Go Set a Watchman: Part 4

by Harper Lee
This novel was author Harper Lee's first attempt at telling the story of Jean Louise Finch and her Southern childhood. After receiving feedback from her editor, Lee reworked the story into the widely beloved To Kill a Mockingbird. More than half a century after that novel's worldwide success, readers have a chance to see how it all began.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7

Here is a link to our lists for To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. attain
    reach a point in time, or a certain state or level
    There was a time, long ago, when the only peaceful moments of her existence were those from the time she opened her eyes in the morning until she attained full consciousness, a matter of seconds until when finally roused she entered the day’s wakeful nightmare.
  2. encumbered
    loaded to excess or impeded by a heavy load
    The next day she returned to school walking with extreme dignity, not prideful, but encumbered by accoutrements hitherto unfamiliar to her.
  3. confine
    restrict or limit
    When her activities were limited Jean Louise confined herself to gambling for small sums behind a coal pile in the rear of the school building.
  4. enterprise
    a purposeful or industrious undertaking
    The inherent dangerousness of the enterprise appealed to her far more than the game itself; she was not good enough at arithmetic to care whether she won or lost, there was no real joy in trying to beat the law of averages, but she derived some pleasure from deceiving Miss Blunt.
  5. render
    give or supply
    Her companions were the lazier of the Old Sarum boys, the laziest of whom was one Albert Coningham, a slow thinker to whom Jean Louise had rendered invaluable service during six-weeks’ tests.
  6. bemused
    perplexed by many conflicting situations or statements
    Jean Louise followed, bemused and faintly annoyed.
  7. surreptitiously
    in a secretive manner
    One morning, arriving late to the scene, she found the girls giggling more surreptitiously than usual and she demanded to know the reason.
  8. mores
    the conventions embodying the fundamental values of a group
    Jean Louise’s gleanings of adult morals and mores to date were few, but enough: it was possible to have a baby without being married, she knew that.
  9. disgrace
    a state of dishonor
    She had heard Alexandra go on at length about Disgraces to Families: disgrace involved being sent to Mobile and shut up in a Home away from decent people.
  10. overwhelm
    overcome, as with emotions or perceptual stimuli
    She was overwhelmed by the unfairness of it: she had meant no harm.
  11. intention
    an anticipated outcome that guides your planned actions
    Every morning she awakened full of catlike energy and the best intentions, every morning the dull dread returned; every morning she looked for the baby.
  12. taunt
    harass with persistent criticism or carping
    During the day it was never far from her immediate consciousness, intermittently returning at unsuspected moments, whispering and taunting her.
  13. reprieve
    postpone the punishment of a convicted criminal
    When she discovered that she had nine months to go before the baby came, she felt like a reprieved criminal.
  14. untenable
    incapable of being defended or justified
    Although her relations with Atticus and Jem had reached their lowest ebb (“You’re downright addled these days, Jean Louise,” her father had said. “Can’t you concentrate on anything five minutes?”), the thought of any existence without them, no matter how nice heaven was, was untenable.
  15. grudging
    petty or reluctant in giving or spending
    When speaking to her, Calpurnia’s voice was always a mixture of grudging affection and mild disapproval.
  16. notion
    an odd or fanciful or capricious idea
    “Where in the name of sense did you get a notion like that?”
  17. omit
    leave undone or leave out
    Between gulps, Jean Louise told her shame, omitting nothing, and begging that she not be sent to Mobile, stretched, or thrown against a wall.
  18. ignorant
    uneducated in general; lacking knowledge or sophistication
    “With all your book learnin’, you are the most ignorant child I ever did see ...”
  19. accumulation
    several things grouped together or considered as a whole
    As Jean Louise listened, her year’s collection of revolting information fell into a fresh crystal design; as Calpurnia’s husky voice drove out her year’s accumulation of terror, Jean Louise felt life return.
  20. contradict
    prove negative; show to be false
    “Right now your business is not to give any heed to what those folks from Old Sarum tell you—you ain’t called upon to contradict ’em, just don’t pay ’em any attention—and if you want to know somethin’, you just run to old Cal.”
  21. saunter
    walk leisurely and with no apparent aim
    “You know, if you get in trouble at school or anything—you just let me know. I’ll take care of you.”
    Jem sauntered from the livingroom, leaving Jean Louise wide-eyed and wondering if she were fully awake.
  22. austere
    severely simple
    On any other day she would have stood barefoot on the wet grass listening to the mockingbirds’ early service; she would have pondered over the meaninglessness of silent, austere beauty renewing itself with every sunrise and going ungazed at by half the world.
  23. succumb
    give in, as to overwhelming force, influence, or pressure
    She would have walked beneath yellow-ringed pines rising to a brilliant eastern sky, and her senses would have succumbed to the joy of the morning.
  24. rummage
    search haphazardly
    When concentrating it was his practice to finger his watch-chain and rummage abstractedly in his watchpocket.
  25. haughty
    having or showing arrogant superiority
    Calpurnia was sitting in a haughty dignity that appeared on state occasions, and with it appeared erratic grammar.
Created on Sun Sep 20 16:16:35 EDT 2015 (updated Wed Sep 12 14:16:05 EDT 2018)

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