Essential Questions for Chapters 3-4
1) What does it mean to be happy?
2) How is knowledge powerful?
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2) How is knowledge powerful?
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Vocabulary for Chapters 3-4
- Despair: a state in which all hope is lost or absent
Context Sentence: But there was a price below which they dared not go, for it had happened that a fisherman in despair had given his pearls to the church. - Precipitate: bring about abruptly
Context Sentence: The essence of pearl mixed with essence of men and a curious dark residue was precipitated. - Withhold: hold back; refuse to hand over or share
Context Sentence: The news stirred up something infinitely black and evil in the town; the black distillate was like the scorpion, or like hunger in the smell of food, or like loneliness when love is withheld. - Incandescence: the phenomenon of light emitting from an object
Context Sentence: And in the incandescence of the pearl the pictures formed of the things Kino’s mind had considered in the past and had given up as impossible. - Disparagement: a communication that belittles somebody or something
Context Sentence: And this is said in disparagement, whereas it is one of the greatest talents the species has and one that has made it superior to animals that are satisfied with what they have. - Recount: narrate or give a detailed account of
Context Sentence: If these things came to pass, they would recount how Kino looked and what he said and how his eyes shone, and they would say, “He was a man transfigured." - Reluctant: not eager
Context Sentence: They knew they should go to their own dinners, but they were reluctant to leave. - Visualize: imagine; conceive of; see in one's mind
Context Sentence: A plan once made and visualized becomes a reality along with other realities—never to be destroyed but easily to be attacked. - Subjugation: forced submission to control by others
Context Sentence: Kino stood in the door, filling it, and hatred raged and flamed in back of his eyes, and fear too, for the hundreds of years of subjugation were cut deep in him. - Apparent: clearly revealed to the mind or the senses
Context Sentence: There will be apparent improvement, and then without warning—pouf! - Conceal: prevent from being seen or discovered
Context Sentence: He wrapped the pearl in the rag, then went to the corner of the brush house and dug a little hole with his fingers in the dirt floor, and he put the pearl in the hole and covered it up and concealed the place. - Caress: touch or stroke lightly in a loving or endearing manner
Context Sentence: The neighbors showed one another with their thumbs how big the pearl was, and they made little caressing gestures to show how lovely it was. - Dissembling: pretending with intention to deceive
Context Sentence: He was not good at dissembling and he was very well understood. - Spasm: a painful and involuntary muscular contraction
Context Sentence: The spasm of the stomach muscles began, and the baby was very sick. - Pry: to move or force, especially in an effort to get something open
Context Sentence: He asked for water, and in the cup of it he put three drops of ammonia, and he pried open the baby’s mouth and poured it down. - Adoration: a feeling of profound love and admiration
Context Sentence: And Juana looked at him with adoration. - Furtive: secret and sly or sordid
Context Sentence: Then from the corner of the house came a sound so soft that it might have been simply a thought, a little furtive movement, a touch of a foot on earth, the almost inaudible purr of controlled breathing. - Consecrated: made or declared or believed to be holy or blessed
Context Sentence: And then from a secret place Juana brought a little piece of consecrated candle and lighted it at the flame and set it upright on a fireplace stone. - Cozen: cheat or trick
Context Sentence: And the beauty of the pearl, winking and glimmering in the light of the little candle, cozened his brain with its beauty. - Charity: an activity or gift that benefits the public at large
Context Sentence: Another thought he might take the money and distribute it among the poor of La Paz; and a fourth thought of all the good things one could do with the money from the pearl, of all the charities, benefits, of all the rescues one could perform if one had money. - Comparable: able to be compared or worthy of comparison
Context Sentence: For Kino and Juana this was the morning of mornings of their lives, comparable only to the day when the baby had been born. - Crevice: a long narrow opening
Context Sentence: The neighbors, watching Kino’s door through the crevices in their brush houses, were dressed and ready too. - Vigor: active strength of body or mind
Context Sentence: Kino put on his large straw hat and felt it with his hand to see that it was properly placed, not on the back or side of his head, like a rash, unmarried, irresponsible man, and not flat as an elder would wear it, but tilted a little forward to show aggressiveness and seriousness and vigor. - Dignity: formality in bearing and appearance
Context Sentence: Kino stepped with dignity out of the house, and Juana followed him, carrying Coyotito. - Solemn: dignified and somber in manner or character
Context Sentence: The gathering procession was solemn, for they sensed the importance of this day, and any children who showed a tendency to scuffle, to scream, to cry out, to steal hats and rumple hair, were hissed to silence by their elders. - Benign: pleasant and beneficial in nature or influence
Context Sentence: His face was fatherly and benign, and his eyes twinkled with friendship. - Legerdemain: a feat of trickery using one's hands; considered magical by naive observers
Context Sentence: His door stood open to the morning, and he hummed under his breath while his right hand practiced legerdemain. - Contemptuous: expressing the belief that a person or thing is worthless or beneath consideration
Context Sentence: The hand tossed the great pearl back in the tray, the forefinger poked and insulted it, and on the dealer’s face there came a sad and contemptuous smile. - Spurn: reject with contempt
Context Sentence: The dealer’s fingers spurned the pearl so that it bounced and rebounded softly from the side of the velvet tray. - Perplexed: full of difficulty or confusion or bewilderment
Context Sentence: Now Kino’s face was perplexed and worried. - Contrary: a relation of direct opposition
Context Sentence: “On the contrary,” said the dealer, “it is large and clumsy." - Collusion: secret agreement
Context Sentence: Go to their offices and show your pearl—or better let them come here, so that you can see there is no collusion. - Defy: resist or confront with resistance
Context Sentence: And now, said other fearful ones, now that he had defied them, those buyers will not want to deal with him at all. - Lethargy: weakness characterized by a lack of vitality or energy
Context Sentence: A lethargy had settled on him, and a little gray hopelessness. - Daze: overcome as with astonishment or disbelief
Context Sentence: Now Juana brought her clay pot of water and she washed the cut on his face while he stared dazed ahead of him.
Definitions provided by:
""The Pearl," Vocabulary from Chapters 3-4 35 words." "The Pearl," Vocabulary from Chapters 3-4. Vocabulary.com/New York, 11 Dec. 2013.
Web. 07 Feb. 2015.
""The Pearl," Vocabulary from Chapters 3-4 35 words." "The Pearl," Vocabulary from Chapters 3-4. Vocabulary.com/New York, 11 Dec. 2013.
Web. 07 Feb. 2015.