Capricious adjective \kə-ˈpri-shəs, –ˈprē-\
a: changing often and quickly; especially : often changing suddenly in mood or behavior
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.
The Shawl paragraph 11
He was an unpredictable dangerous kind of person who was best avoided.
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.
Lamenting noun \lə-ˈment\
The farther she was from the fence, the more clearly the voices crowded at her. The lamenting voices strummed so convincingly, so passionately, it was impossible to suspect them of being phantoms. The voices told her to h9ld up the shawl, high; the voices told her to shake it, to whip with it, to unfurl it like a flag. Rosa lifted, shook, whipped, unfurled.
Clamor noun \ˈkla-mər\
a : a loud continuous noise (such as the noise made when many people are talking or shouting)
Even when the lice, head lice and body lice, crazed her so that she became as wild as one of the big rats that plundered the barracks at daybreak looking for carrion, she rubbed and scratched and kicked and bit and rolled without a whimper. But now Magda’s mouth was spilling a long viscous rope of clamor.
The Shawl paragraph 10
Magda was now making a loud and continuous noise. She was crying basically like she never did before.
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.
Barracks noun \ˈber-ək, -ik; ˈba-rək, -rik\
a : a structure resembling a shed or barn that provides temporary housing
b : housing characterized by extreme plainness or dreary uniformity —usually used in plural in all senses
No one took it away from her. Magda was mute. She never cried. Rosa hid her in the barracks, under the shawl, but she knew that one day someone would inform; or one day someone, not even Stella, would steal Magda to eat her.
The Shawl paragraph 6
She hid Magda in a shed like structure. I thought barracks meant something like a cellar but it turned out to be a shed/barn.
Powwow noun \ˈpau̇–ˌwau̇\
a : a social gathering of Native Americans that usually includes dancing
b : a meeting for people to discuss something
But the strangest thing of all was the old powwow-dance regalia I saw hanging in the window.
What You Pawn I Will Redeem paragraph 6
After coming across this word a few times in the story I just knew I had to look it up. I was thinking something more along the lines of a festival. Instead it’s a social gathering, a meeting of sorts.
de·ri·sion
\di-ˈri-zhən\noun
: the feeling that people express when they criticize and laugh at someone or something in an insulting way.
The Yellow wallpaper By Charlotte Perkins, Towards end of story
Then I peeled off all the paper I could reach standing on the floor. It sticks horribly and the pattern just enjoys it! All those strangled heads and bulbous eyes and waddling fungus growths just shriek with derision!
Word reuse with meaning
….waddling fungus growths just shreik with scorn….
bed·stead
ˈbedˌsted/
noun
the framework of a bed on which the mattress is placed.
THE Yellow Wallpaper By Charlotte Perkins Gilman The 13th paragraph
…He said that after the wall-paper was changed it would be the heavy (bedstead) , and then the barred windows…
Word reuse
…was changed changed it would be heavy (bed frame)….
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