrick Delight in Disorder (2)
A SWEET disorder in the dress
Kindles in clothes a wantonness
1.a deliberate act done without motive/uncalled for
2.lacking restraint or control
Herrick described an attraction felt towards a provocatively dressed woman |
D.C |
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| -Y- |
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