All posts by kalianne
Glossary – Anthology
I will be honest and say that I thought that this assignment would be really helpful in expanding my vocabulary, but most of the words that I found that I didn’t understand I don’t think that I would really get to apply on a day to day basis. I actually put a couple of words that I already knew the meaning to because I thought that maybe if I listed them, that it would encourage me to use them more often (Capricious and monotonously). I do agree that taking time to look up words that one doesn’t understand can help in making better sense of the text.
I also find the importance of having an extensive vocabulary and it’s something that I try to work on myself.
This type of exercise can definitely help with that. I subscribe to a.word.a day.com to help with that, it’s a great tool to use and the set up is such like the assignment we had to do on a weekly basis. It explains the word and puts it into a sentence so that way you can see in which context it was used.
Overall, I found this to be helpful and informative.
Capricious
Capricious: changing often and quickly; especially : often changing suddenly in mood or behavior.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/capricious
Used In “The Shawl”in the eleventh paragraph at the bottom.
We survived off him as if he were a capricious and dangerous line of work. I suppose we stopped thinking of him as a human being, certainly as a father.
I thought this to mean that his mood was always changing in volatile ways.
Tubercular
Tubercular : of, relating to, or affected with tuberculosis
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tubercular
Used in “The Shawl” by Louise Erdrich in the fifth paragraph.
His father’s chest was broad and, although he already spat the tubercular blood that would write the end of his story, he was still a strong man.
This is referring to the fact that his father suffered from tuberculosis , which a disease that affects the lungs.
Monotonously
Monotonously- used to describe something that is boring because it is always the same.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/monotonously
She became a gray sky, stared monotonously at the walls, sometimes wept into her hands for hours at a time.
That she was staring at the walls, lost in a trance of boredom.
Elfin
Elfin – having to do with elves : looking like an elf
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/elfin
Found in ” The Shawl by Cynthia Ozlick
One mite of a tooth tip sticking up in the bottom gum, how shining, an elfin tombstone of white marble gleaming there.
I think the narrator was describing how tiny Magda’s tooth looked in her mouth.
Shoat
Shoat: a young hog and especially one that has been weaned.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shoat
Used in “Beloved” on page 190 on the top of the page.
Did you steal that shoat? You stole that shoat.
Schoolteacher was asking Sixto whether he stole an animal. I did not think that was another word that could be used to describe a hog.
Pilfer
Pilfer: to steal things that are not very valuable or to steal a small amount of something.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pilfer
Used in “Beloved” on page 191 on the very top of the first paragraph.
Not just a rifle of corn, or two yards eggs the hen herself didn’t even remember, everything. Schoolteacher took away the guns from the Sweet Home men and, deprived of game to round out to their diet of bread , beans, hominy, vegetables and a little extra at slaughter time, they began to pilfer in earnest, and it became not only their right but their obligation.
I think that this meant that they began to steal in small amounts so as not to be noticed.
Indolent
Indolent : not liking to work or be active
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/indolent
Used in “Beloved” on page 121 in the second paragraph
Where she was once indolent, resentful of every task, now she is spry, executing, even extending the assignments Sethe leaves for them.
The word in the sentence is describing how she once felt lazy and unmotivated to do work.
Cover letter
Dear Professor Rosen,
I think the part that I’m most proud of is the creative part. As I mentioned in the curatorial statement, I was really inspired by the song that I chose. I have always loved that song, as it has always touched me on a very emotional level, and when I heard it, I realized that it would truly fit what I wanted to say about the quote that I chose from Beloved and how it described Sethe’s emotions exactly how I felt that she must have been struggling with them. It truly felt inspiring to hear that song, and have it connect with another piece of literary art.
The part I found most challenging was picking the passage for Part 1. There were so many important moments that shaped the story line and Sethe’s life and choices. Picking the passage of her having her milk stolen was one that I found utterly devastating on so many grounds, and reading that part, along with her killing her child was extremely difficult to read. Part of me almost felt not capable of writing about how such an event could have shaped her life because the topic of rape and loss are so personal that you wonder if your words or interpretations are sufficient enough to cover the traumatization of such an event.
I learned how to play around with media using Keynote for Mac and after a lengthy conversation with someone from Apple. I realized how much I could do on Keynote for future projects.
I enjoyed the creative part of this project, and always enjoy creating with music, art or writing. I feel that when you delve into your own creative imagination you can realize things about yourself that you would not otherwise discover.
If I could have changed one thing about the project it would have to be the book. I can find the beauty in Beloved, but I would have preferred a different book. One of my favorite books is the Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini ,and its also a very heavy and powerful story, but a bit more clear and straightforward though it features mostly flashbacks.
As a reader, I found this class really informative on the types of narration and what symbolism can look like in a book. I noticed that when I started reading a new book not too long ago, I found myself asking what type of narration it was, and taking more time to really pay attention to details that I may overlook at times.
