Thursday, October 1, 2009

Word: Frugal

Part of Speech: adjective

The source sentence and page #:After having baby-sat for every frugal family in town, I eventually hit the mother lode. p. 123

Context clues: She says she hit the mother lode after babysitting for every family in town, i think it means like they were average or they were bad familys that were cheap or something.

Definition:prudently saving or sparing, not wasteful, entailing little expense

Original Sentence:My frugal manager was short on my paycheck.


The Word : Regaled

Part of Speech : Adjective

The Source Sentence and page number : "When I first met him, he regaled me with stories of exotic places he had visited: the Maldive Islands, West Africa, Bali, Sri Lanka." pg 57

Context Clue : y: "stories of exotic places he had visited"

Definition : Of notable excellence or magnificence

Original Sentence : My teacher regaled me when she told me about her terrific experienced in France.

The word: Lavished

Part of Speech: Adjective

Source Sentence and (Page Num ber): “People lavished compliments on me” p. 11

Context Clues: Compliments and the impression the people gave her recommend that they were generous and extravagant because she new English.

Syn.Definition: Expending or bestowing profusely, generous way, extravagant, abundant, profuse.

Original Sentence: I was lavished with many roses on my graduation.
One event in my life that shaped who I am today would be when I stopped going to high school. It was my sophomore year when I made a decision that I will regret for the rest of my life. At the time, I thought that school was a waste of my time and I could never understand what was so important about it. So without thinking of any outcomes it may cause, I stopped attending school and started hanging out with the wrong crowd, who also didn’t like school. My family never would’ve thought that I stopped going to class, because I always played it off like I was still doing good. As time went by, it had been months when I started to realize what I was missing out on. I really started to think about my future and where I was going to end up. I knew that I did want to make something of myself but couldn’t without a degree in anything. I guess you can say that I grew up in many ways, for example; the way I think now is different in every way than the way I thought then. After many deep thoughts about my future, I enrolled back in high school. It was a continuation school, I liked it a lot more than I used to. I was able to talk to my teachers about any problems. Until finally I caught up in all my credits and was able to graduate early. Now when I think of this dumb move I made, it just makes me sick.
The Word : Vacillate

Part of Speech : Verb

The Source Sentence and Page Number : “We vacillate and fluctuate.” Connect pg 153

Context Clues : S: fluctuate (change)

Definition : to sway unsteadily; waver; totter; stagger

Original Sentence : Before I make a decision, I usually vacillate for a while so I won’t make a decision that I would regret in the future.



The Word : Dote

Part of Speech : Verb

The source sentence and Page Number : "Now, whenever we visit my relatives, all of whom dote on my husband, I realize that he didn’t marry me despite my tribe; he married me because of them." Funny in Farsi, Page 103

Context Clues : Y: "All of whom dote on my husband."(if you marry someone it should be love)

Definition : To show excessive fondness of loveOriginal Sentence : My family dote towards each other.


The Word : Angst

Part of Speech : Noun

The Source Sentence and Page Number : “Against this backdrop of teenage angst, there would have to be a symbol, a representation of the confidence that comes with eventual intellectual and spiritual growth.” pg 140

Context Clue : Y: against teenage angst, a symbol of confidence ( something that is the opposite of being confident)

Definition : a feeling of dread, anxiety, or anguish(feeling of worrying, nervousness)

Original Sentence : When my math teacher said the average of the test scores from the class was 70%, I was very angst.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

My reading habits growing up weren’t that great. I never really sat down and read a book on my own time. Reading, to me has always been boring. Even when my parents read to me as a child I didn’t like it. My mother likes to read, but my dad does not like reading. Until I got older I realized I should’ve read books a lot more to understand sentence structures and other things. Also growing up, I was encouraged to read by family members, but I never listened to them. To me it seemed like they wanted to torture me with boredom, so I pretended to read. In reality I just stared at the pages aimlessly until I turned the page, every 5 minutes. I can honestly say that the first time I read an entire book was my freshmen year in high school. I liked reading and I wished I could sit and read but I didn’t have the patience. My life was always filled with too much entertainment to pay attention to a book. My younger sister is one of the few people in my family who loves to read, she is always reading a book when she has the free time. Unlike me she has read more books in her younger years than I read at that young age. Sometimes if I do read, I’ll start a book but I will not finish it. My sister is always talking about books that she has read and how good they are, or she’ll talk about her favorite one.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Reflection

The vocabulary words used in this class have helped my notice other words around me. I am now in the habit of looking for words that I am not familiar with as I read, and finding out what it means and how to use it in a sentence. After discovering a new word, I learn it and try to use it in everyday conversations. I have not yet found myself using any of these new words; I’m still learning and getting to understand when and how to use them. After a vocabulary test, these words stay in my head, I rarely forget a word that I have just recently learned. In this class, most of the words I have run into I have never herd. The strategies that we use to learn the words help a lot because we use them in practice sentences and other sources. Before I started attending read 56, I never had a lot of practice on vocabulary, not even in high school. Now that I am reading and looking for words that I don’t understand, I can notice them and point them out quickly. I’ll study one word over and over until I understand the proper meaning of that word before I go on to my next word. At the end of my studying I’ll go over all of them and try to use them in sentences. Sometimes I’ll also try to use them in sentences while talking to my family members. Sometimes they’re surprised at some of the words I use.

Capacity

capacity

noun

source sentence: "As he found within himself the capacity to rise above his humiliating circumstances, he became an observer as well as a participant in the experience." Connect, pg. 152

context clues: rise, found within himself

Definition: the maximum amount or number that can be received or contained

original sentence: The gasoline tank has a capacity of 20 gallons.

Strewn

The Word: Strewn


Part of Speech: verb


The source sentence and Page #: To my delight, I found that the lawn had been strewn with miniature Iranian flags.p. 112-113


Context Clues: Iranian flags, showed that there were many flags everywhere but I didn’t actually know what the words definition was, I couldn’t figure it out.


Definition:To be scattered or sprinkled over a surface


Original Sentence:Confetti was strewn all over the floor at the wedding
Hyperlink:http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/strewn