The Teacher's Funeral: Chapters 14–17

by Richard Peck
Teenager Russell Culver's dreams of no more school and leaving his tiny farming town seem to be within reach when the schoolhouse teacher dies right before the school year begins! To his surprise, however, his older sister, Tansy, becomes the new teacher…and gradually life begins to change.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Chapters 1–4, Chapters 5–7, Chapters 8–9, Chapters 10–13, Chapters 14–17
15 words 10 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. elocution
    an expert manner of speaking involving control of voice
    Elocution was the subject we always had Friday.
  2. suitor
    a man who courts a woman
    “It means he’s stepping up his pace. Now he’s courting the whole family,” Dad remarked. “He’s one serious suitor, and he’s proving it this minute.”
  3. alacrity
    liveliness and eagerness
    Then here came the blazing headlamps of an automobile. Eugene Hammond had taken up Dad’s invitation with alacrity, as we said in Spelling School.
  4. orator
    a person who delivers a speech
    He was something of an orator, and said in a carrying voice, “Mr. Hammond, as a welcome stranger among us, you’re to have the first shot.”
  5. tenderfoot
    an inexperienced person
    “What plan?” Dad was clipping needle teeth on the pigs, so I didn’t have his full attention.
    “Your plan to show up Eugene Hammond as a tenderfoot...” I said to refresh his memory.
  6. provisional
    under terms not final or fully worked out or agreed upon
    Her eyes hurried down the page to the worst paragraph:
    I will myself, accompanied by the assistant superintendent, undertake to examine your qualifications as a teacher in an eight-grade rural school with an eye to granting you a provisional teaching certificate.
  7. acumen
    shrewdness shown by keen insight
    You will be subjected in the place of your teaching to an oral examination of general knowledge. Your students will demonstrate their acumen and progress during the usual Friday Elocution class.
  8. brandish
    move or swing back and forth
    “Then you need an American flag.” Aunt Fanny brandished her flag, and the Stars and Stripes unfurled above us.
  9. hanker
    desire strongly or persistently
    She could believe me or believe me not, but what I most wanted in the world was to see Tansy succeed. Why she hankered to be a teacher, I couldn’t tell you.
  10. participle
    a form of the verb used as an adjective
    “What is a participle? Does it ever part with its verbal significance? Does it assert action?”
  11. interject
    speak abruptly, especially as an interruption
    “Miss Culver,” he said, “you will agree that the greatest living poet is – ”
    “James Whitcomb Riley, now of Indianapolis, the Athens of America,” Tansy interjected.
  12. domicile
    housing that someone is living in
    In short, the domicile was rife
    With specimens of Hoosier life.
  13. rife
    excessively abundant
    In short, the domicile was rife
    With specimens of Hoosier life.
  14. complimentary
    costing nothing
    Little Britches took up her complimentary writing pad from The Overland Automobile Company and began making big letters with her complimentary pencil.
  15. diploma
    a document certifying the completion of a course of study
    “High school! Me? How many years would that take?”
    “It takes the average pupil four years for a diploma,” Tansy calculated. “I’d think you could do it in six.”
Created on Wed Jan 14 18:48:58 EST 2026 (updated Tue Mar 03 12:58:59 EST 2026)

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