The Watsons Go to Birmingham: Chapters 6–10

by Christopher Paul Curtis
When the Watson family pays Grandma a visit in Alabama, they find themselves caught up in the battle for civil rights.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–5, Chapters 6–10, Chapter 11–Epilogue
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. welfare
    governmental provision of assistance to persons in need
    If I found out we were on welfare I was going to really have to get ready to be teased.
  2. peon
    a laborer who is obliged to do menial work
    “Byron, what’s a peon?”
    “A peon? Didn’t you see The Magnificent Seven? Peons was them folks what was so poor that the rich folks would just as soon pee on them as anything else.”
  3. conscience
    conformity to one's own sense of right conduct
    Leave it to Daddy Cool to torture human kids at school all day long and never have his conscience bother him but to feel sorry for a stupid little grayish brown bird.
  4. linoleum
    a floor covering made from linseed oil, cork, and resin
    Byron started walking toward Momma in slow motion, sliding his feet on the linoleum.
  5. tolerate
    allow without opposing or prohibiting
    Byron mumbled something. Wow! He must have really felt like he didn’t have anything to lose, ’cause Momma and Dad just didn’t tolerate mumbling.
  6. scowl
    a facial expression of dislike or displeasure
    Byron stepped into the living room with a real mean scowl on his face.
  7. deny
    refuse to recognize or acknowledge
    “And, Mrs. Watson,” Dad said, “you can’t possibly deny this is your child. You can tell this boy has got a ton of Sands blood in him, look at those ears!”
  8. execute
    kill as a means of socially sanctioned punishment
    Joey laughed because she was relieved Byron hadn’t been executed, Momma and Dad laughed at Byron’s ears, but none of them laughed as hard as me.
  9. ultimate
    the finest or most superior quality of its kind
    “The height of technology!”
    “The ultimate in American knowledge.”
  10. pinnacle
    the highest level or degree attainable
    “It’s the pinnacle of Western civilization.”
  11. seniority
    higher rank especially by reason of longer service
    “Well, just so there’re no problems, I’ve got seniority on you, so I get the bathroom first, deal?”
  12. unveil
    remove the cover from
    “Well, Kenneth, since you seem to be the only one with any curiosity, I guess you’ll be the one who gets to unveil the Bomber’s latest addition.”
  13. sensitive
    being susceptible to the attitudes or feelings of others
    She really hurt his feelings by walking off like that. Some of the time I think she forgot how sensitive Dad was.
  14. disperse
    cause to become widely known
    “As I’m certain you are aware, the problem in the past with this new technology in automotive sound has been road vibrations interfering with an accurate dispersal of the phonic interpretations.”
  15. suitable
    meant or adapted for an occasion or use
    “Yes, as I’m sure a nice family like this one is aware, it was only last year that the scientists at Autotronic Industries made a brilliant, beautiful, breathtaking breakthrough and developed a suitable system for controlling these vibrations.”
  16. inertia
    the tendency of something to stay in rest or motion
    “Yes, the vibration problem has been overcome by the exclusive Vibro-Dynamic-Lateral-Anti-Inertial Dampening system.”
  17. haphazardly
    in a random manner
    And I can tell by that intelligent look on your face, Mrs. Watson, that you have grasped that that speaker is not placed in the rear deck haphazardly, no, ma’am.
  18. patter
    plausible glib talk (especially useful to a salesperson)
    Here’s the man with the patter,
    Here to spin the platter,
    Why, it doesn’t matter,
    ’Cause the world is getting fatter.
  19. swoon
    be overwhelmed with ecstasy, especially when encountering something or someone you admire
    I’m the man with the tune
    That’ll take you to the moon,
    That’ll make your poor heart swoon
  20. maestro
    an artist of consummate skill
    Spin it, maestro!
  21. determined
    characterized by great firmness of purpose
    Momma and I are very worried because there’re so many things that can go wrong to a young person and Byron seems bound and determined to find every one of them.
  22. accustomed
    in the habit of or adapted to
    And you won’t believe this, but if you listen to any kind of music long enough, first you get accustomed to it and then you learn to like it.
  23. eavesdrop
    listen without the speaker's knowledge
    When Mrs. Davidson left, Momma went upstairs and into Joey’s room.
    I eavesdropped.
  24. offend
    cause to feel resentment or indignation
    “Ooh, Kenneth, I asked her the same thing and she was highly offended.”
  25. facility
    something designed and created to serve a function
    The way she looks at it a house is a whole lot nicer place if the facilities are outside.
Created on Thu Jun 20 19:44:12 EDT 2013 (updated Mon Jun 13 13:14:54 EDT 2022)

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