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Homesick: Foreword–Chapter 3

An American-born daughter of missionaries recounts her childhood in China during a period of political unrest.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Foreword–Chapter 3, Chapters 4–5, Chapter 6–Background
58 words 42 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

  1. event
    something that happens at a given place and time
    Since my childhood feels like a story, I decided to tell it that way, letting the events fall as they would into the shape of a story, lacing them together with fictional bits, adding a piece here and there when memory didn’t give me all I needed.
  2. swarm
    a group of many things in the air or on the ground
    Houseboats swarm¬ing with old people and young, chickens and pigs.
  3. traitor
    a person who says one thing and does another
    I sang with my fingers crossed but still I felt like a traitor.
  4. anthem
    a song of devotion or loyalty
    “No, Miss Williams. It is not my national anthem.”
  5. tramp
    travel on foot, especially on a walking expedition
    I was looking up at a little white cloud skittering across the sky when all at once someone tramped down hard on my right foot.
  6. snarl
    utter in an angry, sharp, or abrupt tone
    “You’ll sing tomor¬row,” he snarled, “or you’ll be bloody sorry.”
  7. embroider
    decorate with needlework
    She would teach me to embroider if I would teach her English.
  8. glower
    look angry or sullen as if to signal disapproval
    I felt myself glowering.
  9. stump
    the base part that remains after a tree has been felled
    She might look old-fashioned, for her feet had been bound up tight when she was a little girl so that they would stay small, and now, like many Chinese women, she walked around on little stumps stuffed into tiny cloth shoes.
  10. flustered
    thrown into a state of agitated confusion
    Part of me wanted to laugh at the thought of Lin Nai-Nai maybe meeting Dr. Carhart, our minister, whose face would surely puff up, the way it always did when he was flustered.
  11. tangle
    twist together or entwine into a confusing mass
    When my sore arm hurt, I just beat on the keys harder.
  12. superior
    of high quality or performance
    He consid¬ered himself superior to common workers.
  13. mangle
    destroy or injure severely
    The running sores, the twisted legs, the mangled faces.
  14. concession
    the act of yielding
    A long time ago other countries had just walked into China and divided up part of Hankow (and other cities) into sections, or concessions, which they called their own and used their own rules for governing.
  15. rickety
    inclined to shake as from weakness or defect
    Not like those in the Chinese part of the city: a jumble of rickety shops with people, veg¬etables, crates of quacking ducks, yard goods, bamboo baskets, and mangy dogs spilling onto a street so narrow it was hardly there.
  16. jaunty
    having a cheerful, lively, and self-confident air
    My mother would wear her broad-brimmed beaver hat when we came and my father would swing his cane in that jaunty way that showed how glad he was to be a man.
  17. ragged
    being or dressed in clothes that are worn or torn
    He was wearing a ragged blue cotton jacket with a red cloth, pincushion-like charm around his neck which was supposed to keep him from getting smallpox.
  18. bother
    disturb, especially by minor irritations
    (Gods didn’t bother much with girls; it was boys that were important in China.)
  19. segment
    one of several parts that fit with others to make a whole
    Through the ribs of the boat, I handed him a segment of orange.
  20. sensible
    able to feel or perceive
    Ever since she’d written in my autograph book, I was afraid that goodness was what she really wanted out of me.
  21. clever
    mentally quick and resourceful
    “Be good, sweet child,” she had written, “and let who will be clever.”
  22. disappointed
    sadly unsuccessful
    Dear Grandma (I wrote in my next letter): I want to warn you so you won’t be disappointed.
  23. stressed
    suffering severe physical strain
    They must have believed in goodness because, like us, they were a Y.M.C.A. family, but what they stressed was being free and natural.
  24. jostle
    make one's way by pushing or shoving
    Actually both of us forgot all about being queens because at that moment an old woman stepped out of a hut and started shrieking and cursing at a man in the next farmyard.
  25. pioneer
    one the first colonists or settlers in a new territory
    Actually both of us forgot all about being queens because at that moment an old woman stepped out of a hut and started shrieking and cursing at a man in the next farmyard.
  26. misfortune
    a state resulting from unfavorable outcomes
    “May all your children fall sick! May you outlive every one of them! May the gods heap misfortune on your head!”
  27. rage
    a feeling of intense anger
    Now we were trying so hard to catch all the language, not to miss a word, that we were surprised when at the height of her rage the woman stopped short.
  28. translate
    restate from one language into another language
    For us she found new words so bad we couldn’t translate them, although our Chinese was as good as our English.
  29. shrill
    having or emitting a high-pitched and sharp tone or tones
    As her voice grew more shrill, her neighbors did come to listen and look.
  30. insult
    treat, mention, or speak to rudely
    We were used to insults.
  31. revolution
    a single complete turn
    Young boys began picking up stones and hurling them at the wall.
  32. communist
    relating to socialism that abolishes private ownership
    Grown-ups were constantly talking about these war¬lords, hoping that one of them would finally bring the country together in peace.
  33. complicated
    difficult to analyze or understand
    It all sounded so complicated, I thought of my father when he was discouraged.
  34. apologize
    acknowledge faults or shortcomings or failing
    “But China’s so big,” he’d say, as if he were apologizing for having come so far and doing so little.
  35. character
    a property that defines the individual nature of something
    They were all alike—tall, castlelike cakes, each with white icing and pink characters that said LONG LIFE AND HAPPINESS and sprinkled all over with tiny silver pellets that my mother wouldn’t let me eat.
  36. missionary
    someone sent to a foreign country to spread a religion
    Eleven guests altogether: the Hulls, Lee, two elderly missionary ladies who would otherwise be alone at Christmas, and three sailors (whom we’d never met) from an American gunboat.
  37. congratulations
    an expression of approval and commendation
    This was the way Chinese offered congratulations on special occasions, and the greeting, as it was re¬peated, sounded like little bells tinkling.
  38. distributed
    spread out or scattered about or divided up
    My father lighted the tree and he distributed the first gifts of the day—red envelopes filled with money for the servants.
  39. pagoda
    an Asian temple
    When I had finished, I was sitting inside a circle of presents: four books, a fountain pen, an Uncle Wiggily game, a stamp album, a skipping rope, a pocketbook, a bracelet, a paperweight with snow falling inside, and best of all, the “pound of but¬ter” present—a box of pale blue stationery with my name JEAN GUTTERY and HANKOW, CHINA printed in gold at the top with a little gold pagoda at each side.
  40. stationery
    paper cut to an appropriate size for writing letters
    When I had finished, I was sitting inside a circle of presents: four books, a fountain pen, an Uncle Wiggily game, a stamp album, a skipping rope, a pocketbook, a bracelet, a paperweight with snow falling inside, and best of all, the “pound of but¬ter” present—a box of pale blue stationery with my name JEAN GUTTERY and HANKOW, CHINA printed in gold at the top with a little gold pagoda at each side.
  41. earnest
    characterized by a firm, sincere belief in one's opinions
    3
    ONCE THE REVOLUTION BEGAN IN EARNEST IN Hankow, it was impossible to ignore it.
  42. harangue
    a loud bombastic declamation expressed with strong emotion
    There were demonstrations and marches and agitators haranguing about how foreign¬ers ought to be kicked out of China and how poor people should take money from the rich.
  43. foreign
    not deriving from the essential nature of something
    He shouted about the Y.M.C.A. being a foreign organization with a foreigner in charge who should be run out of town.
  44. riot
    a state of disorder involving group violence
    Occasionally there were riots.
  45. wail
    a cry of sorrow and grief
    Oh, Grandma, I thought, that is the same moon and the same stars that will be over your grape arbor and your henhouse tomorrow.
  46. upheaval
    a violent disturbance
    There was upheaval all around me that spring, and although it was often scary, it was also hazy, like pas¬sages in a book that you just skim over.
  47. transfer
    move from one place to another
    My father came home one evening with the news that Mr. Hull had been transferred to the Shanghai Y.M.C.A.
  48. modern
    ahead of the times
    Since we didn’t have a modern bathroom, he’d shave over an enamel basin and use hot water from a pitcher.
  49. steep
    having a sharp inclination
    Two coolies, one in front and one in back (four or even six coolies if the person were heavy), carried the shafts of your chair up a narrow, pebbly, dirt path that twisted its way up the steep mountain.
  50. pith
    spongelike central cylinder of the stems of flowering plants
    We all wore pith helmets to protect us from the sun except Lin Nai-Nai who wore a Chi¬nese straw hat.
  51. procession
    the act of moving forward, as toward a goal
    One of the priests led our procession; my mother came next, then my father, me, the other priest, and Lin Nai-Nai.
  52. favor
    an act of gracious kindness
    The muscles bulged in the legs of my father’s coolies and the sweat poured down their bodies.
  53. mention
    make reference to
    “Yes. You and Mrs. Jordan can go together. Or you and Lin Nai-Nai. But I want you to remember one thing. You mustn’t worry Mother. If something goes wrong or if you don’t feel well, just don’t mention it. We want her to get well fast. All right?”
  54. immortal
    not subject to death
    Every time I saw the baby in the next few days, I thought she looked more and more like a Marjorie, but I knew that was a lost cause.
  55. altar
    a raised structure on which sacrifices to a god are made
    “I think it’s a nice Bible name,” I said primly.
  56. furious
    marked by extreme anger
    Not grief.
  57. pulpit
    a platform raised to give prominence to the person on it
    Standing up in a pulpit and saying death was a glory!
  58. glory
    brilliant, radiant beauty
    In fact, she was probably still getting used to her being born.
Created on Thu May 26 18:52:54 EDT 2016 (updated Mon Sep 24 15:46:01 EDT 2018)

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