Sula Vocab 2

solicitous
adj, characterized by or showing interest or concern
"... kept them solicitous of white people's children..."
The people were very solicitous about the new park being built in the neighborhood.

malevolence
noun, the quality, state, or feeling of malice or hatred
"...the staggering childish malevolence of their employers."
I have a strong malevolence for the wicked witches flying monkeys.

fastidious
adj, very attentive and concerned about accuracy and detail 
"...her fastidious lining up of pleats or pressing out of wrinkles..."
Tom Pierce is very fastidious about what he eats.

dirge
noun, a lament for the dead
"...Shadrack with his rope, his bell and his childish dirge."
There was no dirge at the evil mans wedding.

unassailable
adj, unable to be attacked, questioned, or defeated
"The sealed window soothed her with its sturdy termination, its unassailable finality."
The teacher was unassailable.

timbre
noun, the characteristic quality of a sound, independent of pitch and loudness, from which its source or manner of production can be inferred
"...it gave her voice the timbre she wanted it to have..."
My mother forced timbre into her voice, but really she just wanted to laugh at what I had done.

ornate-
adj, elaborately or sumptuously adorned, often excessively or showily so
"An absence so decorative, so ornate..."
The rug was very ornate.

rug

mercurial
adj,(of a person) subject to sudden or unexpected changes of mood or mind
"... as though his mercurial nature, his temper, his massive dreams..."
The weather was very mercurial in the desert.

Desert



trepidation
noun, a feeling of fear or irritation about something that may happen 
"... calls with some trepidation: Willy!"
The victim's face was full of trepidation.
Trepidation


imbue
verb, inspire or permeate with a feeling or quality 
"That's just the spirit I want to imbue them with!"
As mascot, my job is to imbue spirit in the fans.

Yellow Jacket

Boss Line Page 174

Boss Line
"A soft ball of fur broke and scattered like dandelion spores in the breeze." (174)
This line is a boss line because it resolves the story and the relationship between Sula and Nel. I particularly like this line because it referenced to when she was grieving over the loss of Jude and Sula: "A gray ball hovering there.  Just there.  To the right. Quiet, gray, dirty.  A ball of muddy strings, but without weight, fluffy but terrible in its malevolence." (109) The ball Nel describes after losing Sula and Jude is her ball of pain and sorrow.  Finally she is able to howl and cry about missing Sula, and the ball breaks.  This creates a great end and resolution to the story.

Vocab

Repugnance
a.Noun. Strong dislike, distaste, or antagonism.
b. “All their repugnance was contained in the neat balance” (8)
c. I have a strong repugnance for bad smells.

Abate
a. Verb. To reduce in degree or intensity.
b.“Shadrack was suffering from a blinding headache, which was not abated by the comfort he felt when the policeman pulled his hands away from what he thought was a permanent entanglement with his shoelaces” (13)
c. The shading abated to white.

d.

Unequivocal- 
a. Adjective. Leaving no doubt. 
b. “A black so definite, so unequivocal, it astonished him” (13).
c. His mother’s orders where so unequivocal he had to do them.
d. http://www.findingtruthmatters.org/articles/bigwords/big-words-unequivocal.jpg

Quell
a. Verb. To thoroughly overwhelm and reduce to submission or passivity; quiet; pacify.
b. “Who could quell a roustabout with a look, if she were really custard, then there was a chance that Nel was too” (23)
c. I quelled the opponent’s trash talk with a sweet goal.
d.

Guile
a. Noun. Sly or cunning intelligence. 
b.“Her flirting was sweet, low and guileless” (42)
c. I used my guile while steeling cookies from the cookie jar.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgru2xKrqtaFSyJuPabHL4suoVgmKwpw7S9DjgJlqR6cnMLdjnIoeH4pKUWywHZ-rRZgDWxzQX9DPllAcz222yO8GZItWTrMdoKlmsyh4v4YfXTwbqmT2MWmCKf3dWLC_iYe31wRYYWifM/s1600/cookiejar.jpg

Vitriol
a. Noun. Cruel and bitter criticism.
b. “Made them defend her and protect her from any vitriol that newcomers or their wives might spill” (45)
c. I had to stand there and take it as vitriol spill out of the mouth of the coach.

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.clipartguide.com/_named_clipart_images/0511-0905-2605-2034_Coach_Yelling_at_a_Player_clipart_image.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.clipartguide.com/_pages/0511-0905-2605-2034.html&usg=__me_O79LC7AtwfQ1X3TbnxCS1SMo=&h=287&w=350&sz=27&hl=en&start=1&sig2=fY4AQqsQZ36xU_2WaV-LHg&zoom=1&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=bMewWBMceF-23M:&tbnh=98&tbnw=120&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcoach%2Byelling%2Bat%2Bplayers%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox%26rlz%3D1I7DMUS_en%26tbs%3Disch:1&ei=W-VqTfO5GYa2tgfW5aToAw

Fastidious-
a. Adjective. Having high and often capricious standards; difficult to please.
b. “Hannah was fastidious about whom she slept with” (43)
c. The food critic had a very fastidious pallet.
http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/ato/lowres/aton1600l.jpg

 

Insouciant- 
a. Adjective. Lighthearted unconcerned.
b. “Nel’s grimy intractable children looked like three wild things happily insouciant in the May shine” (96)
c. I was insouciant about getting mud on my clothes when I was little.

Pariah- 
a. Noun. One that is despised or rejected; outcast. 
b.“She was pariah, then, and knew it” (122)
c. The girl was a pariah.
d. http://www.corbisimages.com/images/67/18BACC3C-C3B8-4B59-A5E3-7ADB8158397A/42-15319791.jpg

 Contrive 
a. Verb. To form or create in an artistic or ingenious manner. 
b. “Their evidence against Sula was contrived, but their conclusions about her were not” (118)
c. We contrived a great goal celebration as we were fishing.

Confused emotions and thoughts about Sula.

Sula what a smart girl. Pleasure is the way to go. Sula can be in bed with any dude including Jude. To hell with Nel. She is the one that knows Sula well. Is sleeping with your best friends husband okay? A mix of Eva's arrogance and Hannah's self indulgence. Sula she seems to get in everybodys head, annoy them she is a pariah. Sula a girl full of holes; Chicken Little, Hannah burning, and Eva are all strange holes created in her. She fills the holes inside of her with anger and can only feel sorrow when she sleeps with men. What does Sula really need? Why does she courtsey to Shadrack?

Writing technique used in page 70

It was a day so full of anticipation that even the lazy 15 year old popped out of bed wide awake. Even the dog knew something was up. His ears perked up slightly more than usual as the family got ready for school. There was a slight bounce in his step as the kid got out of his car to go to class. The day was full of anticipation. The math test that everyone was worried about didn't phase the kid; he wasn't thinking about it. The bell rang.

Boss Line Page 67

Boss line: "The second strange thing was Hannah's coming into her mother's room with an empty bowl and a peck of Kentucky Wonders and saying,'Mamma, did you ever love us?'..."
This is a boss line because it shows how Hannah has internal conflict about her childhood and her mother loving her. This might explain the comment earlier in the book: "You love her, like I love Sula. I just don't like her. Thats the difference." (57) This line also leads you to believe there will be future conflict between the mother and child. It also leads Eva to explain why she burned her son. This line is great because it shows conflict between characters, sets up a future conflict, and explains past actions by Hannah.

Train Route

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