Tag: Emmett Till

noun

• objects or materials that are collected because they are related to a particular event, person, etc.

Source:http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/memorabilia

I came across this word from a link we was going over in class (click here for link). This word can be found in the sentence “Of all the civil rights memorabilia I’ve collected over the years, the Emmett Till material upset my kids the most”. My first impression of this word was that it had something to do with memories. Technically this word is related to memories but more towards a particular range of memories. From learning what memorabilia meant, this sentence is saying the Emmett Till memorabilia was upsetting to the author’s kids since the kids were around Emmett Till age. The case of Emmett Till was a tragedy about a fourteen year old boy who was lynched because he whistled at a white girl.

adjective

• : happening or beginning now or in recent times

• : existing or happening in the same time period : from the same time period

Source:http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/contemporary

I came across this word in an article my fellow peer posted in response to the article about Emmett Till (click here for the link). It can be found in the sentence “Chris Metress, the editor of “The Lynching of Emmett Till,” a book that includes contemporary news accounts of the killing and trial”. I thought this word meant in a short amount of time. Contemporary to me felt like a word I would know since I’ve heard it a lot of times but I was wrong. From learning what contemporary means, it now makes sense that the book The Lynching of Emmett Till is talking about today’s news about the tragedy that happened in the past.