VOCABULARY 7

AUSTINENGLISH 11

CLAMORThe hungry parakeets set up an excited clamor when they saw their owner enter the room.

Does clamor mean:Loud noiseTense silencewhispers

contractThe universe is expanding,

but scientists do not know whether this will continue forever, or whether eventually it will start to grow or to contract, becoming more and more dense until it collapses on itself.

Does contract mean:To become visibleTo become smallerTo become weaker

duplicityDogs seem incapable of duplicity. If a dog soils the rug, he will slink around guiltily. He won’t even pretend that the cat did it.

Does duplicity mean:RepetitionExaggerationdeceit

Equivocal After her first date with Chris, Karen was equivocal about how she felt toward him. She said he was “interesting,” which could mean almost anything.

Does equivocal mean:VagueThe sameDiscouraged

Irresolute In Hamlet, why doesn’t Hamlet kill Claudius sooner? Is it because he is too irresolute to act, or because he is prevented from carrying out his purpose?

Does irresolute mean:Unable to decideLacking self-controlunknowing

rescindIt’s very rude to rescind your invitation to one date just because you’ve met someone you’d prefer to invite.

Does rescind mean:To renewTo cancelTo abuse

stagnantThe pond was stagnant, and algae and weeds were growing so thickly that they covered the still water underneath.

Does stagnant mean:Out of controlMotionlessSpread thin

uniformPeople whose teeth are unevenly spaced and discolored may benefit from a dental technique called bonding, which makes teeth look more uniform.

Does uniform mean:UnvaryingDifferentinsupportable

untenableJocelyn’s theory that the explorers missing at the South Pole had been eaten by polar bears was interesting but untenable. Polar bears live at the North Pole.

Does untenable mean:UninterestingUnable to be defendedunclear

vilify“I don’t think it’s fair to vilify the entire college just because one fraternity has behaved badly,” said Lester. “People should aim their dislike at the right target.

Does vilify mean:To argue withTo assault physicallyTo speak evil of

NOVELS AND AUTHORS

AENEID BY Virgil

On the Mediterranean Sea, Aeneas and his fellow Trojans flee from their home city of Troy, which has been destroyed by the Greeks. They sail for Italy, where Aeneas is destined to found Rome. Aeneas tells of the sack of Troy that ended the Trojan War after ten years of Greek siege. In the final campaign, the Trojans were tricked when they accepted into their city walls a wooden horse that, unbeknownst to them, harbored several Greek soldiers in its hollow belly.

Candide by VoltaireCandide is known for its sarcastic tone and its erratic, fantastical, and fast-moving plot. It parodies many adventure and romance clichés, the struggles of which are caricatured in a tone that is mordantly matter-of-fact. Still, the events discussed are often based on historical happenings, such as the Seven Years' War and the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. As philosophers of Voltaire's day contended with the problem of evil, so too does Candide in this short novel, albeit more directly and humourously. Voltaire ridicules religion, theologians, governments, armies, philosophies, and philosophers through allegory; most conspicuously, he assaults Leibniz and his optimism.

The Divine Comedy by Dantethe central epic poem of Italian literature, and is seen as one of the greatest works of world literature. The poem's imaginative and allegorical vision of the Christian afterlife is a culmination of the medieval world-view as it had developed in the Western Church.

Dante shown holding a copy of the Divine Comedy, next to the entrance to Hell, the seven terraces of Mount Purgatory and the city of Florence, with the spheres of Heaven above, in Michelino's fresco.

Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio

Decameron is structured in a frame narrative, or frame tale. Boccaccio begins with a description of the Black Death and leads a group of seven women and three men who flee from plague-ridden Florence to a villa in the (then) countryside of Fiesole for two weeks. To pass the time, each member of the party tells one story for each one of the nights spent at the villa. In this manner, 100 stories are told by the end of the ten days.

Paradise Lost by John MiltonParadise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton. In the early nineteenth century, the Romantics began to regard Satan as the protagonist of the epic. Milton presents Satan as an ambitious and proud being who defies his creator, omnipotent God, and who wages war on Heaven, only to be defeated and cast down.

DEMOPHOBIA

FEAR OF CROWDS