VOCABULARY ASSIGNMENT CHART
For each word listed below…
1.
2.
3.
Indicate the correct part of speech (noun, verb, adjective, and adverb) for the form of the word provided.
Provide a clear dictionary definition that makes sense to you.
Restate the definition that is provided for you in your own words. In other words, you must create your own definition for each word
based on the information that is provided. You can use slang or “text talk,” as long as it is appropriate and not offensive.
Part of Speech
Vocabulary Word
Dictionary Definition
Your Definition
Acquiesce
We were accustomed to prompt, if not always cheerful acquiescence to Atticus’s
instructions, but from the way he stood Jem was not thinking of budging.
Auspicious
The remainder of my school days were no more auspicious than the first.
Benevolence
Miss Maudie’s benevolence extended to Jem and Dill, whenever they paused in their
pursuits: we reaped the benefits of a talent Miss Maudie had hitherto kept hidden from us.
Complacently
Mr. Ewell wrote on the back of the envelope and looked up complacently to see Judge
Taylor staring at him as if he were some fragrant gardenia in full bloom on the witness
stand, to see Mr. Gilmer half-sitting, half-standing at his table.
Congenital
No truant officers could keep their numerous offspring in school; no public health officer
could free them from congenital defects, various worms, and the diseases indigenous to
filthy surroundings.
Elusive
Atticus paused, watching me locate an elusive redbug on my leg.
Formidable
From any angle, it was formidable.
Furtive
A small patch of earth beneath its branches was packed hard from many fights and
furtive crap games.
Impertinent
Miss Stephanie eyed me suspiciously, decided that I meant no impertinence, and
contented herself with, “Well, you won’t get very far until you start wearing dresses more
often.”
Imprudent
The Haverfords had dispatched Maycomb’s leading blacksmith in a misunderstanding
arising from the alleged wrongful detention of a mare, were imprudent enough to do it in
the presence of three witnesses, and insisted that the-son-of-a-bitch-had-it-coming-to-him was
a good enough defense for anybody.
Lament
High above us in the darkness a solitary mocker poured out his repertoire in blissful
unawareness of whose tree he sat in, plunging from the shrill kee, kee of the sunflower bird
to the irascible qua-ack of a bluejay, to the sad lament of Poor Will, Poor Will, Poor
Will.
Malevolent
Inside the house lived a malevolent phantom.
Melancholy
It was a melancholy little drama, woven from bits and scraps of gossip and
neighborhood legend: Mrs. Radley had been beautiful until she married Mr. Radley and
lost all her money.
Ominous
There was a murmur among the group of men, made more ominous when Atticus moved
back to the bottom front step and the men drew nearer to him.
Piety
All we had was Simon Finch, a fur-trapping apothecary from Cornwall whose piety was
exceeded only by his stinginess.
Propensity
Dubose would hound Jem for a while on her favorite subjects, her camellias and our father’s
nigger-loving propensities; she would grow increasingly silent, then go away from us.
Rectitude
In later years, I sometimes wondered exactly what made Jem do it, what made him break
the bonds of “You just be a gentleman, son,” and the phase of self-conscious rectitude he
had recently entered.
Serene
So serene was Judge Taylor’s court, that he had few occasions to use his gavel, but he
hammered fully five minutes.
Taciturn
Their sister Alexandra was the Finch who remained at the Landing: she married a
taciturn man who spent most of his time lying in a hammock by the river wondering if his
trot-lines were full.
Temerity
“And so a quiet, respectable, humble Negro who had the unmitigated temerity to ‘feel
sorry’ for a white woman has had to put his word against two white people’s”
After you have completed the chart, complete one of the creative assignments.