1. Blithe | Joyous, happy, cheerful | "And Scrooge said often afterward that, of all the blithe sounds he had ever heard, those were the blithest in his ears."
-page 117 | 2. Dispelled | To drive off in different directions; to disperse | "'They are here-I am here-the shadows of the things that would have been may be dispelled.'" -page 113 | 3. Endeavor | To strive for; make an effort | "'I'll raise your salary and endeavor to assist your struggling family, and we will discuss your affairs this very afternoon over a Christmas bowl of smoking bishop, Bob!'" -page 121 | 4. Farthing | ~Something of small value
~The money used in the Victorian Era | "'Not a farthing less.'"
-page 118 | 5. Feign | Make believe or pretend | "'Hallo!' growled Scrooge, in his accustomed voice as near as he could feign it." -page 120 | 6. Illustrious | Highly distinguished; famous; renowned | "Really, for a man who had been out of practice for so many years, it was a splendid laugh, a most illustrious laugh."
-page 114 | 7. Lustiest | Hearty; spirited; enthusiastic | "He was checked in his transports by the churches ringing out the lustiest peals he had ever heard." -page 114 | 8. Sidled | To edge along furtively | "He turned it gently and sidled his face in, round the door."
-page 119 | 9. Unanimity | A consensus or undivided opinion; harmony | "Wonderful party, wonderful games, wonderful unanimity, wonderful happiness."
-page 120 | 10. Winded | Out of breath | "He had frisked into the sitting room, and was now standing there, perfectly winded."
-page 114 |
1. Disgorged | To eject or throw forward from the mouth, throat or stomach; vomit | "Alleys and archways, like so many cesspools, disgorged their offenses of smell, and dirt, and life, upon the straggling streets; and the whole quarter reeked with crime, with filth and misery." -page 94 | 2. Excrescence | An abnormal outgrowth | "'What has he done with his money?' asked a red-faced gentleman with a pendulous excrescence on the end of his nose, that shook like the gills of a turkey-cock." -page 91-92 | 3. Frowzy | Dirty and untidy | "Sitting in among the wares he dealt in, by a charcoal stove, made of old bricks, was a gray-haired rascal, nearly seventy years of age, who had screened himself from the cold air without by a frowzy curtaining of miscellaneous tatters, hung upon a line, and smoked his pipe in all the luxury of calm retirement." -page 95 | 4. Inexorable | Unyielding, unalterable | "The inexorable finger underwent no change."
-page 109 | 5. Latent | Present but not visible | "But nothing doubting that, to whomsoever they applied, hay had some latent moral for his own improvement, he resolved to treasure up every word he heard and everything he saw, and especially to observe the shadow of himself when it appeared." -page 93 | 6. Latter | Being the second mention of two | "The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come conveyed him, as before-though at a different time, he thought; indeed, there seemed no order at these latter visions, save that they were in the Future-into the resorts of businessmen, but showed him not himself." -page 108 | 7. Liberal | Based on the freedom of the individual and government | "'If you asked me for another penny, and made it an open question, I'd repent of being so liberal and knock off half a crown.'" -page 98 | 8. Loiter | To linger aimlessly or seemingly aimlessly in or about a place | "'I ain't so fond of his company that I'd loiter about him for such things, if he did.'"
-page 99 | 9. Repute | Estimation in the view of others | "They left the busy scene and went to an obscure part of town, where Scrooge had never penetrated before, although he recognized its situation and its bad repute." -page 94 | 10. Sepulchers | A tomb, grave, or burial place | "Secrets that few would like to scrutinize were bred and hidden in mountains of unseemly rags, masses of corrupted fat, and sepulchers of bones." -page 95 |
1. Abject | Utterly hopeless, humiliating, miserable, or wretched | "From the foldings of its robe, it brought two children, wretched, abject, rightful, hideous, miserable." -page 85 | 2. Declension | A bending, sloping, or moving downward | "'Not coming!' said Bob, with a sudden declension in his high spirits, for he had been Tim's blood horse all the way from church, and had come home rampant. 'Not coming upon Christmas day!'" -page 66 | 3. Demeanor | Conduct; behavior | "Its dark-brown curls were long and free, free as its genial face, its sparkling eye, its open hand, its cheery voice, its unconstrained demeanor, and its joyful air." -page 58 | 4. Gallantly | Brave, spirited, noble-minded | "Then up rose Mrs. Cratchit, Cratchit's wife, dressed out but poorly in a twice-turned gown, but brave in ribbons, which are cheap and make a goodly show for sixpence, and she laid the cloth, assisted by Belinda Cratchit, second of her daughters, also brave in ribbons, while Master Pete Cratchit plunged a fork into the saucepan of potatoes, and giving the corners of his monstrous shirt collar (Bob's private property, conferred upon his son and heir in honor of the day) into his mouth, rejoiced to find himself so gallantly attired, and yearned to show his linen in the fashionable parks." -page 65 | 5. Prodigiously | ~Wonderful
~Extraordinary in size, amount, extent, degree, etc. | "Awaking in the middle of a prodigiously tough snore, and sitting up in the bed to get thoughts together, Scrooge had no occasion to be told that the bell was again upon the stroke of one." -page 55 | 6. Prostrate | To cast oneself facedown on the ground in humility | "Yellow, meager, ragged, scowling, wolfish; but prostate, too, in their humility." -page 86 | 7. Reverently | Deeply respectful | "Scrooge reverently did so." -page 58 | 8. Scanty | ~Meager; not adequate
~Barely sufficient | "They were not a handsome family, they were not well dressed, their shos were far from being waterproof, their clothes were scanty, and Peter might have known, and very likely did, the inside of a pawnbroker's." -page 73 | 9. Tremulous |
Trembling as from fear, nervousness, weakness
| "Bob's voice was tremulous when he told them this, and trembled even more when he said that Tiny Tim was growing strong and hearty." -page 67 | 10. Ubiquitous | Existing or being everywhere, especially at the same time; omnipresent | "His active little crutch was heard upon the floor, and back came Tiny Tim before another word was spoken, assorted by his brother and sister to his stool beside the fire, and by Bob, turning up his cuffs-as if, poor fellow, they were capable of being made more shabby- compound some hot mixture in a jug with gin and lemons, and stirred it round and round, and put it on the hob to simmer, Master Pete and the two ubiquitous young Cratchits went to fetch the goose, with which they soon returned in high procession." -page 67 |
To the tune of Jingle Bells.  Walking in the fog,
On a dark and gloomy day,
Trudging through the snow,
And yelling all the way.
Children run to hide,
The guide dogs take a turn,
Oh what fun it is to be a whole lot wealthier!
Oh! Bah humbug! Bah humbug!
Christmas time is here!
Pay your taxes, watch your fines cuz I am coming near!
Bah humbug! Bah humbug!
I'm alone all day,
staring at the fireplace,
so leave me here to stay!
My nephew's family,
is o so jolly,
he comes to greet me,
but I don't care a wink.
I don't want to help the poor,
they should just realize,
but still the people come to ask me for a coin I don't provide.
(Chorus)
Sometimes I feel satisfied,
and others I don't know what to do,
but what comes next I cringe,
is waiting for me. Poo!
Right now I guess I'll wait,
for a time where I'm still alone,
staring at the fireplace, I can't wait to be home!
(Chorus)
Maybe Christmas isn't all that bad,
I guess I'll be better now,
from what happened in the past,
That made me always frown.
I wasn't all that nice,
so I should try to be so good,
but who cares 'bout a Christmas when some ghosts are haunting you!
(Chorus)
1. Adversary | A person, group or force that opposes or attacks | "In the struggle, if that can be called a struggle which the Ghost, with no visible resistance on its own part, was undisturbed by any effort of its adversary." -page 53 | 2. Burdensome | Oppressively heavy; troublesome | "He has the power to render us happy and unhappy, to make our service light, or burdensome, a pleasure or a toil." -page 46 | 3. Conducive | Contributing | "Scrooge expressed himself as much obliged, but could not help thinking that a night of unbroken rest would have been more conducive to that end." -page 33 | 4. Contradiction | The opposite or denial | "It held a branch of fresh, green holly in its hand and in singular contradiction to that wintry emblem, had its dress trimmed with summer flowers." -page 32 | 5. Corroborated | To make more certain; confirm | "He corroborated everything, remembered everything, enjoyed everything, and underwent the strangest agitation." -page 45 | 6. Jocund | Cheerful, merry | "The jocund travelers came on; and as they came, knew and named them every one."
-pages 35-36 | 7. Jovial | Someone who has a joyful spirit or a spirit of good-fellowship | "He rubbed his hands, adjusted his captious waist-coat, laughed all over himself, from his shoes to his organ of benevolence, and called out, in a comfortable, oily, rich, fat, jovial voice:
'Yo ho, there! Ebenezer! Dick!'" -page 42 | 8. Melancholy | A gloomy state of mind | "He spoke before the hour bell sounded, which it now did with a deep, dull, hollow, melancholy ONE." -page 31 | 9. Pinioned | To disable or distrain (a bird) | "But the relentless Ghost pinioned him in both his arms and forced him to observe what happened next." -pages 49-50 | 10. Vestige | A mark, or visible evidence of something that is no longer present or existing | "Not a vestige of it was to be seen." -page 34 |
This year, we are reading the book, A Christmas Carol. Our assignment is to find ten vocab words in the text that we have not heard of and think are important to the book. 1. Chink | A crack or narrow opening | "The fog came pouring in at every chink and keyhole, and was so dense without that, although the court was of the narrowest, the houses opposite were near phantoms." -page 4 | 2. Entreaty | Earnest request | "No wind blew that was bitterer than he, no falling snow was more intent upon its purpose, no pelting rain less open to entreaty." -page 3 | 3. Extremity | The extreme or terminal point, limit, or part of something | "He went the whole length of the expression and said that he would see him in that extremity first." -page 7 | 4. Facetious | Not meant to be taken seriously or literally; amusing | "Scrooge resumed his labors with an improved opinion of himself and in a more facetious temper tan was usual with him." -page 10 | 5. Fain | Gladly; willingly | "The yard was so dark that even Scrooge, who knew its every stone, was fain to grope with his hands." -page 13 | 6. Fettered | To confine, restrain
A chain on the feet | "'You are fettered,' said Scrooge trembling. 'Tell me why?'" -page 21 | 7. Flint | A hard stone | "Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out a generous fire, secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster." -page 2 | 8. Morose | Gloomily or sullenly ill-humored | "'What reason have you to be morose?'" -page 5 | 9. Rime | An opaque coating of tiny, white, granular ice particles | "A frosty rime was on his head, and on his eyebrows,and his wiry chin." -page 3 | 10. Vigor | Active strength or force | "'The Treadmill and the Poor Law are in full vigor, then?' said Scrooge." -page 9 |
You live until you are 25 and start work when you are 5. 16 hours a day isn't that bad right? Hey, you couldn't live any other way. Unless, of course, you were rich. I wish.
In the Victorian Era, child labor was not illegal. Children had all sorts of jobs to complete in order to get money for their family. For example, Charles Dickens, the author of A Christmas Carol worked at the age of 12 in order to get his family out of debtors prison. It was not uncommon for kids to work instead of adults. Though in most cases the adults worked as well as the children, children worked if their parents were in prison or if they were sick, which is also very common.
Since the children worked, they did not go to school. You might be thinking how lucky they were, but it was quite the opposite. Children wanted to go to school for 6 hours a day rather than 14-16 hours of dong something like sweeping the chimneys. Plus, they wanted education. Many kids wanted to be able to read and write books for more money.
Another thing. These jobs weren't like, 'okay I'll put this really long stick in the chimney to clean it'. it was more like, 'time to go in that chimney and sweep with this tiny thing because nobody else wants the risk of coughing and hacking in a strangers chimney'. The jobs were gruesome and deadly. If you were a kid who dug in the mud for valuables, you go through the risk of scooping up horse poop. If you worked in the coal mines, you would have to work hard not to hit an explosive. Yup. You did not want to be a kid in the Victorian Era.
|
RSS Feed