Jacob Have I Loved: Chapters 10–13

by Katherine Paterson
Growing up on a remote fishing island in the 1940s, Sara Louise attempts to escape the shadow of her talented and favored twin sister.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Rass Island–Chapter 2, Chapters 3–5, Chapters 6–9, Chapters 10–13, Chapters 14–20

Here are links to our lists for other works by Katherine Paterson: Bridge to Terabithia, Lyddie, The Great Gilly Hopkins
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. ominous
    threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments
    My father, like any true waterman, could smell the storm coming up, even before the ominous rust-colored sunset.
  2. leeward
    on the side away from the wind
    The door was leeward, but we all knew that later the wind would shift.
  3. douse
    put out, as of a candle or a light
    “Best douse the lamp, Susan,” my father said. “And the stove. Things get banging around down here and we’ll have a first-class fire.”
  4. litany
    any long and tedious address or recital
    Grandma had stopped her litany. Or else the wind had swallowed it. She went to the steps and began to climb slowly.
  5. consternation
    sudden shock or dismay that causes confusion
    My parents looked at each other in consternation.
  6. heathen
    a person who does not acknowledge your god
    As he was flipping through for the place, Grandma looked up. “T’ain’t fitting a heathen should read the Word of God,” she said.
  7. plumb
    completely
    “Snored so loud, you plumb drowned the wind.” He was teasing me. At least I hoped my father was teasing.
  8. sodden
    wet through and through; thoroughly wet
    The thought of our sodden, muck-filled downstairs dragged at me like a lead weight on a crab pot.
  9. drudgery
    hard, monotonous, routine work
    “Don’t you want to see what happened to your house?” I asked. This was a day for adventure, not drudgery.
  10. floe
    a flat mass of ice drifting at sea
    We could pole the skiff down to his house, maneuvering around the debris as we would ice floes.
  11. taut
    pulled or drawn tight
    From the porch I could, at last, make out the three now taut lines, and then I caught sight of her washboards just above the water line.
  12. typhoid
    infection marked by intestinal inflammation and ulceration
    “You want lockjaw or typhoid or a combination?” He indicated my bare legs and feet.
  13. bail
    remove (water) from a vessel with a container
    We bailed out the skiff until it was bobbing merrily on the surface.
  14. reverie
    an abstracted state of absorption
    My reverie was punctured by a raucous cackling and complaining from a tiny house floating past us. “Hey!” I said. “That looks like the Lewises’ chicken coop.”
  15. capricious
    determined by chance or impulse rather than by necessity
    The storm had been capricious. Some roofs were gone, while the next door house was not only intact but the fence and shed as well.
  16. bearing
    the direction or path along which something moves or lies
    I was well past and around the last house on the village street when I realized that I had lost my bearings.
  17. venture
    proceed somewhere despite the risk of possible dangers
    My pole was going down too deep for me to dare venture out too far.
  18. flush
    turn red, as if in embarrassment or shame
    I’m sure I flushed all over, but no one, after that first glance, was taking notice of me.
  19. meek
    evidencing little spirit or courage
    “I couldn’t think of putting you to trouble,” the Captain said. The tone was a meek, broken one I’d never heard before.
  20. bedevil
    be confusing or perplexing to
    “I told Susan no good would come of letting that man into the house. Like letting the devil himself march in. Don’t take much to bedevil a foolish girl, but still—”
  21. linoleum
    a floor covering made from linseed oil, cork, and resin
    When she came back to the kitchen, Caroline was practically dancing across the linoleum, simply bursting to tattle.
  22. blanch
    turn pale, as if in fear
    Caroline blanched, then recovered. “Whosoever shall say, ‘Thou fool,’ shall be in danger of hell fire,” she quoted piously.
  23. pious
    having or showing or expressing reverence for a deity
    Caroline blanched, then recovered. “Whosoever shall say, ‘Thou fool,’ shall be in danger of hell fire,” she quoted piously.
  24. forsake
    leave someone who needs or counts on you; leave in the lurch
    A man with strong clean hands would never look at me in love. No man would. At the moment, it seemed worse than being forsaken by God.
  25. relegate
    assign to a lower position
    If Caroline had been relegated to the devil, she probably would have tamed him as well.
  26. scant
    less than the correct or legal or full amount
    The Captain followed Caroline to the kitchen and rinsed his hands by pouring a scant dipper of our precious fresh water over them.
  27. prod
    urge on; cause to act
    Everyone looked up and mumbled, though it was evident that he was going to tell us what he had been up to whether or not we prodded.
  28. doggedly
    with obstinate determination
    Six of us, including Call and Caroline and me, were freshmen, five were sophomores, three juniors, and a lone senior girl, Myrna Dolman, who wore thick glasses and doggedly maintained the ambition she had harbored since first grade to become a primary schoolteacher.
  29. whit
    a tiny or scarcely detectable amount
    I wasn’t smiling much that fall, but my handwriting didn’t improve a whit thereby.
  30. unrelenting
    never-ceasing
    On the other hand, there was a certain safety in the unrelenting boredom of each day.
  31. prissy
    exaggeratedly proper
    This experience left me with the conclusion that our first president, besides having frizzy hair, a large red hooked nose, and apple cheeks, had a prissy, even old-ladyish mouth and a double chin.
  32. render
    cause to become
    All of these would have rendered him harmless, except that he also had staring blue eyes, eyes that could read everything that was going on underneath my forehead.
  33. placidly
    in a quiet and tranquil manner
    “Oh, Wheeze,” she said, placidly helping herself to more lotion.
  34. adamant
    impervious to pleas, persuasion, requests, or reason
    To my father it was perfectly simple. We were the Captain’s friends, we would take him in. But my grandmother was adamant.
  35. propriety
    correct behavior
    It was up to Call to stop her. He would, I was sure—he and his tight little sense of propriety.
  36. earnestly
    in a sincere and serious manner
    “Don’t worry,” Call began earnestly, “you wouldn’t have to—” at which point my bare heel slammed down on his bare toes.
  37. delicacy
    subtly skillful handling of a situation
    “She needs someone to take care of her and her house, and you need a house to live in. It would be a marriage of convenience.” I noticed she didn’t say “in name only.” At least she had a whiff of delicacy.
  38. scrutiny
    a prolonged intense look
    I pretended to study a torn cuticle to miss his scrutiny.
  39. huffy
    roused to anger
    “There probably isn’t any,” I said huffily. “We cleaned good and we never saw any.”
  40. repentant
    feeling or expressing remorse for misdeeds
    The old woman looked up at him when he said that, as worshipful as a repentant sinner testifying in church.
Created on Mon Jun 10 22:15:42 EDT 2019 (updated Mon Jul 01 16:01:45 EDT 2019)

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