Dear Justyce: List 3

by Nic Stone
In this companion novel to Dear Martin, a teenager in a juvenile detention center tries to make sense of his life by writing letters to an old friend.

This list covers Part Two, from Snapshot: A Postscript (Present Day) to Chapter 10.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1, List 2, List 3, List 4
40 words 155 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. chagrin
    strong feelings of embarrassment
    And much to SJ’s chagrin, the two have been thick as thieves ever since.
  2. coerce
    cause to do through pressure or necessity
    “SJ, I offered him a ride,” Justyce says. “You make it sound like I was coerced or this is some kinda assignment.”
  3. obtuse
    slow to learn or understand; lacking intellectual acuity
    “Sweet lord, you are so obtuse,” SJ says.
  4. dismantle
    tear down so as to make flat with the ground
    “I mean, we do care about dismantling injustice, right? Should a young black man—a BOY, even!—who did not commit the crime be doing the time?”
  5. rhetoric
    using language effectively to please or persuade
    “And I agree: changing the rhetoric used when talking to and about African American youth could change their trajectories. But I need you to expound.”
  6. assent
    agreement with a statement or proposal to do something
    Quan grunts his assent.
  7. ballistic
    of the motion of objects moving under their own momentum
    No, the ballistics of the bullets pulled from Castillo’s body wouldn’t match those of Quan’s firearm and they’d have to release him...
  8. convene
    meet formally
    His eyes roam the small room where delinquents like him (if you let the state tell it) convene with their attorneys.
  9. ratchet
    move by degrees in one direction only
    And as lawyer dude takes his seat facing Quan and rests his elbows on his knees, fully in professional mode now, Quan’s anxiety ratchets up even more.
  10. feasible
    capable of being done with means at hand
    I've been combing through Georgia legal code for weeks, tryna see if my self-defense thing is feasible, and then boom.
  11. clinical
    relating to or based on direct observation of patients
    Hearing dude talk brought a lot of my anxiety—I got officially diagnosed with the "clinical" type, by the way—about going to trial right up to the surface.
  12. damper
    a depressing restraint
    “As you all know, my homeboy Quan has been locked up since late September last year. For a crime that he did not, in fact, commit.”
    “Not to put a damper on your opening statement, Justyce, but how do you know that?” Doc asks.
  13. elaborate
    marked by complexity and richness of detail
    Justyce gestures to the deep-brown-skinned young lady with her Iocs wrapped in an elaborate knot on top of her head, sitting on the barstool beside Doc.
  14. implicate
    bring into intimate and incriminating connection
    Even beyond implicating himself and staying mum about the shooter’s identity, he refused the legal counsel offered by the leader of the...organization he was a part of because he didn’t want any connections that could link back to his associates.
  15. imperative
    some duty that is essential and urgent
    That loyalty Quan feels isn’t merely a choice. It’s a psychological imperative.
  16. forensics
    the use of scientific techniques in criminal investigations
    Ballistics were likely run in forensics, but there’s a chance the report was hidden in the midst of a large discovery dump, especially if the bullets pulled from the body didn’t match the caliber of the weapon found on the scene.
  17. provocation
    a means of arousing or stirring to action
    Was there provocation? Any reason for Castillo to pull the firearm?
  18. implicit
    suggested though not directly expressed
    As much as I hate it, if this goes to trial, and most of my witnesses are African American males between sixteen and twenty—just like the defendant who’s accused of murdering a cop—implicit bias is likely to come into play.
  19. bias
    a partiality preventing objective consideration of an issue
    As much as I hate it, if this goes to trial, and most of my witnesses are African American males between sixteen and twenty—just like the defendant who’s accused of murdering a cop—implicit bias is likely to come into play.
  20. sector
    a group that forms part of society or the economy
    Happens all the time in the social work sector.
  21. admissible
    deserving to be accepted or allowed
    Attorney Friedman: A confession isn’t a plea, but since it’s still admissible in court—
  22. adjourn
    break from a meeting or gathering
    Meeting adjourned. There’s something I gotta do.
  23. clandestine
    conducted with or marked by hidden aims or methods
    Whispering and tryna be all clandestine...
  24. fitful
    occurring in spells and often abruptly
    A fitful, sparky tension blooms between them. Like a thundercloud trapped in a jar. One good lightning strike, and the whole thing’ll shatter.
  25. expound
    add details to clarify an idea
    “Lemme start over,” Justyce says.
    “Yeah. Expound if you will, please.”
  26. shenanigan
    reckless or malicious behavior that causes annoyance
    “Young black dude gets caught up in some wrong place/wrong time shenanigans and winds up behind bars because of it.”
  27. understatement
    something said in a restrained way for ironic contrast
    Shenanigans.
    Bad.
    Understatements.
  28. reintegrate
    incorporate, combine, or unify again
    Our goal is to get you out of here and reintegrated into society as a vital contributor to the betterment of the world.
  29. contend
    come to terms with
    But there's so many other things dudes like us be contending with.
  30. stately
    refined or imposing in manner or appearance
    The DA is tall and fit and stately.
  31. jovial
    full of or showing high-spirited merriment
    Warm, but clearly about his business. Jovial...
  32. warrant
    show to be reasonable or provide adequate ground for
    “Yes, sir. I paid him a visit at the detention center about a week ago, and he shared some information that I believe warrants further investigation.”
  33. diligence
    conscientiousness in paying proper attention to a task
    “I didn’t see any reports in the files that were turned over to me. There’s a confession on record, yes, but considering the severity of the charges here, I feel it vital to carry out a full investigation with due diligence.”
  34. thoroughly
    in an exhaustive manner
    “Well, you have my word that we will thoroughly investigate the matters you’ve brought to my attention.”
  35. advocate
    a person who pleads for a person, cause, or idea
    “Vernell’s lucky to have you as a friend. It’s unfortunate, but in the majority of cases like this one, the young men involved don’t have any true advocates. I commend you for coming forward.”
  36. commend
    express approval of
    “Vernell’s lucky to have you as a friend. It’s unfortunate, but in the majority of cases like this one, the young men involved don’t have any true advocates. I commend you for coming forward.”
  37. rapport
    a relationship of mutual understanding between people
    It was his first time in who-knows-how-long sharing a space with two women at once, and seeing the rapport between them, the way they fed off each other in pursuit of "the optimal circumstances" for his "mental and emotional well-being" shook him down to his molecules.
  38. override
    prevail or be more important than
    But he didn’t ask any of them. Because the overriding one is still clanging around in his brain like an eight-alarm fire alert as he crosses the visitation space:
    What happened?
  39. prognosis
    a prediction of the course of a disease
    AndDemandedWeSeekOutASecondOpinion. Prognosis WasBetter—IThinkltProbablyHelpedThatTheSecondDoctorWasABIackWomanWhoActuallyGaveADamnWhetherOrNotMyBabyGirILivesOrDies.
  40. retroactive
    having an effect on events that occurred previously
    ...WeWereUninsuredAtFirstAndThoughWeGotThelnsuranceNowAndlt’s Retroactive, IRecentlyLostMyJob,LikeLastWeek.
Created on Wed Nov 11 12:08:58 EST 2020 (updated Thu Nov 12 14:36:37 EST 2020)

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