The Bell Jar: Chapters 13-16

by Sylvia Plath
This semi-autobiographical novel chronicles a young woman's struggle with depression.

Here are our lists for the novel: Chapters 1-4, Chapters 5-8, Chapters 9-12, Chapters 13-16, Chapters 17-20

Here are our lists for poems by Sylvia Plath: "Morning Song", "Mushrooms"
15 words 177 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. fiasco
    a complete failure or collapse
    I wondered, after the...fiasco, if I shouldn't just give it up and turn myself over to the doctors, and then I remembered Doctor Gordon and his private shock machine.
  2. superfluous
    serving no useful purpose; having no excuse for being
    I felt silly in my sage-green volunteer's uniform, and superfluous, unlike the white-uniformed doctors and nurses, or even the brown-uniformed scrubwomen with their mops and their buckets of grimy water, who passed me without a word.
  3. credo
    any system of principles or beliefs
    "Do you think they'll take somebody like you, right off the bat? Why you've got to know all these catechisms and credos and believe in them, lock, stock and barrel. A girl with your sense!"
  4. stagnant
    not circulating or flowing
    It lay at the outskirts of the town, on low ground, like a rubbish dump, and as I walked up and down the gravel paths, I could smell the stagnant salt marshes in the distance.
  5. reproachful
    expressing disapproval, blame, or disappointment
    She looked loving and reproachful, and I wanted her to go away.
  6. conglomeration
    a sum total of many varied things taken together
    The most startling thing about the face was its supernatural conglomeration of bright colors.
  7. wistfully
    in a pensively sad manner
    Now Mrs. Tomolillo was sitting with her index finger on her cheek and her thumb under her chin, and her head tilted wistfully to one side.
  8. tureen
    a large deep serving dish with a cover
    Then he carried a tray over to our table with three lidded tin tureens on it, and started banging the tureens down.
  9. shard
    a broken piece of a brittle artifact
    Around the overturned enamel tray, a star of thermometer shards glittered, and balls of mercury trembled like celestial dew.
  10. baleful
    threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments
    The second nurse fixed me with a baleful eye.
  11. replica
    copy that is not the original
    If I dropped it, it would break into a million little replicas of itself, and if I pushed them near each other, they would fuse, without a crack, into one whole again.
  12. threadbare
    thin and tattered with age
    Finally I arrived at a big lounge with shabby furniture and a threadbare rug.
  13. lobotomy
    surgery on nerves to and from the frontal lobe of the brain
    "Do you know what these scars are?" Valerie persisted.
    "No. What are they?"
    "I've had a lobotomy."
    I looked at Valerie in awe, appreciating for the first time her perpetual marble calm. "How do you feel?"
  14. blithely
    in a joyous, carefree, or unconcerned manner
    The nurse went on blithely opening and shutting my drawers, emptying the closet and folding my belongings into the black overnight case.
  15. jodhpurs
    flared pants ending at the calves and worn with riding boots
    The big, horsey girl in jodhpurs sitting by the window glanced up with a broad smile.
Created on Wed Oct 11 10:12:10 EDT 2017 (updated Tue Aug 05 15:16:11 EDT 2025)

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