An Emotion of Great Delight: Chapters 18–23

by Tahereh Mafi
With America still reeling from 9/11, seventeen-year-old Shadi struggles with her emotions, as she's surrounded by hatred for her Muslim community and grief from her family falling apart.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–4, Chapters 5–8, Chapters 9–12, Chapters 13–17, Chapters 18–23
40 words 8 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. morbid
    suggesting the horror of death and decay
    The sun was coming up over the horizon, splintering the world in blinding strokes of color, painting the white walls of our house with a terrible, morbid beauty.
  2. mania
    an irrational but irresistible motive for a belief or action
    I slammed open the connecting door to the garage, rifled through my father’s toolbox, retrieved a hammer, and charged back up the stairs, recognizing my mania only in Shayda’s horrified face.
  3. solder
    join or fuse with an alloy
    I felt true love for her in that moment, felt our souls solder together, knew our lives would be forever forged by a similar pain.
  4. respective
    considered individually
    My mother went to work an hour later. Shayda and I went to our respective schools.
  5. fathom
    come to understand
    I couldn’t even fathom how I was still upright; I felt like I was hearing everything from far away, felt like my body was not my own.
  6. hyperventilate
    breathe excessively hard and fast
    I sat up suddenly, hyperventilating, heart racing in my chest.
  7. iota
    a tiny or scarcely detectable amount
    But I could tell, just by looking into her eyes, that my mother had unclenched an iota. She seemed relieved—relieved, perhaps, to no longer be living with such a crushing secret.
  8. fray
    wear away by rubbing
    I awoke suddenly, my nerves fraying in an instant.
  9. reverberate
    ring or echo with sound
    Noah was here, his hand on my arm, his head bent toward my face, he said, “Shadi,” he said, “are you okay?” and I heard his voice like I pictured sound—slow and loud, reverberating.
  10. acquiesce
    agree or express agreement
    I tried to pry open my eyes. They refused.
    My lips, on the other hand, acquiesced.
  11. behest
    an authoritative command or request
    Zahra—who’d accused me of being a calculating opportunist, who’d warned me to stay the hell away from her family—had to have known that I’d been asleep in her beautiful, soft bed, and she had to have hated it, hated me for it, for forcing her to play nice at what was no doubt her parents’ behest.
  12. contingent
    determined by conditions or circumstances that follow
    I’d never gotten a C in anything before. Worse, that C was contingent upon flawless work in all other areas.
  13. begrudge
    allow unwillingly or reluctantly
    We had such a long, storied history that I didn’t think she’d begrudge me something so small.
    But then I remembered, with a sinking sensation, that she’d been unwilling to offer me even a ride in the pouring rain.
  14. myriad
    a large indefinite number
    I was certain now that I was probably going straight to hell for a myriad of reasons, not the least of which was my virulent desire for my father’s death...
  15. virulent
    extremely poisonous or injurious; producing venom
    I was certain now that I was probably going straight to hell for a myriad of reasons, not the least of which was my virulent desire for my father’s death...
  16. tithe
    an offering of a tenth part of some personal income
    But then—even as I felt the cold lash of guilt cool my feverish skin, I grew tired. Tired of this feeling, tired of owing Zahra a tithe of my happiness.
  17. effusive
    uttered with unrestrained enthusiasm
    I was laying it on thick with some old-school, effusive statements, but I did it on purpose.
  18. incompetent
    showing lack of skill or aptitude
    They found my incompetent Farsi oddly charming, especially with my American accent.
  19. backfire
    return with an undesired effect
    Never mind, it had backfired.
  20. fanfare
    a gaudy outward display
    Agha—Mister—Dariush, as I called him, hurried into the living room, smiling and saying hello with a level of fanfare and enthusiasm that left me painfully embarrassed.
  21. singe
    burn superficially or lightly
    Heat, heat, rising up my chest, pushing against my throat, singeing my eyes.
  22. barrage
    the rapid and continuous delivery of communication
    I’d been sitting at this dinner table for forty minutes, answering a barrage of questions against my will, and I couldn’t take much more.
  23. reprieve
    a relief from harm or discomfort
    When I finally collapsed at school I’d been so grateful for the reprieve, so grateful for the few hours of peace and comfort Zahra’s parents provided that it nearly broke me.
  24. immortalize
    be or provide a memorial to a person or an event
    I didn’t know why I’d decided to immortalize those feelings in a letter, the ghost of which kept haunting me.
  25. immolate
    kill as a sacrifice, especially by fire
    I thought I would actually self- immolate if Ali read that letter.
  26. infringe
    advance beyond the usual limit
    “Please. I’ve infringed upon your kindness enough.”
  27. flustered
    thrown into a state of agitated confusion
    “I don’t—” I swallowed, grew flustered.
  28. burgeon
    grow and flourish
    I didn’t know what was waiting for us or what the future might hold, whether it would hold us at all. Still, I felt a burgeoning hope when I thought of him, felt it push through the pain.
  29. malign
    speak unfavorably about
    I did not understand those who would malign, without forgiveness or empathy, others who did not conform to a series of static rules—rules that were never meant to inspire competition, but to build us up, make us better.
  30. antithetical
    sharply contrasted in character or purpose
    Such moral superiority was antithetical to the essence of divinity, to the point of faith. It was made clear, time and time again, that it was not our place to exercise harsh, human judgment over those whose hearts we did not know.
  31. cumbersome
    difficult to handle or use, especially because of size or weight
    First, that I’d left my backpack—my stupid, cumbersome, ridiculous backpack—at Zahra’s house, which meant that if I wanted to have any chance of ever catching up on my homework, I’d have to go back and get it, the mere idea of which sent a chill through my heart.
  32. loafer
    a low leather shoe with no laces
    My first clue were his shoes, sitting neatly by the door, the familiar pair of brown leather loafers I hadn’t seen in weeks.
  33. saute
    fry briefly over high heat
    My second clue was the smell of olive oil, chopped onions, sautéed beef, and the soft, sweet smell of fresh, sleeping rice.
  34. peal
    a deep prolonged sound
    I heard the sound of my sister’s voice, a peal of laughter.
  35. incandescent
    characterized by ardent emotion, intensity, or brilliance
    I didn’t know how her mind sorted and prioritized emotion; I didn’t know how she’d landed here—looking incandescent—after all we’d been through.
  36. insubstantial
    lacking material form
    He pulled me close again, wrapped me against his insubstantial figure. I could feel his ribs under my hands.
  37. sheer
    complete and without restriction
    I ran through the night on shaking legs, tore through gusts of wind, propelled myself through the freezing cold by sheer force of will.
  38. prostration
    the action of lying face downward
    I rested for only a moment, body bowed halfway to prostration before I pushed myself up again, dragged myself across an open field.
  39. expend
    use up or consume fully
    I’d walked past this pool a thousand times on similar evenings, wondering always at the effort expended to maintain such a place for the mere mice and ghosts who haunted it.
  40. fissure
    break into fine cracks
    I was becoming familiar with this feeling, these wings beating in my chest, this desperate acceleration of emotion. I couldn’t breathe around it, couldn’t see around it, couldn’t have imagined my heart could fissure and fuse, fissure and fuse on into infinity.
Created on Fri Feb 23 10:13:36 EST 2024 (updated Sat Feb 24 15:09:52 EST 2024)

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