"The Open Window"

In the short story by Saki, an open window is both a literal part of the room as well as a figurative opportunity for a young girl to play a joke on a stranger. As a reader, you can use this list as a window into the minds of the three characters.

Here are all the word lists to support the reading of Grade 8 Unit 4's texts from SpringBoard's Common Core ELA series: Made You Laugh, Brothers, Pet Peeves, Underfunded Schools Forced to Cut, The Open Window, A Day's Work, They Have Yarns, Mooses, Is Traffic Jam Delectable?, The Power of Pets, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Fear Busters
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. self-possessed
    calm, composed, and fully in control of oneself
    "My aunt will be down presently, Mr. Nuttel," said a very self-possessed young lady of fifteen; "in the meantime, you must try and put up with me."
  2. duly
    in an appropriate or proper manner
    Framton Nuttel endeavoured to say the correct something which should duly flatter the niece of the moment without unduly discounting the aunt that was to come.
  3. succession
    a group of people or things arranged or following in order
    Privately he doubted more than ever whether these formal visits on a succession of total strangers would do much towards helping the nerve cure which he was supposed to be undergoing.
  4. rural
    living in or characteristic of farming or country life
    "I know how it will be," his sister had said when he was preparing to migrate to this rural retreat
  5. mope
    be apathetic, gloomy, or dazed
    you will bury yourself down there and not speak to a living soul, and your nerves will be worse than ever from moping.
  6. communion
    sharing thoughts and feelings
    "Do you know many of the people round here?" asked the niece, when she judged that they had had sufficient silent communion.
  7. regret
    sadness associated with some wrong or disappointment
    He made the last statement in a tone of distinct regret.
  8. habitation
    the act of dwelling in or living permanently in a place
    An undefinable something about the room seemed to suggest masculine habitation.
  9. tragedy
    an event resulting in great loss and misfortune
    "It is quite warm for the time of the year," said Framton; "but has that window got anything to do with the tragedy?"
  10. bog
    wet spongy ground of decomposing vegetation
    In crossing the moor to their favourite snipe-shooting ground they were all three engulfed in a treacherous piece of bog.
  11. relief
    the condition of being comfortable or alleviated of distress
    It was a relief to Framton when the aunt bustled into the room with a whirl of apologies for being late in making her appearance.
  12. ghastly
    gruesomely indicative of death or the dead
    He made a desperate but only partially successful effort to turn the talk on to a less ghastly topic
  13. fragment
    an incomplete piece
    he was conscious that his hostess was giving him only a fragment of her attention, and her eyes were constantly straying past him to the open window and the lawn beyond.
  14. delusion
    a mistaken or unfounded opinion or idea
    "The doctors agree in ordering me complete rest, an absence of mental excitement, and avoidance of anything in the nature of violent physical exercise," announced Framton, who laboured under the tolerably wide-spread delusion that total strangers and chance acquaintances are hungry for the least detail of one's ailments and infirmities, their cause and cure.
  15. sympathetic
    expressing compassion or friendly fellow feelings
    Framton shivered slightly and turned towards the niece with a look intended to convey sympathetic comprehension.
  16. headlong
    in a hasty and foolhardy manner
    Framton grabbed wildly at his stick and hat; the hall-door, the gravel-drive, and the front gate were dimly-noted stages in his headlong retreat.
  17. imminent
    close in time; about to occur
    A cyclist coming along the road had to run into the hedge to avoid an imminent collision.
  18. mackintosh
    a waterproof raincoat made of rubberized fabric
    "Here we are, my dear," said the bearer of the white mackintosh
  19. pariah
    a person who is rejected from society or home
    He was once hunted into a cemetery somewhere on the banks of the Ganges by a pack of pariah dogs, and had to spend the night in a newly dug grave with the creatures snarling and grinning and foaming just above him.
  20. romance
    a novel with idealized events remote from everyday life
    Romance at short notice was her specialty.
Created on Tue Sep 15 16:35:23 EDT 2015 (updated Wed Sep 16 02:24:03 EDT 2015)

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