Punching the Air: Part III

by Ibi Zoboi, Yusef Salaam
In this verse novel, a sixteen-year-old boy is convicted of a crime he didn't commit.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Part I, Part II, Part III
25 words 99 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. musty
    stale and unclean smelling
    Then she’d play the one with Lauryn Hill
    and I’d shout into that musty apartment air
    If I ruled the world—
    and she’d follow with

    I’d free all my sons!
  2. tenement
    a run-down apartment house barely meeting minimal standards
    Light-up in the hood
    the tenements and mansions
    look pretty now
    Bright orange, red, and blue
    over a cloud of thick dust
    and red-hot heat
  3. discipline
    training to improve strength or self-control
    After that fight with Shawn in the fifth grade
    Umi put me in martial arts class

    not to learn how to fight
    but to learn discipline
    and to control my temper
  4. sliver
    a small thin sharp bit of wood, glass, or metal
    it’s hell
    when we’re left alone
    with just our thoughts
    our memories
    our regret
    our fears
    our dreams
    to slip in
    like a sliver of light
  5. dashiki
    a loose and brightly colored African shirt
    A man walks in behind them
    wearing jeans and a dashiki
  6. collaboration
    act of working jointly
    Our voices bounce off the walls
    and it almost sounds like a rap battle
    and maybe if there was some dope beat
    behind all our truths
    it would be the dopest collaboration
    in hip-hop history
  7. involuntary
    not subject to the control of the will
    Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
  8. servitude
    the state of being required to labor for someone else
    Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
  9. jurisdiction
    the right and power to interpret and apply the law
    Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
  10. raw
    having the surface exposed and painful
    Imani writes our mistakes
    down on her poster board
    for everyone to read
    for everyone to see

    Mine is there
    naked exposed raw
  11. skim
    move or pass swiftly and lightly over the surface of
    Dr. Bennu’s words
    only skim the surface of our skins
  12. irrelevant
    having no bearing on or connection with the subject at issue
    the curved lines of its wings
    in flight
    fluttering in the air
    changing the movement
    of atoms and molecules
    shifting the tiniest cells
    the smallest, most irrelevant truths
  13. fatal
    having extremely unfortunate or dire consequences
    It wasn’t me
    who threw that last
    fatal blow
    to the head
    making him lose
    consciousness
  14. cipher
    a message written in a secret code
    butterflies fill this space and
    circle around each other until

    a pair of old sneakers appears in
    the middle of their butterfly dance

    In the middle of their cypher
  15. sneer
    smile contemptuously
    Still, everybody sits on their side of the dayroom
    but Imani keeps going as if she doesn’t see
    the white boys sneering at her
  16. intuition
    instinctive knowing, without the use of rational processes
    Now, let’s write down our misgivings
    our gut feelings, our deep intuitions
    Those whispers you hear in

    the back of your mind
  17. premonition
    an early warning about a future event
    Well, did you have any? she asks
    Forewarnings, premonitions?
    A moral compass trying
    to point you in the right direction?
  18. inspire
    fill with revolutionary ideas
    I’m so inspired to go out there
    and do the work
    of talking to those young
    brothers and sisters out
    there
  19. bureaucratic
    of or relating to unnecessary procedures and red tape
    I had put in an order for
    these supplies
    months ago, but they’re just
    getting here
    now that I’m leaving
    That’s why I hate this
    bureaucratic bull...
  20. distorted
    so badly formed or out of shape as to be ugly
    Above all the chaos
    below
    is a remix of my
    favorite painting
    Guernica, by Pablo Picasso
    with its distorted faces and bodies
    in war in war in war
  21. defeatist
    someone who is resigned to an unsuccessful ending
    Amal, you love art
    You know this stuff
    Why are you being so
    so defeatist?
  22. oppression
    the state of being kept down by unjust use of authority
    So I make myself a world
    I make myself a border
    I make myself a people

    and become war
    and become hate
    and become oppression
    and become a box
    and become a wall
  23. pensive
    deeply or seriously thoughtful
    Me and Kadon—
    who is quiet, pensive, drained—
    start with one book
    one page
    one word
  24. delicate
    easily broken or damaged or destroyed
    butterflies are fluttering in my belly

    Delicate wings flapping
    so fast
    I can’t even breathe right
  25. persistence
    the property of a continuous and connected period of time
    like Dali’s Persistence of Memory—a watch
    with pretty little wings trapped in its box
Created on Thu Sep 17 11:34:22 EDT 2020 (updated Tue Sep 22 15:51:26 EDT 2020)

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