Gathering Blue: Chapters 18-23

by Lois Lowry
In Kira's village, those who are weak or disabled are usually abandoned and left to die. Lame in one leg, Kira is saved only because the village's Council of Elders wishes to exploit her gift for weaving.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1-5, Chapters 6-11, Chapters 12-17, Chapters 18-23

Explore other lists of The Giver Quartet here.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. assuage
    provide physical relief, as from pain
    At night, before she slept, Kira held the scrap of cloth that had so often assuaged her fears and even answered her questions.
  2. interminable
    tiresomely long; seemingly without end
    For a moment she thought of asking him about the captive child below, the Singer of the future, who was being forced to learn the interminable Song.
  3. derisive
    expressing contempt or ridicule
    She remembered the derisive voice of one of the weavers only a few days before.
  4. hesitant
    unable to act or decide quickly or firmly
    Her smile, hesitant at first, quickly became both self-confident and infectious.
  5. engulf
    flow over or cover completely
    The Singer was in a quiet section now, one of those times following a great world disaster in which ice—white and gray sheets of it, made with small stitches so that it had no texture but instead an eerie, glistening smoothness—had engulfed the villages.
  6. lapse
    a break or intermission in the occurrence of something
    Then, feeling guilty at her lapse in attention, she turned and began to watch the stage and the Singer again.
  7. coincide
    be the same
    This part of the Song coincided with her own feelings at the moment.
  8. suffuse
    become overspread as with a fluid, a color, or light
    Then, while Matt watched with delight and pride suffusing his face, she unfolded it and held it to the window light.
  9. formality
    a requirement of etiquette or custom
    This time they were ushered in and took their seats with less formality; there was no need for the chief guardian to introduce them to the villagers.
  10. upheaval
    a violent disturbance
    He simply stood gazing with intensity at the populace, the people for whom the Song was an entire history, the story of their upheavals, failures, and mistakes, as well as the telling of new tries and hopes.
  11. solemnity
    a trait of dignified seriousness
    She stood by his side and beamed with satisfaction, waving one small arm in the air, while the people, released now from their solemnity, whistled and stamped their feet in appreciation.
  12. wary
    marked by keen caution and watchful prudence
    I should have been wary, though. I knew that I had enemies.
  13. envious
    painfully desirous of another's advantages
    I knew he was bitterly envious.
  14. cadence
    a recurrent rhythmical series
    They used our language, but with a different lilt, a slight change of cadence.
  15. renegade
    someone who rebels and becomes an outlaw
    She watched through the darkness as the blind man, the renegade boy, and the bent-tailed dog set off down the path.
Created on Mon Feb 16 20:16:13 EST 2015 (updated Wed Jul 30 14:54:19 EDT 2025)

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