The Complete Peanuts 1950-1952 Intro. By Garrison Keillor, The Life and Times of Charles M. Schulz By David Michaelis

Sean C.
SAT/ACT Project
Semester II
2012-13
S. Cubillas
25 words 0 learners

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words only definitions & notes
  1. activism
    a policy of action to achieve a political or social goal
    Here was a comic strip hero, who...could take restrained fury of the '50s and translate it into a harbinger of '60s activism. (p. 294)
    (1915)
    Merriam-Webster Definition: a doctrine or practice that emphasizes direct vigorous action especially in support of a controversial issue
  2. alchemy
    a pseudoscientific forerunner of chemistry in medieval times
    This alchemy was the magic in Schulz's work, the alloy that fused the Before and After elements of his own life... (p. 293)
    Middle English alkamie, alquemie, from Middle French or Medieval Latin; Middle French alkimie, from Medieval Latin alchymia, from Arabic al-kīmiyā', from al the + kīmiyā' alchemy, from Late Greek chēmeia (14th Century)
    Merriam-Webster Defintion: a power or process of transforming something common into something special
  3. combustible
    capable of igniting and burning
    In their early years, the characters were volatile, combustible. (p. 294)
    (1529)
    Merriam-Webster Defintion: 1. capable of combusion 2. easily excited
  4. earnestness
    the trait of being serious or sincere
    The feeling that everything is against us. The craving for love. An enormous earnestness about doing the right thing. (p. xi)
    Middle English ernest, from Old English eornost; akin to Old High German ernust earnest (Pre-12th Century)
    Merriam-Webster Definition: a serious and intent mental state
  5. ennoble
    give a title to someone
    He is ennobled by how well he handles being disappointed. (p. 295)
    Middle English ennobelen, from Middle French ennoblir, from Old French, from en- + noble noble (15th Century)
    Merriam-Webster Definition: to make noble
  6. enumerate
    specify individually
    ...a teenager enumerates the horror of middle age: getting stuck in a marriage, living in the suburbs, dying of boredom. (p. 293)
    Latin enumeratus, past participle of enumerare, from e- + numerare to count, from numerus number (1616)
    Merriam-Webster Definition: 1. to ascertain the number of, count 2. to specify one after another, list
  7. existential
    relating to or dealing with the state of being
    ...they read Charlie Brown's utterances as existential statements -- comic strip koans about the human condition. (p. 292)
    (1693)
    Merriam-Webster Defintion: 1. of, relating to, or affirming existence 2. grounded in existence or the experience of existence
  8. facsimile
    an exact copy or reproduction
    ...he made sure that a high school report card was printed in facsimile in a collection of his work "to show my own children that I was not as dumb as everyone said I was." (p. 296)
    Latin fac simile make similar (1691)
    Merriam-Webster Definition: 1. an exact copy 2. a system of transmitting and reproducing graphic matter (as printing or still pictures)by means of singles sent over telephone lines
  9. gulag
    a Russian prison camp for political prisoners
    So he did find a degree of happiness here. We weren't a gulag in his life. (p. xi)
    Russian, from Glavnoe upravlenie ispravitel'notrudovykh lagereĭ chief administration of corrective labor camps (1974)
    Merriam-Webster Definition: the penal system of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics consisting of a network of labor camps; also : labor camp
  10. harbinger
    something indicating the approach of something or someone
    Here was a comic strip hero, who...could take restrained fury of the '50s and translate it into a harbinger of '60s activism. (p. 294)
    Middle English herbergere, from Anglo-French, host, from herberge camp, lodgings, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German heriberga (14th Century)
    Merriam-Webster Definition: one that pioneers in or initiates a major change
  11. imprimatur
    formal and explicit approval
    (as cont. from the above's stencil ex. sentence) ...and their lunar landing vehicle Snoopy, Schulz left his imprimatur on the Cold War's highest and lowest moments -- the race to put man on the moon and the war in Vietnam. (p. 299)
    New Latin, let it be printed, from imprimere to print, from Latin, to imprint, impress (1640)
    Merriam-Webster Definition: a mark of approval or distinction
  12. insofar
    to the degree or extent that
    ...Schulz extended the area of doubt in modern life only insofar as he made it funny to doubt. (p. 298)
    (1596)
    Merriam-Webster Definition: to such extent or degree
  13. overt
    open and observable; not secret or hidden
    The cruelty that exists among children was one of Schulz's first overt themes. (p. 292)
    Middle English, from Anglo-French, from past participle of ovrir to open, from Vulgar Latin *operire, alteration of Latin aperire (14th Century)
    Merriam-Webster Defintion: open to view, manifest
  14. plinth
    an architectural support or base, as for a column or statue
    Chronic rejection and unrequited love are the twin plinths of Schulz's early life and later work. (p. 297)
    Latin plinthus, from Greek plinthos (1601)
    Merriam-Webster Definition: a usually square block serving as a base, broadly; any of various bases and lower parts
  15. precocious
    characterized by exceptionally early development
    ...he was speaking for people everywhere in Eisenhower's America, especially for a generation of solemn, precociously cynical college students, who "inhabited a shadow area within the culture"... (p. 292)
    Latin praecoc-, praecox early ripening, precocious, from prae (1650)
    Merriam-Webster Defintion: 1. exceptionally early in development or occurence 2. exhibiting mature qualities at an unusually early age
  16. reprise
    a repetition of a short musical passage
    He was a master at portraying emotion, and took a simple approach to character development, assigning to each figure in the strip one or two memorable traits and problems, often highly comic, which he reprised whenever the character reappeared. (p. 292)
    Middle English, from Anglo-French, seizure, repossession, expense, from feminine past participle of reprendre to take back, from re- + prendre to take, from Latin prehendere (15th Century)
    Merriam-Webster Definition: a recurrence, renewal, or resumption of an action
  17. semiotics
    a philosophical theory of the functions of signs and symbols
    For the first time in panel cartoons, characters spoke, as novelist and semiotics professor Umberto Eco noted, "in two different keys." (p. 292)
    Greek sēmeiōtikos observant of signs, from sēmeiousthai to interpret signs, from sēmeion sign, from sēma sign (1880)
    Merriam-Webster Definition: a general philosophical theory of signs and symbols that deals with their function in both artificially constructed and natural languages and comprises syntactics, semantics, and pragmantics
  18. steep
    having a sharp inclination
    ...said Jules Feiffer, whose drawings in the late '50s, like Schulz's, were steeped in an new humor of truth called "egghead" humor.
    Middle English stepe, from Old English stēap high, steep, deep; akin to OldFrisian stāp steep, Middle High German stief (Pre-12th Century)
    Merriam-Webster Defintion: being or characterized by a rapid and intensive decline or increase
  19. stencil
    a sheet of material that has been perforated with a pattern
    As soldiers stenciled Snoopy onto their helmets and the Apollo 10 astronauts christened their command module Charlie Brown... (p. 299)
    probably ultimately from Middle English stanseld brightly ornamented, from Anglo-French estencelé spangled, past participle of estenceler to sparkle, from estencele spark, from Vulgar Latin *stincilla, alteration of Latin scintilla (1707)
    Merriam-Webster Definition: something (as a pattern, design, or print) that is produced by means of a stencil
  20. stoic
    seeming unaffected by pleasure or pain; impassive
    Charlie Brown is stoic like us. (p. xi)
    Middle English, from Latin stoicus, from Greek stōïkos, literally, of the portico, from Stoa (Poikilē) the Painted Portico, portico at Athens where Zeno taught (14th Century)
    Merriam-Webster Defintion: one apparently of professedly indifferent to pleasure or pain
  21. subversion
    the act of overthrowing or destroying, as a government
    Feiffer, the melancholy Jewish intellectual striking at the heart of life as we knew it, saw in Schulz a fellow subversive. (p. 293)
    Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin subversion-, subversio, from Latin subvertere (14th Century)
    Merriam-Webster Definition: 1. to overturn or overthrow from the foundation, ruin 2. to pervert or corrupt by an undermining of morals, allegiance, or faith
  22. unrequited
    not returned in kind
    Chronic rejection and unrequited love are the twin plinths of Schulz's early life and later work. (p. 297)
    (Circa 1542)
    Merriam-Webster Definition: not requited; not reciprocated or returned in kind
  23. vaudeville
    a genre of variety show with songs, comic acts, etc.
    At mid-century, the comics were dominated by action and adventure, vaudeville and melodrama, slapstick and gags. (p. 291)
    French, from Middle French, popular satirical song, alteration of vaudevire, from vau-de-Vire valley of Vire, town in northwest France where such songs were composed (1827)
    Merriam-Webster Definition: a light often comic theatrical piece frequently combining pantomime, dialogue, dancing, and song
  24. volatile
    liable to lead to sudden change or violence
    In their early years, the characters were volatile, combustible.
    French, from Latin volatilis, from volare to fly (1605)
    Merriam-Webster Defintion: 1. characterized by or subject to rapid or unexpected change 2. difficult to capture or hold permanenty
  25. vouchsafe
    grant in a condescending manner
    ...the only world that had ever mattered to him -- the secure home his parents had vouchsafed him -- was gone, and for a time he had no hope for the future. (p. 297)
    Middle English vouchen sauf to grant, consent, deign, from Anglo-French voucher salf (14th Century)
    Merriam-Webster Definition: to grant as a privilege or special favor
Created on Wed May 15 11:02:33 EDT 2013 (updated Tue May 21 11:05:51 EDT 2013)

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