White Rose: List 2

by Kip Wilson
In this historical novel-in-verse, German teenager Sophie Scholl joins a secret resistance group called the White Rose in order to oppose the Nazi regime.

This list covers "A Summer Visit"–"My Purpose."

Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1, List 2, List 3, List 4, List 5
30 words 70 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. blitzkrieg
    a military offensive with intensive aerial bombardment
    I hope you receive
    mine, although I'm not
    sure what comfort
    letters from
    home will be
    with the Blitzkrieg
    and its
    bombs
    bullets
    artillery
    striking around you.
  2. artillery
    large but transportable armament
    I hope you receive
    mine, although I'm not
    sure what comfort
    letters from
    home will be
    with the Blitzkrieg
    and its
    bombs
    bullets
    artillery
    striking around you.
  3. censor
    subject to deletion on political or moral grounds
    Fritz tells me
    officers’ mail
    isn’t
    censored
  4. ration
    restrict the consumption of a relatively scarce commodity
    We drink
    the last of our tea, spread
    the last of our jam
    on dry fruitcake, but
    rationing is nothing
    compared with the shadow
    of war pressing close.
  5. defiance
    an act boldly resisting authority or an opposing force
    Fritz doesn’t understand
    why this defiance matters
    so much to me,
    won’t acknowledge
    that our strongest weapon
    is our refusal
    to follow blindly.
  6. occupation
    the control of a country by forces of a foreign power
    ...we move out,

    leaving Germany behind
    passing through Luxembourg, arriving in France—

    the tail end of a gray Wehrmacht wave
    of occupation.
  7. commandeer
    take arbitrarily or by force
    Ordered to commandeer the best houses,
    I'd feel more at home in the straw.
  8. apprehensive
    in fear or dread of possible evil or harm
    We're twitchy, nervous, apprehensive,
    the boredom and anxiety

    at the rear
    slowly driving me mad.
  9. flak
    artillery designed to shoot upward at airplanes
    Not far away, artillery rumbles,
    dark flak paints the sky,

    the war a pot about to boil over,
    as we wait, trapped inside.
  10. ambivalent
    uncertain or unable to decide about what course to follow
    People shouldn't be
    ambivalent
    about the world around
    them simply because
    everyone else
    is ambivalent.
  11. unconditional
    not modified or restricted
    A soldier's oath
    to his Volk
    to his Führer
    is like the unconditional
    love of a son to his family.
  12. stint
    an unbroken period of time during which you do something
    Away from home
    for practice teaching—
    a stint I hope will fulfill
    my labor service requirement
    for the Reich
    so I can finally move
    on to the university—
    and everything feels
    wrong.
  13. snippet
    a small piece of anything
    Letters from my family slip
    me snippets of home, while
    mine to Hans and Fritz place
    in their back pockets
    as they slice
    their way west.
  14. kindred
    similar in quality or character
    Even when surrounded by
    the most kindred
    spirits, I sometimes crave
    solitude.
  15. valiantly
    with heroic courage or bravery
    Herr Mohr studies me
    across the desk, as though
    the information I’ve been trying
    so valiantly to conceal sits
    printed across my face
  16. calisthenics
    light exercises designed to promote general fitness
    6:00 a.m. wake-up
    calisthenics
    flag raising
    National Socialist songs
    ideology lessons
    work, work, work,
    nothing
    that requires
    a brain.
  17. ideology
    an orientation that characterizes the thinking of a group
    6:00 a.m. wake-up
    calisthenics
    flag raising
    National Socialist songs
    ideology lessons
    work, work, work,
    nothing
    that requires
    a brain.
  18. cog
    a subordinate who performs an important but routine function
    Bad as it is to
    be a cog in this
    terrible machine,
    the worst comes
    today
  19. incessant
    uninterrupted in time and indefinitely long continuing
    I turn twenty at
    Krauchenwies, surrounded
    not by family and friends
    but the same
    group of girls who
    shatter
    my reading time with
    their incessant interruptions
    every
    night.
  20. excursion
    a journey taken for pleasure
    Despite the constant drills
    in the student company,

    most of my time here is pleasant,
    with lectures into the evenings,

    excursions to the mountains
  21. deliberate
    carefully thought out in advance
    Article 211 of the German Penal Code
    is still in force, in these terms:
    "Whoever kills a man with deliberate intent
    is guilty of murder
    and punishable with death."
  22. condemnation
    an expression of strong disapproval
    But.
    A response.
    A condemnation.
  23. masses
    the common people generally
    Leaflets like this can reach
    individuals with a message
    for the masses, can spread
    the truth, can show
    the world what’s happening.
  24. futility
    uselessness as a consequence of having no practical result
    He valiantly tries
    to explain why help is
    needed but soon recognizes
    the futility of his efforts.
  25. oppress
    come down on or keep down by unjust use of one's authority
    all I can do is pray
    for the oppressed
  26. turbulent
    characterized by unrest or disorder or insubordination
    We ski, drink tea, sit
    around the stove by candlelight,
    our discussion focused
    on these turbulent times.
  27. mired
    entangled or hindered
    We share
    intellectual awakening,
    but we’re all too mired
    in our own despair to know
    what to do about it.
  28. utopia
    ideally perfect state
    When the day’s done, I turn
    in to sleep, clinging
    to hope that this
    self-contained utopia might become
    more than the dream it will feel like
    when our holiday ends
  29. denounce
    speak out against
    I didn't do anything myself
    (except refuse to name names),

    but with one of my best friends
    accused, I lose all respect for informers

    stepping forward to denounce others
    when we're interrogated separately.
  30. divert
    turn aside; turn away from
    Still, nothing will divert my attention
    from what really matters.
Created on Tue Jul 23 16:02:50 EDT 2019 (updated Tue Jul 23 16:16:24 EDT 2019)

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