Category Archives: Glossary

disdain

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Noun

disdain – a feeling of contempt for someone or something regarded as unworthy or inferior : scorn

I cam across this word while reading “You In America”, this can be found on page 3, it quoted “He had been to Ghana and Kenya and Tanzania, he had read about all the other African countries, their histories, their complexities. You wanted to feel disdain, to show it as you brought his order, because white people who liked Africa too much and who liked Africa too little were the same—condescending. ” .After knowing the meaning of this word I believe the narrator is saying that she wanted to feel Scorn “the feeling or belief that someone or something is worthless or despicable; contempt.” She wanted to feel as if hes unworthy, and worthless to her. She didn’t want to show him respect.

condescending

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Adjective

condescending – showing or characterized by a patronizing or superior attitude toward others

I came across this word while reading “You In America”. It is located on the second page quoted, “You wanted to feel disdain, to show it as you brought his order, because white people who liked Africa too much and who liked Africa too little were the same—condescending.” After knowing the definition of this word, I believe that it is saying that white people who like Africa or white people who don’t like Africa both has the same attitude. I think the author is telling us that all white people have the same attitude towards African American people. When people are being condescending they feel more superiority than others.

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

precariously

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Adjective

precariously-  characterized by a lack of security or stability that threatens with danger

I came across this word while reading “You In America”, It is located on the first page quoted, “The people who never broke a profit from the mangoes and akara they hawked, whose houses—zinc sheets precariously held by nails—fell apart in the rainy season.” The word in this quote is describing how the houses are not strongly held together, and struggling to held it self together. Also showing how cheaply and ruin the house condition was. showing us a poor living condition.

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

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suffice

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Verb

suffice- to meet or satisfy a need : be sufficient

  • a brief note will suffice

—often used with an impersonal it

  • suffice it to say that they are dedicated, serious personalities
  •  —Cheryl Aldridge

I’ve encountered this word while reading “How to date a brown girl (black girl, white girl, or halfie)” by Junot Diaz. It can be found on page 3, quoted “She might kiss you and then go, or she might, if she’s reckless, give it up, but that’s rare. Kissing will suffice” this word in this quote the author is trying to say if she’s reckless, or leave you kissing will always satisfy her needs.

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

Oblivion

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Oblivion, noun: the condition or state of being forgotten or unknown; the state of being destroyed.

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

We encountered this word in the story The Shawl by Louise Erdrich. It’s used when the narrator talks about the challenges and hardships his people have endured, both from previous generations and from the current ones, and how the struggle of dealing with those pains can drive a person to ruin.

“Now, gradually, that term of despair has lifted somewhat and yielded up its survivors. But we still have sorrows that are passed to us from early generations, sorrows to handle in addition to our own, and cruelties lodged where we cannot forget them. We have the need to forget. We are always walking on oblivion’s edge.”

Lure

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Lure, verb: to draw with a hint of pleasure or gain.

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

We came across this word in the beginning of chapter 18 of Quicksand. It’s used to describe Helga’s new found ability to attract attention using her beauty. The context of the sentence describes it as a “deliberate lure,” which could be read as a flirty demeanor.

“And Helga, since her return, was more than ever popular at parties. Her courageous clothes attracted attention, and her deliberate lure—as Olsen had called it—held it. Her life in Copenhagen had taught her to expect and accept admiration as her due.”

Riotous

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Riotous (adjective) – of the nature of a riot

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

“That night riotous and colorful dreams invaded Helga Crane’s prim hotel bed. She woke up in the morning weary and a bit shocked at the uncontrolled fancies which had visited her.” (pg 133)

Understanding what ‘riotous’ means describes the dream that Helga Crane had which was a dream that was vivid and out of her controlled which is what led her to wake up shocked because they seemed real and it was something that she should’ve controlled but couldn’t.

nemesis

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noun

nemesis – I came across this wa formidable and usually victorious rival or opponent

  • The team was defeated by its old nemesis.

ord while reading “How to date a brown girl (black girl, white girl, or halfie)”
by Junot Diaz. It is found on page 2, quoted “Hope that you don’t run into your nemesis, Howie, the Puerto Rican kid with the two killer mutts.” after knowing what this word means i think another word for nemesis can be enemy or competition even. In this quote the narrator is saying he hope “you” don’t run into Puerto Rican kid with the killer mutts, he might be saying watch out for the competition.

this word is also a meaning of a Greek goddess.

canisters

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noun

canisters – an often cylindrical container for holding a usually specified object or substance

  • a filmcanister

I came across this word while reading “how to date a brown girl” by Junot Diaz. This word was found on the second page, it quoted “A local girl won’t need stories about the neighborhood but the other ones might. Supply the story about the loco who’d been storing canisters of tear gas in his basement for years, how one day the canisters cracked and the whole neighborhood got a dose of the military-strength stuff” I understand that the narrator is talking about tear gas being stored in the basement.

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