WORD LISTS

"Bronx Masquerade" by Nikki Grimes, List 1

Fri Oct 10 19:58:41 EDT 2014
By Vocabulary.com (NY)Visual Thesaurus Moderator
Each week, students in a high school English class step up to the mic to share original poems.

This list covers pages 3–67 in the 2002 Speak edition.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1, List 2, List 3
convince
Tyrone might convince everybody else that he’s all through with dreaming, but I know he wants to be a big hip-hop star.
stoke
You dipped into
the muddy waters
of the Harlem River
and shouted "taste and see"
that we Black folk be good
at fanning hope
and stoking the fires
of dreams deferred.
defer
You dipped into
the muddy waters
of the Harlem River
and shouted "taste and see"
that we Black folk be good
at fanning hope
and stoking the fires
of dreams deferred.
artful
You made sure
the world heard
about the beauty of
maple sugar children, and the
artfully tattooed backs of Black
sailors venturing out
to foreign places.
venture
You made sure
the world heard
about the beauty of
maple sugar children, and the
artfully tattooed backs of Black
sailors venturing out
to foreign places.
seep
When that boy dyed his hair, I b’lieve some of that bleach must’ve seeped right into his brain.
ward
Dear Mr. Ward
with his wards and wardettes.
Let’s have a show of hands today.
innocence
It’s too late to worry
about my innocence
since fear is here.
censor
Why is it a weekend visit
to your local Mickey D's
may be deadly?
Why hasn’t somebody
censored death?
brutality
Say no to police brutality
and causing fatality.
routine
I am not in the mood for Tyrone’s sorry “Baby, gimme some loving” routine, so when I see him in the hall, I storm past as if he’s not even there.
commence
She commences to call the guy everything but a child of God, which makes her feel better, I think, then gives me a hug and says she’ll see me later.
gawk
Still, I’d rather not have kids gawking at me all period, so I park myself in the back of the room and wait for Mr. Ward to call our English class to attention.
fabrication
The truth is always right on the tip of your tongue, he says. It’s the fabrications that take a lot of time.
souvenir
I caught a quick glance
in the chilly glow
of the refrigerator
before she had
a chance to hide
the latest souvenir
her boyfriend gave her.
advice
Didn’t he come to me for advice on how to decorate the classroom?
bribe
I’d bribe her with whatever I could scrounge up from returning soda bottles to the grocery.
pamper
It survives a kind of life where pamper is a noun, not a verb.
distress
I lunge on cue, save the damsel in
distress.
confining
Why make it easy for you to choose whether I am Zorro or el bandito when I am neither. Your categories are too confining.
tirade
He’ll launch into a tirade on you in a minute.
limelight
I guess she’s not exactly used to the limelight.
confide
I woke up this morning
exhausted from hiding
the me of me
so I stand here confiding
there's more to Devon
than jump shot and rim.
despise
He couldn’t wait to get back to his precious mountains! And this is the man you love? But Berto, who puts food in your mouth, him you despise.
rosary
Sometimes I say my rosaries and beg for someone to love.
churn
Our twin hearts beat
like congas, the rhythm
churning our blood
to salsa.
elegant
Why couldn’t I be tall and elegant like Diondra, or have Judianne’s perfect complexion, all smooth, super-rich fudge?
complexion
Why couldn’t I be tall and elegant like Diondra, or have Judianne’s perfect complexion, all smooth, super-rich fudge?
invade
"Leave you alone? Look, if you wanted to be left alone, why the hell did you invade my space?"
clique
We kind of have our own little clique now.
accentuate
That’s why I got to show it off, wear clothes that accentuate the positive.
transformation
Meanwhile, I sit at my sewing machine and dream about the great transformation I’m going to make someday.
voluptuous
With her chalk,
she can outline
a fine and voluptuous shape.
nape
The nape of the neck is a perfect place to tuck and fold.
baste
A quick basting stitch
lets her know where
to set her seams,
her cuffs, her hem.

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