Shabanu: Chapters 14–18

by Suzanne Fisher Staples
Growing up in a nomadic community in Pakistan, Shabanu must make difficult choices between her own desires and her obligations to her family.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–3, Chapters 4–8, Chapters 9–13, Chapters 14–18, Chapters 19–23
35 words 9 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. syncopation
    a musical rhythm accenting a normally weak beat
    The other camels move in syncopation, their loads swaying side to side and back and forth.
  2. suffuse
    cause to spread or flush or flood through, over, or across
    As the sun rises, the breeze picks up, printing shivery lines on the sand. We walk, talking little, until heat suffuses the air.
  3. parchment
    skin of a sheep or goat prepared for writing on
    We pass the cup until it’s empty. The two sips I get taste silvery, cutting the parchment bitterness in my throat and leaving me desperate for more.
  4. clamor
    utter or proclaim insistently and noisily
    The legend of the thirsty dead says if you find a thirsty man too late to save his life, he’ll moan and clamor, his ghost following you the rest of your life.
  5. desolate
    providing no shelter or sustenance
    The breeze swirls pillows of dust around the dune and hisses through the branches. It’s a desolate place to die.
  6. convulse
    move or stir about violently
    The turban catches, convulses in the wind, and is free again.
  7. inclination
    an attitude of mind that favors one alternative over others
    Beside it, flapping lazily, is the corner of the dead man’s lungi, the only part of him that has escaped the sandy grave. I have no inclination to disturb him.
  8. pestilence
    a pernicious and malign influence that is hard to get rid of
    Thank God the usual pestilence of flies has been driven away by the storm, and I can nap without covering my face.
  9. burnish
    polish and make shiny
    We reach the old fort just as the sun slips behind the dunes, and the last pink fingers of light burnish its forty graceful turrets.
  10. turret
    a small tower extending above a building
    We reach the old fort just as the sun slips behind the dunes, and the last pink fingers of light burnish its forty graceful turrets.
  11. minaret
    a slender tower with balconies, especially on a mosque
    Mama lifts Grandfather’s head to see the marble dome and vaulted minarets of the nawab’s mosque beyond the fort’s massive brick walls.
  12. embody
    represent in physical form
    This lifeless foot will never again feel such a thing as a split toenail, and I grieve for it, as if it embodies all of Grandfather.
  13. bulbous
    rounded and bulging
    The blue tiled domes of the elaborate tombs of the nawabs’ wives cast bulbous shadows across the empty graveyard.
  14. meager
    deficient in amount or quality or extent
    Dadi speaks patiently, but I can tell he is growing angry with the stubborn old man who wants to show his meager power.
  15. provincial
    associated with an administrative district of a nation
    “He can contact the nawab’s son, who lives in Lahore; he’s a member of the Provincial Assembly, and...”
  16. protrude
    extend out or project in space
    Through the ancient guard’s pure white mustache, three long teeth protrude.
  17. trough
    a container from which cattle or horses feed
    The morning of our departure we bring the camels to the well when it’s our turn to draw water. They stand in a ring, necks extended, waiting for us to fill the trough.
  18. stanchion
    any vertical post or rod used as a support
    I uncoil the rope on the stanchion over the well and hook it to Xhush Dil’s wooden saddle.
  19. pallid
    lacking in intensity or brightness; dim or feeble
    The voyage seems like a haze of sand, the sun a pallid disk over the dunes.
  20. pendulous
    hanging loosely or bending downward
    Bibi Lal, Hamir’s mother, is a large woman with wise eyes and pendulous breasts.
  21. noble
    having high or elevated character
    “Hamir is noble and strong and handsome,” he replies, and Phulan claps her hands, then folds them over her smile, half in pleasure, half in embarrassment.
  22. sickle
    an edge tool for cutting grass or crops
    I drag Phulan out to the fields with me to cut grass for fodder with long, curved sickles.
  23. rafter
    one of several parallel sloping beams that support a roof
    She takes the baby from Kulsum and settles him in a sling tied to the cottage rafters.
  24. appendage
    an external body part that projects from the body
    I paint camels for wealth and hand the brush to Mama. She paints a row of lines with arms and legs and appendages that indicate the sons she wishes for Phulan.
  25. anemic
    lacking vigor or energy
    The image of Kulsum, tired and anemic, haunts me. And as we leave, a twinge of regret that I have not seen Murad pinches my heart.
  26. sheen
    the visual property of something that shines
    Xhush Dil, Mithoo, and I walk slowly down the canal path toward our camp as the clouds part for a moment just before the sun sets, leaving a sheen like sun-ripened melon on the water.
  27. leer
    look suggestively or obliquely
    We are trapped. Both of us have jars of water on our heads. We can’t turn and run away from this leering fat man.
  28. mirth
    great merriment
    The other men bend at the waist and slap their thighs with thick, hairy hands, tears of helpless mirth streaming down their cheeks.
  29. appease
    cause to be more favorably inclined; gain the good will of
    Mama puts her arms around Phulan’s quivering shoulders. “We did the only thing we could do,” Mama says. “Dadi and Hamir will find some way to appease him.”
  30. exasperation
    a feeling of annoyance
    The subadar shrugs his shoulders in exasperation. “Sister, the radio is for official use.”
  31. taut
    pulled or drawn tight
    But it’s as if a taut wire stretches through me, through my head from ear to ear, down my neck, across my shoulders, down my spine, and into my legs.
  32. cleft
    a split or indentation in something
    He is very tall, with hands as broad as a camel’s foot, a strong neck, and a square chin with a deep cleft just in the center.
  33. primeval
    having existed from the beginning
    She raises her arms and throws back her head with another primeval wail.
  34. midwife
    a woman skilled in aiding the delivery of babies
    I am to find a midwife to ease Auntie’s pain, perhaps to save her unborn baby.
  35. instinctive
    unthinking
    There is an odd, musty smell about him that I know instinctively as the smell of the blood on his tunic.
Created on Tue Aug 03 21:15:06 EDT 2021 (updated Thu Aug 19 09:45:04 EDT 2021)

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