American Identity Vocabulary
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King vocabulary
1. provincial—Of or characteristic of people from the provinces; not fashionable or sophisticated: “Well-educated professional women . . . made me feel uncomfortably provincial” (J.R. Salamanca); Limited in perspective; narrow and self-centered.
"Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial 'outside agitator' idea" (1-2).
2. gainsay—To declare false; deny.
"There can be no gainsaying the fact that racial injustice engulfs this community" (2).
3. harry—To disturb or distress by or as if by repeated attacks; harass.
"[W]hen you are harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a Negro [ . . . ]" (4).
4. paternalism—an attitude or a policy stemming from the hierarchic pattern of a family based on patriarchy, that is, there is a figurehead (the father, pater in Latin) that makes decisions on behalf of others (the "children") for their own good, even if this is contrary to their wishes. It is implied that the fatherly figure is wiser than and acts in the best interest of its protected figures. The term may be used derogatorily to characterize attitudes or political systems that are thought to deprive individuals of freedom and responsibility, only nominally serving their interests, while in fact pursuing another agenda.
"who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom" (5).
5. elegy—A poem or song composed especially as a lament for a deceased person; A composition that is melancholy or pensive in tone.
"Now is the time to make real the promise of democracy and transform our pending national elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood" (6).
6. incorrigible—Incapable of being corrected or reformed: an incorrigible criminal; Firmly rooted; ineradicable: incorrigible faults; Difficult or impossible to control or manage: an incorrigible, spoiled child.
"Nourished by the Negro's frustration over the continued existence of racial discrimination, this movement is made up of people who have lost faith in America, who have absolutely repudiated Christianity, and who have concluded that the white man is an incorrigible 'devil'" (7).
7. Zeitgeist—The spirit of the time; the taste and outlook characteristic of a period or generation: “It's easy to see how a student . . . in the 1940's could imbibe such notions. The Zeitgeist encouraged Philosopher-Kings” (James Atlas).
"Consciously or unconsciously, he has been caught up by the Zeitgeist, and with his black brothers of Africa and his brown and yellow brothers of Asia, South America and the Caribbean, the United States Negro is moving with a sense of great urgency toward the promised land of racial justice" (7).
8. mores—The accepted traditional customs and usages of a particular social group; Moral attitudes; Manners; ways.
In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society.
9. sanction—Authoritative permission or approval that makes a course of action valid; Support or encouragement, as from public opinion or established custom.
"Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church's silent and often even vocal sanction of things as they are" (9).
ekklesia—a word meaning "gathering of the called out ones" (or in today's terms "church").
"Perhaps I must turn my faith to the inner spiritual church, the church within the church, as the true ekklesia and the hope of the world" (9).
10. Jeremiad—A literary work or speech expressing a bitter lament or a righteous prophecy of doom.
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Viramontes vocabulary
abuelita—the Spanish word for "grandmother" (literally translated as "little grandmother").
"Abuelita had pulled me through the rages of scarlet fever [ . . . ]" (1).
scarlet fever—an infection that is caused by a bacteria called streptococcus. The disease is characterized by a sore throat, fever, and a sandpaper-like rash on reddened skin. It is primarily a childhood disease. If scarlet fever is untreated, serious complications such as rheumatic fever (a heart disease) or kidney inflammation (glomerulonephritis) can develop.
"Abuelita had pulled me through the rages of scarlet fever [ . . . ]" (1).
magical realism—A literary style or genre originating in Latin America that combines fantastic or dreamlike elements with realism. A kind of modern fiction in which fabulous and fantastical events are included in a narrative that otherwise maintains the ‘reliable’ tone of objective realistic report.
Ex. Abuelita re-shaping the unnamed narrator's bull hands.
heliotrope—Any of several plants of the genus Heliotropium, especially H. arborescens, native to Peru and having small, highly fragrant purplish flowers.
hierbabuena—mint
"[ . . . ] I'd gladly go help abuelita plant her wild lilies or jasmine or heliotrope or cilantro or hierbabuena [ . . . ]" (1).
chayote—A tropical American perennial herbaceous vine (Sechium edule) having tendrils, tuberous roots, and a green, pear-shaped fruit cooked as a vegetable.
"[ . . . ] prickly chayotes tha tproduced vines that tiwsted an dwound all over her porch pillars, crawling to the root, up and over the roof and down the other side [ . . . ]" (2).
placa—plate
"As I opened the door and stuck my head in, I would catch the gagging scent of toasting chile on the placa" (2).
menudo—A hearty, spicy soup made with tripe (the rubbery lining of the stomach of cattle or other ruminants), calf's feet, green chiles, hominy and seasonings. It's usually garnished with lime wedges, bowls of chopped chiles and onion and served with hot tortillas.
"Placing them in front of me, she turned to check the menudo" (3).
molcajete—(Mexican Spanish, from Nahuatl mulcazitl) is a stone tool, the traditional Mexican version of the mortar and pestle tool, used for grinding various food products. The molcajete was used by pre-hispanic Mesoamerican cultures including the Aztec and Maya, stretching back several thousand years, and likely evolved from the more primitive metate grinding slab. Traditionally carved out of a single block of porous basalt volcanic rock, molcajetes are typically round in shape and supported by three short legs.
"I peeled the skins off and put the flimsy, limp looking green and yellow chiles in the molcajete and began to crush and cursh and twist and crush the heart out of the tomato, the clove of garlic, the stupid chiles [ . . . ]" (3).
Pieta—A painting or sculpture of the Virgin Mary holding and mourning over the dead body of Jesus.
ex. Narrator carries her grandmother's body to the bathtub.