Raisin In The Sun Vocab

Question 1

Pretense (n)

Answer 1

Pretending or feigning; make-believe; a false show of something
Ex) “All pretenses but living itself have long since vanished from the very atmosphere of this room” (24).

Question 2

Exasperated (adj)

Answer 2

irritated; provoked; irked
Ex) “(The boy gives her an exasperated look for her lack of understanding, and eats grudgingly)” (28).

Question 3

Viciously (adv)

Answer 3

with violence or fury
Ex) “RUTH Just hush, I said. (Travis jabs his spoon into his cereal bowl viciously, and rests his head in anger upon his fists) If you through eating, you can get over there and make up your bed” (29).

Question 4

Sullen (adj)

Answer 4

showing irritation or ill humor by a gloomy silence or reserve
Ex) “TRAVIS (With sullen politeness) Yes’m” (29).

Question 5

Vindicated (v)

Answer 5

cleared of accusation, blame, or doubt
Ex) “(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)” (30).

Question 6

Proposition (n)

Answer 6

a suggested plan
Ex) “This ain’t no fly-by-night proposition, baby” (33).

Question 7

Tentatively (adv)

Answer 7

uncertainly
Ex) “ (She waits several seconds, trying to make up her mind about something, and looks at RUTH a little tentatively before going on)” (44).

Question 8

furtively (adv)

Answer 8

stealthily; in a way that hides motive
Ex) “(Studying her mother-in-law furtively and concentrating on her ironing, anxious to encourage without seeming to)” (44).

Question 9

forlornly (adv)

Answer 9

pitifully; desperately; hopelessly
Ex) “(RUTH comes in forlornly and pulls off her coat with dejection. They both turn to look at her)” (57).

Question 10

mutilated (adj)

Answer 10

maimed; damaged
Ex)“You wear it well . . . very well . . . mutilated hair and all” (61).

Question 11

assimilationism (n)

Answer 11

belief that minority cultures should be absorbed into a dominant culture
Ex) “Assimilationism is so popular in your country” (63).

Question 12

insinuatingly (adv)

Answer 12

with more meaning than is spoken; implied
Ex) “(Insinuatingly, to her daughter)” (66).

Question 13

oppressive (adj)

Answer 13

tyrannical
Ex) “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!” (81).

Question 14

cliché (n)

Answer 14

trite or overused expression or idea
Ex) “(She smiles happily at this cliche of cliches)” (82).

Question 15

plaintively (adv)

Answer 15

sorrowfully; pathetically
Ex) “(Plaintively) Walter Lee, why don’t we just try to talk about it … ” (86).

Question 16

exuberant (adj)

Answer 16

marked by unrestrained enthusiasm
Ex) “And she builds with momentum as she starts to circle the room with an exuberant, almost tearfully happy release) to these Goddamned cracking walls!” (93).

Question 17

presumably (adv)

Answer 17

probably; reasonably supposed
Ex) “At rise: Packing crates mark the intention of the family to move. BENEATHA and GEORGE come in, presumably from an evening out again” (96).

Question 18

rebuff (n)

Answer 18

blunt refusal
Ex) “(He starts to kiss her, she rebuffs him again and he jumps up)” (96).

Question 19

revelation (n)

Answer 19

new information
Ex) “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.” (91)

Question 20

amiably (adv)

Answer 20

good-naturedly
Ex) “WALTER (Amiably, as he sits himself easily on a chair, leaning forward on his knees with interest and looking expectantly into the newcomer’s face)” (114).

Question 21

ludicrous (adj)

Answer 21

ridiculous
Ex) “(She pops it on her head to prove it to her grandson, and the hat is ludicrous and considerably oversized)” (124).

Question 22

ominous (adj)

Answer 22

menacing; threatening
Ex) “In the living room BENEATHA sits at the table, still surrounded by the now almost ominous packing crates” (131).

Question 23

plunder (v)

Answer 23

to rob; to loot
Ex) “BENEATHA Independence and then what? 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?!” (134).

Question 24

wrought (v)

Answer 24

shaped; made
Ex) “How often I have looked at you and said, “Ah so this is what the New World hath finally wrought . . .”” (137).

Question 25

monologue (n)

Answer 25

long speech by one person
Ex) “BENEATHA ignores the eccentricity of his actions and goes on with the monologue of insult)” (138).

Question 26

eccentricity (n)

Answer 26

quality of being strange or unusual in behavior
Ex) “BENEATHA ignores the eccentricity of his actions and goes on with the monologue of insult)” (138).

Question 27

epitaph (n)

Answer 27

inscription on a tombstone
Ex) “You done wrote his epitaph too like the rest of the world?” (145).

Question 28

Eccentric (adj)

Answer 28

deviating from the norm; strange
Ex) “GEORGE Oh, don’t be so proud of yourself, Bennie just because you look eccentric” (80).