Skip to main content

English IV--Word List Five


Due November 7, 2017

Directions: Copy the vocabulary words. Some of them may have been taken from your textbook; a few words/terms may not be typical vocabulary words (for example, names of places, allusions to famous things, names of famous people); nevertheless, you should know them. 

  • Look up the definitions and parts of speech of each word. Write both in your notebook. (You must handwrite this assignment; not type, or cut and paste). 
  • For each of the words, find an excellent context sentence by googling the Internet (always cite your source within parentheses after the sentence--the name of the website). 
  • In addition, create an excellent context sentence of your own. (Try to make a personal connection to your own life or the life of someone you know when you use the word. If you do this, you will remember the word better.) 
  • Clearly label the "googled" sentence and your "own" sentence: "I" for Internet sentence; "My" for the sentence that you create. 
  • Look up four synonyms and four antonyms for each word; simply list them. Obviously, some words, such as literary terms, proper names (people, places), and even some straight vocabulary words will not have synonyms or antonyms.
  • Highlight the vocabulary word/literary term/proper noun wherever it appears in your writing. For the vocabulary word or proper noun, create sentences (as above). For the literary term, write an example (create your own example or google an example and cite your source).
  • All of this work should be written on loose-leaf paper in your binder so that it can be turned in for a grade.
  • Include MLA heading on the top left side of the first page only.
  • Include header (last name and page number) at the top right side of each page (including the backs of handwritten pages).
  • Please number each item.
If a word has multiple definitions (many will), choose any definition. If a word can be used as more than one part of speech, choose any part of speech. You can change the form of a straight vocabulary word in your sentences (add -ed or -ing, for example).

Please highlight your name in the heading at the top of your paper. Thank you.

  1. acerbic
  2. acrid
  3. admonish
  4. advocate
  5. aggravate
  6. agitate
  7. ambivalence
  8. apathetic
  9. apprehensive
  10. assertion
  11. astonishment
  12. audacious
  13. averse
  14. befuddled
  15. bellicose
  16. bombastic
  17. brash
  18. brusque
  19. callous
  20. candid
  21. caustic
  22. cavalier
  23. choleric
  24. churlish
  25. complacent
  26. conciliatory
  27. condescending
  28. conducive
  29. console
  30. contemplative
  31. contentious
  32. crude
  33. curt
  34. cynical
  35. deference

Popular posts from this blog

Analysis of "How It Feels to Be Colored Me" by Zora Neale Hurston

Zora Neale Hurston, an important voice of the Harlem Renaissance, was an American folklorist, anthropologist, and novelist best known for her work, Their Eyes Were Watching God.   Sadly, she died in 1960 after suffering financial and medical difficulties.  In 1973, Alice Walker, another famous American writer, "rediscovered" Hurston and promoted her body of work.  In the classic essay, "How It Feels to Be Colored Me," Hurston explores the idea that all of us have multiple selves, depending upon the context and environments in which we find ourselves.  Hurston's writing has an ebullience, self-assertiveness, and pride that is particularly evident in this text.  She was a flamboyant and dramatic personality, at times clashing with fellow writers from the Harlem Renaissance, who believed that black Americans should use their art to speak out against racial oppression and the white majority. Hurston chose not to align herself with the political ideologies of ot...
Read more

All Classes--Analysis of Patrick Henry's Speech in the Virginia Convention

Scholars:  It is good to read examples of analytical writing because it helps you understand how to write your own analysis essays. The habit of reading and studying models (examples) is the best way to learn how to write more effectively. Below is an analysis that I wrote on Patrick Henry's Speech in the Virginia Convention. 
Read more

Teacher Model--Responding to an Argumentative Prompt

Below is an example of a written response to the AP English Language and Composition Argumentative Prompt (2011). I will use this in my classroom to model for students the writing process on the AP Exam. (The response was written in a 40-minute timed session when I attended an AP Summer Institute.) I want to show students that AP Readers understand that their writing is a draft and that they will not be marked down because of cross-outs and penmanship that is difficult to read. The caveat I would tell students is to of course try to write as legibly as possible. If the penmanship is very poor, the AP Reader will struggle and may miss important content in the student response.
Read more