The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate: Chapters 1–2

by Jacqueline Kelly
The year is 1899, and 11-year-old Callie enjoys studying Darwin and exploring the natural world with her grandfather — but her traditional mother wants Callie to spend her time engaged in "ladylike" pursuits like cooking and sewing. As a new century dawns, Callie must struggle to balance her desires and interests with the expectations of society.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–2, Chapters 3–6, Chapters 7–8, Chapters 9–15, Chapters 16–22, Chapters 23–28
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. naturalist
    a biologist knowledgeable about botany and zoology
    When a young naturalist commences the study of a group of organisms quite unknown to him, he is at first much perplexed to determine what differences to consider...
  2. pinafore
    a sleeveless dress resembling an apron
    It would have been an ordeal to push my way through it except that the regular river patrons—dogs, deer, brothers—kept a narrow path beaten down through the treacherous sticker burrs that rose as high as my head and snatched at my hair and pinafore as I folded myself narrow to slide by.
  3. eddy
    a miniature whirlpool or whirlwind
    I was a river cloud, turning gently in the eddies.
  4. specimen
    an example regarded as typical of its class
    When he wasn’t in the laboratory, he was either out hunting specimens or holed up with his moldering books in a dim corner of the library, where no one dared disturb him.
  5. manifest
    clearly revealed to the mind or the senses or judgment
    I found this manifestly unfair, to say nothing of hot.
  6. avail
    a means of serving
    Viola took up arms against them to no avail.
  7. imposing
    impressive in appearance
    The old man had fierce tufty eyebrows of his own, rather like a dragon’s, and he was altogether too imposing a figure for me to have clambered on as an infant.
  8. torpid
    slow and apathetic
    And then there were huge bright yellow ones, twice as big, and torpid, so waxy and fat that they bowed down the grasses when they landed.
  9. beaker
    a flatbottomed jar made of glass or plastic
    He looked up in surprise from the counter where he was pouring a foul-looking brown liquid into various beakers and retorts.
  10. retort
    vessel where substances are distilled or decomposed by heat
    He looked up in surprise from the counter where he was pouring a foul-looking brown liquid into various beakers and retorts.
  11. ledger
    an accounting journal as a physical object
    He turned away from me and began to write in his ledger.
  12. accord
    allow to have
    Perhaps if I’d made Harry go with me, Grandfather would have accorded me more attention.
  13. herald
    praise vociferously
    My name would be heralded far and wide; the governor would shake my hand; the university would award me a diploma.
  14. discomfit
    cause to lose one's composure
    Our schoolteacher, Miss Harbottle, had glossed over Mr. Darwin, looking discomfited as she did so.
  15. finery
    elaborate or showy attire and accessories
    In Lockhart, after conducting our business, Harry loitered on the corner so he could admire the figures of the ladies strolling by, exhibiting the latest finery from the local milliner.
  16. milliner
    someone who makes and sells hats
    In lockhart, after conducting our business, Harry loitered on the corner so he could admire the figures of the ladies strolling by, exhibiting the latest finery from the local milliner.
  17. pinion
    restrain or bind
    She pinioned me with a sour look and said, “I most certainly do not. I wouldn’t keep such a thing in my library. They keep a copy at the Austin library, but I would have to order it by post. That’s fifty cents. Do you have fifty cents?”
  18. telltale
    disclosing unintentionally
    My neck was starting to itch, the telltale precursor to an outbreak of hives.
  19. gall
    a feeling of deep and bitter anger and ill-will
    Oh, absolutely nothing, except that I was strangling on bitterness and gall and was in no mood to talk about it.
  20. sap
    deplete
    The heat sapped the life out of everybody and everything.
  21. ponderous
    slow and laborious because of weight
    Then they would zing upward and fly ponderously on clacking wings for a few feet and disappear in the grass again.
  22. torrid
    extremely hot
    Only the yellower ones survived because they were more fit to survive the torrid weather.
  23. consternation
    sudden shock or dismay that causes confusion
    He stared at me for a moment with an odd expression on his face—perhaps surprise, perhaps consternation—as if I were a species he’d never seen before.
  24. berate
    censure severely or angrily
    Perhaps he would berate me for my clumsy theory.
  25. curio
    something unusual, maybe worthy of collecting
    He unlocked a tall glass cabinet crammed with more books, preserved birds, bottled beasts, and other curios.
  26. sidle
    move sideways
    I sidled over to get a better look at this irresistible display.
  27. careen
    move sideways or in an unsteady way
    Then a hummingbird careened around the corner of the house and plunged into the trumpet of the nearest lily drooping in the heat.
  28. jaunty
    having a cheerful, lively, and self-confident air
    I sat a few feet away, entranced, close enough to hear the angry low-pitched buzzing of his wings, so at odds with his jewel-like appearance and jaunty attitude.
  29. nether
    lower
    He’d whipped around and started licking his nether parts, a sure sign a dog is trying to hide his true feelings.
  30. genus
    taxonomic group containing one or more species
    “Why on earth not? It’s a lovely name. Pliny the Younger’s fourth wife, the one he married for love, was named Calpurnia, and we have been left by him some of the great love letters of all time. There’s also the natal acacia tree, genus Calpurnia, a useful laburnum mainly confined to the African continent. Then there’s Julius Caesar’s wife, mentioned in Shakespeare. I could go on.”
  31. abalone
    a large edible marine gastropod with an ear-shaped shell
    It reminded me of my mother’s abalone brooch, lovely and rare.
  32. deductive
    involving inferences from general principles
    He told me about Copernicus and Kepler and why Newton’s apple fell down instead of up. About how the moon is always falling in a circle around our Earth. About the difference between deductive and inductive reasoning and how Sir Francis Bacon of the peculiar name got it right.
  33. inductive
    proceeding from particular facts to a general conclusion
    He told me about Copernicus and Kepler and why Newton’s apple fell down instead of up. About how the moon is always falling in a circle around our Earth. About the difference between deductive and inductive reasoning and how Sir Francis Bacon of the peculiar name got it right.
  34. heady
    extremely exciting as if by alcohol or a narcotic
    All of this was heady news of a world far removed from hankies and thimbles, patiently delivered to me under a tree amidst the drowsing bees and nodding wildflowers.
  35. feral
    wild and menacing
    A week later, my morning list looked like this:
    5:15 a.m., clear and fine, winds from the south
    8 rabbits (7 cottontail, I jack)
    1 skunk (juvenile, appears lost)
    1 possum (notched left ear)
    5 cats (3 ours, 2 feral)
Created on Wed Aug 22 10:52:44 EDT 2018 (updated Wed Aug 22 11:32:07 EDT 2018)

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