A Single Shard: Chapters 1–3

by Linda Sue Park
A Single Shard tells the story of a homeless orphan who helps a potter earn a royal commission in 12th-century Korea. Master these words that Linda Sue Park shaped into a Newbery Medal winner.

Here are links to our other lists for the novel: Chapters 1–3, Chapters 4–6, Chapters 7–9, Chapters 10–13
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. rubbish
    worthless material that is to be disposed of
    Tree-ear had been trotting along the road on his early-morning perusal of the village rubbish heaps.
  2. urchin
    a poor and often mischievous city child
    “Good deserves good, urchin. The rice on the ground is yours if you can be troubled to gather it.”
  3. garner
    acquire or deserve by one's efforts or actions
    Foraging in the woods and rubbish heaps, gathering fallen grain-heads in the autumn—these were honorable ways to garner a meal, requiring time and work.
  4. dignity
    the quality of being worthy of esteem or respect
    “Work gives a man dignity, stealing takes it away,” he often said.
  5. emerging
    coming into existence
    Tree-ear was so called after the mushroom that grew in wrinkled half-circles on dead or fallen tree trunks, emerging from the rotten wood without benefit of parent seed.
  6. shrivel
    decrease in size, range, or extent
    Tree-ear shared the space under the bridge with Crane-man—or rather, Crane-man shared it with him. After all, Crane-man had been there first, and would not be leaving anytime soon. The shriveled and twisted calf and foot he had been born with made sure of that.
  7. crane
    a long-necked wading bird
    “Then, as I went through life on one leg, it was said that I was like a crane. But besides standing on one leg, cranes are also a symbol of long life.”
  8. symmetry
    exact reflection of form on opposite sides of a line
    In only a few moments the clay rose and fell, grew taller, then rounded down, until it curved into perfect symmetry.
  9. graceful
    characterized by beauty of movement, style, or form
    Turning the wheel slowly with his knee, he inspected the graceful shape for invisible faults.
  10. deftly
    with dexterity; in a dexterous manner
    He took a length of twine and slipped it deftly under the vase to release it from the wheel, then placed the vase carefully on a tray to dry.
  11. delicate
    exquisitely fine and subtle and pleasing
    Its potters produced the delicate celadon ware that had achieved fame not only in Korea but as far away as the court of the Chinese emperor.
  12. virtue
    any admirable quality or attribute
    Ch’ulp’o had become an important village for ceramics by virtue of both its location and its soil.
  13. exquisite
    delicately beautiful
    And the clay from the village pits contained exactly the right amount of iron to produce the exquisite gray-green color of celadon so prized by collectors.
  14. inscribe
    carve, cut, or etch into a material or surface
    A new shape for a teapot, a new inscribed design—these were things that the potters refused to reveal until a piece was ready to show to a buyer.
  15. imitate
    reproduce someone's behavior or looks
    Min did not seem to care about such secrecy. It was as if he were saying, Go ahead, watch me. No matter—you will not be able to imitate my skill.
  16. misshapen
    so badly formed or distorted as to be ugly
    He gestured at the misshapen pottery box on the ground, badly dented from its fall.
  17. honorable
    deserving of esteem and respect
    "Honorable potter? Sir? Could I not work for you, as payment? Perhaps my help could save you some time ..."
  18. derision
    contemptuous laughter
    The potter waved one hand to cut off the boy’s words and spoke with derision. “Turn the wheel! Ha! He thinks he can sit and make a pot—just like that!”
  19. kiln
    a furnace for firing, burning, or drying porcelain or bricks
    Like most of the potters’ villages, Ch’ulp’o had a communal kiln. Set on the hillside just outside the center of the village, it looked like a long, low tunnel made of hardened clay. The potters took turns using the kiln and keeping up the supply of fuel.
  20. precariously
    in a manner affording no ease or reassurance
    In spite of his efforts, whenever the wheels hit a deep rut, the cart tipped precariously and some of the logs spilled out.
  21. frenzy
    state of violent mental agitation
    He set his lips together tightly and scrambled to his feet, then pulled the cart upright and began flinging the wood back into it in a frenzy.
  22. wield
    handle effectively
    The pillow of fluid that had formed on his palm during the long hours of wielding the ax had burst.
  23. makeshift
    done or made using whatever is available
    He used his other hand and his teeth to wrap and tie the cloth into a makeshift bandage.
  24. resentful
    full of or marked by indignant ill will
    He felt like a beast with two heads, one ashamed, the other resentful. Ashamed that he had not finished the work properly, resentful that Min had not given him complete instructions.
  25. diligent
    quietly and steadily persevering in detail or exactness
    A period of diligent chopping and loading, then a break; this was better than several hours of frenzied chopping that left him with a vast, untidy pile of wood, which took much time to load and left him exhausted.
  26. discharge
    eliminate
    “It has been nine days and your debt is discharged. If you came to hear me say it, you can go now.”
  27. insolence
    the trait of being rude and impertinent
    “I beg the honorable potter to pardon my insolence,” he said.
  28. curt
    brief and to the point
    “I cannot pay you.” Min’s interruption could hardly have been more abrupt, but the curt words swept over Tree-ear like cool rain over a parched field. I cannot pay you was the same as “Yes.”
  29. gratitude
    a feeling of thankfulness and appreciation
    Tree-ear found himself on the ground, collapsed in a full bow of gratitude.
  30. slab
    block consisting of a thick piece of something
    When a slab of clay had been outlined with the spade, it was cut away from the bank and heaved into a nearby cart or basket.
  31. soothing
    affording physical relief
    But it was not so painful as it had been on the mountainside, for here he could apply handfuls of cooling, soothing mud to the wound.
  32. apprentice
    someone who works for an expert to learn a trade
    Apprentices, assistants, the lowliest workers in every trade—no matter what their status, it was the master’s duty to provide a meal for them in the middle of the workday.
  33. savory
    pleasing to the sense of taste
    It held a gourd bowl filled with rice, whose whiteness was accented by a few dark shreds of savory dried fish and a little pile of kimchee—pickled cabbage vivid with seasonings of red pepper, green onions, and garlic.
  34. modest
    limited in size or scope
    Of one thing he was certain: The feast-day banquets in the palace of the King could never better the modest meal before him, for he had earned it.
  35. sorrow
    an emotion of great sadness associated with loss
    “You must mean, ‘I am sorry about your leg.’ Because that is the reason for our fishless supper today. But I think it a waste for either of us to spend too much time in sorrow over something we cannot change.”
Created on Thu May 25 16:47:26 EDT 2017 (updated Tue Apr 09 13:45:09 EDT 2019)

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