The Marvels: List 3

by Brian Selznick
Two separate stories—the first told in illustrations and the second in prose—combine to create a marvelous whole in this book from the Caldecott-winning author of The Invention of Hugo Cabret.

This list covers pages 525–603 in the 2015 Scholastic edition.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1, List 2, List 3

Here is a link to our lists for The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick.
40 words 62 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. accompany
    perform a supporting musical part
    A great noise accompanied the pictures in his head, a loud, roaring wind, and above it all, Joseph said, “Okay, then, tell me! How do you know the stories?”
  2. precision
    the quality of being exact
    Joseph looked around the room at all the objects placed with such care and precision.
  3. scaffold
    a temporary arrangement erected around a building
    Joseph felt as if he’d plummeted from a great height, as if he’d been standing on scaffolding that reached to the sky and the entire thing had crumbled beneath him.
  4. elaborate
    marked by complexity and richness of detail
    I started pretending Dad’s shop was in London, and I’d make up elaborate stories, until every object in the place had a story attached to it.
  5. amass
    collect or gather
    I’d amassed a huge collection of books about the city by that point, and one of my favourites was A Child of the Jago, about a terrible section of nineteenth-century London called Spitalfields.
  6. potential
    the inherent capacity for coming into being
    Even in the darkness, I knew it dated to the eighteenth century and it had incredible . . . potential.
  7. renovate
    restore to a previous or better condition
    I tracked down the owner of the abandoned house, and once the papers were all signed and it was mine, I arranged for Marcus to help me renovate.
  8. intricate
    having many complexly arranged elements; elaborate
    He showed me how he painted intricate blue glaze onto trays of tiles as if it was still the eighteenth century.
  9. armoire
    a large wardrobe or cabinet
    He brought with him old furniture he’d collected from plays he’d designed, and he started to fill our cupboards and armoires with old costumes from the theatre.
  10. archives
    collection of records especially about an institution
    And Billy introduced me to theatre archives, where I’d spend long afternoons looking at old costumes and poring through programmes, books, and photographs.
  11. technique
    a practical method or art applied to some particular task
    He taught Marcus how to reframe the ship, using actual techniques for building boats.
  12. mural
    a painting that is applied to a wall surface
    Of course, we’d both seen that mural a million times before, but for some reason, that night, I thought to myself, That’s Marcus!
  13. clever
    showing inventiveness and skill
    Speakers are hidden throughout the house. It’s quite clever, actually.
  14. install
    set up for use
    A friend of Billy’s from the theatre, a sound designer, helped us install it.
  15. reflect
    show an image of
    It reflected the room, creating a shadow world that was just out of reach, where Joseph could see another fireplace, and another fire.
  16. blissful
    completely happy and contented
    The roar outside grew and crested like a wave until, within a few minutes, it finally dissolved against the shore and left behind a blissful quiet that washed over Joseph and his uncle.
  17. flicker
    shine unsteadily
    Joseph looked at his uncle in the flickering golden glow of the fire, and his heart nearly broke with love.
  18. formal
    in accord with established conventions and requirements
    “Uncle Albert’s already arranged it, but he wanted me to deliver the formal invitations, because that’s how you have a proper dinner party.”
  19. shimmer
    shine with a weak or fitful light
    The black table was set for five, and everything sparkled and shimmered in the candlelight.
  20. extraordinary
    highly unusual or exceptional or remarkable
    “Your house is even more extraordinary than I remembered,” said Barbara.
  21. purpose
    the quality of being determined to do or achieve something
    But you saw something else in him, you gave him a purpose, you put him to work and set him in the right direction.
  22. gesture
    show, express, or direct through movement
    “And by god,” said Harry, his voice unexpectedly gaining strength as he gestured all around him. “Look what he helped you make!
  23. glimmer
    shine brightly, like a star or a light
    The dishes and crystal glasses that were spread across the table glimmered in the light, and morsels of unfinished food remained on the antique plates and serving trays.
  24. permanent
    continuing or enduring without marked change in status
    The house, and everything in it, had come to seem as permanent as the city itself.
  25. shard
    a broken piece of a brittle artifact
    And this shard from a teacup, which looks so much like the one you broke the other day? Maybe this one was owned by a king or a queen who sipped from it on their wedding night, or maybe it broke on the night of the Great Fire.
  26. fragment
    a piece broken off or cut off of something else
    But I’ll guarantee you this, every fragment you see here, every scrap, once had a story.
  27. catalogue
    a complete list of things, usually arranged systematically
    It’s like walking on an endless catalogue of lost stories.
  28. marvel
    something that causes feelings of wonder
    You are going to travel in a land of marvels.
  29. vacant
    not containing anyone or anything; unfilled or unoccupied
    To Joseph’s shock, it was now a huge vacant space littered with rubbish and a few piles of leftover packing crates.
  30. tropical
    relating to part of the Earth's surface with hot climate
    Joseph watched as the dining room turned itself into a tropical island in the middle of an ocean.
  31. device
    an instrumentality invented for a particular purpose
    Those lucky enough to enter it found a kind of “time travel device,” built painstakingly over many years.
  32. requiem
    a song or hymn of mourning as a memorial to a dead person
    Members of a local secondary school marching band, wearing rented tuxedoes and vintage top hats, practised a piece of the Mozart requiem, and children were given bouquets of flowers to carry.
  33. procession
    the action of a group moving ahead in regular formation
    At last, the music began and a procession formed.
  34. appraisal
    an expert estimation of the quality of something
    “I’m sure he’ll expect me to have an appraisal arranged before I leave.”
  35. tend
    have care of or look after
    “My uncle once told me the house was alive,” said Joseph. “He thought it was going to die when he died. He said he needed to tend it, and take care of it, and love it.
  36. wreck
    something or someone that has suffered ruin or dilapidation
    Look around. It’s a wreck.
  37. regret
    sadness associated with some wrong or disappointment
    Maybe Shakespeare was saying that even in a world where miracles can happen, there’s still going to be pain, and loss, and regret.
  38. scuttle
    move about or proceed hurriedly
    They had pulled aside the curtains and were watching a couple of mice scuttling in the shadows on the other side of the street.
  39. expanse
    a wide and open space or area, as of land, sea, or sky
    Looking out across the glistening black expanse was like looking across the dark ocean, and he could see his reflection in it.
  40. miraculous
    having the character of an amazing or wonderful occurrence
    If that were to happen, Joseph thought, Leo might find himself telling his children about how, when he was young, he’d rescued his grandfather from a burning theatre, and Frankie might send Joseph a postcard from somewhere exotic, and Blink might suddenly appear with a book in his now-steady hands, upstairs in Albert’s house, which had miraculously survived into the future.
Created on Mon Aug 15 17:10:55 EDT 2016 (updated Mon Oct 01 15:28:28 EDT 2018)

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