Collection 6: Letter from Birmingham Jail

As you read Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail," learn this word list. Here are links to lists for texts in Grade 10's Collection 6: Letter from Birmingham Jail, Revolution 2.0, Letter to Viceroy, Lord Irwin, The Briefcase, Cloudy Day
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. cognizant
    having or showing knowledge or understanding or realization
  2. moratorium
    suspension of an ongoing activity
  3. retaliate
    make a counterattack and return like for like
  4. withdrawal
    the act of ceasing to participate in an activity
  5. Socrates
    ancient Athenian philosopher; teacher of Plato and Xenophon
  6. Reinhold Niebuhr
    United States Protestant theologian (1892-1971)
  7. segregation
    a social system that provides different facilities for minority groups
  8. St. Augustine
    one of the great Fathers of the early Christian church
  9. Thomas Aquinas
    (Roman Catholic Church) Italian theologian and Doctor of the Church who is remembered for his attempt to reconcile faith and reason in a comprehensive theology; presented philosophical proofs of the existence of God (1225-1274)
  10. Martin Buber
    Israeli religious philosopher
  11. Paul Tillich
    United States theologian (born in Germany) (1886-1965)
  12. Nebuchadnezzar
    (Old Testament) king of Chaldea who captured and destroyed Jerusalem and exiled the Israelites to Babylonia (630?-562 BC)
  13. Boston Tea Party
    demonstration (1773) by citizens of Boston who (disguised as Native Americans) raided three British ships in Boston harbor and dumped hundreds of chests of tea into the harbor; organized as a protest against taxes on tea
  14. freedom fighter
    a person who takes part in an armed rebellion against the constituted authority (especially in the hope of improving conditions)
  15. Ku Klux Klan
    a secret society of white Southerners in the United States
  16. precipitate
    bring about abruptly
  17. elegy
    a mournful poem; a lament for the dead
  18. psalm
    a sacred song used to praise a deity
  19. complacency
    the feeling you have when you are satisfied with yourself
  20. Elijah Muhammad
    leader of Black Muslims who campaigned for independence for Black Americans (1897-1975)
  21. manifest
    reveal its presence or make an appearance
  22. Zeitgeist
    the spirit of the time
  23. Amos
    a Hebrew shepherd and minor prophet
  24. Martin Luther
    German theologian who led the Reformation
  25. John Bunyan
    English preacher and author of an allegorical novel, Pilgrim's Progress (1628-1688)
  26. Calvary
    a hill near Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified
  27. mores
    the conventions embodying the fundamental values of a group
  28. ecclesiastical
    of or associated with a church
  29. provocation
    unfriendly behavior that causes anger or resentment
  30. James Meredith
    United States civil rights leader whose college registration caused riots in traditionally segregated Mississippi (born in 1933)
Created on Fri Jul 18 14:59:37 EDT 2014 (updated Thu Jan 11 11:39:05 EST 2018)

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