Sugar: List 1

by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Ten-year-old Sugar endures grueling work on a sugar plantation, but her friendships with the plantation owner's son and new Chinese laborers offer her hope and community.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1, List 2, List 3, List 4
20 words 337 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. cobbler
    a pie made of fruit with rich biscuit dough on top
    Folks say, “There wouldn’t be any good food without sugar.” Like rhubarb cobbler. Blueberry pie. Yellow cake.
  2. savory
    an aromatic or spicy dish
    “No sweets, just savories,” I used to tell Ma.
  3. plantation
    an estate where cash crops are grown on a large scale
    There’s the big plantation house where the Willses live.
  4. machete
    a large knife used as a weapon or for cutting vegetation
    Nobody cares my hand swings the machete, bundles, drags stalks onto the cart.
  5. gnarled
    old and twisted and covered in lines
    Almost everyone young enough, without gnarled, crinkly brown hands, has gone north.
  6. prim
    exaggeratedly proper
    Lizzie sits down beside me, tugging her shift over her knees, her hands folded primly in her lap.
  7. cauldron
    a very large pot that is used for boiling
    Syrup, in the cauldron, bubbled and burst.
  8. knoll
    a small natural mound
    I run past cane fields, then up the grassy knoll where the big house sits to keep dry when the river overflows.
  9. barge
    a flatbottom boat for carrying heavy loads
    I wave at the sailor atop a barge.
  10. curtsy
    bend the knees in a gesture of respectful greeting
    I twirl, pinch my shift, and curtsy.
  11. cove
    a small inlet
    River water stretches into land, making shallow coves, streams, and swamp marshes.
  12. peddler
    someone who travels about selling wares
    Who’s out there? Overseer Tom? A chicken thief? A peddler?
  13. kerchief
    a square scarf folded into a triangle and worn over the head
    I undo my kerchief and bite into the biscuit.
  14. indignant
    angered at something unjust or wrong
    Indignant, I roll my eyes. Grown-ups think I’m trouble.
  15. trill
    sing or play alternating with the half note above or below
    My whistle trills high.
  16. grits
    coarsely ground corn that is boiled
    We pick wild chicory leaves; dig river holes, filling them with twigs; fish with balls of cornmeal (we don’t catch nothin’); and try to trap a skunk. Grits for bait doesn’t work.
  17. exasperated
    greatly annoyed; out of patience
    “I know outside,” she says, exasperated.
  18. forlorn
    marked by or showing hopelessness
    “Let her go, Eugenie.” His voice sounds so forlorn. “Let her be a child. You wanted the same for our children.”
  19. moderation
    the quality of avoiding extremes
    “Moderation,” I say gaily. “Like Mister Beale thinks I shouldn’t work all the time.”
  20. bough
    any of the larger branches of a tree
    New Year’s Day, I hide beneath an evergreen. Boughs hang down like curtains.
Created on Mon Feb 03 16:59:28 EST 2020 (updated Tue Feb 04 10:26:36 EST 2020)

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