Smother verb \ˈsmə-thər\
a : to kill (someone) by covering the face so that breathing is not possible
b : to try to keep (something) from happening : to try to stop doing (something)
“She was afraid to fall asleep; she slept with the weight of her thigh on Magda’s body; she was afraid she would smother Magda under her thigh.”
The Shawl paragraph 6
Rosa is afraid to fall asleep because she was scared the weight of her thigh might kill baby Magda.
Febrile adjective \ˈfe-ˌbrī(-ə)l\
a: marked or caused by fever : feverish
“Rosa saw that today Magda was going to die, and at the same time a fearful joy ran in Rosa’s two palms, her fingers were on fire, she was astonished, febrile: Magda, in the sunlight, swaying on her pencil legs, was howling.”
The Shawl paragraph 10
I wasn’t sure but I thought the word was closely related to madness. She was instead feverish (not the sick kind). Rosa was overcome with great emotion and was greatly excited at Magda finally dying.
Annihilate (v) : to destroy (someone or something) completely
Definition from Merriam-Webster (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/annihilated)
From The Shawl by Cynthia Ozick (paragraph 5)
They were in a place without pity, all pity was annihilated in Rosa, she looked at Stella’s bones without pity.
There were no pity in the place (in the situation). Rosa thinks all pity was completely destroyed because it no longer exist in the place.
Ravenous (adj) – very hungry
definition from Merriam-Webster (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ravenous)
From The Shawl by Cynthia Ozick (paragraph 1)
There was not enough milk; sometimes Magda sucked air; then she screamed. Stella was ravenous
Stella was extremely hungry and had not enough milk for Magda
: very hungry
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ravenous
“The Shawl” by Cynthia Ozick Page 517 Paragraph 3
“Rosa gave almost all her food to Magda, Stella gave nothing; Stella was ravenous, a growing child herself, but not growing much.”
I understand that ravenous used here means that as a growing child, Stella was greedy for food and very hungry. She was so hungry that she even looked like she wanted to eat her baby sister Magda.
Shawl (The Shawl)
noun
Pronunciation: Shol
-A piece of cloth that is used especially be women as a covering for the head or shoulders.
Context: -Rosa with Magda curled up between sore breasts, Magda wound up in the shawl.
-She looked into Magda’s face through a gap in the shawl: a squirrel in a nest, safe, no one could reach her inside the little house of the shawl’s windings.
-Every morning, Rosa had to conceal Magda under the shawl against a wall of the barracks.
-She took Magda’s shawl and filled her own mouth with it.
Source: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shawl
Trance
(trans)
Noun
Trance A half conscious state characterized by an ansence of response to external stimuli, typically as induced by hypnosis or entered by a medium
Verb
Pit into a trance
The Shawl By Cynthia Ozone
Rose did not feel hunger; she felt light, not like someone walking but like someone in a faint,in trance, arresting in a fit , who is someone a floating angel, alert and seeing everything, but in the air,not there, not touching the road.
In the shawl they used the word trance as an expression of how rose was feeling weight wise.
www.dictionary.com
Cholra
(kole-er-a)
noun
Cholra an infectious disease of the small intestine, cause by the bacterium vibrio choler and Characterize by profuse watery diarrhea, vomiting, muscle cramps and severe dehydration and depletion of electrolytes.
The Shawl by Cynthia Ozick
But it was not Rosa’s bleak complexion, dark like Cholera, it was another kind of face altogether, eyes blue as air, smooth feather of hair nearly as yellow as the stars sewn into Rosa’s Coat.
They use the Cholera to describe the color of Rosa
www.freedictionary.com
This week, we have two powerful stories to read, “The Shawl” by Cynthia Ozick, and “The Shawl” by Louise Erdrich. They’re very different stories about people from different cultures, facing very different hardships. However, we can think about them together, and in the context of Beloved, when we think of
among other issues that these narratives address. These are some ideas for you to address in this discussion. Please don’t attempt to answer them all–instead, choose one from the list above or another idea that you want to address and write about it in the comments.
Feel free to connect either or both of these stories to texts we read earlier in the semester.
Feel free also to ask questions in the comments that any of us can answer. This is particularly important in Erdrich’s narrative because each time I’ve taught it, students have found it difficult to make sense of it at first, but then come to understand it as we discuss it.
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