Go Set a Watchman: Part 6

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. rectitude
    righteousness as a consequence of being honorable and honest
    Mr. Cunningham, a man of uncompromising rectitude, had given her a pint free of charge for having guessed his name yesterday, one of the tiny things she adored about Maycomb: people remembered their promises.
  2. solace
    comfort offered to one who is disappointed or miserable
    In those days when it was fashionable to court across the river, Jem was so helplessly in love with a girl from Abbott County he seriously considered spending his senior year at Abbottsville High, but was discouraged by Atticus, who put his foot down and solaced Jem by advancing him sufficient funds to purchase a Model-A coupe.
  3. oblivious
    lacking conscious awareness of
    Jem painted his car bright black, achieved the effect of whitewalled tires with more paint, kept his conveyance polished to perfection, and motored to Abbottsville every Friday evening in quiet dignity, oblivious to the fact that his car sounded like an oversized coffee mill, and that wherever he went hound dogs tended to congregate in large numbers.
  4. consult
    get or ask advice from
    She consulted Calpurnia, who said nobody could do anything about her shape, that’s just the way she was, which was the way all girls more or less were when they were fourteen.
  5. loathe
    dislike intensely; feel disgust toward
    ...Nothing to it. . . like chess . . . just concentrate . . . no,no,no, tuck in your butt. . . you’re not playing tackle . . . loathe ballroom dancing ... too much like work ... don’t try to lead me . . . when he steps on your foot it’s your own fault for not moving...
  6. assessment
    the act of judging a person or situation or event
    Jem had been voted Most Handsome in the senior class, a reasonable assessment: he had his mother’s calflike brown eyes, the heavy Finch eyebrows, and even features.
  7. appurtenance
    a supplementary component that improves capability
    With furious, disinterested fingers, Henry reached beneath the neck of her dress, drew out the offending appurtenances, and flung them as far as he could into the night.
  8. tranquil
    not agitated
    “Your status as I see it, Hank,” said Jem, tranquilly ignoring his sister, “is you’ll be damned if you do and damned if you don’t.”
  9. equanimity
    steadiness of mind under stress
    She endured grins and friendly winks with equanimity—they almost made her feel better.
  10. contemporary
    a person of nearly the same age as another
    It's grown people who always believe the worst, she thought, confident that her contemporaries believed no more nor less than what Jem and Hank had circulated.
  11. gallant
    having or displaying great dignity or nobility
    He and Jem were awfully gallant for a while but she was right in the end.
  12. dialectic
    a contradiction of ideas that determines their interaction
    Normally there was nothing she enjoyed more than a row with Miss Muffett, who was so thick one could say almost anything to him provided one was careful to maintain a grave and sorrowful countenance, but today she had no taste for dialectics.
  13. impudence
    a disrespectful statement
    Mr. Tuffett gripped the edge of his desk and said between clenched teeth, “For that bit of impudence you may remain one hour after school, young lady!”
  14. balk
    refuse to proceed or comply
    He balked around for a while, said it was all a question of balancin’ the equities or something, that I was in an interesting but tenuous position.
  15. perjury
    criminal offense of making false statements under oath
    “Well, he said something about safety in numbers and if he were me he wouldn’t dream of connivin’ at perjury but so far as he knew all falsies looked alike, and that was about all he could do for me.
  16. aplomb
    great coolness and composure under strain
    Yes, it was she talking, with her customary aplomb, breaking his heart in the drugstore.
  17. prominence
    the state of being widely known or eminent
    A long time ago the Klan was respectable, like the Masons. Almost every man of any prominence was a member, back when Mr. Finch was young. Did you know Mr. Finch joined?
  18. motive
    the reason that arouses action toward a desired goal
    I’m trying to make you see his motive: all the Klan was then was a political force, there wasn’t any cross-burning, but your daddy did and still does get mighty uncomfortable around folks who cover up their faces.
  19. condemn
    express strong disapproval of
    A man can condemn his enemies, but it’s wiser to know them.
  20. hypocrite
    a person who professes beliefs that he or she does not hold
    Hypocrites have just as much right to live in this world as anybody.
  21. refuge
    a shelter from danger or hardship
    Her father’s office had always been a source of refuge for her.
  22. abstract
    a sketchy summary of the main points of an argument
    She wondered if those were the same abstracts, files, and professional impedimenta on his desk that were there when she would run in, out of breath, desperate for an ice cream cone, and request a nickel.
  23. neglect
    leave undone or leave out
    You neglected to tell me that we were naturally better than the Negroes, bless their kinky heads, that they were able to go so far but so far only, you neglected to tell me what Mr. O’Hanlon told me yesterday.
  24. invective
    abusive language used to express blame or censure
    Her wave of invective had crashed over him and still he sat there.
  25. insolent
    marked by casual disrespect
    I’ve never in my life seen you give that insolent, back-of-the-hand treatment half the white people down here give Negroes just when they’re talking to them, just when they ask ’em to do something.
Created on Sun Sep 20 16:44:47 EDT 2015 (updated Wed Sep 12 14:16:40 EDT 2018)

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