Category Archives: Glossary

triumph

triumph – ( noun ) a victory or conquest by or as if by military force

i found this definition on https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/triumph

i found this word in the story of an hour “There was a feverish triumph in her eyes, and she carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of Victory.”

now knowing the definition helped because at first I didn’t understand and you might understand from the text but the definition helps you understand how strong that feeling was and how impacting it was. It just helps get a deeper understand of the word

Implore

Imploring – to call upon in supplication

i found this definition at https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/imploring

I found this word in The story of an hour “Josephine was kneeling before the closed door with her lips to the keyhole, imploring for admission.”

The definition helps understand the sentence because imploring for admission is hard to understand if you don’t know it. So now know that it’s to call upon supplication then you’ll understand the feeling and reasoning behind why she is doing what she is doing. This can help the reader to know what she’s doing. At first you can get a feel of what it going on but overall I believe that the definition helps

Temerity

: unreasonable or foolhardy contempt of danger or opposition : rashness, recklessness(Merriam-Webster)

I came across this word when reading quicksand by Nella Larson in Chapter 1: “Ideas it rejected, and looked with open hostility on one and all who had the temerity to offer a suggestion or ever so mildly express a disapproval.”

ardent

ardent (Adjective) – : characterized by warmth of feeling typically expressed in eager zealous support or activity ardent proponents of the bill an ardent admirer ardent fans

I found this definition at https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ardent

i found this word in A hunger artist “and the joy of life streamed with such ardent passion from his throat that for the onlookers it was not easy to stand the shock of it.”

the definition really helps because it shows the warmth of support and joy that he got. He shows how shocked he way and how amazing it was and how he couldn’t stand the shock of it. The word gives it more feel.

Vermilion

 

Vermilion [noun]:A brilliant red pigment made from mercury sulfide (cinnabar).

  • Source: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/vermilion

Taken from Passing, Quicksand.

  • “There were batik dresses in which mingled indigo, orange, green, vermilion, and black; dresses of velvet and chiffon in screaming colors, blood red, sulfur yellow, sea green; and one black and white thing in striking combination.”
  • This is a type of red pigment, this is helpful if you want to know the name for different shades of reds.

Magnanimity

: the quality of being magnanimous : loftiness of spirit enabling one to bear trouble calmly, to disdain meanness and pettiness, and to display a noble generosity He had the magnanimity to forgive her for lying about him. (Merriam-Webster)

I came across this word in chapter one of Quicksand: “It was now a showplace in the black belt, exemplification of the white mans magnanimity, refutation of the black mans inefficiency.”

DĂ©colletage

  • DĂ©colletage [noun]:A low neckline on a woman’s dress or top.
    • Source: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/decolletage

    Taken from Passing, Quicksand.

    • “The extreme dĂ©colletage of her simple apricot dress showed a skin of unusual color, a delicate, creamy hue, with golden tones. “Almost like an alabaster,” thought Helga.”

Nasturtium

any of a genus (Tropaeolum of the family Tropaeolaceae, the nasturtium family) of herbs of Central and South America with showy spurred flowers and pungent edible seeds and leaves; especially : either of two widely cultivated ornamentals (T. majus and T. minus) (Merriam-Webster)

I came across this word in chapter one of quicksand: “on the shining brass bowl crowded with many-colored nasturtiums beside her”

apparatus

apparatus (noun)  -a set of materials or equipment designed for a particular use

I found his definition at https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/apparatus

i found this word in the Hunge Artist “ A large circus with its enormous traffic in replacing and recruiting men, animals, and apparatus can always find a use for people at any time, even for a hunger artist, provided of course that he does not ask too much, and in this particular case anyhow it was not only the artist who was taken on but his famous and long- known name as well”

now knwoing the definition definitely helped because he’s gathering things together but you wouldn’t know what those things are unless you knew the definition  he was getting his materials ready for something he needs

 

vigil

vigil – (noun) the act of keeping awake at times when sleep is customary; also : a period of wakefulness

i found this definition at https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vigil

I found this word in the Text the hunger artist.

Of course there were people who argued that this breakfast was an unfair attempt to bribe the watchers, but that was going rather too far, and when they were invited to take on a night’s vigil without a breakfast, merely for the sake of the cause, they made themselves scarce, although they stuck stubbornly to their suspicions.“

Knowing this definition helps understand what they are talking about because a nights vigil could have been anything but now I know that it’s a sleepless time period