When the Emperor Was Divine: List 1

by Julie Otsuka
This fictionalized version of the experiences of the author's family focuses on four nameless Japanese American characters during World War II, when they were forced to relocate to internment camps.

This list covers "Evacuation Order No. 19."

Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1, List 2, List 3, List 4
25 words 221 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. municipal
    of or relating to the government of a district
    It was stapled to the door of the municipal court and nailed, at eye level, to every telephone pole along University Avenue.
  2. frond
    compound leaf of a fern or palm or cycad
    Outside the sun was warm and the palm fronds were clacking idly against the side of the house.
  3. idly
    in a lazy, casual, or aimless way
    Outside the sun was warm and the palm fronds were clacking idly against the side of the house.
  4. thrift
    extreme care in spending money
    She passed the thrift shop and the boarded-up grocery but saw no one she knew on the sidewalk.
  5. gazette
    a newspaper or official journal
    At the newsstand on the corner of Grove she bought a copy of the Berkeley Gazette.
  6. sever
    cut off from a whole
    The Burma Road had been severed and one of the Dionne quintuplets—Yvonne—was still recovering from an ear operation.
  7. ration
    restrict the consumption of a relatively scarce commodity
    Sugar rationing would begin on Tuesday.
  8. shingle
    building material used as siding or roofing
    “How’s your roof holding out?” he asked her.
    “I think the shingles are rotting. It just sprung another leak.”
  9. eaves
    the overhang at the lower edge of a roof
    She carried the tiny bonsai tree out into the yard and set it down on the grass beneath the eaves where it would not get too much shade or too much sun but just the right amount of each.
  10. foyer
    a large entrance or reception room or area
    There were only three: the painting of Princess Elizabeth that hung in the dining room, the picture of Jesus in the foyer, and in the kitchen, a framed reproduction of Millet's The Gleaners.
  11. glean
    gather, as of natural products
    She took The Gleaners out of its frame and looked at the picture one last time. She wondered why she had let it hang in the kitchen for so long. It bothered her, the way those peasants were forever bent over above that endless field of wheat.
  12. carcass
    the dead body of an animal
    She caught the chicken that had been running wild in the yard since the fall and snapped its neck beneath the handle of a broomstick. She plucked out the feathers and set the carcass into a pan of cold water in the sink.
  13. tenor
    an adult male with a voice above baritone
    She ate them slowly as she listened to the tenor sing.
  14. aria
    an elaborate song for solo voice
    When the aria was over she turned off the radio and put two rice balls into a blue bowl.
  15. ail
    be unwell
    White Dog was old and ailing but he knew how to eat.
  16. censor
    subject to deletion on political or moral grounds
    On the back of every envelope was stamped “Censored, War Department,” or “Detained Alien Enemy Mail.”
  17. persimmon
    orange fruit resembling a plum; edible when fully ripe
    The woman sat down on a rock beneath the persimmon tree.
  18. loam
    a rich soil consisting of sand, clay and organic materials
    The soil was hard on top but soft and loamy beneath the surface.
  19. frock
    a one-piece garment for a woman; has skirt and bodice
    She wore a white cotton frock with tiny blue anchors and her hair was pulled back in two tight black braids.
  20. overture
    orchestral music at the beginning of an opera or musical
    The Radio City Symphony was performing the last movement of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture. Cymbals were crashing. Cannons boomed.
  21. barley
    a plant grown for forage and grain
    She poured him a glass of cold barley water and he drank it all in one gulp.
  22. yew
    evergreen tree or shrub having red cup-shaped berries
    She drank her barley water and began to tell the woman all about coniferous trees. Most of them were evergreens but some were just shrubs. Not all of them had cones. Some of them, like the yew, only had seedpods.
  23. metronome
    clicking pendulum indicating the tempo of a piece of music
    The girl went out to the living room and sat down on the piano bench. “The metronome's gone," she called out.
    "Just count to yourself then," said the woman.
  24. delicate
    easily broken or damaged or destroyed
    The maple was a sapling with delicate leaves that turned bright red in the fall.
  25. bulbous
    rounded and bulging
    His eyes were black and bulbous.
Created on Mon Feb 06 10:10:48 EST 2023 (updated Mon Feb 06 20:09:02 EST 2023)

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