A Raisin in the Sun Vocabulary Flashcards

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1
Q

Undistinguished (Adjective)

A

Common; Nothing special; Ordinary; Not respected/admired; “Its furnishings are typical and undistinguished and their primary feature now is that they have clearly had to accommodate the living of too many people for too many years — and they are tired.”

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2
Q

Pretense (Noun)

A

Pretending or feigning; Make - believe; A false show of something; Putting on an act; “All pretenses but living itself have long since vanished from the very atmosphere of this room.”

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3
Q

Exasperated (Adjective)

A

Irritated / Annoyed; Provoked; Frustrated; Intensely; (The boy gives her an exasperated look for her lack of understanding, and eats grudgingly)

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4
Q

Viciously (Adverb)

A

With violence or fury; In a cruel/violent manner; (Travis jabs his spoon into his cereal bowl viciously, and rests his head in anger upon his fists)

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5
Q

Sullen (Adjective)

A

Showing irritation or ill humor by a gloomy silence or reserve; Bad - tempered; Gloomy; (With sullen politeness) “Yes’m.”

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6
Q

Vindicated (Verb)

A

Cleared of accusation, blame/suspicion, or doubt; Declared innocent; Cleared; (The boy finally turns around and rolls his eyes at her, knowing the mood has changed and he is vindicated; he does not, however, move toward her yet)

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7
Q

Proposition (Noun)

A

A suggested plan; Proposal; “This ain’t no fly-by-night proposition, baby.”

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8
Q

Vengeance (Noun)

A

Revenge; “She closes the door with a sleepy vengeance and crosses to the table and sits down a little defeated)

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9
Q

Tentatively (Adverb)

A

Uncertainty; Lack confidence; With hesitancy; (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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10
Q

Furtively (Adverb)

A

Stealthily; In a way that hides motive; Avoid notice/attention; Secretively; (Studying her mother-in-law furtively and concentrating on her ironing, anxious to encourage without seeming to)

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11
Q

Futile (Adjective)

A

Useless; Incapable of producing any result/useful result; (Dropping her hands in a futile gesture)

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12
Q

Tyrant (Noun)

A

Dictator; Harsh ruler; Cruel and oppressive ruler; “I also see that everybody thinks it’s all right for Mama to be a tyrant.”

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13
Q

Forlornly (Adverb)

A

Pitifully; Desperately; Hopelessly; In a way that shows loneliness and unhappiness; (Ruth comes in forlornly and pulls off her coat with dejection.

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14
Q

Mutilated (Adjective)

A

Maimed - Wound or injure (someone) so that part of the body is permanently damaged; Damaged; Injure; Wound; Inflict serious damage on; “You wear it well… very well… mutilated hair and all.”

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15
Q

Assimilationism (Noun)

A

Belief that minority cultures should be absorbed into a dominant culture; “Assimilationism is so popular in your country”

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16
Q

Insinuatingly (Adverb)

A

With more meaning than is spoken; Implied; “Lord, that’s a pretty thing just went out here!” (Insinuatingly, to her daughter)

17
Q

Haphazardly (Adverb)

A

Carelessly; Aimlessly; In a manner lacking any obvious principle of organization; “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.”

18
Q

Arrogant (Adjective)

A

Proud; Haughty - arrogantly superior and disdainful; having or revealing an exaggerated sense of one’s own importance or abilities; Behaving as if you are better than everyone else; (She promenades to the radio and, with an arrogant flourish, turns off the good loud blues that is playing)

19
Q

Eccentric (Adjective)

A

Deviating from the norm; Strange; Behave in a strange way, and have habits or opinions that are different from most people; “Oh, don’t be so proud of yourself, Bennie — just because you look eccentric.”

20
Q

Oppressive (Adjective)

A

Tyrannical; Unjustly inflicting hardship and constraint, especially on a minority/subordinate group; “It means someone who is willing to give up his own culture and submerge himself completely in the dominant, and in this case oppressive culture!”

21
Q

Cliché (Noun)

A

Trite or overused expression or idea; Betrays a lack of original thought; (She smiles happily at this cliché of clichés)

22
Q

Plaintively (Adverb)

A

Sorrowfully; Pathetically; Sounding sad and mournful (Deep grief); (Plaintively) “Walter Lee — why don’t we just try to talk about it…”

23
Q

Menacingly (Adverb)

A

Threateningly; Suggestive of coming danger; (Mama clamps her lips together, and Ruth advances toward her son menacingly)

24
Q

Exuberant (Adjective)

A

Marked by unrestrained enthusiasm; Filled with or characterized by a lively energy and excitement; (And she builds with momentum as she starts to circle the room with an exuberant, almost tearfully happy release)

25
Q

Presumably (Adverb)

A

Probably; Reasonably supposed; Assume; Very likely though not known for certain; “Beneatha and George come in, presumably from an evening out again.”

26
Q

Rebuff (Noun)

A

Blunt refusal; Reject in an abrupt/rude manner; (He starts to kiss her, she rebuffs him again and he jumps up)

27
Q

Revelation (Noun)

A

New information; Surprising and previously unknown fact; (The explosion comes from Walter at the end of the revelation and he jumps up and turns away from all of them in a fury.” “Walter, you ain’t been to work for three days! (This is a revelation to her)”

28
Q

Amiably (Adverb)

A

Good - naturally; In a friendly and pleasant manner; (Amiably, as he sits himself on a chair, leaning forward to his knees with interest and looking expectantly into the newcomer’s face)

29
Q

Ludicrous (Adjective)

A

Ridiculous; Foolish, unreasonable, or out of place as to be amusing; (She pops it on her head to prove it to her grandson, and the hat is ludicrous and considerably oversized)

30
Q

Ominous (Adjective)

A

Menacing; Threatening; Giving the impression that something bad or unpleasant is going to happen; “In the living room Beneatha sits at the table, still surrounded by the now almost ominous packing crates.”

31
Q

Plunder (Verb)

A

To rob; To loot; Steal goods from a place or person; “What about all the crooks and thieves and just plain idiots who will come into power and steal and plunder the same as before — only now they will be black and do it in the name of the new Independence — WHAT ABOUT THEM?!”

32
Q

Wrought (Verb)

A

Shaped; Made; “Ah — so this is what the New World hath finally wrought…”

33
Q

Monologue (Noun)

A

Long speech by one person; “Beneatha ignores the eccentricity of his actions and goes on with the monologue of insult)

34
Q

Eccentricity (Noun)

A

Quality of being strange or unusual in behavior; “Beneatha ignores the eccentricity of his actions and goes on with the monologue of insult)”

35
Q

Epitaph (Noun)

A

Inscription on a tombstone; “You done wrote his epitaph too — like the rest of the world?”

36
Q

Amid (Adverb)

A

Among; In the midst of; Surrounded by; In the middle of; (She flies to get it amid the general bustling of the family, who are deliberately trying to ignore the nobility of the past moment)