: a foolish or stupid quality : a fatuous quality
: something foolish or stupid : a fatuous remark
-Merrium Webster Dictionary
Looked at in one way each breadth stands alone, the bloated curves and flourishes – a kind of ” debased Romanesque” with delirium tremens – go waddling up and down in isolated columns of fatuity.
This word serves to describe how foolish and unrealistic the designs seemed to her.
Timorous (adjective): easily frightened (Merriam-Webster)
Found on Page II, paragraph 4 of The Metamorphosis–>“Once during that long evening, the door on one side of the room was opened very slightly and hurriedly closed again; later on the door on the other side did the same; it seemed that someone needed to enter the room but thought better of it. Gregor went and waited immediately by the door, resolved either to bring the timorous visitor into the room in some way or at least to find out who it was; but the door was opened no more that night and Gregor waited in vain.”
I believe this word in the quote means that Gregor wanted to see the person that kept opening the door slightly and hurriedly. Although he waited all night to come face to face with the person, his wait was to no avail because that unknown person was too frightened to go inside Gregor’s room to witness his horrid condition.
Riotus (The Yellow Wallpaper/Page 60/Paragraph 4)
adjective
Pronunciation: Rye-Eh-Tus
-Of a group of people: behaving in a violent and uncontrolled way.
-Marked by or involving public disorder.
-Having a vivid, varied appearance.
Context: “Out of one window I can see the garden, those mysterious deepshaded arbors, the riotous old-fashioned flowers, and bushes and gnarly trees.
Source(s): -http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/riotous
-https://www.google.com/#q=riotous+definition
Powwow (Young Goodman Brown/Paragraphs (43, 52, 56)
noun
Pronunciation: Pau – Wau
-A social gathering of Native Americans that usually includes dancing.
-A meeting for people to discuss something.
-A Native American Priest/Medicine Man.
Context:
-Paragraph 43: They tell me that some of our community are to be here from Falmouth and beyond, and others from Connecticut and Rhode Island; besides several of the Indian powwows….
-Paragraph 52: Come witch, come wizard, come Indian powwow….
-Paragraph 56: Scattered, also, among their pale-faced enemies, were the Indian priests, or powwows….
Source: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/powwow
Floundering (verb): to move in an awkward way with a lot of difficulty and effort: to be unsure about what to do or say: to have a lot of problems and difficulties (Merriam-Webster)
Found on Page I, paragraph 3 of The Metamorphosis–> “However hard he threw himself onto his right, he always rolled back to where he was. He must have tried it a hundred times, shut his eyes so that he wouldn’t have to look at the floundering legs, and only stopped when he began to feel a mild, dull pain there that he had never felt before.”
I believe this word in the quote means that after Gregor Samsa realize he has been transformed into an insect, he moves in a difficult way in order to get himself out of bed. Since his arms was nonfunctional anymore, he had to figure out how to use his new body, which consisted of many legs, antennas and an exceptional board body.
Here is my visual interpretation of Gregor trying to roll off his back when he was in his bed.
Tumultously (The Story of an Hour/Paragraph 10/Sentence 1)
adjective
Pronunciation: too- mul – choo -ous
-The act of making a loud, confused noise.
-To raise a great clatter and commotion.
Context: “Now her bosom rose and fell tumultuously.”
Source: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tumultuous
Gallantry noun \ˈga-lən-trē\
a : an act of marked courtesy
b : courteous attention to a lady
“And yet,” said he, with the gallantry of a young politician. “for all their worries, what would we do without the ladies?”
A Jury of Her Peers page 265
Initially I was thinking of gallant where it it means brave. This made no sense to me “…a gallantry of a young politician…” Young politicians are rather foolish as opposed to brave. The other definition of gallantry made much more sense in this case.
Importunities noun \ˌim-pər-ˈtü-nə-tē, –ˈtyü-\
a: an importunate (troubesembly urgent/annoyance) request or demand
She arose at length and opened the door to her sister’s importunities.
The Story of An Hour paragraph 10
Importunities looks like the word important and although the of the words definition meant annoying urgency I thought it just meant her sisters urgency was important.
Wares noun \ˈwer\
a : manufactured articles, products of art or craft, or farm produce : goods —often used in combination <tinware
b : an article of merchandise
In the street below a peddler was crying his wares.
The Story of An Hour paragraph 5
Thinking a peddler is a man peddling a boat him screaming his ‘wares’ to me meant that he was screaming at people to beware. Turns out a peddler is a merchant and he was letting people know what merchandise he has.
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