Sincerely Sicily: Chapters 10–20

by Tamika Burgess
What starts as a sixth-grade assignment for Californian Sicily Jordan turns into a research journal and magazine article about her Black Panamanian roots.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–9, Chapters 10–20, Chapters 21–31
30 words 16 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. insist
    be emphatic or resolute and refuse to budge
    Before leaving, Ma insisted on showing
us how to wash and dry our clothes because she didn’t want
Abuela “breaking her machines”—Ma’s words, not mine.
  2. cringe
    draw back, as with fear, pain, or embarrassment
    My presentation plays for
the thousandth time in my head, and I cringe every time I
get to the part when everyone started to bombard me with
questions.
  3. bombard
    address continuously, as if with a barrage
    My presentation plays for
the thousandth time in my head, and I cringe every time I
get to the part when everyone started to bombard me with
questions.
  4. tender
    easy to cut or chew
    One
is filled with white rice, the other with bistec picado—beef
slow-cooked until it’s tender and has soaked up a mixture of
tomato sauce and chili pepper powder.
  5. peer
    look searchingly
    Slowly, I open the door a little and peer through the gap.
  6. canopy
    a covering (usually of cloth) that shelters an area
    Her circular bed has a canopy cloth thing
over the top of it that drapes down the sides, perfect for a
princess.
  7. extension
    an addition to the length of something
    “No, I braided fake hair extensions into my real hair in a circle around my head,” I say.
  8. unravel
    become undone
    When I braid my hair, I don’t need rubber bands. Ma or I
just braid the hair extensions down to the very end and then
dip the braids in boiling water, so the hair doesn’t unravel.
  9. stump
    walk heavily
    And we both listen to what sounds
like elephants stumping up her stairs.
  10. vanity
    low table with a mirror where one sits while dressing
    I follow her to the vanity mirror and start
pinning the two braids in opposite directions so they frame
her face.
  11. ample
    more than enough in size or scope or capacity
    “I’m thinking we
should change the submission due date so students have ample time to work on it.”
  12. spare
    save or relieve from an experience or action
    I spare Mr. Marconi all these details and simply add,
“I’ll settle on a topic soon.”
  13. meme
    a cultural idea or behavior passed from person to person
    “Anyways, let’s talk about something
important, like me figuring out what to write about for my
submission. You got any ideas?”
    “Hmm,” Reyna says. “Music, movies, memes. Maybe
something like that.”
  14. strain
    exert much effort or energy
    I roll my eyes so hard that I can feel my eyeballs strain.
  15. unbeknownst
    occurring or existing without the knowledge of
    My
heart kind of has this warm feeling, like Pa’s words filled
spaces within it that were, unbeknownst to me, empty.
  16. resistance
    group action in opposition to those in power
    With
a smile on his face, Pa continues, “Bayano is a source of pride
for us Panameños. He’s known as the Father of Resistance
because he never backed down. He represents strength.”
  17. dehumanize
    deprive of the positive qualities of a person
    Those who enslaved
the Cimarrones tried to dehumanize them with their words
and actions, but the Cimarrones were a strong-willed and
determined people.
  18. determined
    strongly motivated to succeed
    Those who enslaved
the Cimarrones tried to dehumanize them with their words
and actions, but the Cimarrones were a strong-willed and determined people.
  19. maintain
    have and exercise
    They escaped slavery and created their
own communities in Panamá’s jungles so they could maintain their freedom.
  20. descent
    properties attributable to your ancestry
    “African culture is a huge part of Panamá’s history and
ours. Even the Diablos Rojos buses you love riding in Panamá. Many Panamanians of West Indian descent painted
them.”
  21. coarse
    rough to the touch
    A crown sits on his thick, coarse hair,
and he wears a robe that gets changed twice a year.
  22. unkempt
    not neatly combed
    “Enrique walks around here with an unkempt Afro.
Some days it’s lopsided, others it has lint in it and smells of
that stinky spray that he uses. I want to grab him, put him in
the car, and drive him straight to the barbershop,” Pa says.
  23. sensitive
    being susceptible to the attitudes or feelings of others
    “Oh, it wasn’t that bad. She can handle it. My parents
used to say worse to me. Kids are too sensitive these days,”
Abuela says, waving her hand like she’s shooing a fly away.
  24. self-conscious
    excessively aware of your appearance or behavior
    I don’t want Sicily to feel self-conscious about the way she looks.
  25. priority
    status established in order of importance or urgency
    Since then, Carmen and I have made it a priority to make
sure Sicily is confident in who she is and confident about the
way she looks.
  26. accessory
    an article worn to complement one's main clothing
    “If I were to write anything
about clothes or accessories, I would do it like this.”
  27. indigenous
    originating where it is found
    This
article says he is credited with discovering the Pacific Ocean,
but that the Indigenous people of Panamá had already been
living there and knew of the Pacific as early as 12,000 BC.
  28. discrimination
    unfair treatment of a person or group based on prejudice
    Black canal workers experienced a lot of racial discrimination, and it affected how much they got paid.
  29. policy
    a plan of action adopted by an individual or social group
    It’s impossible to ignore that this policy was about race,
not ethnicity, because canal authorities tried their best to categorize the few African American workers who arrived as
silver employees rather than gold.
  30. malaria
    a disease caused by parasites transmitted by mosquito bite
    Worst of all, mosquitos carried and spread diseases like malaria and yellow fever.
Created on Fri Jun 21 11:35:20 EDT 2024 (updated Fri Jun 21 16:56:09 EDT 2024)

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