"Sparky"

Good grief! See the list of woes that a cartoonist went through before succeeding in his dream (based on a biographical sketch by Earl Nightingale).

Here are all the word lists to support the reading of Grade 11 Unit 4's texts from SpringBoard's Common Core ELA series: Self-Reliance, Where I Lived, poems about transcendental thinking, All I Really Need to Know, Into the Wild (excerpts), Into the Wild, A View from Mount Ritter, multi-genre research project sample, Sparky, Charles M. Schulz
10 words 5 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. flunk
    fail to get a passing grade
    Sparky also flunked Latin, algebra, and English.
  2. promptly
    at once (usually modifies an undesirable occurrence)
    Although he did manage to make the school's golf team, he promptly lost the only important match of the season.
  3. consolation
    the comfort you feel when soothed in times of disappointment
    There was a consolation match; he lost that, too.
  4. awkward
    socially uncomfortable; unsure and constrained in manner
    Throughout his youth Sparky was awkward socially.
  5. astonished
    filled with the emotional impact of overwhelming surprise
    He was astonished if a classmate ever said hello to him outside of school hours.
  6. mediocrity
    ordinariness as a consequence of being average
    Otherwise he would content himself with what appeared to be his inevitable mediocrity.
  7. appreciate
    hold dear
    Of course, no one else appreciated it.
  8. convinced
    having a strong belief or conviction
    Sparky was so convinced of his ability that he decided to become a professional artist.
  9. chronic
    habitual
    He described his childhood self--a little boy loser and chronic underachiever.
  10. reject
    refuse to accept
    For Sparky, the boy who had such lack of success in school and whose work was rejected again and again was Charles Schulz.
Created on Sun Nov 16 01:50:07 EST 2014 (updated Mon Nov 17 03:32:19 EST 2014)

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