The Inexplicable Logic of My Life: Parts Two–Three

by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Sal has always felt at home with his adoptive father, his beloved grandmother, and his best friend, Samantha. But as his senior year progresses, Sal struggles with volatile anger, unexpected tragedy, and changing relationships with friends and family.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Prologue–Part One, Parts Two–Three, Part Four–Epilogue
30 words 49 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. insistent
    repetitive and persistent
    “Maybe she’s home.” My dad was insistent.
  2. notion
    a vague idea in which some confidence is placed
    “Surely you must have some notion of what must have occurred.”
  3. cliche
    a trite or obvious remark
    “Did anybody ever tell you that you talk in clichés?”
  4. conscience
    conformity to one's own sense of right conduct
    Sam hardly ever made any promises. That way, her conscience was clear.
  5. weathered
    worn by exposure to the elements
    His skin was weathered from working in the sun, and he didn’t seem to give a damn about what anyone thought about him.
  6. impose
    inflict something unpleasant
    I sort of lived in a self-imposed exile for a good many years.
  7. acquired
    gotten through environmental forces
    I found a discussion: “Nature vs. Nurture in Psychology. This debate within psychology is concerned with the extent to which particular aspects of behavior are a product of either inherited (i.e., genetic) or acquired (i.e., learned) characteristics.”
  8. churn
    be agitated
    Me and my mom’s letter. I did not want to go there. Mima and cancer. I did not want to go there. Me and the changes I felt churning inside me. I did not want to go there.
  9. funk
    a state of nervous depression
    Sometimes, when Sam and her mother got into a catfight, Sam went into a funk.
  10. lexicon
    a language user's knowledge of words
    “Am I offending you, Sally?”
    “There are other words in your lexicon. Use your imagination.”
  11. pelt
    attack and bombard with or as if with missiles
    The wind and the rain pelting my window woke me up.
  12. bound
    move forward by leaping
    I bounded off the steps and hugged her.
  13. indiscriminate
    failing to make or recognize distinctions
    I always clicked on LIKE. I guess you could say I was an indiscriminate liker.
  14. relapse
    go back to bad behavior
    "...Hummingbirds were a phase. Well, you relapsed on that phase and it came back. But shoes. That’s chronic.”
  15. urn
    a large vase that usually has a pedestal or feet
    Sam held the urn that contained her mother’s ashes.
  16. miscellaneous
    consisting of a haphazard assortment of different kinds
    Dad and I cleared the closet of the crap we’d put there. Clothes we no longer wore, miscellaneous stuff we never got around to getting rid of.
  17. feisty
    quick to take offense
    I flipped him the bird and stared him down.
    “You’re feisty today,” Sam said.
  18. recidivism
    habitual relapse into crime
    “Pawnshops? You’ve already gone through that phase.”
    “Yeah, well, sometimes phases boomerang back.”
    “Fun. History repeating itself. It’s called recidivism.”
  19. empathy
    understanding and entering into another's feelings
    “Shut up, Sally. I’m going to ignore your lack of enthusiasm. I won’t interpret it as a lack of empathy for a person in my situation.”
  20. manipulative
    skillful in influencing others to one's own advantage
    “Sam, sometimes you really are shamelessly manipulative.”
  21. impress
    produce or try to produce a vivid mental image of
    “Because, as I’ve tried to impress upon you in the past, there’s a sad story behind every item that’s for sale in pawnshops.”
  22. hoard
    save up as for future use
    “Yeah, not like you, who hoards all his cash.”
    “I don’t hoard it. I save it.”
  23. exasperating
    extremely annoying or displeasing
    “You really would, wouldn’t you? You’d give me all that money?”
    “Sure I would.”
    “You are exasperatingly sweet.”
  24. plausible
    apparently reasonable, valid, or truthful
    “It’s a plausible scenario.”
  25. understatement
    something said in a restrained way for ironic contrast
    “He wasn’t very good with kids.”
    “That’s an understatement, Mr. V,” Sam said.
  26. frail
    physically weak
    Mima kissed Sam on the cheek, and I realized how frail and small Mima looked.
  27. domestic
    of or involving the home or family
    But I was getting a kick out of her first shot at being domestic. I watched her as she gave the sad flour tortilla she’d just rolled out a look of disgust.
  28. mangle
    alter so as to make unrecognizable
    "You mangled my list.”
  29. interject
    speak abruptly, especially as an interruption
    I noticed that my dad didn’t interject himself into the conversation.
  30. etiquette
    rules governing socially acceptable behavior
    “Do you ever chew your food? It’s not gonna run away, you know.”
    “What are you, Ms. Etiquette?..."
Created on Sun Nov 10 16:28:35 EST 2019 (updated Tue Nov 12 13:48:47 EST 2019)

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