WORD LISTS

BNC-COCA/"The Giver," Vocabulary from Chapters 19-23

Wed Mar 22 00:39:38 EDT 2017
By Sungmin K. (South Korea)
12 year-old Jonas is given a huge responsibility in Lois Lowry's "The Giver." He will be the one person who remembers the past in a society committed only to the present and to the lack of emotional depth, a plan they call Sameness. As you read Lois Lowry's "The Giver," learn this word list that focuses on release and escape. Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1-4, Chapters 5-8, Chapters 9-13, Chapters 14-18, Chapters 19-23
puncture
To his surprise, his father began very carefully to direct the needle into the top of the newchild’s forehead, puncturing the place where the fragile skin pulsed.
receptacle
He turned aside and dropped the syringe into a waste receptacle.
numb
I do know that I sat here numb with horror.
wretched
Wretched with helplessness.
bitter
The chosen definition focuses on how The Giver's voice sounds to Jonas. But "bitter" also means "marked by strong resentment or cynicism" and "expressive of severe grief or regret"--these definitions could describe the feelings The Giver has, because his own daughter, unable to handle the pain of being chosen as a Receiver, was pushed to apply for release (without knowing exactly what it is).
The Giver turned to him. “Well, there you are, Jonas. You were wondering about release,” he said in a bitter voice.
emerge
The description almost sounds as if Jonas were giving birth, but what's emerging from him is not a crying baby but a crying realization that everything he had always known about life in the community is wrong. This pushes him to make plans to start a new life in order to save lives and to force the community to emerge from their own ignorance of the truths.
Jonas felt a ripping sensation inside himself, the feeling of terrible pain clawing its way forward to emerge in a cry.
mimic
"I will take care of that, sir. I will take care of that, sir,” Jonas mimicked in a cruel, sarcastic voice.
efficient
She’s very efficient at her work, your red-haired friend.
rueful
The Giver gave a rueful, anguished, empty laugh.
emphatically
Jonas shook his head emphatically. “No, Giver,” he said. “I want you to keep that, to have with you, when I’m gone.”
plea
He knew the answer even as he made the final plea.
stealthy
It was terribly dangerous because some of the work crews were still about, but he moved stealthily and silently, staying in the shadows, making his way past the darkened dwellings and the empty Central Plaza, toward the river.
condemn
"Condemn" also means "declare or judge unfit for use or habitation"--although this often applies to buildings, it could apply to Jonas, since a useless member of the community would receive condemnation ("strong disapproval") before being condemned to a sentence of release.
He thought of the rules he had broken so far: enough that if he were caught, now, he would be condemned.
languid
Before he had left the dwelling, he had laid his hands firmly on Gabe’s back and transmitted to him the most soothing memory he could: a slow- swinging hammock under palm trees on an island someplace, at evening, with a rhythmic sound of languid water lapping hypnotically against a beach nearby.
fugitive
"Fugitive" also means "someone who flees from a situation that is uncongenial" ("very unfavorable to life or growth")--both definitions fit, since the community sends search planes after the lawbreakers, who are running towards an Elsewhere that would not have Receivers and releases.
Together the fugitives slept through the first dangerous day.
augmented
The journey had become automatic: the sleep by day, hidden in underbrush and trees; the finding of water; the careful division of scraps of food, augmented by what he could find in the fields.
intently
But he was alert at night, too, on the road, always listening intently for the sound of the engines.
vigilant
As he pedaled through the nights, through isolated landscape now, with the communities far behind and no sign of human habitation around him or ahead, he was constantly vigilant, looking for the next nearest hiding place should the sound of engines come.
haphazard
They came less often, and flew, when they did come, less slowly, as if the search had become haphazard and no longer hopeful.
peril
But now there were new fears; the unfamiliar landscape held hidden, unknown perils.
relentless
The most relentless of his new fears was that they would starve.
meager
They finished the meager store of potatoes and carrots they had saved from the last agricultural area, and now they were always hungry.
subside
But when the memory glimpses subsided, he was left with the gnawing, painful emptiness.
yearn
Once he had yearned for choice. Then, when he had had a choice, he had made the wrong one: the choice to leave.
feeble
Gabriel moved feebly against him and whimpered briefly into the silence that surrounded them.
obscure
But now the rapidly deepening snow obscured the narrow road and made the ride impossible.
lethargy
"Resignation" means "the act of giving up" or "acceptance of despair"--it is an emotional obstacle that is harder to overcome than physical lethargy, but Jonas, with the help of his warm memories and the reminder that Gabe is depending on him, finds the courage and strength to shake off both.
Warming himself ever so briefly had shaken away the lethargy and resignation and restored his will to survive.
impede
But the hill was treacherously steep; he was impeded by the snow and his own lack of strength.
trudge
The top of the hill seemed so far away, and he did not know what lay beyond. But there was nothing left to do but continue. He trudged upward.
incision
The runners sliced through the snow and the wind whipped at his face as they sped in a straight line through an incision that seemed to lead to the final destination, the place that he had always felt was waiting, the Elsewhere that held their future and their past.

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