"A" Vocabulary Lists

 Vocabulary List AP/IB English

A

1. abstract: (adj) theoretical, not concrete.

2. abstruse: (adj) difficult to understand.

 3. acclaim: (v) praise, applaud.

4. accolade: (n) an award, or praise.

5. acquiescent: (adj) reluctantly agreeable, compliant.

6. acrimony: (n) words or behavior filled with harshness or anger.

7. adamant: (adj) refusing to change, stubborn, unyielding.

8. adroit: (adj) skillful in physical activity, or in handling difficult situations.

9. advocate: (v) support, plead for, speak on behalf of.

10. affable: (adj) friendly, easygoing.

11. affirmation: (n) positive statement, assertion, agreement.

12. alienate: (v) to push someone away, cause him to separate from people.

13. aloof: (adj) detached, apart, indifferent.

14. altruistic: (adj) unselfish, caring.

15. ambidextrous: (adj) able to use both hands with equal skill.

16. ambiguous: (adj) unclear, vague, having several possible interpretations.

 17. ambivalence: (n) indecision, feeling of being pulled in two directions.

18. ameliorate: (v) to make an unpleasant situation better, to improve.

19. amity: (n) friendship.

20. amorphous: (adj) without form or shape.

21. analogous: (adj) similar

22. anarchy: (n) a lack of order, chaos.

 23. anathema: (n) a religious curse, or the thing or person being cursed.

 24. antagonistic: (adj) in hostile competition, opposing.

25. antiquated: (adj) too old to be useful, outdated, obsolete.

 26. antithesis: (n) opposite.

 

LIST #2

27. apathy: (n) lack of interest or concern.

28. apex: (n) top, highest point, summit.

29. appease: (v) calm, pacify.

30. arbitrary: (adj) selected by random choice and without solid reason.

31. arcane: (adj) secret, mysterious.

32. archaic: (adj) old, antiquated.

33. arrogant: (adj) acting superior, obnoxious, smug, rude.

34. articulate: (adj) able to speak clearly and effectively.

35. ascendance: (n) domination, controlling power.

36. ascetic: (n) person who rejects physical comfort and luxury for self-discipline.

36.5.  asthetic:  (n, adj) referring to beauty

 

 

Project or Presentation? Watch the Due Date!

CHOOSE EITHER A PROJECT OR A PRESENTATION. Check calendar for due date.

PROJECTS:   A.        Develop a two-page section from a Boston newspaper during the time/setting of this story. Your front page will be full of the story of Hester and Company, the scandal, her sin and punishment, or the aftermath. Your pages should include the following: A banner headline At least one picture with a caption The lead story (at least 300 words) Related side bar stories Horoscope/advice column/gossip column/classifieds Title of newspaper At least on advertisement that is story-related Editorial/weather report   B.       Write a four page prequel to The Scarlet Letter in the language and style of Hawthorne.  Size 14 font, double-spaced, Times New Roman. C.      Write a diary from the perspective of one of the main characters.  Choose five major events in the novel for your character to respond to.  Any changes that your character goes through should be dealt with in these journal entries.  You should tell us how you feel about other characters and events.  A diary entry should disclose motive and be written in the voice of the character. D.      Write a sequel featuring Pearl after the novel ends.  Describe what her life is like and how she is affected by the events of the novel. Be sure your choices are consistent with what you know about Pearl and the novel. This should be between about four pages, 14 font, Times New Roman, double spaced.

PRESENTATION:   A.       Write and sing a ballad, telling the story of Hester from any perspective you choose.  Words should be typed and distributed to the class.  I have a keyboard you may use, or you may bring a guitar.   B.        Create a school appropriate video of at least two major scenes from the novel.  Come in after school the day before to insure that your technology actually works.  Use a flash drive or something you can count on.  If I can’t see it, I can’t grade it.  5-7 minutes     C.     With one or two partners, write a dramatic script of at least one main scene a piece from the novel. In stage directions, describe the setting for each scene. For the class presentation, enact one of the scenes. Add props or costumes to recreate the scene effectively.  I need to see evidence that each person has participated in the writing.  Lines must be memorized.   D.       Create an embroidered or counted cross-stitch alphabet letter that looks like Hawthorne has described Hester’s “A.”  Include descriptions of the scarlet letter from the text, cited accurately, and a paragraph telling about your experience.  Size and proportion should match the text’s description.  I will be the least generous with this option, if insufficient effort is evident.

 

Close Reading

Close Reading of a Literary Passage

To do a close reading, you choose a specific passage and analyze it in fine detail, as if with a magnifying glass. You then comment on points of style and on your reactions as a reader. Close reading is important because it is the building block for larger analysis. Your thoughts evolve not from someone else's truth about the reading, but from your own observations. The more closely you can observe, the more original and exact your ideas will be. To begin your close reading, ask yourself several specific questions about the passage. The following questions are not a formula, but a starting point for your own thoughts. When you arrive at some answers, you are ready to organize and write. You should organize your close reading like any other kind of essay, paragraph by paragraph, but you can arrange it any way you like.

I. First Impressions:

• What is the first thing you notice about the passage?
• What is the second thing?
• Do the two things you noticed complement each other? Or contradict each other?
• What mood does the passage create in you? Why?

II. Vocabulary and Diction:

• Which words do you notice first? Why? What is noteworthy about this diction?
• How do the important words relate to one another?
• Do any words seem oddly used to you? Why?
• Do any words have double meanings? Do they have extra connotations?
• Look up any unfamiliar words. For a pre-20th century text, look in the Oxford English Dictionary for possible outdated meanings. (The OED can only be accessed by students with a subscription or from a library computer that has a subscription. Otherwise, you should find a copy in the local library.)

III. Discerning Patterns:

• Does an image here remind you of an image elsewhere in the book? Where? What's the connection?
• How might this image fit into the pattern of the book as a whole?
• Could this passage symbolize the entire work? Could this passage serve as a microcosm--a little picture--of what's taking place in the whole work?
• What is the sentence rhythm like? Short and choppy? Long and flowing? Does it build on itself or stay at an even pace? What is the style like?
• Look at the punctuation. Is there anything unusual about it?
• Is there any repetition within the passage? What is the effect of that repetition?
• How many types of writing are in the passage? (For example, narration, description, argument, dialogue, rhymed or alliterative poetry, etc.)
• Can you identify paradoxes in the author's thought or subject?
• What is left out or kept silent? What would you expect the author to talk about that the author avoided?

IV. Point of View and Characterization:

• How does the passage make us react or think about any characters or events within the narrative?
• Are there colors, sounds, physical description that appeals to the senses? Does this imagery form a pattern? Why might the author have chosen that color, sound or physical description?
• Who speaks in the passage? To whom does he or she speak? Does the narrator have a limited or partial point of view? Or does the narrator appear to be omniscient, and he knows things the characters couldn't possibly know? (For example, omniscient narrators might mention future historical events, events taking place "off stage," the thoughts and feelings of multiple characters, and so on).

V. Symbolism:

• Are there metaphors? What kinds?
• Is there one controlling metaphor? If not, how many different metaphors are there, and in what order do they occur? How might that be significant?
• How might objects represent something else?
• Do any of the objects, colors, animals, or plants appearing in the passage have traditional connotations or meaning? What about religious or biblical significance?
• If there are multiple symbols in the work, could we read the entire passage as having allegorical meaning beyond the literal level?

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If you wish to walk through a close-reading of a Gerard Manley Hopkins poem, click here.

The Scarlet Letter Summary and Citation Journals

The Scarlet Letter – SUMMARY and CITATION JOURNALS

 

 

Requirements:

1.      Write a 2-3 sentence summary of each chapter.

2.  Write one vocabulary word you found in each chapter.  Include the sentence in which you found                        the word (parenthetically referenced), the word’s definition, and what part of speech it is.

3.  Copy exactly a 1-2 sentence citation for every 4 chapters.  Choose something you think is                               significant.  It may explicate character, introduce suspense, show symbolism or theme,                                foreshadow, be an example of beautiful language or interesting syntax, etc.                                                  *  You will have four citations when you have finished.                                                                                 *   Use correct punctuation and parenthetical referencing for each citation.

            4.  Write a response to each citation, explaining the context, why you chose it, and essentially                                  offering a careful, close reading of the citation.  Be specific, detailed, and thoughtful.

            5.  Type-written or handwritten very neatly in ink.

 

 

SAMPLE JOURNAL – Chapters 1 and 2

 

Chapter 1 “The Prison Door.”  This chapter describes the prison and its ugly surroundings.  The only thing of beauty in the setting is a rose bush.  The author says he will pick one of its “sweet moral blossoms” to symbolize something good that may come out of a tale of sorrow.

 

Vocabulary word:  edifice                                                                                                                               “Before the ugly edifice, and between it and the wheel track of the street, was a grass plot”               (Hawthorne 46).

            Edifice (noun) – a large building.

 

Chapter 2 – “The Market Place.”  The setting is established, Boston during Puritan times.  Hester Prynne comes out of the prison door carrying her baby, a child born out of wedlock.  Because of her sin, Hester has been sentenced to wear a scarlet letter “A” embroidered on the front of her dress as a symbol of “adultery.”  For the most part the townspeople are very critical of her and don’t think her punishment was severe enough.

 

Vocabulary word:  venerable                                                                                                                           “…the severest acts of public discipline were alike made venerable and awful” (Hawthorne 48).

            Venerable (adjective) – highly respected.  The word is often associated with religion or used to                                describe a highly regarded, elderly person.  Young people aren’t venerable -- yet J

 

Citation:

“Finding [the rosebush] so directly on the threshold of our narrative, which is now about to issue from that inauspicious portal, we could hardly do otherwise than pluck one of its flowers, and present it to the reader.  It may serve, let us hope, to symbolize some sweet moral blossom that may be found along the track, or relieve the darkening close of a tale of human frailty and sorrow” (Hawthorne 46).

 

Response:

In this passage Hawthorne talked directly to the reader and points out that the rosebush, which was growing by the threshold of the prison, is also on the “threshold of our narrative,” i.e. at the beginning of the story.  Just as the rosebush is a bright, sweet spot in the dismal surrounding of the prison, so there might be a bright “sweet moral” to be found in a dark and dismal story.  He tells us we are going to read a tale of “human frailty and sorrow,” and it is interesting that he says “let us hope” the rosebush will symbolize a sweet moral blossom, as if he is joining the reader in trying to find something “sweet” in the “darkening” story he is about to share.

 

 

Book Cards

Book cards need to be created for each major work we complete.  They should be handwritten on the largest size of lined cards.  Please include the title, the author, the year of publication, and literary movement.  Discuss plot, theme, tone, mood, motifs, shifts in action, climax, symbols, diction, character development, writing style.  Do not submit a skimpy card.  I'm looking for density.  Get as much information on the card as you can.  It will help you in the future.  I promise.

Term 2 Calendar

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
11-4 A Have read SL ch 1-2 Crucible book card due Friday 100 points John Adams Final 50 points New Vocabulary	11-5 B Have read SL ch 1-2 Crucible book card due Monday 100points John Adams Final 50 points New Vocabulary	11-6 A Have read thru ch4 Journal 2-4/1 Citation due Letter Due 50 points MUST HAVE BIOGRAPHY BY TODAY	11-7 B Have read thru ch4 Journal 2-4/1 Citation due Letter Due 50 points MUST HAVE BIOGRAPHY BY TODAY	11-8 A Have read thru ch7 Journal 5-7 due Dark Romantics, Poe video Crucible Book Card due today 100 points
11-11 B Have read thru ch7 Journal 5-7 due Dark Romantics, Poe video Crucible Book Card due today 100 points	11-12 A Grammar:   Commonly Confused Words Have read thru ch 10 Journal 8-10/one citation due Emerson	11-13 B Grammar:   Commonly Confused Words Have read thru ch 10 Journal 8-10/one citation due Emerson	11-14 A DERJ accounting Have read thru ch13 Journal 11-13 due Thoreau Discuss analysis	11-15 B DERJ accounting Have read thru ch13 Journal 11-13 due Thoreau Discuss analysis
11-18 A Have read thru ch17 Journals 14-17 / one citation due Thoreau Discuss analysis Vocabulary Quiz	11-19 B Have read thru ch17 Journals 14-17 / one citation due Thoreau Discuss analysis Vocabulary Quiz	11-20 A  New Vocab Have read thru ch21 Journals 18-21due Thoreau experience due 50 points  group analysis	11-21 B New Vocab Have read thru ch21 Journals 18-21due Thoreau experience due 50 points  group analysis	11-22 A A   Finish Scarlet Letter Journals 22-24 due and one citation due
11-25  B   Finish Scarlet Letter Journals 22-24 due and one citation due	11-26 A DERJ acct'ing   Scarlet Letter Project 100 points Whitman In-class passage analysis 100 points	11-27 Thanksgiving Break	11-28  Thanksgiving Break	11-29 Thanksgiving Break
12-2  B DERJ  acct’ng Scarlet Letter Project 100 points Whitman In-class passage analysis 100 points	12-3 A  Scarlet Letter Presentations  Due 100 points Whitman Turn in your stamped summary/citation journal 210 points	12-4 B  Scarlet Letter Presentations  Due 100 points Whitman Turn in your stamped summary/citation journal 210 points	12-5  A The Scarlet Letter Final Exam Book Card Due:  100 points	12-6 B  The Scarlet Letter Final Exam Book Card Due:  100 points
12-9 A  Vocab Quiz Dickinson	12-10 B Vocab Quiz Dickinson	12-11 A  New vocab Dickinson	12-12 B New vocab   Dickinson	12-13 A Grammar quiz A Doll’s House
12-16 B Grammar quiz A Doll’s House	12-17 A  Grammar:  Unnecessary Words (215) Poetry A Doll’s House	12-18 B  Grammar:  Unnecessary Words (215) Poetry A Doll’s House	12-19 A  DERJ  accounting Poetry A Doll’s House	12-20 B DERJ  accounting Poetry A Doll’s House
12-23 Christmas Vacation	12-24  Merry Christmas	12-25 Christmas Vacation	12-26 Christmas Vacation	12-27 Christmas Vacation
12-30 Christmas Vacation	12-31 Happy New Year	1-1 Wahoo!	1-2  A Vocab Quiz Poetry A Doll’s House Essay Due	1-3 B Vocab Quiz Poetry A Doll’s House Essay Due
1-6 A  New Vocab Poetry Grammar Quiz	1-7 B  New Vocab Poetry  Grammar Quiz	1-8 A DERJ acct’ng Memorized Poetry Due: 100 points Memorized Poetry Due: 100 points	1-9  B  DERJ acct’ng Memorized Poetry Due: 100 points Memorized Poetry Due: 100 points	1-10  A Vocab Quiz Collection Due 100 points/ Original Poetry due 100 points DERJ acct’ng NO LATE WORK AFTER TODAY!!!!
1-13 B  A Vocab Quiz Collection Due 100 points/Original Poetry due 100 points DERJ acct’ng NO LATE WORK AFTER TODAY!!!!	1-14 A New Vocab	1-15  B  New Vocab	1-16  A Poetry Slam I will provide hot chocolate, a small extra credit opportunity, and a microphone.  Wear black.  Bring a treat to share, if you want.	1-17 B End of term Poetry Slam I will provide hot chocolate, a small extra credit opportunity, and a microphone.  Wear black.  Bring a treat to share, if you want.