Ninth Ward: List 1: Sunday–Tuesday

by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Twelve-year-old Lanesha and her caretaker, both endowed with supernatural gifts, must fight to survive when Hurricane Katrina hits New Orleans.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1: Sunday–Tuesday; List 2: Wednesday–Friday; List 3: Saturday–Still Sunday; List 4: Monday–Monday Isn't Over; List 5: Tuesday

Here are links to our lists for other books by Jewell Parker Rhodes: Towers Falling, Ghost Boys
40 words 250 learners

Learn words with Flashcards and other activities

Definition First
Print Flashcards

Other learning activities

Answer a few questions about each word. Use this to prep for your next quiz! Compete with other teams in real time to see who answers the most questions correctly! Test your spelling acumen. Read the definition, listen to the word and try spelling it!

Teaching tools

Create and assign quizzes to your students to test their vocabulary. Assign learning activities including Practice, Vocabulary Jams and Spelling Bees to your students, and monitor their progress in real-time.

Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. membrane
    a sheet of tissue that lines or connects organs or cells
    I would’ve died, too, if Mama Ya-Ya hadn’t sliced the bloody membrane from my face.
  2. wail
    a cry of sorrow and grief
    I let out a wail when she parted the caul, letting in first air, first light.
  3. grace
    the free and unmerited favor or beneficence of God
    “Everybody in Louisiana knows there be spirits walking this earth. All kinds of ghosts you can’t see, not unless they want you to. But you, child, you see them. You’ve got the sight. It’s grace to see both worlds,” she says as we wash our birthday dishes, sticky with bits of jambalaya.
  4. jambalaya
    spicy Creole dish of rice, meat, and vegetables
    We chopped ham and onions for the jambalaya; then we played cards while the rice cooked.
  5. synopsis
    a sketchy summary of the main points of an argument
    We don’t have Shakespeare plays, just these little booklets that tell us about the plays. Synopses, my teacher calls them.
  6. tragedy
    drama exciting terror or pity
    Instead, I go to the library and try to read The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, but it’s too hard. I looked up tragedy in my pocket dictionary. Mama Ya-Ya gave it to me for my birthday last year. TRAGEDY: A CHARACTER IS BROUGHT TO RUIN OR SUFFERS EXTREME SORROWS.
  7. cursive
    handwriting in which letters are connected within words
    I like practicing cursive. It makes me feel grown.
  8. holler
    call out loudly
    If I wanted to wake her, all I’d need to say is “Oprah” and she’d be wide-awake, hollering for her Coke-bottle glasses and for me to turn on the TV.
  9. patience
    good-natured tolerance of delay or incompetence
    “Mr. Death is losing patience. He’ll come and ferry me down the Mississippi. I’ll put on my feathered hat. Wave like I’m in a Mardi Gras parade.”
  10. flutter
    move back and forth very rapidly
    I stroke Mama Ya-Ya’s hand. Her head lifts; her eyes flutter.
  11. ebony
    hard dark-colored wood used to make furniture
    Her cane is shiny ebony with an ivory skull on top.
  12. altar
    a raised structure on which sacrifices to a god are made
    Mama Ya-Ya’s altar is in the far corner.
  13. flicker
    shine unsteadily
    It is a small table filled with flickering candles and statues of Catholic saints and voodoo gods.
  14. churn
    be agitated
    My favorite is the picture of a steamboat churning up the Mississippi.
  15. shifting
    changing position or direction
    Unlike dirt, water seems alive, moving and shifting, always making lapping sounds against the boat and shore.
  16. spiritual
    concerned with or affecting the soul
    That’s spiritual strength. Real strength, Lanesha. Some people doubt it because they can’t see it on the outside.
  17. delicate
    easily broken or damaged or destroyed
    Like butterflies. To most folks, they seem delicate. But the truth is, butterflies keep changing, no matter what, going from ugly worm to hard cocoon to strong wings.
  18. dignity
    the quality of being worthy of esteem or respect
    “Always look for the signs, Lanesha,” she said. “Even flowers. Magnolias mean dignity. Beauty.”
  19. wispy
    lacking clarity or distinctness
    Ghosts. Here, now. Always. They’re soft, wispy. I can put my hand through them.
  20. cling
    hold on tightly or tenaciously
    TaShon, the last baby she birthed, was born with extra fingers. Two little bumps growing out of the sides of his hands. Mama Ya-Ya tried to tell everyone it was a good sign, saying, “He’ll cling hard to life.”
  21. pitiful
    deserving or inciting compassion
    “Because of you,” said the pitiful mother. It was easier for everyone to believe the mother. To doubt the strength of Mama Ya-Ya’s roots and herbs.
  22. ignorant
    uneducated in general; lacking knowledge or sophistication
    The ignorant say, “Witch’s spawn.”
  23. midwife
    a woman skilled in aiding the delivery of babies
    One baby dead, one born with a caul, and one trying to grow twelve fingers—it was enough for all the would-be mothers to go to Charity. No time for a midwife anymore.
  24. wharf
    dock at a platform for incoming ships
    His dad works hard all day at the wharf.
  25. gospel
    a genre of evangelical Christian music
    Nights, when she isn’t working, she sings gospel at the New Life Church, a few blocks over.
  26. endure
    continue to live through hardship or adversity
    “Class,” she says, “today’s vocabulary word is fortitude. ‘Strength to endure.’”
  27. fortitude
    strength of mind that enables one to endure adversity
    Maybe, like me, TaShon loves words, too. Fortitude is three syllables. Three is a powerful number. It means life. It means making peace with your thoughts, words, and deeds.
  28. suspension
    the act of hanging something from above so it moves freely
    A beautiful red bridge rises out of the mist over water.
    “The Golden Gate.”
    “Why’s it called that?”
    “I don’t know. You could find out. It’s a suspension bridge.”
  29. suspense
    apprehension about what is going to happen
    I know what suspense means. But what does it mean for a bridge? What does it mean in math?
  30. brine
    water containing salts
    I smell fish, brine from the Gulf, algae from the Mississippi, and somebody frying catfish.
  31. algae
    primitive chlorophyll-containing aquatic organisms
    I smell fish, brine from the Gulf, algae from the Mississippi, and somebody frying catfish.
  32. taunt
    harass with persistent criticism or carping
    Some boys are dragging someone into the alley. Taunting, kicking. Punching.
  33. scowl
    frown with displeasure
    Max scowls at him to shut up.
  34. cackle
    emit a loud, unpleasant kind of laughing
    Eddie and Lavon coo, cackle with laughter.
  35. loll
    hang loosely or laxly
    The dog looks at me, its tongue lolling.
  36. matted
    tangled in a dense mass
    It’s a mess, matted hair—more black than brown—big paws, but its body is still small.
  37. bulge
    swell or protrude outwards
    It’s still a pup, with bulging brown eyes and short, rangy hair.
  38. defiant
    boldly resisting authority or an opposing force
    “He should’ve stopped you from getting that black eye, then. What is it? Some kind of lab-terrier mix?”
    “German shepherd,” says TaShon, defiant.
  39. exasperated
    greatly annoyed; out of patience
    I am exasperated. I learned that word from my dictionary. Exasperated as in annoyed.
  40. pastel
    delicate and pale in color
    The houses are painted in pastel colors—pink, yellow, blue, and green. A few are white. Only our house is peach. Pastel colors are supposed to be cool, but all of us are sweating just the same.
Created on Thu Dec 21 17:44:56 EST 2017 (updated Mon Jun 25 16:38:32 EDT 2018)

Sign up now (it’s free!)

Whether you’re a teacher or a learner, Vocabulary.com can put you or your class on the path to systematic vocabulary improvement.