Short stories vocab

Question 1

Trifles

Answer 1

Noun, a thing of little importance

Question 2

Disdainful

Answer 2

Adj, showing contempt or lack of respect

Question 3

Acquiescence

Answer 3

Noun, the reluctant acceptance of something without protest. “Of course it’s no more than their duty,” said the sheriff’s wife, in her manner of timid acquiescence.” (823)

Question 4

Detained

Answer 4

Verb, to hold someone in custody, normally for a short period of time.

Question 5

Shabby

Answer 5

Adj, in poor condition due to use or lack of care

Question 6

Indecisive

Answer 6

Adj, not settling an issue

Question 7

Scrutinized

Answer 7

Verb, to examine or look closely

Question 8

Apprehensive

Answer 8

Adj, anxious or fearful that something bad or unpleasant will happen.

Question 9

Incisivly

Answer 9

Adj, impressively direct and decisive (as in manner or presentation)

Question 10

Evasion

Answer 10

Noun, the action of evading something.

Question 11

Facetiously

Answer 11

Adj, treating serious issues with deliberately inappropriate humor; flippant.

Question 12

Pungent

Answer 12

Adj, having a sharply strong taste or smell.

Question 13

Solemnity

Answer 13

Noun, the state or quality of being serious and dignified. “He then solemnly asked if I 3 had been a very, very good girl this year and did I believe in Jesus Christ and obey my parents. I knew the only answer to that. I nodded back with equal solemnity.”(226)

Question 14

Pawn

Answer 14

Noun, a chess piece of the smallest size and value.

Question 15

Benevolently

Answer 15

Adj, well meaning and kindly

Question 16

Retort

Answer 16

Noun, a sharp, angry, or wittily incisive reply to a remark

Question 17

Prodigy

Answer 17

Noun, a person, especially a young one, endowed with exceptional qualities or abilities

Question 18

Maloderous

Answer 18

Adj, smelling very unpleasant.“He wore a dark, malodorous suit. ”(231)

Question 19

Concessions

Answer 19

Plural noun, a thing that is granted, especially in response to demands; a thing conceded.“My parents made many concessions to allow me to practice. ”(232)

Question 20

Profusely

Answer 20

Adverb, exhibiting great abundance; bountiful

Question 21

Boisterous

Answer 21

Adj, Noisy, cheerful energetic, rowdy “the feeling of liberty sat uneasily on most of them; they tended to gather together quietly for a while before they broke into boisterous play, ”

Question 22

Reprimand

Answer 22

: Noun To punish or tell off.

Question 23

Civic

Answer 23

Adj, to describe in relation to town/country/etc

Question 24

Jovial

Answer 24

Adj, Cheerful or friendly. “He was a round-faced, jovial man ”

Question 25

Paraphernalia

Answer 25

Noun, miscellaneous tools for an activity. “The original paraphernalia for the lottery had been lost long ago, and the black box now resting on the stool had been put into use even before Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, was born”

Question 26

Perfunctory

Answer 26

Adj, Task done with little effort or boredom. “...at one time, some people remembered, there had been a recital of some sort, performed by the official of the lottery, a perfunctory, tuneless chant that had been rattled off duly each year;”

Question 27

Interminably

Answer 27

Adverb, Having seemingly no end. “ …he seemed very proper and important as he talked interminably to Mr. Graves and the Martins.”

Question 28

Surly

Answer 28

Adj, Unfriendly or bad temper.

Question 29

Ferocious

Answer 29

Adj, Brutal, violent, malicious etc

Question 30

Notion

Answer 30

Noun, A person's conception of something.

Question 31

Recitation

Answer 31

Noun, To repeat something from memory (usually out loud).

Question 32

Treachery

Answer 32

Noun, Betrayal of trust or deception.

Question 33

Furtive

Answer 33

Adj, Avoiding notice or attention. “‘Mama, when did Dee ever have any friends?’ She had a few. Furtive boys in pink shirts hanging about on washday after school ‘” (167).

Question 34

Cowering

Answer 34

Verb, to be in fear, “She stoops down quickly and snaps off picture after picture of me sitting there in front of the house with Maggie cowering behind me”

Question 35

Doctrines

Answer 35

Noun, A set of beliefs held by a church, political party or other group.

Question 36

Clabber

Answer 36

Noun, Milk that has soured/thickened.

Question 37

Dasher

Answer 37

Noun, A plumber for moving cream in a churn

Question 38

Heritage

Answer 38

Noun, Ancestry.

Question 39

Author of the lottery

Answer 39

Shirley Jackson

Question 40

Author of the lesson

Answer 40

Toni Cade Bambara

Question 41

Author of Every day use

Answer 41

Alice Walker

Question 42

Author of a jury of her peers

Answer 42

Susan Glaspell

Question 43

Author of Rules of the game

Answer 43

Amy tan

Question 44

Author of house on mango st

Answer 44

Sandra Cisneros