White Rose: List 4

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 "Vati's Trial"–"The Professor."

Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1, List 2, List 3, List 4, List 5
30 words 45 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. scourge
    something causing misery or death
    Almost as soon as I return
    home, Vati’s hauled
    into court, where he’s sentenced
    to four months in prison
    for calling Herr Hitler
    a scourge of God
    in his office.
  2. despondent
    without or almost without hope
    After Vati’s trial, Mutti frets,
    despondent,
    but only for a day.
  3. clemency
    leniency and compassion shown toward offenders
    She writes
    the boys with a plan:
    Vati's been sentenced,
    you and Werner
    must write appeals for clemency.
  4. profound
    showing intellectual penetration or emotional depth
    At home, I sit
    at the piano, play the same Bach piece
    I once practiced daily, stumbling
    through the music like
    I’m once again learning
    to walk, feeling
    each key
    under my fingers,
    each note
    in my soul
    light
    airy
    profound.
  5. naive
    inexperienced
    This high school boy—Hans—
    is the younger brother
    of another friend
    and he looks
    naïve
    eager
    skittish
    as he pockets the money.
  6. skittish
    unpredictably excitable, especially of horses
    This high school boy—Hans—
    is the younger brother
    of another friend
    and he looks
    naïve
    eager
    skittish
    as he pockets the money.
  7. atone
    make amends for
    ...all I want to do
    is stop,
    do the right thing,
    atone
    for my actions.
  8. disheveled
    in disarray; extremely disorderly
    They’ve come
    back, windswept and disheveled,
    but alive.
  9. camaraderie
    the quality of affording easy familiarity and sociability
    When we return to Munich,
    Hans reminds me of me when I
    was here the first time, falling
    into this circle of
    friends
    smiles
    camaraderie
    at the safe haven of
    the university’s halls
    lectures
    labs.
  10. haven
    a shelter serving as a place of safety or sanctuary
    When we return to Munich,
    Hans reminds me of me when I
    was here the first time, falling
    into this circle of
    friends
    smiles
    camaraderie
    at the safe haven of
    the university’s halls
    lectures
    labs.
  11. procure
    get by special effort
    The next time I’m in Ulm, I find
    out from young Hans
    that he indeed procured
    a duplicating machine with
    the money I gave him.
  12. concede
    acknowledge defeat
    Just after we slide
    into 1943, the news coming
    out of Stalingrad
    of a losing battle the Führer’s not willing
    to concede
    shows how drastically the tide’s turning
    against this Vaterland.
  13. morale
    a state of individual psychological well-being
    With winter about to grip
    German throats with full force,
    Russian troops closing
    in like the jaws of a giant
    trap, supplies running
    as low as morale,
    it’s time to bring
    these boys home.
  14. resolute
    firm in purpose or belief
    Hans meets
    my gaze, his expression
    resolute, making
    me proud we’re in
    this together.
  15. mobilize
    make ready for action or use
    Those leaflets had seemed so
    wise to me back
    then, but maybe they weren’t
    what was needed to mobilize
    this Volk.
  16. nobility
    a privileged class holding hereditary titles
    ...our own soldiers
    freezing on the eastern front,
    Russian peasants
    watching their homeland destroyed,
    entire swaths of young Polish nobility ruthlessly
    murdered
  17. laud
    praise, glorify, or honor
    Everyone’s talking
    about the professor’s lecture on
    the poet Heinrich Heine,
    censored
    for being Jewish,
    denounced
    by the Party as a degenerate,
    lauded
    by the professor
    for his brilliance.
  18. dissent
    a difference of opinion
    DISSENT

    Warmed up and ready,
    the professor and the boys turn
    to the next leaflet, locking
    wits over philosophical differences
    in the drafts Hans and Alex present.
  19. alienate
    arouse hostility or indifference in
    You might find that
    conservatives
    agree with you, but not
    if you alienate
    them completely.
  20. rucksack
    a bag carried by a strap on your back or shoulder
    I board the train, set
    the rucksack on the shelf
    in one compartment, glance
    over my shoulder, move
    to sit in the next one.
  21. formidable
    extremely impressive in strength or excellence
    ...when I close
    my eyes I can only picture
    the once formidable German net unraveling,
    the frozen Russian landscape
    smoldering
    in destruction
  22. smolder
    burn slowly and without a flame
    ...when I close
    my eyes I can only picture
    the once formidable German net unraveling,
    the frozen Russian landscape
    smoldering
    in destruction
  23. gristle
    tough elastic tissue found in meat
    The broadcast ends, we digest
    the news, thick and
    hard to swallow as
    gristle.
  24. muster
    summon up, call forth, or bring together
    There is so much I want
    to say, but the only words
    I can muster betray
    my need to escape
  25. minutia
    a small or minor detail
    The telephone rings,
    and I answer,
    Robert Mohr,
    expecting usual daily minutiae
    only to learn
    that the custodian at the university
    has apprehended two persons
    suspected
    of distributing
    treasonous leaflets.
  26. apprehend
    take into police custody
    The telephone rings,
    and I answer,
    Robert Mohr,
    expecting usual daily minutiae
    only to learn
    that the custodian at the university
    has apprehended two persons
    suspected
    of distributing
    treasonous leaflets.
  27. discreet
    heedful of potential consequences
    With careful, slow movements,
    Hans discreetly shreds
    what he can, and I shift
    in my seat, try to shield
    his hand.
  28. avert
    turn away or aside
    Gestapo agents arrive,
    handcuff us, lead us out
    past the sea of students
    that splits, with
    half of them staring,
    half averting their gazes
    as we pass.
  29. capitulation
    the act of surrendering, usually under agreed conditions
    The capitulation
    of Germany’s Sixth Army tells
    a truth clearer than any headline.
  30. ingenious
    showing inventiveness and skill
    The ingenious strategy of
    the World War I corporal has led
    to the irresponsible and senseless deaths
    of three hundred thousand German men.
Created on Tue Jul 23 16:04:14 EDT 2019 (updated Tue Jul 23 16:16:37 EDT 2019)

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