The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate: Chapters 7–8

by Jacqueline Kelly
The year is 1899, and 11-year-old Callie enjoys studying Darwin and exploring the natural world with her grandfather — but her traditional mother wants Callie to spend her time engaged in "ladylike" pursuits like cooking and sewing. As a new century dawns, Callie must struggle to balance her desires and interests with the expectations of society.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–2, Chapters 3–6, Chapters 7–8, Chapters 9–15, Chapters 16–22, Chapters 23–28
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. debacle
    a sudden and complete disaster
    For some days after the debacle in Lockhart, he’d been acting odd.
  2. mulish
    unreasonably stubborn or rigid
    “That’s right. So what?” he said mulishly.
  3. salvo
    an outburst resembling the discharge of firearms
    My opening salvo had hit its mark.
  4. indignation
    a feeling of righteous anger
    “She’s not old,” he said with indignation.
  5. novice
    someone new to a field or activity
    I was a novice commander, shocked by the destruction my troops had wrought.
  6. newel
    the post at the top or bottom of a flight of stairs
    It was fast and quiet transportation, but I misjudged in the dark and braked late and hit the square newel post hard enough to earn myself a nice blue bruise on my behind, a two-weeker, at least.
  7. founder
    stumble and nearly fall
    I made it through the front door but then foundered on the bottom stairs.
  8. fitful
    intermittently stopping and starting
    The next morning, I was so exhausted that I stayed in bed, feigning illness and dozing fitfully.
  9. listless
    marked by low spirits; showing no enthusiasm
    It wasn’t difficult to convince Mother that I was ill, what with my listlessness and lingering hives.
  10. poultice
    a medical dressing spread on a cloth and applied to the skin
    She and Viola sent a steady stream of beef tea and baking soda poultices to my room.
  11. indisposed
    somewhat ill or prone to illness
    Travis came in to lend me his kitten Doc Holliday to cheer me up (Jesse James was indisposed).
  12. soiree
    a party of people assembled in the evening
    I noticed that she never exactly encouraged Granddaddy’s presence at her evening entertainments, or “soirees” as she called them.
  13. expound
    add details to clarify an idea
    Once I had seen my mother shudder on overhearing him expound to a group of ladies on the mating posture of order Opiliones, or daddy longlegs.
  14. prognostication
    a statement made about the future
    Then there were his predictions for the future, how man would one day build flying machines and travel to the moon, prognostications that were met with the sly indulgence afforded old codgers, although I secretly agreed with him and could imagine it happening a thousand years hence.
  15. ostentatious
    intended to attract notice and impress others
    When Miss Brown arrived, I shook her hand and dropped her a deep, ostentatious curtsy.
  16. petulant
    easily irritated or annoyed
    There was the petulant mouth, the long neck, the buggy eyes, the massy hair.
  17. spangled
    covered with beads or jewels or sequins
    She carried a spangled peach-colored fan that she opened with a theatrical fwop as she met the other guests.
  18. mite
    a slight but appreciable amount
    And with this, she furled her fan and tapped me playfully on the cheek with it, a mite too hard.
  19. dowdy
    lacking in stylishness or taste
    And speaking of taste, had anyone else remarked upon that dreadful, dowdy number that so-and-so had worn to the such-and-such ball...?
  20. simper
    smile in an insincere, unnatural, or coy way
    She simpered and swished and ordered Harry about.
  21. interminable
    tiresomely long; seemingly without end
    Somehow we got through an interminable dinner, and then for entertainment Miss Brown sat down at the piano and whipped through her stock party piece, “The Minute Waltz,” in fifty-two seconds by Father’s pocket watch.
  22. mesmerized
    having your attention fixated as though witchcraft
    I noticed during this nauseating performance that Granddaddy stared at her as if mesmerized, which depressed me right into the ground.
  23. vagary
    an unexpected and inexplicable change in something
    Reverend Goodacre discussed the vagaries of the cotton market with my father.
  24. bonhomie
    a disposition to be friendly and approachable
    Harry radiated bonhomie.
  25. pensive
    deeply or seriously thoughtful
    Harry looked pensive. “Grandfather, did Miss Goodacre seem all right in the library?”
  26. gossamer
    characterized by unusual lightness and delicacy
    She did display some interest in the gossamer-winged butterflies.
  27. carrion
    the dead and rotting body of an animal; unfit for human food
    I wish she had shown more interest in the carrion beetle collection, though.
  28. effusive
    uttered with unrestrained enthusiasm
    The notes were flowery and effusive, except for Miss Goodacre’s, which, although correct, was terse to the point of rudeness.
  29. terse
    brief and to the point
    The notes were flowery and effusive, except for Miss Goodacre’s, which, although correct, was terse to the point of rudeness.
  30. lurid
    shining with an unnatural red glow
    I tended my own stupendous bruise through its lurid healing colors and vowed to resign my commission as a meddler.
  31. discombobulated
    having self-possession upset; thrown into confusion
    After our narrow brush with the drippy Miss Goodacre, the house stayed discombobulated for weeks as Harry mourned and moped.
  32. desiccated
    thoroughly dried out
    I never tired of looking at Granddaddy’s things: his brass spyglass from the War; wide, shallow drawers containing rows of desiccated lizards, spiders, and dragonflies; an ornate black cuckoo clock that announced the quarter hours in a droll, cracked voice.
  33. droll
    comical in an odd or whimsical manner
    I never tired of looking at Granddaddy’s things: his brass spyglass from the War; wide, shallow drawers containing rows of desiccated lizards, spiders, and dragonflies; an ornate black cuckoo clock that announced the quarter hours in a droll, cracked voice.
  34. taxidermy
    the art of mounting the skins of animals
    In the locked cabinet on the shelf above the prize book was the gnarly stuffed armadillo, the worst example of taxidermy I had ever seen.
  35. paragon
    model of excellence or perfection of a kind
    Why did he keep this, when all his other specimens were paragons of their species?
  36. subtlety
    the quality of being difficult to detect or analyze
    “That’s true, I could, but I keep it as a reminder. That was the very first mammal I stuffed myself. I learned by correspondence course, which I advise against. If this path interests you, I suggest you apprentice yourself to a master. There are subtleties to the art that cannot be gleaned from merely reading a pamphlet.”
  37. trilobite
    an extinct arthropod with a three-part exoskeleton
    I was hefting a trilobite fossil and half listening.
  38. surmise
    infer from incomplete evidence
    It is unfair to expect you to surmise more, because it is, as you say, squashed in there. It is a cuttlefish.
  39. brackish
    slightly salty
    He greeted us in turn, nosing us for a pat, then splashed into the shallows and slurped at the brackish water.
  40. insinuate
    introduce or insert in a subtle manner
    Still, for months after that, when I stepped into the river, I thought of that Leviathan at one end of the scale waiting to mutilate me and the swarming microscopic creatures at the other end waiting to insinuate themselves.
Created on Wed Aug 22 10:54:12 EDT 2018 (updated Thu Aug 23 11:23:00 EDT 2018)

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