Ch. 5-9 Plus *1963 Civil Rights Era Vocabulary
The Watsons Go to Birmingham -1963
Ch. 5-9 plus “*1963 civil rights era” vocabulary
1. flamethrower – (N.) a weapon that shoots fire
“…and Get Shot Down over the Flint River by Captain Byron Watson and his Flamethrower of Death.”
2. peon – (N.) mean-spirited name for someone who has very “low” job
“You really gonna make me go embarrass myself by signing a welfare list for some groceries like a blanged peon?”
3. conscience- (N.) understanding right and wrong
“Leave it to Daddy Cool to torture human kids at school all day long and never have his conscience bother him, but to feel sorry for a stupid little grayish brown bird.”
4. tolerate- ( V.) put up with; accept
“Byron mumbled something. Wow! …Momma and Dad just didn’t tolerate mumbling.”
5. pinnacle- (N.) highest point; best of the best
“It’s the pinnacle of Western Civilization”
6. seniority- (N.) privilege that comes from being older
“…I’ve got seniority on you, so I get the bathroom first, deal?”
7. dispersal -( N.) being spread out or scattered
8. phonic- (adj.) - having to do with sound
“…the problem in the past with this new technology in automotive sound has been road vibrations interfering with accurate dispersal of the phonic interpretations.”
9. grasped- ( V.) understood; realized
10. haphazardly – (adverb) by chance or luck; randomly
”And I can tell by that look on your face, Mrs. Watson, that you have grasped that that speaker is not placed in the rear deck haphazardly, no, ma’am.”
11. enhance- (V.) improve; make better
“That opening is scientifically and mathematically positioned by a factory-trained technician to enhance the TT AB-700...”
12. accustomed – ( V.) get used to, comfortable or familiar with something
.”And you won’t believe this, but if you listen to any kind of music long enough, first you get accustomed to it and then you learn to like it.”
13. eavesdropped– (V.) secretly listen to another’s conversation
“I eavesdropped.”
14. offended – (V.) had feelings hurt; was insulted
“ Ooh, Kenneth, I asked her the same thing and she was highly offended.”
15. *segregation – (N.) keeping different races or groups of people apart
16. *discrimination- (N.) showing unfairness toward a group or individual
Homework:
· On your own lined paper, use each vocabulary word in a sentence of your own. Think about the meaning and also if you need to alter the vocabulary word to change forms so that it fits your sentence (example: forecast---forecasting or bother---bothered).
· Be sure to underline or highlight each vocabulary word in each sentence.
· Look carefully at the definition before creating each sentence
· Study words and definitions for an “end of the week quiz”