A Raisin In The Sun Vocabulary Act 1 Scene 1 – Flashcards
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Defiance
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Resistance; "Walter stands and stares back at her with defiance, and suddenly reaches into his pocket again on an afterthought."
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Doggedly
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Stubbornly; "...and brings in a feeble little plant growing doggedly in a small pot on the window sill."
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Exasperated
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annoyed; irritated; fed up; "The boy gives her an exasperated look for her lack of understanding, and eats grudgingly."
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Furtively
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done secretly; "(studying her mother-in-law furtively and concentrating on her ironing, anxious to encourage without seeming to)"
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Futile
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useless; "(dropping her hands in a futile gesture)"
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Graft
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the illegal or unfair acquisition of money; "Ruth: 'You mean Graft?' "
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Ledger
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a book used to record accounts and transactions; "But whether I go into business selling it to 'em is, and I don't want that on my ledger this late in life"
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Mechanically
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acting like a machine; "The boy obeys stiffly and crosses the room, almost mechanically, to the bed and more or less folds the bedding into a heap, then angrily gets his books and cap."
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Permeated
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spread throughout; diffused; "Her speech is a mixture of many things; it is different from the rest of the family's insofar as education has permeated her sense of English..."
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Pretense
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false appearances or reasons; "All pretenses but living itself have long since vanished from the very atmosphere of this room."
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Proposition
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proposal or plan; This ain't no fly-by-night proposition, baby.
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Raucous
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harsh sounding; loud; "(Mama and Ruth look at each other and burst into raucous laughter.)"
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Rousing
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vigorous; intense; "She crosses to her son and gives him a good, final, rousing shake."
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Stupor
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a daze; mental unawareness; "(Her son sits up at last, in a stupor of sleepiness.)"
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Tentatively
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cleared of accusation; blame, suspicion or doubt; "(She waits several seconds, trying to make up her mind about something, and looks at RUTH a little tentatively before going on.)"
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Tyrant
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ruler who exercises power in a harsh, cruel manner; "I also see that everybody thinks it's all right for Mama to be a tyrant."
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Undistinguished
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common; nothing special; "Its furnishings are typical and undistinguished..."
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Vain
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futile; failing to achieve the desired result; "She wipes her face with a moist cloth and runs her fingers through her sleep-disheveled hair in a vain effort and ties an apron around her housecoat."
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Vengeance
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with violence or fury; "She closes the door with a sleepy vengeance and crosses to the table and sits down a little defeated."
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Viciously
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violently; maliciously; "He runs as she swings the spray gun at him viciously and playfully.)
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Vindicated
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justified; proven right; "The boy finally turns around and rolls his eyes at her, knowing the mood has changed and he is vindicated..."
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Assimilationist
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advocate of blending in with the culture; "Beneatha: Because I hate assimilationist negroes!"
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Bastion
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strong, secure stronghold; "TRAVIS (safely behind the bastion of MAMA)"
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Beseechingly
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in a begging or pleading manner; "WALTER (beseechingly)"
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Evading
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escaping; eluding; "Beneatha: You're evading."
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Forlornly
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looking pitiful, desperate or hopeless; "BENEATHA leans forlornly against a wall, fingering a piece of red ribbon from the mother's gift."
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Haphazardly
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without care; characterized by chance; "She sets the headdress on haphazardly and then notices her hair again and clutches at it and then replaces the headdress and frowns at herself."
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Heathenism
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"religion" of those who don't believe in God and/or are uncivilized; "BENEATHA: You mean save them from heathenism-"
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Inappropriately
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unsuitably; improperly; "As they work, the radio is on and a Southside disk-jockey program is inappropriately filling the house with a rather exotic saxophone blues."
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Indignantly
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righteously angry; "MAMA (indignantly)"
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Insinuatingly
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with more meaning than the spoken word; "(insinuatingly, to her daughter)"
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Mutilated
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maimed; damaged; "You wear it well... very well... mutilated hair and all."
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Quizzical
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puzzled; confused; "(Her face is quizzical, profoundly disturbed)"
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Raptly
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in a deeply engaged manner; "The boy and his mother study it raptly over MAMA's shoulders."
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Reciation
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reciting a memorized speech; "The mother flashes a slightly superior look at her daughter upon completion of the recitation."
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Suppress
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to keep secret; "RUTH has her fists clenched on her thighs and is fighting hard to suppress a scream that seems to be rising in her."
