The father bounded forward when he saw the tracks. He could see where the pack, desperate, had tried to slash the tendons of the horsesâ legs.
TENDON: A tendon is a fibrous connective tissue which attaches muscle to bone. Tendons may also attach muscles to structures such as the eyeball.
from The Shawl
The was a board. A willow wand. And there was himself
WILLOW: any tree or shrub of the genius Salix, characterized by narrow, lance-shaped leaves and dense catkins bearing flowers.
From The Shawl
We have the need to forget. We are always walking on oblivionâs edge.
OBLIVION : The condition or quality of being completely forgotten.
from The Shawl
Dote: verb: to be lavish or excessive in one’s attention, fondness, or affection.
Who had not even escaped slaveryâhad, in fact, been bought out of it by a doting son . . . ” (137).
I understand now that a son who is extremely loved would buy their parents out of slavery.
offalâ (noun) Waste parts, especially of a butchered animal.
“For a month or so in the winter any stray man had work, if he could breathe the stench of offal and stand up for twelve hours . . . ” (154).
From this, I understand now that the jobs available were only for the men who can stand the stench of a butchered animal.
palsy-(noun) -Complete or partial muscle paralysis, often accompanied by loss of sensation and uncontrollable body movements or tremors.
Page 5- Last sentence- “Not only did she have to live our her years in a house palsied by the baby’s fury at having its throat cut, but those ten minutes she spent pressed up against dawn-colored stone studded with star chips, her knees wide open as the grave, were longer than life, more alive, more pulsating than the baby blood that soaked her fingers like oil.
From this, I understand that the house was paralyzed and controlled by the baby’s fury.
Rendezvous (French: rendez-vous), to visit, to meet, tryst, less exclusive than
“Now it was too late for the rendezvous to happen at the Redmen’s house, so they dropped where they were. later he punctured her calf to simulate snakebite so she could use it in a way as an excuse for not being on time to shake worms from tobacco leaves.”
(Beloved: by Toni Morrison, pg 25)
Perfunctory: Adjective : Lacking interest of enthusiasm.
From the novel  “Beloved”,”Together they waged a perfunctory battle against the outrageous behavior of that place; against turned-over slop jars, smacks on the behind, gusts of sour air”.(Page 4)
Now i understand that they have given up on taking care of the place.
Eluded;Â transitive verb;Â to escape the perception, understanding, or grasp of.
From “Beloved” by Toni Morrison, pg 77.
“Denver stopped and sighed. This was the part of the story she loved. She
was coming to it now, and she loved it because it was all about herself; but
she hated it too because it made her feel like a bill was owing somewhere and she, Denver, had to pay it. But who she owed or what to pay it with eluded her.”
After researching this word, I comprehended that what Denver was talking about, the bill that she felt like she owed somewhere, but did not know who she owed or what to pay it with was out of her understanding. Denver did not understand this whole concept of owing someone out there that she did not know or either what she was supposed to pay it with.
Spiteful: adjective, full of spite, Â petty ill will or hatred with the disposition to irritate, annoy, or thwart
Beloved by Toni Morrison: “124 was spiteful. Full of a baby’s venom. The women in the house knew it and so did the children.”
From this word i came to know that there was all painful things going on around that place 124.
These are the terms we reviewed in class at the beginning of the semester, plus the few more that we added to our list of terms. Many of them come from Ann Charters’s âElements of Fiction.â You should review them and be sure you know what they mean, (especially the terms for different types of narrators for Essay 1)!
plot: the series of events that give a story its meaning and effect: what happens
rising action: the events in which the drama intensifies, rising toward the climax
climax: the most dramatic and revealing moment, usually the turning point
falling action: when the drama subsides and the conflict is resolved
protagonist: the central agent in generating its plot, and this individual can embody the story’s theme
antagonist: the character or force in conflict with the protagonist
round character: a complex, fully developed character, often prone to change
flat character: A one-dimensional character, typically not central to the story
characterization: The process by which an author presents and develops a fictional character
setting: the storyâs time and place, as well as its historical moment or its social context
first-person point of view: narration identifiable by the use of the pronoun “I”
second-person point of view: narrator uses “you” to addresses reader
Third-person point of view: narration doesn’t use “I”; occurs when the narrator does not take part in the story
omniscient narration: when the narrator includes information from anywhere, including charactersâ thoughts and feelings. (omniscient=all-knowing)
limited narration: when the narrator can relate what is in the minds of only a select few characters
objective/dramatic narration: when the narrator doesnât have access to charactersâ internal thoughts or background information about the setting or situation.
homodiegetic narration: when the narrator is part of the story-world–a character within the story. This would be a first-person narrator, and can also be called a character narrator.
autodiegetic narration: when the narrator is the protagonist. This is a sub-set of homodiegetic narration
prolepsis: a change in the order of the story representing a flash-forward
analepsis: a change in the order of the story representing a flashback
focalizer: a character whose point of view or thoughts the narrator represents–most closely represented in “Elements of fiction” as a point-of-view character. There can be multiple focalizers in a narrative. The narrator is the focalizer in a homodiegetic, or first-person, narration.
diction: the word choices the author makes to tell the story
tone: the story’s attitude toward its subject matter–it can be earnest, sarcastic, humorous, etc
theme: the meaning or concept central to the story
image:Â descriptive language that engages on of the senses, such as a visual image that makes the reader imagine what something looks like, or a tactile images that depicts what something feels like, etc
symbol: a repeated image that comes to take on a larger meaning in a given story
allegory: a story in which the symbols, characters, and events represent a different metaphysical, political, or social situation that elevates the meaning of the story
Strenuous: adjective :vigorously active : energetic.
From ” Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka, “what a strenuous career it is that I’ve chosen! Travelling day in and day out. Doing business like this takes much more effort than doing your own business at home.”
Now i understand that Gregor Samsas career requires him to be moving around alot. Also, it requires him to be exceptionally active.
enquiringly: adverb – in an inquiring manner
From the story “Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka. “Mr. and Mrs. Samsa sat upright there in their marriage bed and had to make an effort to get over the shock caused by the cleaner before they could grasp what she was saying. But then, each from his own side, they hurried out of bed. Mr. Samsa threw the blanket over his shoulders, Mrs. Samsa just came out in her nightdress; and that is how they went into Gregor’s room. On the way they opened the door to the living room where Grete had been sleeping since the three gentlemen had moved in; she was fully dressed as if she had never been asleep, and the paleness of her face seemed to confirm this. “Dead?”, asked Mrs. Samsa, looking at the charwoman enquiringly, even though she could have checked for herself and could have known it even without checking.” (Section III -counting backward paragraph 8).
Now I understand that Mrs.Samsa is asking Grete in a suspecting tone if Gregor is dead, although she can see he is.
Repugnant : adjective, means incompatible, inconsistent, hostile, exciting distaste or aversion.
In “Metamorphosis” (page 22, 1st para)  “I declare here and now”, he said, raising his hand and glancing at Gregor’s mother and sister to gain their attention too, “that with regard to the repugnant conditions that prevail in this flat and with this family”- here he looked briefly but decisively at the floor – “I give immediate notice on my room. For the days that I have been living here I will, of course, pay nothing at all, on the contrary I will consider whether to proceed with some kind of action for damages from you, and believe me it would be very easy to set out the grounds for such an action.”
Monotonous; adjective; lacking in variety; tediously unvarying.
From “The Metamorphosis” pg 14 of 31: “Hearing these words from his mother made Gregor realise that the lack of any direct human communication, along with the monotonous life led by the family during these two months, must have made him confused- he could think of no other way of explaining to himself why he had seriously wanted his room emptied out.”
From searching this word, I now understand that the family was leading a boring life, with no change or exciting events. The life that they were living lead Gregor to want to have the furniture removed from his room.
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