Counting on Grace: Chapters 22–33

by Elizabeth Winthrop
In early 20th-century Vermont, twelve-year-old Grace Forcier, daughter of French Canadian immigrants, stops going to school to help her mother work at a cotton mill.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–4, Chapters 5–10, Chapters 11–21, Chapters 22–33
30 words 8 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. regard
    a polite expression of desire for someone's welfare
    My best regards to your family and to Arthur.
  2. cordially
    in a politely friendly manner
    And please let Miss Lesley know that I will stay in touch as I promised.
    Cordially,
    Lew Hine
  3. scramble
    rushing about hastily in an undignified way
    But then the mill bell starts to ring and we're all caught up in the morning scramble.
  4. rut
    a groove or furrow
    He's making a rut in the floor going back and forth to that window as if some other person will hop off the train and rescue us from the doffing.
  5. sneer
    express through a scornful smile
    “Mr. Hine is working on it.”
    He sneers at me. “I bet that Mr. Hine's forgotten us already, Grace. Every man for himself is what I say.”
  6. tote
    carry with difficulty
    They come and they go, toting dinner pails, sweeping around our feet and playing the same games I remember.
  7. urgent
    compelling immediate action
    “What does urgent mean?” I ask.
    “Don't know. But it must be something important or she wouldn't go off like that.”
  8. mangle
    destroy or injure severely
    “Is he dead?” I ask the air, and someone whispers behind me that the boy's hand has been mangled by the machine and he's passed out from the pain.
  9. muddle
    a confused multitude of things
    She was all in a muddle, Arthur's mother. I had to remind her two times to clear her scavenger rolls and she looked at me with these empty eyes like her mind was far away somewhere.
  10. stupefied
    in a state of mental numbness as resulting from shock
    She's not writing or reading or nothing. She's just sitting there like the heat has knocked her stupefied.
  11. ruffle
    disturb the smoothness of
    She moves by and for just a second, like a breeze ruffling my hair, her hand comes to rest on my braids.
  12. unravel
    become undone
    We're trying hard both of us not to look at the place where the bandage is coming unraveled.
  13. account
    the grounds or reason for
    My mother would say it's all her fault on account of the foolish ideas she's been putting in Arthur's mind about getting ahead in life.
  14. notion
    an odd or fanciful or capricious idea
    Him a lawyer or a manager. And me a teacher. She's been jogging us with her crazy notions.
  15. stoop
    small porch or set of steps at the front entrance of a house
    Papa even plays the accordion those nights out on the front stoop ‘cause the music calms her and helps her to think.
  16. bustle
    move or cause to move energetically or busily
    She bustles around the room carrying a big yellow envelope.
  17. condition
    a state at a particular time
    As promised, I'm sending you the report we made of mill conditions in the whole of New England.
  18. scribe
    someone employed to make written copies of documents
    “It's as hard as learning to walk again. Meanwhile Grace will be our scribe.”
    “What's a scribe?”
    “The person who writes down the story.”
  19. bureau
    furniture with drawers for keeping clothes
    That night after everybody's asleep, I hide my picture with my notebook behind the bureau.
  20. muslin
    plain-woven cotton fabric
    The bag of flour is twenty-five cents and the three yards of muslin for my sister, Delia, that's another thirty-five.
  21. stub
    a small, unused piece
    I never had to write so fast and add so much in my head. Mr. Dupree's pencil was worn down to nothing by the time I got done. When I tried to give him back that little stub of a thing, he waved me out of his sight like I was a fly he'd just as soon squish.
  22. cocky
    overly self-confident or self-assertive
    He don't argue, but takes the picture of his old cocky self and slides it between the pages of one of those books of his.
  23. brisk
    quick and energetic
    “Off I go, then.” Her voice sounds brisk the way it always did when she was ordering me to sit back down at my desk.
  24. sprawl
    sit or lie with one's limbs spread out
    Delia's sprawled across the whole bed.
  25. blustery
    tending to talk or act in a domineering and boastful way
    “I made sure that knife never touched her.” For once he don't got that blustery voice of his. He sounds shamed.
  26. snicker
    laugh quietly
    It'll just be a matter of time before Dougie or Felix starts tormenting me about Henry's union suit. The snickering will jump from their mouths to someone else's until it runs right around the mill and on into the town.
  27. satisfied
    filled with contentment
    I'm not regular and easy like Delia, satisfied with spinning, looking to make it to the weaving room.
  28. freight
    goods carried by a large vehicle
    I plan to swing myself up onto the first freight car behind the engine. I'll have plenty of time ‘cause they take a while unloading the mail and the store supplies.
  29. stowaway
    a person who hides on a ship or plane for a free ride
    “We got ourselves a stowaway.”
    “Bring her on out of there. Foolish girl. You'd think she'd know better. Her grandfather got killed by a train not three months ago.”
  30. shore
    support by placing against something solid or rigid
    “You think I'll make a good teacher, Mamère?” I ask, shoring myself up against the harsh words that could come.
Created on Thu Apr 25 10:19:28 EDT 2024 (updated Thu Apr 25 17:56:10 EDT 2024)

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