African Town: Parts 5–6

by Irene Latham, Charles Waters
Told from different perspectives, this novel-in-verse was inspired by the true story of the ship Clotilda, which transported West Africans from Dahomey to Mobile, Alabama, where the slaves emancipated after the Civil War founded their own town.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Parts 1–2, Parts 3–4, Parts 5–6, Parts 7–9, Parts 10–11
40 words 7 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. evade
    escape, either physically or mentally
    In our rush to evade capture, we leave port
    missing fifteen of the 125 Africans.
  2. impending
    close in time; about to occur
    She skedaddles out of there barely
    ahead of two impending vessels.
  3. spindle
    rotating shaft serving as an axis for larger rotating parts
    My burden is that once my riggings are set
    and someone mans this wheel and spindle of mine, I fly!
  4. turmoil
    violent agitation
    We don’t know where we’re going,
    only that we’re moving—
    de ship lifts us and rolls us. Some faint
    from de turmoil.
  5. plume
    anything that resembles a feather in shape or lightness
    I thought I knew what it meant to roast on a ship
    until I see, clear as my hands in front of me,
    fat plumes of steam rising through the grates—

    courtesy of the hot, packed bodies belowdecks.
  6. chattel
    personal property, as opposed to real estate
    No one’s going
    to seal me up with the chattel.
  7. searing
    extremely hot
    We have gone from a dark, scorching enclosure on land, to a canoe nearly drowning in the roiling seas, to a dusky, searing jail on a ship at war with the ocean.
  8. tempest
    a strong storm with violent winds
    Tempests hit us so hard you can hear skulls cracking against metal as bodies smash into each other.
  9. foreboding
    a feeling of evil to come
    I’m about to go over my midday review
    of the ship’s log when a sense of
    foreboding washes over me.
  10. aground
    with the bottom lodged on land
    When
    green seas
    blossom red,
    I’m certain we
    will either die on
    this ship or run aground.
  11. despicable
    morally reprehensible
    That blasted Foster—he’s
    many despicable things, but the man sure can steer a ship.
  12. freight
    goods carried by a large vehicle
    Fifth, christen her with a new name
    before she sails off to New Orleans
    with a freight of edibles and clapboard
    homes.
  13. parched
    extremely thirsty
    Moans fill the hold as I swab my parched tongue across swollen, chapped lips that are now ragged as mountain ridges.
  14. disembark
    exit from a ship, vehicle, or aircraft
    Normally this is the time
    during a sail when I start feeling sad for the journey
    to be over. But with these slaves on board

    I can’t wait to disembark.
  15. racket
    a loud and disturbing noise
    Goodness, those slaves sure can make a racket.

    Foster orders the crew to go belowdecks to shut them up.
  16. briny
    slightly salty
    I would not have made it without

    their songs ringing into the briny air, helping push me forward.
  17. tribulation
    an annoying or frustrating or catastrophic event
    Their trials and tribulations in America are just beginning
  18. elation
    a feeling of joy and pride
    My wooden frame shimmies in elation as Foster rows away so ferociously
    I imagine his arms will dislodge from their sockets.
  19. gale
    a strong wind moving 34–40 knots
    Belowdecks the Africans huddle and shudder like sails in a gale.
  20. customs
    the government agency that oversees and collects duties on imported goods
    It’s a miracle we haven’t been spotted by
    port authorities and customs already.
  21. arduous
    characterized by effort to the point of exhaustion
    He turns silent, no doubt as exhausted
    as I am after this arduous journey.
  22. intact
    undamaged in any way
    I assess
    her various intact and battered sections.
  23. incinerate
    become reduced to ashes
    A chunk of my spirit disappears
    like smoke as my ship incinerates.
  24. decoy
    a person or thing that misleads by drawing attention away
    Now that I’ve got the Africans and the Clotilda crew
    on board the Czar, I order Burns to double-check
    to make sure all our decoys are in place in case
    the authorities give us any problems.
    It must appear as if we’re on a routine shipping voyage.
  25. unsavory
    morally offensive
    I have seen a lot of unsavory men in my day, but some of these folks
    make the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
  26. bamboozle
    conceal one's true motives from
    I’ve been bamboozled one last time! Only $700
    when Foster promised to double our pay.
  27. toil
    work hard
    I toiled on a slave ship and now
    have nothing to show for it except trust shattered
  28. stealth
    the act of moving in a quiet or secretive way to avoid being noticed
    I’m shoveling down some scrambled eggs with breakfast ham
    while reading the paper when an article jumps out at me
    with the stealth of a water moccasin.
  29. discretion
    knowing how to avoid embarrassment or distress
    So much for discretion.

    Mary is probably worried I’m going to get caught.
  30. indict
    accuse formally of a crime
    I’ve been indicted for “improperly
    bringing Negroes into America.”
  31. omission
    leaving out or passing over something
    I did commit a sin of omission by not mentioning
    that the Africans were on another one of my ships being
    transferred to the canebrakes, but what’s one little
    missing fact in the grand scheme of life?
  32. subterfuge
    something intended to misrepresent the nature of an activity
    All this subterfuge is taking me away from my business and my family.
  33. rampant
    occurring or increasing in an unrestrained way
    Besides, mosquitoes are a concern.
    Infections and such could be rampant.
  34. welt
    a raised mark on the skin
    This time none of us complains about getting back
    on a boat when it means relief from the constant
    attack of mosquitoes. Poor Kêhounco is nothing
    more than a giant welt.
  35. renege
    fail to fulfill a promise or obligation
    “Just don’t need to be mixed up in this business, not with
    the law on your tail.”

    And he’s not the only one who reneges.
  36. poltroon
    an abject coward
    What a bunch
    of poltroons! They’ve got no dash-fire in their souls.
    Thank goodness for a few real men who know the secret
    to being successful is a willingness to take risks.
  37. shanty
    a small crude shelter used as a dwelling
    Each morning we are guided from the shanty to the swamp, our bodies emanating sheets of perspiration due to the scorching heat.
  38. emanate
    proceed or issue forth, as from a source
    Each morning we are guided from the shanty to the swamp, our bodies emanating sheets of perspiration due to the scorching heat.
  39. aggression
    violent action that is hostile and usually unprovoked
    Doesn’t concern me too much when the chattel gets
    a little rowdy with us. It’s nothing we can’t handle
    with a little light aggression.
  40. procession
    the action of a group moving ahead in regular formation
    After the sale of our bodies, we walk, clothes draping off our frames as we shuffle along in a ragged procession.
Created on Sat Nov 25 15:27:47 EST 2023 (updated Sun Nov 26 17:03:05 EST 2023)

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