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How It Went Down: Chapters 5–6

After a 16-year-old boy dies in a shooting, his community attempts to come to terms with his death.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Incident–Chapter 4, Chapters 5–6, Chapters 7–9, Chapters 10–14, Chapters 15–17
35 words 22 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

  1. pristine
    completely free from dirt or contamination
    I can't blame the women for crying like gulls. Any young boy's death is a slice across the pristine circle. It is a tragedy.
  2. vigil
    the rite of staying awake for devotional purposes
    Come with us, they say. To the vigil.
  3. wield
    handle effectively
    The young girl comes toward me, wielding a powder puff.
  4. furrow
    make or become wrinkled or creased
    Her brow furrows in concentration.
  5. stuffy
    excessively conventional or narrow-minded and hence dull
    My face on television, comforting Tariq Johnson's family, will draw more voters and more campaign contributions than any stuffy old dinner with rich people I could host.
  6. convey
    serve as a means for expressing something
    No words can describe the sorrow I felt upon hearing the circumstances of Tariq Johnson's death, and none can convey my frustration with the system that allowed his killer to walk free.
  7. tamp
    press down tightly
    But I am, as ever, tamping down my feelings. Because how I feel shouldn't matter.
  8. constitute
    compose or represent
    "Oh, no." She half smiles. "I'm much older."
    I wonder what constitutes "much" in her mind.
  9. eulogize
    praise formally and eloquently
    Because in a moment I have to walk out there and, effectively, eulogize him. And I didn't know him at all.
  10. brusque
    rudely abrupt or blunt in speech or manner
    In person, he seems quieter, less brusque.
  11. bluster
    act in an arrogant, overly self-assured, or conceited manner
    On camera he's a take-charge, my-words-will-blow-you-down, blustering powerhouse of a man. He seems larger than life.
  12. poach
    hunt illegally
    Reverend Sloan came down from Washington, it looks like. There he is, on the TV, standing right down the block on Peach Street, in the middle of this vigil. Poaching some limelight off a poor dead black boy and the hand of the white man who put him there.
  13. limelight
    a focus of public attention
    Reverend Sloan came down from Washington, it looks like. There he is, on the TV, standing right down the block on Peach Street, in the middle of this vigil. Poaching some limelight off a poor dead black boy and the hand of the white man who put him there.
  14. rile
    disturb, especially by minor irritations
    It's interesting, though, because not that much from outside gets these guys riled up.
  15. faction
    a dissenting clique
    As if we don't have enough problems with factions on the inside, we need to worry about what's happening on the street?
  16. blowhard
    a very boastful and talkative person
    That blowhard thinks he's all that because he threw a Molotov cocktail once, back in the nineties in some kind of race riot.
  17. foyer
    a large entrance or reception room or area
    Obviously, he wasn't expecting me to be sitting right there in the foyer, waiting.
  18. upstanding
    meriting respect or esteem
    The mother made no comments to the media, but an uncle had spoken: Tariq was a good student and an upstanding citizen.
  19. makeshift
    done or made using whatever is available
    Last place I saw carnations? On TV. Spread in a blurry mountain across the face of the makeshift shrine at Tariq Johnson's murder site.
  20. retort
    answer back
    "So was the Johnson boy," I retort. "It's too dangerous."
  21. clamor
    loud and persistent outcry from many people
    After all the clamor at the vigil—the clicking of cameras, the flashes of light, the shouted questions—the hotel room is starkly quiet.
  22. ordeal
    a severe or trying experience
    Politically, this can only help me, no matter which way anything goes. I couldn't have dreamed up a scenario more perfect. This terrible ordeal answers my prayers.
  23. retribution
    the act of taking revenge
    My blood heats easy tonight, each time the Stingers roll by. I wish Jack Franklin was a friggin' yellow jacket. If they had killed Tariq, I could do anything I want as retribution.
  24. jounce
    move up and down repeatedly
    Their backpacks hang off them like potato sacks, all lumpy and jouncing on the backs of their knees.
  25. fret
    agitation resulting from active worry
    When Tina came along, that's where all my fretting went, I guess.
  26. decry
    express strong disapproval of
    Vernesha's brother has made some statements, defending Tariq's character and decrying the general wrongness of how this whole thing went down.
  27. disdainfully
    without respect
    I put out my hand, to shake. Tina gazes disdainfully at my open palm.
  28. liable
    likely to be or do something
    "Get inside." I glance up and down the street before I slam the door. "What the hell are you doing here? If the Kings catch you, they're liable to knife you."
  29. heft
    lift or elevate
    He has a video camera on his shoulder hefted with one hand while he uses the other to open the door for her.
  30. prosecute
    conduct legal proceedings against a defendant
    "Do you think Jack Franklin should be prosecuted?"
    Yes. I shrug. "I don't know about those things."
  31. incredulous
    not disposed or willing to believe; unbelieving
    I can't believe I kissed the Reverend Alabaster Sloan. I watch him on TV again, incredulous.
  32. impulsive
    characterized by undue haste and lack of thought
    It was reckless and impulsive.
  33. fluster
    cause to be nervous or upset
    It must have flustered him, because he left his briefcase behind when he went out to the vigil.
  34. morbid
    suggesting the horror of death and decay
    It's fascinating, maddening, a train wreck you can't pull your eyes away from, however morbid.
  35. prejudice
    a partiality preventing objective consideration of an issue
    "And I'm here because this type of incident deserves national attention. We need to look hard at our laws, and at the prejudice in our own hearts, so that what happened to Tariq Johnson never happens to anyone else again."
Created on Sat Sep 14 20:55:23 EDT 2019 (updated Mon Oct 07 14:58:58 EDT 2019)

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