VOCABULARY #3

subtle - As they laugh like friends looking at something on the computer, he takes a glance at his long time friend and subtly admires her beautify as she keeps laughing.

vehement -  Looks like a passionate dancer. She shows strong feelings through her red colored dress and dances with intense forceful movements. Her dance overall was clearly vehement which ever step she took.

zealous - I find this famous picture to be incredibley zealous because fo the passion in Dr. Martin Luther King's eyes and the energy and passion being shown through his strong arm up in the air. He is obviously working for the pursuit of a cause/objective.

adverse - Taxes are having an adverse affect on production. his lady is obviously overwhelmed by all the paper work she must get done.

descrete - This man in the army is obviously trying to be as descrete as possible to avoid getting shot. This is why he is wearing camelflage and is behind green plants.

VOCABULARY #2

Accord- agreement or harmony

Sandy’s parents are always on accord when it comes to her punishment.

Bias- prejudice in favor or against one thing, person, or group

Most universities are bias toward foreign students.

Incognito- having one’s true identity masked

The famous journalist was incognito at a high school in order to find a good story for her next piece.

Deduct- to subtract or take away

The teacher deducted points from my test for talking instead of working.

Paradigm- A typical example or pattern.

There is a new paradigm for art in this country.

Plagiarize- To take someone else’s work and called it your own.

To finished her work faster, Cindy copied and pasted a paragraph of information into her research paper and turned it in. The teacher caught her and told her she had plagiarized.

Objectivity- Not being influenced by personal decisions.

Historians try their best to be objective and impartial.

Precipitous- Dangerously high or steep.

The precipitous cliffs of the North Atlantic Coast.

Recapitulate- to summarize and restate points.

The teacher began to recapitulate the lecture a few minutes before class got out.

Reciprocate- Respond to.

The favor was reciprocated.

Empathy- The ability to understand and feel other’s feelings

The orphan showed empathy for his friend who had just lost his Mother.

Barder and the Flying Turban

Barder is Blakes best friend and most loyal companion. Blake and Barder had no families, they only had each other. Friends was a foreign concept to the people in he Sultans City of playgrounds, but together they ran, played, ate, and ultimately looked after each other. They were from a playground in particular,
The Playground of The New World. It was small and the newest playground in all the land. Everyone was on his or her own in The New World, it was survival of the fittest people it was the most advanced playground in terms of technology. People made long journeys from all places to experience the automatic zip line, he touch screen tic-tac-toe, and the self-pushing swings. Knowing what they had in New World, no one risked telling these astounding secrets to foreigners, for they knew they were the best and did not want competition. Everyday everyone worked on new inventions, they never stopped to celebrate the completion of one, it was all work. Everyone took what they had for granted.

            Blake was a different character; Blake was always wondering off into new territory not too far off from New World. He loved too see new things, experience new slides. It all gave him inspiration. He was one of the best inventors in New World. He worked extremely hard and never gave up. For years he attempted the same things over and over again. Although people made fun of him, he was persistent until he finally invented the flying turban.

            One day Blake and Barder felt extra adventurous and decided to take a longer trip than usual to Far Away Bottles. Before leaving they packed a lunch and went off flying with the newly invented turban. When they arrived, they were in shock. All the people from Far Away Bottles were almost all sugar high. There were empty bottles everywhere: apple juice, cool-aid, soda, etc. As Blake stood there in shock, Barder sniffed out the place. Blake then caught up with him and found him laying down by the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. She seemed to be crying, so he slowly walked up and sat down with them. After a few minutes of silence, Barder nodded at Blake as a sign for him to speak.

            Her name was Janice. Very sweet girl, who explained how alone she felt in Far Away Bottles, she had no friends and she had no family. She had just lost them in an accident not too long ago and she had nowhere to go. Blake also shared how he too had felt so alone for years until he met Barder. She was amazed at how open she was to Blake and Barder, it soothed her to have someone listen to her troubles.

            For a couple of days Janice agreed to show Blake and Barder around the town as they flew around on Barder. Janice was helplessly in love and as Barder found more and more excuses for him to leave them along Blake too began to fall in love. They knew that there had to be a playground of Happiness where the three of them can start a wonderful family and make everyone feel as loved as they felt when they were together. For hours and hours they searched for this holy land until they finally found it. There they would live happily ever after.

Surviving the Day...

Pictured above is a picture from Bill Sullivan’s Turnstile Photography Project.

It was 5:00 am on a Monday when Grace woke up, yet she didn’t move. Her mascara had ran and tinted her white pillows. She stared up at the ceiling, hard enough to see through all three stories on top of her, and simply waited. Her time laying there seemed to be endless. Time went by tediously.

Her eyes filled with tears as she moaned and rolled over and cried softly into her unclean pillow. All that could be heard were the muffling sounds of her sobbing until…

BEEP!..................BEEP!..................BEEP!..................BEEP!

Grace slowly reached for her alarm clock and hit the dismiss button. She turned to the empty space next to her and gazed at the untouched pillow and unwrinkled covers. When tears built up again, she found just enough strength to get out of bed and wake up her 6 year old daughter , and prepare for her first day back at work. After her shower she went into Lyla’s room.

“Lyla! Lyla!...Wake up honey! You have to go to school…Lyla?”

“BOO!” she screamed as she popped out of the covers.

“Did I scare you?” She giggled

“Yes honey, but we need to get going. We can’t be late for our first day back.” She began as she started dressing Lyla.

“Now go brush your teeth while I make your fruity pebbles cereal.”

This gave Grace about 10 quick minutes to change and put on her make up. When she was done she looked at the mirror and shook her head gently. Then rushed out the door. She stopped and looked as Lyla finished her breakfast.

"She's lucky," She thought. "She doesn't even realize he's not here anymore." then she elt out a big sigh.

“Lyla go get your backpack please. Help Mommy.”

“MMMM KAYYYYY!”

Lyla grabbed her Dora the Explorer backpack as Graces picked up her simple black bag and her lunch in a plastic grocery bag. Holding hands they ran out of the apartment building and walked about 3 blocks before they hit Lyla’s school. She dropped her off and wished her a fun day.

“I’ll be back to pick you up at 5, ok? Be good.”

“Ok I will.” She smiled then took the teachers hand and went into the school.

Grace quickly paced towards the subway, determined to be on time. As she passed through inserting her subway card like she had done several times before. It felt like ages since she had been on public transportation, when in reality it had only been a week and a half. Friends and family were always sending taxis to pick her up so she would be alone at a time like this.

Walking towards the subway she tightly held her gold necklace.

When standing in front of her work, she gripped her necklace even tighter as if she was reluctant to be there. But she took a deep breath and strolled through greeting everyone she knew. As more and more people gave her their condolences about her husband, she walked faster and faster. She didn’t know how she was going to survive the day...

VOCABULARY #1

Flourish- To grow or develop in a healthy or vigorous way.

Flowers flourish by the lake with the richest soil.

Renegade- A person who betrays an organization, country or set of principles.

Many writers have been called renegades for their thoughts against the government.

Repose – Temporary rest from activity.

In repose her face looked relaxed, especially after a long day at the gym.

Stereotype – A generalization; a fixed image or idea of a particular type of person or thing.

Running away from a tall black man in an alley way in Chicago is stereotyping.

Tundra - One of the vast, nearly level, treeless plains of the arctic regions of Europe, Asia, and North America in which the subsoil is permanently frozen.

The artic tundra is permanently frozen.

Guerilla - A member of an irregular armed force that fights a stronger force by sabotage and harassment.

Vietnam was a guerilla warfare.

Symbiosis – Interaction between two different organisms living in close physical association.

Perfect mother and daughter symbiosis.

Tariff- A tax or duty that must be paid on imports and exports.

Countries pay tariffs when exporting goods.

Tempo- rate or rhythm of activity; a pace

Artists like to tap their feet to keep the tempo in their head.

Tranquility- Calm, free from disturbance.

She enjoyed feeling the tranquility when she sat by the beautiful lake.

Tumult- a loud confused noise usually made by a large mass of people.

A tumult broke out at a rock concert.

Unanimous- Fully in agreement.

When the teacher asked the class if they would like to watch a movie rather than listen to a lecture, the vote was unanimous.