Category Archives: Glossary

Triumph

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Triumph(noun): 1. the act, fact, or condition of being victorious or triumphant; victory; conquest. 2. a significant success or noteworthy achievement; an instance or occasion of victory.

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/triumph

The Story of An Hour by Kate Chopin, “There was a feverish triumph in her eyes, and she carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of Victory.”  In this statement, Mrs. Mallard was happy that finally, something good will come to her yet she was not unaware of what would come next, she was unaware of that she was going to die.

Remit

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Remit: (verb): to refrain from exacting.

Source: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/remit

From “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner:

“Alive, Miss Emily … dating from that day in 1894 when Colonel Sartoris, the mayor … remitted her taxes … Colonel Sartoris invented an involved tale to the effect that Miss Emily’s father had loaned money to the town, which the town, as a matter of business, preferred this way of repaying.”

This sentence states that Colonel Sartoris had stopped collecting taxes from Emily because of a (supposed) loan that her father gave the town.

 

 

Forestall

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In “The Story of An Hour,” by Kate Chopin, the author uses this word in the following sentence.

“He had only taken the time to assure himself of its truth by a second telegram, and had hastened to forestall any less careful, less tender friend in bearing the sad message.”

According to the merriam-webster dictionary, it means:

“to exclude, hinder, or prevent by prior occupation or measures”

This would mean that he quickly prevented any other friends from deliver the message of the death of her husband.

Elusive

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  • Elusive (Adjective) – tending to evade grasp or pursuit /hard to comprehend or define

Taken from Kate Chopin’s “The Story of An Hour”

“The was something coming to her and she was waiting for, fearfully. What was it? She did not know; it was too subtle and elusive to name.”

Chopin used the word elusive to describe the unknown feeling that Mrs. Mallard is experiencing. It was use to fully show that Mrs. Mallard is at the point of thinking something unpleasant and complicated after her husband’s death, which is actually the sense of being glad that she’s finally free despite of a bad event.

source: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/elusive

Bespoke

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Bespoke (Verb)

Bespoke means to ask for in advance or reserve beforehand or engage in advance or make arrangement for.

https://www/merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bespoke

“The Story of An Hour” By Kate Chopin

“She was young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength. But now there was a dull stare in her eyes, whose gaze was fixed away off yonder on one of those patches of blue sky.”

I now understand this sentence after finding out the definition of the word. It is saying that her face was basically making arrangements to show strength and repression.

 

Afflicted

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Afflicted (Verb)

Afflicted means to cause pain or suffering or distress greatly.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/afflicted

“The Story of An Hour” by Kate Chopin

“Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husbands death.”

I understand the way Mrs. Mallard was feeling due to the fact of finding the definition of this word. She felt pain and distress in finding out about her husbands death.

 

Repression

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Repression (noun) – a mental process by which distressing thoughts, memories, or impulses that may give rise to anxiety are excluded from consciousness and left to operate in the unconscious

Source: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/repression

From “The Story of An Hour” by Kate Chopin (1894)

I came across this word while reading “The Story of An Hour” by Kate Chopin (1894). It appears around the middle of the reading when the author describes the way the girl expresses herself, it caught my interest because I had an idea of what it meant but didn’t know it’s exact definition so it made me curious to find out what the writer was trying to get at.

“She was young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength.”

After reading the definition of the word I better understand the context of how the author was using it in that part of the text. As seen in the quote, it’s used to describe how the girl is expressing herself and give insight of what’s going on inside her head, as if she’s trying to suppress something and not think about it even though it’s there. It’s similar to bottling up emotions as a way to cope with issues.

Eradicate

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  • Eradicate (transitive verb): to do away with as completely as if by pulling up by the roots
    • Source: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/eradicate
    • Taken from: Introduction by: Martha Johnson-Olin (Author)
      • “Some versions position this competition between the mothers. The stepmother tries to eradicate the influence of the first wife, and the stepsisters serve as extensions of her will.”
    • As the author broke down the article in sections to simplify and explain the components of a Cinderella story, she mentioned rivalry between the female’s in the story. She utilized the word eradicate, or completely destroy, to emphasize the intense level of discord and hatred between the mothers and stepmothers. The word eradicate was the instrument used to stress the battle for dominance.

 

Eluded

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Eluded

Transitive verb

Eluded – to escape the perception, understanding, or grasp of, subtlety simply eludes them, victory continued to elude us

Sources: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/eluded

I encountered this word from the reading, called “Cinderella”, written by Jacob, and Wilhelm Grimm, also known as the Grimm Brothers. I encountered the word on page 2, the third to last paragraph. The word came from the sentences “However, she eluded him and jumped into the pigeon coop”. I came to an understanding that  this word means to escape, or avoid a bad situation. In the story the prince try to escort Cinderella on her way out, but by avoiding that she jumped into the pigeon coop. She eluded him because she didn’t want him to find out who she is. In this case eluded was used to describe Cinderella trying to avoid getting caught.

 

Aquiver

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Aquiver (adjective):  marked by trembling or quivering

Source: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/aquiver

From “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin

“She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life.”

Here, Kate Chopin uses the word Aquiver to describe how the trees were reacting to the spring weather. This means that the trees were shaking or vibrating in the wind.