Vocabulary: Fall List #6

1. Adroit-  An expert; deft.
2. Amicable-  Friendly.
3. Averse-  Unwilling.
4. Belligerent-  (adj.) Aggressively hostile.  (n.) A nation at war.
5. Benevolent-  Kind and charitable.
6. Cursory-  Hasty and superficial.
7. Duplicity-  Deceitfulness.  
8. Extol-  To praise highly.
9. Feasible-  Capable of being done, likely.
10. Grimace-  Facial expression indicating pain, disapproval, etc.
11. Holocaust-  Great destruction, especially by fire.  
12. Impervious-  Not allowing penetration; incapable of being affected.
13. Impetus-  Driving or moving force.
14. Jeopardy-  Hazard or risk of or exposure to loss, harm, death, or injury.  Peril or danger.  The danger or hazard of being found guilty, and of consequent punishment, undergone by criminal defendants on trial.
15. Meticulous-  Minutely careful.
16. Nostalgia-  Sentimental yearning for the past.
17. Quintessence-  The pure essence or most perfect example of something.
18. Retrogress-  Return to a more original or more primitive condition.  
19. Scrutinize-  To examine closely.
20. Tepid-  Lukewarm.

Vocabulary Fall List #5

1. Allude-  Refer to something the author thinks you should know.
2. Clairvoyant-  To perceive beyond the senses.
3. Conclusive-  Being decisive; final.
4. Disreputable-  Of poor reputation.
5. Endemic-  Widespread to one area.
6. Exemplary-  Of noteworthy importance.
7. Fathom-  (n) Measure of nautical depth.  (v) to understand.
8. Guile-  Trickiness.
9. Integrity-  Integrate thought, word and action.
10. Itinerary-  Trip schedule.
11. Misconstrue-  (passive) Misunderstand.  (active) Misrepresent.
12. Obnoxious-  Rude; loud.
13. Placate-  To calm down.
14. Placid-  Peaceful.
15. Plagiarism-  Taking someone elses' work and showing it as your own.
16. Potent-  Powerfull.
17. Pretext-  A reason.
18. Protrude-  To stick out, out in the open.
19. Stark-  Obvious (Stark Tower is obviously home to Tony Stark)
20. Superficial-  Shallow.

"AHA!!!" Moment.

Reading simple things, like articles, has always been easy for me.  But reading MSS Parts I, II, and III was a bit of a challenge.  Before today, I wasn't quite understanding the whole "difference btwn signs and symbols" thing.  Now I know that a sign is something that makes us think of something else (occurs naturally), and a symbol is something that was put in a certain place to force a certain thought.  AHA!

Young Goodman Brown Symbols

Faith's Ribbons:  The ribbons show how Faith is the embodiment of innocence. When the ribbon floats down from the sky, Goodman Brown was doubting the purity of the people around him.  He perceives the ribbon's appearance as Faith's loss of innocence, but at the end of the story, when Faith's ribbons had been restored to their rightful place in her bonnet, Goodman Brown questions the authenticity of his adventures.
The Staff:  Encircled with a carving of a serpent, the staff was an obvious symbol for the Serpent in Adam and Eve.  Just as the Snake in the story leads Eve down the path of evil, the staff assists Goodman Brown in his unintentional quest for evil.
The Old Man:  Although not-so-obvious, the old man completely represents the devil himself.  He is dressed exactly like Goodman Brown, suggesting the evil in all of us.  His manner and style of speech all suggest evil beyond our comprehension.