Prairie Lotus: Chapters 6–11

by Linda Sue Park
In this historical novel, Hanna, a girl with Chinese heritage, moves to the Dakota Territory in 1880 and struggles to overcome the prejudices of her new community.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–5, Chapters 6–11, Chapters 12–18, Chapters 19–27
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. seethe
    be noisy with activity
    The room seethed with suppressed excitement and curiosity. Miss Walters called for quiet again, this time in a sharper voice, which kept students from turning around to stare.
  2. mired
    entangled or hindered
    Hanna was mired in misery.
  3. gingerly
    in a manner marked by extreme care or delicacy
    Having sat stiffly at her desk for the whole morning, she felt achy all over. She slid out of her seat and put her weight on her feet gingerly, testing to see if her legs would tremble.
  4. calico
    made of or resembling coarse cloth with a bright print
    She couldn’t have been more than about seven years old, wearing a calico dress under a pinafore made from flour sacks.
  5. pinafore
    a sleeveless dress resembling an apron
    She couldn’t have been more than about seven years old, wearing a calico dress under a pinafore made from flour sacks.
  6. forestall
    keep from happening or arising; make impossible
    Hanna felt her eyes grow hot; she blinked hard to forestall tears.
  7. cowlick
    a tuft of hair in a different direction from the rest
    The First Reader class was two children: the little girl whose face Hanna had wiped, and a boy with a prominent cowlick.
  8. bleak
    offering little or no hope
    The teacher’s voice was calm and ordinary—yet it seemed to cut through that bleak dense fog. Talk to her. To the teacher. Don’t think about anyone else.
  9. clamor
    loud and persistent outcry from many people
    The teacher held up her hand to dispel the clamor, then wrote California on the board.
  10. dour
    showing a brooding ill humor
    Irritable, snappish, dour, resentful—all his bad traits had worsened after Mama died.
  11. resentful
    full of or marked by indignant ill will
    Irritable, snappish, dour, resentful—all his bad traits had worsened after Mama died.
  12. aback
    by surprise
    Taken aback by the abrupt change of subject, she stared at him for a moment and found herself answering the question.
  13. comport
    behave in a certain manner
    “—attended school yesterday and today. I would like you to know that she is a fine student. She has comported herself perfectly and has been kind to her schoolmates as well.”
  14. wager
    maintain with or as if with a bet
    “Where is she? How come no one’s met her yet?”
    “Too ashamed, I’ll wager. He knows she’s not fit to live among decent folks.”
  15. belligerent
    characteristic of an enemy or one eager to fight
    “I might just do that.” Mr. Baxter sounded belligerent but said nothing more.
  16. rile
    disturb, especially by minor irritations
    “I don’t know, Hanna. People are already riled—I don’t like the smell of it.”
  17. tantalizing
    arousing desire or expectation for something unattainable
    Yesterday afternoon had given her a tantalizing glimpse of school at its best. If she could have lessons like that for the rest of the term, she could graduate as Mama had wanted.
  18. flounce
    the act of walking with exaggerated jerky motions
    Dolly took advantage of the absences by moving to a different seat. She did so with just enough fuss and flounce to confirm what Hanna already knew: Dolly felt that having to share a desk with Hanna was beneath her.
  19. labored
    requiring or showing effort
    Writing with a pen was nothing like lettering with a brush; the pen seemed labored and scratchy by comparison.
  20. privy
    an outhouse
    During the noon hour, she left the room to use the privy.
  21. sodden
    wet through and through; thoroughly wet
    Hanna followed and watched as he peered around the side of the stove toward the water bucket. He used the dipper to fish out a sodden piece of paper and held it up.
  22. meek
    very docile
    “Please return to your seat.”
    In an instant, Hanna smoothed every sign of emotion out of her face. She walked to her desk and sat down meekly—even though she was feeling the exact opposite of meek.
  23. scorn
    lack of respect accompanied by a feeling of intense dislike
    In moments of anger or scorn or disappointment, Mama’s face suddenly became a complete blank. No one else, not even Papa, could have guessed what Mama was thinking or feeling.
  24. admonition
    a firm rebuke
    She was dismayed by Miss Walters’s admonition. At the same time, she was aware that it was unfair of her to expect anything different; Miss Walters had not heard her side of the story.
  25. subjunctive
    a mood that represents an act as contingent or hypothetical
    It took all Hanna’s strength to apply herself to the afternoon grammar lesson. She and her classmates were standing at the front of the room, inverting the subjunctive in response to Miss Walters’s prompts.
  26. benign
    kind in disposition or manner
    She always hoped that cruel remarks were misunderstandings, benign, forgotten in the next breath. Instead, they were most often birthed by thoughtlessness or ignorance at best; at worst, by venom and malice.
  27. caricature
    a representation of a person exaggerated for comic effect
    Someone had drawn a crude, cruel caricature of her face, bucktoothed and with slits for eyes.
  28. harrowing
    causing extreme distress
    Miss Walters always bade her a friendly goodbye. On this day, Hanna found herself looking forward to the farewell for two reasons: because it meant the end of a harrowing week, and because of its sheer banality.
  29. banality
    a trite or obvious remark
    Miss Walters always bade her a friendly goodbye. On this day, Hanna found herself looking forward to the farewell for two reasons: because it meant the end of a harrowing week, and because of its sheer banality.
  30. relish
    derive or receive pleasure from
    And after all those weeks in the wagon, she relished staying in one place with a solid roof overhead, a cookstove, and a soft bed at night.
  31. plumb
    the metal bob of a perpendicular line
    Hanna stood on the sidewalk in front of the lot and watched Papa hold the frame straight to the plumb line while Charlie Hart hammered away.
  32. perpetually
    without interruption
    Ginger-haired with a beard to match, he was so fair-skinned that he was perpetually sunburned.
  33. discomfit
    cause to lose one's composure
    Hanna was discomfited by the stares and the nudges, but she knew it was good that she had been seen attending church.
  34. tithe
    pay a tenth of one's income, especially to the church
    She reminded Papa to tithe, which Mama had always insisted on out of gratitude to the missionaries who had cared for her in China.
  35. ledger
    an accounting journal as a physical object
    Miss Walters sat at her desk, writing in the ledger.
  36. countenance
    the appearance conveyed by a person's face
    He was staring at nothing, his usual cheery countenance replaced by a scowl, which made her stomach knot in foreboding.
  37. foreboding
    a feeling of evil to come
    He was staring at nothing, his usual cheery countenance replaced by a scowl, which made her stomach knot in foreboding.
  38. falter
    speak haltingly
    Hanna especially enjoyed the history hour, where she and Bess took turns answering the questions Miss Walters put to them. Dolly faltered after just one question and confessed that she did not know the lesson.
  39. flustered
    thrown into a state of agitated confusion
    The unexpected invitation left Hanna flustered. “Maybe—but I don’t know—I’d rather not go into town...”
  40. notion
    a vague idea in which some confidence is placed
    It was clear that Dolly had no notion that what she had just said was hurtful.
Created on Fri Jun 26 11:48:45 EDT 2020 (updated Tue Jun 30 13:31:13 EDT 2020)

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