Bad Boy: List 4

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: "God and Dylan Thomas"–"The Stranger."

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. subdued
    softened in tone
    “No,” I answered, subdued.
  2. defiant
    boldly resisting authority or an opposing force
    Years later I saw a movie, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, in which Ferris, the hero, was happily defiant and disdainful of the system.
  3. replete
    deeply filled or permeated
    His day away from school, replete with all the money he needed to enjoy the romp with his friends, was one of triumph.
  4. mottled
    having spots or patches of color
    He was six feet, with light, mottled skin and sandy brown hair with a streak of even lighter hair near the front.
  5. verily
    in truth; certainly
    I wanted to hear a big voice on the phone say “Yea, verily, this is me, God. It’s all good, my man, and will be ultracool in the end. Don’t worry about it.”
  6. anarchist
    an advocate of the abolition of governments
    Over the summer I read a biography of the anarchist Emma Goldman.
  7. mundane
    found in the ordinary course of events
    Dylan Thomas, with his high, ethereal voice and poetry that was, at times, incomprehensible, fulfilled that idea, whereas Hughes, writing about ordinary people and about a very mundane Harlem, did not fulfill that idea.
  8. swoon
    pass out from weakness or physical or emotional distress
    I wanted to be the person who wrote poems that moved the hearts of wicked men and made beautiful women swoon at my feet.
  9. elude
    be incomprehensible to
    Simple formulas in chemistry eluded me.
  10. admonition
    cautionary advice about something imminent
    He concluded the conference with an admonition that I had better get my act together or I would be in really big trouble.
  11. superficial
    of little substance or significance
    From time to time I had made superficial attempts to identify with an author.
  12. wreak
    cause to happen or to occur as a consequence
    Thus is created a virginal society on which the author can wreak whatever literary havoc he chooses.
  13. convoluted
    highly complex or intricate
    Could my religious beliefs be based on such convoluted history?
  14. gimmick
    any clever maneuver
    The story was so logically laid out, without the gimmicks of Penguin Island.
  15. chiefly
    for the most part
    But it was chiefly intimidating because I was comparing my own writing to Mann’s.
  16. lavish
    characterized by extravagance and profusion
    The story is about a retired merchant, Père Goriot, who has raised two rotten, spoiled daughters, and who spends all of his remaining life supporting them in a lavish style that drains him of all his resources.
  17. toil
    work hard
    Away from the book I imagined myself to be Goriot, toiling away just beyond the edges of a world he could not enter.
  18. supplant
    take the place or move into the position of
    It almost, but not quite, supplanted my image of myself banging out stories on the typewriter.
  19. conjure
    summon into action or bring into existence
    When I read, I conjured images of the characters, and Frank, with his lean and hungry look, reminded me of Cassius in Julius Caesar.
  20. bout
    a period of illness
    My bout with scarlet fever came the summer when I was eight, and I had all but forgotten it.
  21. subside
    wear off or die down
    At the end of the three weeks, when I was cured of the fever, the doctors had recommended that I be put into a facility for disturbed children until my “nervousness” subsided.
  22. bureau
    an administrative unit of government
    As part of the new attention being paid to me I had to report to someone at a city bureau for an interview.
  23. truancy
    failure to attend, especially school
    He became annoyed when I smiled and informed me that my truancy was “no laughing matter.”
  24. insolence
    the trait of being rude and impertinent
    It was apparent that the man interviewing me took my reluctance to answer his questions as insolence.
  25. vaudeville
    a genre of variety show with songs, comic acts, etc.
    His father had been a vaudeville dancer and singer and had achieved quite a bit of success in the black entertainment outlets.
  26. venue
    the scene of any event or action
    The singing Mills Brothers, the dancing Nicholas Brothers, and Fats Waller had all crossed over, establishing their popularity in both white and black venues.
  27. stiletto
    a small dagger with a tapered blade
    I had a knife, an Italian stiletto that I had bought on 42nd Street, and I touched the pocket it was in with my elbow to make sure it was there.
  28. protagonist
    the principal character in a work of fiction
    In The Stranger the protagonist, Mersault, has a chance meeting with an Arab, a stranger, that results in Mersault’s killing the man.
  29. shortcoming
    a failing or deficiency
    I began writing about the process of going from agency to agency, being categorized, being advised of my shortcomings, and having dire warnings sent my way.
  30. dire
    causing fear or dread or terror
    I began writing about the process of going from agency to agency, being categorized, being advised of my shortcomings, and having dire warnings sent my way.
Created on Tue Nov 06 13:30:36 EST 2018 (updated Tue Nov 06 16:38:28 EST 2018)

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