Lexicographer 262-305
Emma Ramirez
AP Seminar, Snyder
1-30-2012
The book so far has been focused around mostly words and phrases that Oskar speaks or thinks
of, such as “incredibly close”(290 & 295) and “extremely loud”(293), which are used several times in this
section alone. However, I have also noticed other characters using phrases that are unique to their
writing.
Thomas Black Sr., also known as the renter and grandfather to Oskar, is characterized as being mute. He
does not speak to anyone. However, when looking through his day book, he often writes, “I don’t
speak, I’m sorry.” This may seem like a simple notification of his disability, until I noticed that he
apologizes a lot for it. Grandpa’s words have a guilty tone to them throughout his writing. When
writing to his son, he constantly apologizes. He also apologizes when talking to people in his day book.
Grandpa also expresses his words over the phone uniquely. For telling someone love, he dials “5, 6, 8,
3” into the phone while they are on the line. The interpretation of the other person is confusion, and
even though Grandpa feels that he is saying something, his words do not come across to the other
person.
Rolodex (296) - A desktop card index used to record names, addresses, and telephone numbers
Yukatia (301) – Yukatia, Siberia is the subject of Oskar’s fact of the day on September 11th, 2001 for the
answering tone. Yukatia is the Sakha Republic in Russia. It is the largest subnational entity in the world
by area. It is known for the climate extremes, and has the coldest temperatures in the Northern
Hemisphere.
Moped (304) – In Stephen Hawking’s letter to Oskar, he states “As I moped about this morning..”(304).
This seems like unique verbiage. Moped is defined as a noun as being a low power, light weight
motorized bicycle. Since Stephen Hawking is in a wheelchair, he may have just used that as a way to
express slowly moving about.
Protégé (304) - A person who receives support and protection from an influential patron who furthers
their career