Two Dozen words to know from Grapes of Wrath:
Link to the quiz is at the bottom of the page.
1) Accouterment: (n) clothing carried/worn "Languid, heat-raddled ladies, small nucleuses about whom revolve a thousand accouterments: creams, ointments to grease themselves, coloring matter in phials..." (chapter 10)
2) Bemused: (adj) filled with conflicting situations/statements "After a while the faces of the watching men lost their bemused perplexity and became hard and angry and resistant." (chapter 1)
3) Cantankerous: (adj) grumpy and stubborn "A cantankerous, complaining, mischievous, laughing face." (chapter 8)
4) Culvert: (n) enclosed drain found underneath a roadway "In a ditch, where a culvert went under the road, an old touring car was pulled off the highway and a little tent was pitched beside it, and smoke came out of a stove pipe through the tent." (Chapter 10)
5) Declivity: (n) downward slope/bend "Joad speeded his pace against the sun, and he started down the declivity." (chapter 9)
6) Demure: (adj) shy/modest "Her round soft face, which had been voluptuous and inviting a few months ago, had already put on the barrier of pregnancy, the self-sufficient smile, the knowing perfection-look; and her plump body--full soft breasts and stomach, hard hips and buttocks that had swung so freely and provocatively as to invite slapping and stroking--her whole body had become demure and serious." (chapter 12)
7) Derelict: (n) homeless person without a job "A great pile of junk; fenders and truck sides, wheels and axles; over the whole lot a spirit of decay, of mold and rust; twisted iron, half-gutted engines, a mass of derelicts." (chapter 11)
8) Dissipate: (v) to cause to separate"In the last part of May the sky grew pale and the clouds that had hung in high puffs for so long in the spring were dissipated" (chapter 9)
9) Doleful: (adj) evoking sadness "An' I heard the other: 'Born outa too much joy'll be a doleful boy.'" (chapter 14)
10) Hackles: (n) hairs/feathers growing on the back of an animal's neck "'By God!' Now all dogs met and hackles rose, and they all growled and stood stiffly, each waiting for the others to start a fight." (chapter 8)
11) Iridescent: (adj) varying in color (when seen at different angles) "A flock of pigeons started from the deck of the tank house and flew around and settled again and strutted to the edge to look over; white pigeons and blue pigeons and grays, with iridescent wings." (chapter 9)
12) Lax: (adj) not stiff, flexible, soft, relaxed "They watched his lax hands to see the fists form." (chapter 12)
13) Mincing: (adj) Dainty/refined "He looked about for something that could honorably divert his attention, saw a red chicken go mincing by, and ran at it." (chapter 2)
14) Modulate: to alter/fix (time, degree) "When she spoke her voice had a beautiful low timbre, soft and modulated, and yet with ringing overtones." (chapter 10)
15) Nebulous: (adj) unlimited, unconstrained"And whereas the wants of the Californians were nebulous and undefined, the wants of the Okies were beside the roads, lying there to be seen and coveted..." (chapter 8)
16) Rakish: (adj) up-to-date "His stiff jeans, with the bottoms turned up eight inches to show his heeled boots, his three-inch belt with copper figures on it, even the red arm bands on his blue shirt and the rakish angle of his Stetson hat could not build him up to his brother" (chapter 2)
17) Restive: (adj) being in a tense state "A half-million people moving over the country; a million more restive, ready to move; ten million more feeling the first nervousness." (Chapter 11)
18) Rivulet: (n) small stream "The plows crossed and recrossed the rivulet marks" (Chapter 1)
19) Roil: (v) to stir/churn "He got it all roiled up, too." (chapter 10)
20) Timbre: (n) specific property of a sound "When she spoke her voice had a beautiful low timbre, soft and modulated, and yet with ringing overtones." (chapter 10)
21) Transit: (n) journey (usually by ship) "There was no talk until the food was gone, the coffee drunk; only the crunch of chewed food and the slup of coffee cooled in transit to the tongue." (chapter 9)
22) Vise: (n) device with two jaws to hold things in place (usually attached to a workbench) "Tom set the rod in a vise and carefully wrapped the wire around the piston rings, forcing them deep into their slots, and where the wire was twisted he hammered it flat; and then he turned the piston and tapped the wire all around until it cleared the piston wall." (chapter 11)
23) Wizened: (adj) lean and wrinkled from age/illness "Her face was wizened and dull, deep gray pouches under blank eyes, and a mouth slack and loose." (chapter 20)
24) Zenith: (n) high point (astronomy, arches) "At the willow he knew there would be shade, at least one hard bar of absolute shade thrown by the trunk, since the sun had passed its zenith." (chapter 4)
Quiz Yourself!! http://quizlet.com/30549848/test?written=on&matching=on&mult_choice=on&tf=on&prompt-with=1&limit=24
Link to the quiz is at the bottom of the page.
1) Accouterment: (n) clothing carried/worn "Languid, heat-raddled ladies, small nucleuses about whom revolve a thousand accouterments: creams, ointments to grease themselves, coloring matter in phials..." (chapter 10)
2) Bemused: (adj) filled with conflicting situations/statements "After a while the faces of the watching men lost their bemused perplexity and became hard and angry and resistant." (chapter 1)
3) Cantankerous: (adj) grumpy and stubborn "A cantankerous, complaining, mischievous, laughing face." (chapter 8)
4) Culvert: (n) enclosed drain found underneath a roadway "In a ditch, where a culvert went under the road, an old touring car was pulled off the highway and a little tent was pitched beside it, and smoke came out of a stove pipe through the tent." (Chapter 10)
5) Declivity: (n) downward slope/bend "Joad speeded his pace against the sun, and he started down the declivity." (chapter 9)
6) Demure: (adj) shy/modest "Her round soft face, which had been voluptuous and inviting a few months ago, had already put on the barrier of pregnancy, the self-sufficient smile, the knowing perfection-look; and her plump body--full soft breasts and stomach, hard hips and buttocks that had swung so freely and provocatively as to invite slapping and stroking--her whole body had become demure and serious." (chapter 12)
7) Derelict: (n) homeless person without a job "A great pile of junk; fenders and truck sides, wheels and axles; over the whole lot a spirit of decay, of mold and rust; twisted iron, half-gutted engines, a mass of derelicts." (chapter 11)
8) Dissipate: (v) to cause to separate"In the last part of May the sky grew pale and the clouds that had hung in high puffs for so long in the spring were dissipated" (chapter 9)
9) Doleful: (adj) evoking sadness "An' I heard the other: 'Born outa too much joy'll be a doleful boy.'" (chapter 14)
10) Hackles: (n) hairs/feathers growing on the back of an animal's neck "'By God!' Now all dogs met and hackles rose, and they all growled and stood stiffly, each waiting for the others to start a fight." (chapter 8)
11) Iridescent: (adj) varying in color (when seen at different angles) "A flock of pigeons started from the deck of the tank house and flew around and settled again and strutted to the edge to look over; white pigeons and blue pigeons and grays, with iridescent wings." (chapter 9)
12) Lax: (adj) not stiff, flexible, soft, relaxed "They watched his lax hands to see the fists form." (chapter 12)
13) Mincing: (adj) Dainty/refined "He looked about for something that could honorably divert his attention, saw a red chicken go mincing by, and ran at it." (chapter 2)
14) Modulate: to alter/fix (time, degree) "When she spoke her voice had a beautiful low timbre, soft and modulated, and yet with ringing overtones." (chapter 10)
15) Nebulous: (adj) unlimited, unconstrained"And whereas the wants of the Californians were nebulous and undefined, the wants of the Okies were beside the roads, lying there to be seen and coveted..." (chapter 8)
16) Rakish: (adj) up-to-date "His stiff jeans, with the bottoms turned up eight inches to show his heeled boots, his three-inch belt with copper figures on it, even the red arm bands on his blue shirt and the rakish angle of his Stetson hat could not build him up to his brother" (chapter 2)
17) Restive: (adj) being in a tense state "A half-million people moving over the country; a million more restive, ready to move; ten million more feeling the first nervousness." (Chapter 11)
18) Rivulet: (n) small stream "The plows crossed and recrossed the rivulet marks" (Chapter 1)
19) Roil: (v) to stir/churn "He got it all roiled up, too." (chapter 10)
20) Timbre: (n) specific property of a sound "When she spoke her voice had a beautiful low timbre, soft and modulated, and yet with ringing overtones." (chapter 10)
21) Transit: (n) journey (usually by ship) "There was no talk until the food was gone, the coffee drunk; only the crunch of chewed food and the slup of coffee cooled in transit to the tongue." (chapter 9)
22) Vise: (n) device with two jaws to hold things in place (usually attached to a workbench) "Tom set the rod in a vise and carefully wrapped the wire around the piston rings, forcing them deep into their slots, and where the wire was twisted he hammered it flat; and then he turned the piston and tapped the wire all around until it cleared the piston wall." (chapter 11)
23) Wizened: (adj) lean and wrinkled from age/illness "Her face was wizened and dull, deep gray pouches under blank eyes, and a mouth slack and loose." (chapter 20)
24) Zenith: (n) high point (astronomy, arches) "At the willow he knew there would be shade, at least one hard bar of absolute shade thrown by the trunk, since the sun had passed its zenith." (chapter 4)
Quiz Yourself!! http://quizlet.com/30549848/test?written=on&matching=on&mult_choice=on&tf=on&prompt-with=1&limit=24