Perilous

Perilous (adjective)

Definition: Something that is dangerous or very risky can be described with the adjective perilous.

Encountered from A Literary Visitor Strolls in From the Airport by Charles Mcgrath.

“Upon arriving in New York, he walked from Kennedy Airport to the nearby Crowne Plaza Hotel, a journey more perilous than he expected, because it involved a nightmare traverse of expressways with no curbs.”

I understand this word now because usually by airports, its big highways and no sidewalks for people to walk so it would be dangerous to travel by foot.

Example:  School open during extreme weather is perilous for students.

Source: Vocabulary.com

Yarmulke

Yarmulke(noun)- a skullcap worn especially by Orthodox and Conservative Jewish males in the synagogue and the home

This word was encountered in ” A literary Visitors Strolls in From the Airport”

The sentence in which this word was encountered says, ” Proceeding along Eastern Parkway, Mr.Self studied the streetscape carefully, eager to discern the exact point when it turned from a black and hispanic neighborhood to an Orthodox Jewish one, and was delighted when he spotted a guy in a yarmulke talking to two coffee-colored men.

The author describes a man wearing a Yarmulke. A yarmulke is a skull cap worn by people  Orthodox neighborhoods.

Psycho-geography

Psycho-geography- the effect of a geographical location on the emotions and behaviour of individuals

The term psychogeography was invented by the Marxist theorist Guy Debord in 1955 in order to explore this. Inspired by the French nineteenth century poet and writer Charles Baudelaire’s concept of the flâneur – an urban wanderer – Debord suggested playful and inventive ways of navigating the urban environment in order to examine its architecture and spaces.

This word was encountered in “A literary Visitor Strolls in from the Airport”

The sentence in which this word was found says, ” what recommend it was that it would take him through parts of the city that most people while driving in a car: and experience that Mr.Self, a student of psycho- geography, believes has imposed a ” windscreen-based virtuality” on travel, cutting us off from experiencing our own topography.

Psychogeography deals with the different effects a geographical location can have in your emotions. In the sentence the word was used in , Mr. Self is said to believe in the idea of psychogeography and he says that driving around in a car limits a person from experiencing psychogeography because they are not able to experience  their own topography.Mr.Self basically explains in the following sentence that  walking is the only form of real exploration that’s left.

Melancholy


Melancholy(adjective)- suggestive or expressive of sadness or depression of mind or spiritsang in a melancholy voice

bcausing or tending to cause sadness or depression of mind or spirit DISMALmelancholy thought

2adepressed in spirits :DEJECTEDSAD

bPENSIVE

This word was  encountered in ” A Literary Visitor Strolls in Airport” by Charles McGrath.

the sentence in which the word was used says ” The next morning Mr. Self, who is unusually tall and very thin and has a long, melancholy face he once described as looking ” like a bag full of genitals,” packed his knapsack, rolled a cigarette and, puffing from a Hunter Thompson-style cigarette holder, set off on foot for Manhattan.

The author uses the word Melancholy to describe the gloomy expression on Mr.selfs face.  Melancholy deals with stress and depression, so to describe someone face expression using this word gives the audience and image of someone with a desolate look.

Sociology

Word: Melancholy (noun)

Definition: the science of society, social institutions, and social relationships. 

Source: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sociology

Encounter: “Here, poverty and privilege are neighbors; income gaps are a source of resentment and guilt’ (Paragraph 7), “A professor of sociology at queens college”.

Comprehension: I now understand that the specific teacher teaches his class About society, and society relationships, and social institutions.

Inadvertent

Word: Inadvertent (Adjective)

Definition: not focusing the mind on a matter.

Source: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inadvertently

Encounter: “A literary visitor strolls in from the airport” (paragraph 1). “…Is about a London cabdriver who inadvertently founds a religion when ranting a diatribe he buries in the garden…”

Comprehension: This sentence helps me understand the depth of this word because its focusing on how the cabdriver founded this religion while not very much focusing on it.

 

Disparate

Word: Disparate (adjective)

Definition: markedly distinct in quality or character

Source: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/disparate

encounter: “here, poverty and privilege are neighbors, income gaps are a source of resentment and guilt” (paragraph 4). “A defining characteristic New York city its is economic diversity, The juxtaposition of people of disparate circumstances in limited spaces.

Comprehension: This sentence is basically discussing the distinct quality of the view of the authors view of New York city.

Affluent

Word: Affluent (Adjective)

Definition: Having an abundance of goods or riches

Source: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/affluent

Encounter: “Here, poverty, and privilege neighbor; income gaps are a source of resentment and guilt” (page 2, paragraph 7). “The affluent have their own protection.”

Comprehension: I understand the meaning of this word because this sentence is basically emphasizing the protection of those whom are considered wealthy or privileged.

Carousing

Word: Carousing (noun)

Definition: a large draft of liquor

Source: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/carousing

Encounter: ” A literary visitor strolls in from the airport”, (Page 2, Paragraph 1). “But mr. self has been clean for 8 years or so, and some of the energy he used to expand o carousing now goes into epic hikes…”

Comprehension: I now comprehend this words meaning because this sentence has explained a characters cleanliness from liquor for 8 years and it has allowed me to better understand the concept.

Encompasses

Word: Encompasses (verb)

Definition: To bring about or accomplish.

Source: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/encompasses

Encounter: “Here, poverty and privilege are neighbors; income gaps are a source of resentment and guilt” (page 1, last paragraph). “Where one tract encompasses everything from new luxury apartment houses and dull-floor condominium lofts to small, decaying apartment buildings.”

Comprehension: Through this specific sentence I now understand that those fancy things were bought and accomplished by people that were wealthy.