Excerpt from FDR's First Inaugural Address

In the first of his four inaugural addresses, Franklin D. Roosevelt asserted that "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." He also punned on his first name to present hard truths to the country about the Great Depression.

Here are all the word lists to support the reading of Grade 11 Unit 2's texts from SpringBoard's Common Core ELA series: The Crucible, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, The New England Primer, The Trial of Martha Carrier, The Lessons of Salem, The Very Proper Gander, Declaration of Conscience, Why I Wrote The Crucible, Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, Speech to the Virginia Convention, The Gettysburg Address, FDR's First Inaugural Address , JFK's Inaugural Address
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. candor
    the quality of being honest and straightforward
    I am certain that my fellow Americans expect that on my induction into the Presidency I will address them with a candor and a decision which the present situation of our people impel.
  2. frank
    characterized by directness in manner or speech
    This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly.
  3. vigor
    active strength of body or mind
    In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory.
  4. critical
    being in or verging on a state of crisis or emergency
    I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days.
  5. wither
    shrink, as with a loss of moisture
    Values have shrunken to fantastic levels, taxes have risen; our ability to pay has fallen; government of all kinds is faced by serious curtailment of income; the means of exchange are frozen in the currents of trade; the withered leaves of industrial enterprise lie on every side; farmers find no markets for their produce; the savings of many years in thousands of families are gone.
  6. distress
    a state of adversity
    Yet our distress comes from no failure of substance.
  7. languish
    lose vigor, health, or flesh, as through grief
    Plenty is at our doorstep, but a generous use of it languishes in the very sight of the supply.
  8. unscrupulous
    without principles
    Practices of the unscrupulous money changers stand indicted in the court of public opinion, rejected by the hearts and minds of men.
  9. exhortation
    an earnest attempt at persuasion
    Stripped of the lure of profit by which to induce our people to follow their false leadership, they have resorted to exhortations, pleading tearfully for restored confidence.
  10. evanescent
    short-lived; tending to vanish or disappear
    The joy and moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits.
Created on Wed Nov 12 09:12:41 EST 2014 (updated Wed Nov 12 10:27:46 EST 2014)

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