Excerpt from "Funny in Farsi"

Farsi is the national language of Iran, but it sounds funny in English because it is similar to "farce" ("a comedy characterized by broad satire"). In her memoir, Firoozeh Dumas uses humor to bridge the gap between American and Iranian cultures. Feast on this list for more fun with F.

Here are all the word lists to support the reading of Grade 10 Unit 2's texts from SpringBoard's Common Core ELA series: Where I'm From, Funny in Farsi, Kaffir Boy, Pick One, If You Are What You Eat, Persepolis, poems about parents, Hunger of Memory, Thanksgiving: A Personal History, Time to Assert American Values, Rough Justice, On Civil Disobedience, On Surrender at Bear Paw Mountain, On Women's Right to Vote, Declaration of the Rights of the Child, School's Out for Summer, One Word of Truth, Hope, Despair, and Memory
10 words 220 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. facilitate
    make easier
    To facilitate my adjustment, the principal arranged for us to meet my new teacher, Mrs. Sandberg, a few days before I started school.
  2. prestigious
    having an excellent reputation; respected
    My father carefully explained that I had attended a prestigious kindergarten where all the children were taught English.
  3. embarrassment
    some event that causes someone to be humiliated
    Until my first day at Leffingwell Elementary School, I had never thought of my mother as an embarrassment, but the sight of all the kids in the school staring at us before the bell rang was enough to make me pretend I didn't know her.
  4. precisely
    indicating exactness or accuracy
    Fortunately, she had figured out that we were precisely the kind of people who would need help finding the right classroom.
  5. attribute
    a characteristic that distinguishes objects or individuals
    Having an education ranked far below more desirable attributes such as the ability to serve tea or prepare baklava.
  6. awkward
    lacking grace or skill in manner or movement or performance
    After a few awkward attempts by my mother to find Iran on the map, Mrs. Sandberg finally understood that it wasn't my mother's lack of English that was causing a problem, but rather her lack of world geography.
  7. prefer
    select as an alternative over another
    My mother nodded her head, acting as if she had known the location all along but had preferred to keep it a secret.
  8. predicament
    an unpleasant or difficult situation
    As we stood pondering our predicament, an enthusiastic young girl came leaping out of her house and said something.
  9. akin
    similar in quality or character
    having us inside her house was probably akin to having the circus make a personal visit.
  10. futile
    producing no result or effect
    After making one last futile attempt at communication, they waved good-bye.
Created on Fri Oct 10 13:46:40 EDT 2014 (updated Mon Oct 13 15:08:52 EDT 2014)

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