Chekhov 2

Question 1

dissolute

Answer 1

adjective lacking restraint especially : marked by indulgence in things (such as drink or promiscuous sex) deemed vices (see VICE entry 1 sense 1) “And besides-clever trick!-it’s not he alone who is dissolute, false, and vile, but we…‘we, the people of the eighties,’… MD - think of the solute as the dissolute person. The dissolute person will become dissolved by the solvent.

Question 2

sanctify

Answer 2

verb. cause to be or seem morally right “…that this dissoluteness, ignorance, and unscrupulousness constitute a natural-historical phenomenon, sanctified by necessity; that the causes here are cosmic, elemental, and Laevsky should have have an icon lamp hung before him, because he is a fatal victim of the times…” (136) MD - Sanctification is the act or process of acquiring sanctity, or being made holy.

Question 3

heredity

Answer 3

noun. the passing on of physical or mental characteristics genetically from one generation to another: MD - Hair Red Ity of redheads makes redheaded and fiery offspring

Question 4

huckster

Answer 4

noun. a seller of shoddy goods MD - Captain Hook bought his hook from a huckster, explaining why the hook would fly off his wrist whenever he gesticulated.

Question 5

anthropomorphism

Answer 5

noun. the attribution of human characteristics or behavior to a god, animal, or object. “The masses, always inclined to anthropomorphism in religion and morality, like most of all these little idols that have the same weaknesses as themselves.” (140) MD - Anthropos - greek for man. Morph - to transform. Transform god, animal, or object to human.

Question 6

congeal

Answer 6

to become thick and partly solid “The torrid air congealed, unmoving, and a long spiderweb, dangling from the chestnut to the ground, hung slackly and did not stir.” (143) MD - the eel blood congealed around the eel wound.

Question 7

torrid

Answer 7

adjective 1 very hot and dry: the torrid heat of the afternoon. • full of passionate or highly charged emotions arising from sexual love: a torrid love affair.”The torrid air congealed, unmoving, and a long spiderweb, dangling from the chestnut to the ground, hung slackly and did not stir.” (143) MD think of toro and the hot spanish bull ring. for second definition think the temper of a toro.

Question 8

brook

Answer 8

n. a natural stream of water smaller than a river (and often a tributary of a river) “As she was going to the Caucasus, it seemed to her that on the first day, she would find there a secluded nook on the coast, a cozy garden with shade, birds, brooks, where she could plant flowers and vegetables, raise ducks and chickens, receive neighbors, treat poor muzhiks and distribute books to them…” (145) MD - If Nan is a river than Brooke is a brook.

Question 9

importunate

Answer 9

adj persistent especially to the point of annoyance “…how to spend the useless time, and the importunate thoughts that she was the most beautiful young woman in town and that her youth was going for naught….” (146) MD - importunate poor man asking for money again and again.

Question 10

pathos

Answer 10

adj. a quality that arouses emotions (especially pity or sorrow). “Marya Konstantinovna was a kind, rapturous, and genteel person who spoke in a drawl and with pathos.” (147) MD - pathos - greek for “suffering,” there is a neurological path that pathos sends the impulses along arousing emotions in our brain.

Question 11

trite

Answer 11

adjective hackneyed or boring from much use : not fresh or original “And something in the very depths of her soul vaguely and dully whispered to her that she was a petty, trite, trashy, worthless woman….” MD - trifle - Wade requested the english dessert to be served at all events making it a trite dish.

Question 12

gorge

Answer 12

noun 1. a narrow valley between hills or mountains, typically with steep rocky walls and a stream running through it. MD - El Gordo got stuck in the Gorge.

Question 13

cicada

Answer 13

noun a large homopterous (order insect with long transparent wings, occurring chiefly in warm countries. The male cicada makes a loud shrill droning noise after dark by vibrating two membranes on its abdomen. “One could hear the murmuring of the river and the constant trilling of cicadas.” (155) MD - maraca - 2 membranes like two maracas that vibrate making a droning noise.

Question 14

scanty

Answer 14

adj small or insufficient in quantity MD - Scantily Clad - wearing little

Question 15

drone

Answer 15

noun stingless male bee in a colony of social bees (especially honeybees) whose sole function is to mate with the queen MD - dr. - male, one - one purpose (don’t sting, don’t work, only mate)

Question 16

hackneyed

Answer 16

acking in freshness or originality md as an artist who breaks every rule deliberately, deli David Hockeny is the opposite of hackneyed. An iconoclast obsessed with the Old Masters, this British Pop artist breaks every rule deliberately, delighting in the deconstruction of proportion, linear perspective, and color theory.