Bad Boy: List 2

by Walter Dean Myers
In this memoir, acclaimed author Walter Dean Myers recounts his early life in Harlem in the 1940s and 50s.

This list covers the following chapters: "I Am Not the Center of the Universe"–"Sonnets from the Portuguese."

Here are links to our lists for the memoir: List 1, List 2, List 3, List 4, List 5

Here are links to our lists for other works by Walter Dean Myers: 145th Street, Fallen Angels, Monster, Slam!
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. contorted
    twisted, especially as in pain or struggle
    When we arrived, my aunt was crying loudly, her face contorted with grief.
  2. permeate
    spread or diffuse through
    I had never seen that much sadness before, and the smells that permeated the apartment—liniment smells, stale tobacco, a pot of pepper rice and cloves on the stove—added a heavy weight to the atmosphere.
  3. incoherent
    unable to express yourself clearly or fluently
    When Dad got back from the morgue, he looked like a stranger to me, wild-eyed and nearly incoherent.
  4. offbeat
    strikingly unconventional
    What I missed most about him was his offbeat sense of humor.
  5. adversary
    someone who offers opposition
    I saw them as games, saw myself as being in a contest against a mythical adversary, and welcomed the challenge.
  6. derision
    the act of treating with contempt
    It was a class in which everyone got a ninety on every test, and an eighty was a source of derision.
  7. clad
    wearing or provided with clothing
    In the history book there was an image of scantily clad Africans, their heads down, being marched off a boat under the watchful eyes of white men armed only with walking sticks.
  8. moor
    secure in or as if in a berth or dock
    There were a few old boats moored on the next pier, one that looked like a coal scow, but nothing even vaguely romantic.
  9. relentless
    never-ceasing
    There was a milk-bottling plant, and I watched the rows of milk bottles move relentlessly along a conveyor belt and tried to make a big deal of that.
  10. castanets
    pair of hollow pieces of wood or bone made to click together
    She did flamenco dancing, and we could hear her heels pounding on the ceiling and the distinct clicking of castanets.
  11. emulate
    strive to equal or match, especially by imitating
    I secretly bought a pair of castanets and taught myself at least to emulate some of the sounds I heard from above.
  12. commendable
    worthy of high praise
    I knew that blacks did not have the same chances as whites, and I did not want to do something that was commendable only as a Negro accomplishment.
  13. relegate
    assign to a lower position
    I began to suspect that, if I were not careful, in all likelihood I would one day be relegated to taking the A train downtown, as my father did and as occasionally Mama did, to clean up for some white person.
  14. gratify
    make happy or satisfied
    It was a very small but very gratifying triumph.
  15. bedevil
    be confusing or perplexing to
    The old man who had called the police was the same one whom we had constantly bedeviled as we snatched transfer pads earlier that week.
  16. mores
    the conventions embodying the fundamental values of a group
    Boys slightly older were moving on to girls and dating and fitting in with the mores and restrictions of being in their mid teens, which meant, among other things, avoiding associations with younger boys.
  17. sheer
    complete and without restriction
    To even get into one of the tough summer tournaments, with players coming from as far away as Philadelphia, was sheer delight.
  18. feisty
    showing spirit and courage
    She was bright, beautiful, and feisty, but, like Mickey, she was not allowed out of the house that much.
  19. pretense
    the act of giving a false appearance
    There was far less pretense in the New York City school system than there is today.
  20. vocational
    of or relating to an occupation
    High schools were divided into four general categories: vocational, commercial, general, and academic.
  21. indiscriminate
    not marked by fine distinctions
    When I wasn’t playing ball, I read everything I could get my hands on. The reading was largely indiscriminate.
  22. venture
    an undertaking with an uncertain outcome
    Her dismay, along with the disgust of the girls, made the whole venture worthwhile even as we had to clean up the mess we made with rags and buckets of water brought up by the cleaning staff.
  23. notoriety
    the state of being known for some unfavorable act or quality
    The girls, after the tobacco incident, were somewhat envious of our notoriety.
  24. sonnet
    a verse form of 14 lines with a fixed rhyme scheme
    We had read sonnets before, but Mrs. Finley, reading Browning’s poems, gave them new meaning.
  25. urn
    a large vase that usually has a pedestal or feet
    Perhaps someone could be so moved by a Grecian urn that he would instantly sit down and write a poem about it, but the idea of writing to someone you loved was immediately attractive to me.
  26. devious
    indirect in departing from the accepted or proper way
    Where Browning was straightforward and usually clear, Shakespeare was devious, never being quite where you wanted him to be.
  27. ode
    a lyric poem with complex stanza forms
    I wrote more sonnets and odes to everything imaginable.
  28. ethereal
    characterized by unusual lightness and delicacy
    The prints we saw of Shelley and Byron were of ethereal young white men with flowing hair.
  29. discern
    perceive, recognize, or detect
    Mrs. Finley made them sound as if they were naturally brilliant, and I studied the images, trying to discern who they were.
  30. reprimand
    an act or expression of criticism and censure
    We behaved badly at every turn and received more class reprimands than any other class in the school’s history.
  31. incursion
    the act of entering some territory or domain
    The play she saw as a gentle incursion into another culture we played as a comic romp with great effect.
  32. romp
    light-hearted recreation activity
    The play she saw as a gentle incursion into another culture we played as a comic romp with great effect.
  33. mariner
    a person who serves as a sailor
    The next play we did for assembly was an enactment, totally adapted by Mrs. Finley, I believe, of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.
  34. albatross
    a large web-footed bird noted for powerful gliding flight
    He was the one who had shot the albatross, and yet in the end we pitied him.
  35. disdain
    lack of respect accompanied by a feeling of intense dislike
    We had made light of all the advantages we had been given and had treated the school with disdain, or so it seemed.
Created on Tue Nov 06 13:29:23 EST 2018 (updated Tue Nov 06 16:36:48 EST 2018)

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