Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl: Chapters 10–14

by Harriet Jacobs
After escaping to New York, Harriet Jacobs wrote this account of the horrors of slavery, focusing particularly on the suffering of enslaved women.

Here are links to our lists for the autobiography: Chapters 1–5, Chapters 6–9, Chapters 10–14, Chapters 15–28, Chapters 29–41
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. sophistry
    a deliberately invalid argument in the hope of deceiving
    There may be sophistry in all this; but the condition of a slave confuses all principles of morality, and, in fact, renders the practice of them impossible.
  2. avowal
    a statement asserting the truth of something
    I had never seen him since I made the avowal to him.
  3. incensed
    angered at something unjust or wrong
    His master was greatly incensed at what he called his insolence.
  4. motley
    consisting of a haphazard assortment of different kinds
    Far as my eye could reach, it rested on a motley crowd of soldiers.
  5. consternation
    sudden shock or dismay that causes confusion
    The consternation was universal. No two people that had the slightest tinge of color in their faces dared to be seen talking together.
  6. embolden
    give encouragement to
    My grandmother, emboldened by the presence of our white protector said, "You may be sure we didn't pilfer 'em from your houses."
  7. malediction
    the act of calling down a curse that invokes evil
    As they passed out of the gate, the captain turned back, and pronounced a malediction on the house.
  8. impunity
    exemption from punishment or loss
    The next day, the town patrols were commissioned to search colored people that lived out of the city; and the most shocking outrages were committed with perfect impunity.
  9. depravity
    moral perversion; impairment of virtue and moral principles
    Your masters may not find you out, but God sees you, and will punish you. O, the depravity of your hearts!
  10. sanctimonious
    excessively or hypocritically pious
    Many of them are sincere, and nearer to the gate of heaven than sanctimonious Mr. Pike, and other long-faced Christians, who see wounded Samaritans, and pass by on the other side.
  11. rectory
    housing that a church provides for its clergy
    He brought to the rectory five slaves.
  12. reprobate
    a person without moral scruples
    The venomous old reprobate had no need of descanting on that theme.
  13. avarice
    reprehensible acquisitiveness; insatiable desire for wealth
    I knew the law gave him power to fulfil it; for slaveholders have been cunning enough to enact that "the child shall follow the condition of the mother," not of the father, thus taking care that licentiousness shall not interfere with avarice.
  14. epithet
    a defamatory or abusive word or phrase
    He noticed this; and while I stood before him, trembling with weakness, he heaped upon me and my little one every vile epithet he could think of.
  15. vituperation
    abusive or venomous language to express blame or censure
    In the midst of his vituperations I fainted at his feet.
Created on Thu Aug 02 14:51:46 EDT 2018 (updated Thu Aug 07 10:00:47 EDT 2025)

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