Category Archives: Glossary

Glossary entry #5: Wince

Student Posts, Glossary

Source: Merriam-Webster.com

Wince- to shrink back involuntarily (as from pain)

Colson Whiteheads seems to like using a broad range of vocabulary to convey his point throughout the passage. When I came across this particular vocabulary word it had me a standstill in my reading for a moment. It states ” It saw you wince when the single frigid drop fell from the air-conditioner twelve stories up and zapped you”. Using the context clues from the sentence surrounding the word, I was able to get some idea of what this word meant. I simply imagined a drop of ice cold waters splashing right in my face. My reaction would be much like what Whitehead describes. I still searched the word just to be sure of its meaning.

Juxtaposition

Student Posts, Glossary

Juxtaposition - Noun

Definition: an act or instance of placing close together or side by side, especially for comparison or contrast.

Source: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/juxtaposition?s=t

Encounter: I encountered this word when my English Project has been assigned.

Understand: The word juxtaposition first time appear on my English project while Professor Rosen said in the assignment that “On your walk, look for different New Yorks overlapping in close proximity—such juxtapositions include old and new, residential and commercial, historic and replaceable, natural and man-made, constructed and under-construction, well maintained and in disrepair, celebrated and forgotten, etc”. In this sentence, Professor Rosen clearly indicates juxtaposition means comparison or contrast in places. The indication of the juxtaposition helped me to understand how to use the word while comparing two places.

 

Glossary Entry #2: Hokum

Student Posts, Glossary

Hokum (noun): false or irrelevant material introduced into a speech, essay, etc., in order to arouse interest, excitement, or amusement.

OR

out-and-out nonsense

Source: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Hokum?s=t

I encountered this word in our readings of “City Limits” by Colson Whitehead in class. The word is first introduced on page two, Paragraph two of the essay,  in the first three lines. Whitehead uses this word to explain how people portray or advertise New York is usually never the way that you knew it, thus making the information false or wrong according to your perspective of New York, or in Whiteheads case, “It’s all hokum”. After searching up the definition of hokum, i was able to get a better understanding of how Whitehead used the word in his work, describing how the New York today is wrong compared to how you remembered it.

Peat

Student Posts, Glossary

Peat-Noun

Definition- Partially carbonized vegetable tissue that has been formed by partial decomposition in water of various plants.

Definition Location-http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/peat?show=0&t=1412003425

I’ve encountered this word during Professor Rosen’s class when we went over during the glossary assignment in case anyone had any questions. I understand this word to be related to organic material found in mires that can be used for plants and even to set it on fire as a fossil fuel.

Glossary entry #4 : Unherald

Glossary, Student Posts

Source: Merriam-Webster.com

Unherlald: No sign that something will happen

We came across this word during the reading of Colson Whitehead’s ” City Limits” in class. Due to the fact that I was not familiar with the word, I was stuck on what the sentence was trying to convey. The sentence states, ” The are unheralded tipping points, a certain number of times that we will unlock the front door of an apartment. There were also no major context clues that would give me an idea of what the word meant. After I found out the dictionary meaning of the word, the sentence became a lot clearer to me. The paragraph conveys the concept that at times we can never get a proper goodbye at some things because we don’t get a warning that this is the last time we will use, see or experience it. This vocabulary word shows that there is no significant foreshadowing to give us a hint that something is about to change.

Authenticity

Glossary

Authenticity- Adjective

Definition- Something or someone that is real or genuine and that is not fake.

Definition Location- http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/authenticity?show=0&t=1411949691

I remember hearing this word again in the video played during English class and how reproduction of images has allowed an ease of access that has created various definitions for images such as The Mona Lisa and how famous authentic images can only be seen in one place. I remember this word by thinking of famous painting that are one of a kind in the sense of the history behind it rather copies of them that are not the real deal.

Reproduction(Noun)

Glossary

Reproduction- Noun

Definition- The act of copying something like a document, book or even a sound.

Definition Location- http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reproduction

Where I first encountered this word- I remember encountering this word during the video that was played during English class regarding how mass production and the camera has changed the singular meaning or message of a drawing. When thinking about Reproduction I think about old VHS and the mass production of disney movies

Zine

Student Posts, Glossary

Zine (noun) : a small magazine that is written by people who are not professional writers and that usually has stories about a particular subject.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/zine

I didn’t know about this word until my professor, Rosen, told us about it. We went to the The Center For Book Arts, I saw the Zines that people created for us to read and see what their message were.

I now understand what “zine” is, the Field Trip made me understand what they are and what it means.

Juxtaposition

ENG1101, Glossary,

Juxtaposition – noun

Definition: the act or an instance of placing two or more things side by side; also :  the state of being so placed

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/juxtaposition

I found this word in the guideline for project #2 while reading to seeing the assignments required for the project. This word was introduce on Monday September 22, 2014 on the handout called Project #2: Overlapping New Yorks. The word is located on the bottom of the handout. The word juxtaposition is a word required to use in our writing for this project.

After researching the word it became more clear, the word juxtaposition means that objects are being compare.

Glossary entry#3: Impediments

Glossary, Student Posts

Source: Merriam-Webster.com

Impediments- Something that makes it difficult to do or complete something: Something that interferes with movement or progress.

I encountered this word while reading Colson Whitehead’s, “City Limits”. In this particular sentence, it states ” It saw you steeling yourself for the job interview, slowly walking home after the late date, tripping over nonexistent  impediments on the sidewalk”. Now that I understand what the meaning of the word is, it allows me to understand the concept of the sentence. As a result I was even able to imagine someone tripping over something that isn’t really there. This shows me that having the knowledge of one word can changed the way you see the entire sentence.