Faulkner's INTRUDER IN THE DUST

Christian Kiefer (United States of America)
I hadn't thought of doing this until I was about 2/3 of the way through this novel, but it's still a good exercise. Faulkner has his own particular bag of words he continues to dig into, so I'm doubtful starting this earlier in my reading would have made a huge difference. Still--I wonder!

Page numbers (if they are listed at all) are from the most recent paperback edition (Vintage).
17 words 3 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. peignoir
    a loose dressing gown for women
    "...with something of that frantic desperation of the wife flinging her peignoir over the lover's forgotten glove" (171).
  2. repudiate
    refuse to acknowledge, ratify, or recognize as valid
    "...the umbilicus of America joining the soil which was his home to the parent which these generations ago it had failed in blood to repudiate" (148). Faulkner loves "repudate" and uses it in his Faulkneresque way often with wild abandon.
  3. demarcation
    the boundary of a specific area
    172
  4. wimple
    a headdress of cloth
    173
  5. systole
    the contraction of the chambers of the heart
    192
  6. diastole
    heartbeat phase when the heart relaxes and fills with blood
    192
  7. pretermission
    letting pass without notice
    189
  8. expiation
    compensation for a wrong
    189
  9. inviolable
    incapable of being transgressed or dishonored
    "...inviolable confraternity of namelessness..." (198). I have no idea what that means, but I like it anyway.
  10. indubitable
    too obvious to be doubted
  11. subaltern
    British commissioned army officer below the rank of captain
    200
  12. vainglory
    outspoken conceit
    203
  13. indefatigable
    showing sustained enthusiasm with unflagging vitality
    203
  14. viceregal
    of or relating to a viceroy
    206
  15. cynosure
    something that provides guidance
    207
  16. suttee
    the act of a Hindu widow willingly cremating herself on the funeral pyre of her dead husband
    209
  17. arrogate
    seize and take control without authority
    210
Created on Wed Jul 29 22:30:25 EDT 2009 (updated Wed Jul 29 22:37:38 EDT 2009)

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