Breaking Through: "Forced Out"–"Together Again"

by Francisco Jiménez
In this memoir, Francisco Jiménez details his family's experiences as Mexican immigrants in the United states during the 1950s and 1960s.

This list covers "Forced Out"–"Together Again."

Here are links to our lists for the memoir: List 1, List 2, List 3
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. barren
    providing no shelter or sustenance
    It all started back in the late 1940s when Papá, Mamá, my older brother, Roberto, and I left El Rancho Blanco, a small village nestled on barren, dry hills several miles north of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, and headed to California, hoping to leave our life of poverty behind.
  2. outskirts
    area relatively far from the center, as of a city or town
    She drove us, for a fee, to a tent labor camp on the outskirts of Guadalupe, a small town on the coast.
  3. barrack
    a building or group of buildings to house military personnel
    We settled in Bonetti Ranch, where we had lived in army barracks off and on for the past few years.
  4. preamble
    a preliminary introduction, as to a statute or constitution
    I was getting ready to recite the preamble to the Declaration of Independence, which our class had to memorize.
  5. unalienable
    incapable of being repudiated or transferred to another
    We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness...
  6. dilapidated
    in a state of decay, ruin, or deterioration
    When we arrived at Bonetti Ranch, a Border Patrol van was parked in front of our house, which was one of many dilapidated army barracks that Bonetti, the owner of the ranch, bought after the Second World War and rented to farm workers.
  7. sharecropper
    a tenant farmer who owes a portion of each harvest for rent
    Papá showed them his green card, which Ito, the Japanese sharecropper for whom we picked strawberries, had helped him get years before.
  8. relish
    derive or receive pleasure from
    I relished the thought of returning to Santa Maria, going back to school, and not fearing la migra anymore.
  9. jalopy
    a car that is old and unreliable
    We packed a few belongings, stored the rest in our barrack, and left our Carcachita, our old jalopy, locked and parked in front.
  10. adobe
    sun-dried brick used in hot dry climates
    We went by adobe houses with no front yards and unpaved streets.
  11. counter
    speak in response
    “The two tangled together? They look like two people in shock.”
    “No, viejo,” she countered. “They look like two people hugging each other.” Mamá continued pointing out other cactuses to Papá until he got tired and refused to respond.
  12. pelt
    rain heavily
    Raindrops pelted the window, making it hard to fall asleep.
  13. linoleum
    a floor covering made from linseed oil, cork, and resin
    We took the sagging mattress off the bed and placed it on the worn yellow linoleum floor so Papá and Mamá could sleep on it.
  14. listless
    marked by low spirits; showing no enthusiasm
    That night I felt listless and had a hard time sleeping.
  15. bracero
    a Mexican laborer working in the U.S. for a limited time
    I recalled the bracero who everyone thought had tuberculosis.
  16. tuberculosis
    infection transmitted by inhalation or ingestion of bacilli
    We thought he had tuberculosis because he was skinny as a rail and often coughed blood. We called him El Tuberculosis.
  17. feebleminded
    deficient in intellectual development
    “What about mental conditions: feeble-mindedness, insanity, psychopathic personality, epilepsy, narcotic drug addiction, chronic alcoholism?”
  18. stern
    serious and harsh in manner or behavior
    Papá gave them a stern look and told them to sit and be quiet.
  19. makeshift
    done or made using whatever is available
    On the side of the station was a makeshift open stand braced by four posts.
  20. torrential
    relating to or resulting from the action of a downpour
    We took a cab to Bonetti Ranch, where we were welcomed by a torrential downpour and a pack of bony stray dogs.
  21. stoop
    bend one's back forward from the waist on down
    We thinned lettuce using a short hoe. When our backs hurt from stooping over, we thinned on our knees.
  22. furrow
    a long shallow trench in the ground
    To ease the pain, we took turns lying flat on our stomachs in the furrows and pressing down on each other’s backs with our hands.
  23. savor
    derive or receive pleasure from
    I savored the thought of helping Roberto clean Main Street School and not having to work in the fields any longer after school.
  24. bust
    a sculpture of the head and shoulders of a person
    From that day on, Roberto hid the cash inside a chipped ceramic bust of Jesus Christ that we had found in the public dump.
  25. bicker
    argue over petty things
    Sometimes I imagined hearing the laughter and bickering of my brothers and sister.
  26. insist
    be emphatic or resolute and refuse to budge
    Papá insisted on our being respectful and respected. “If you respect others, they will respect you,” he often said.
  27. melancholy
    characterized by or causing or expressing sadness
    His slow songs were melancholy, like some Mexican ranchera songs.
  28. clammy
    unpleasantly cool and humid
    My hands were cold and clammy.
  29. blare
    make a loud noise
    The music blared and vibrated throughout the building, which was set up like a theater.
  30. frequent
    be a regular visitor to a certain place
    We wanted to surprise them when they came home, so we frequented the public dump on early Saturday evenings to look for discarded paint and linoleum to brighten the inside of our house.
  31. hysterical
    marked by excessive or uncontrollable emotion
    Trampita, Rorra, and Torito jumped up and down and ran around Papá, Mamá, Roberto, and me, in a circle, laughing hysterically, touching our legs and bumping into one another.
  32. sheepishly
    in a manner showing embarrassment or shame
    “He was playing ball with his cousins out in the street. Luckily, he was not seriously hurt, but it scared us.” Trampita grinned and shrugged his shoulders sheepishly.
  33. corral
    a pen for cattle
    It had a dirt floor and no electricity. Behind it was a corral where she raised chickens and pigs.
  34. incense
    a substance that produces a fragrant odor when burned
    In the opposite corner was an altar with the Virgen de Guadalupe. It was surrounded with small, lit candles, pieces of clothing, wreaths, dried flowers, burning incense, and holy cards.
  35. hesitant
    unable to act or decide quickly or firmly
    “I am not sure,” I answered hesitantly. “Maybe you imagined it. Besides, how do we know he really exists?”
Created on Fri Apr 08 09:31:49 EDT 2022 (updated Mon Apr 18 08:49:53 EDT 2022)

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