Across Five Aprils

Chapter 9

Vocabulary Words

absorbed

despair

fretted

magnitude

ancestral

draft

gangrenous

provoke

antagonized

droves

grub

reiterated

audible

faltering

heeded

remorse

compatriots

forays

impudent

shunned

curt

forestall

interminable

staunch

desertion

forfeiture

lank

vex

Below are sentences or phrases in which the vocabulary words are contained within the text of Chapter 9 of Beyond Five Aprils.

Read each sentence or phrase and see if you can determine the definition by the context in which it is used in the sentence, if you do not already know the meaning of the word.

  • Eb seemed absorbed in his angry thoughts for a while
  • “I’ve just come upon some very interesting information: the beautiful little spitfire up at the ancestral mansion is ‘spoke fer.’”
  • He was deeply antagonized by these men, but he knew they were simply carrying out a job assigned to them
  • “Not a word,” Jethro replied in a voice that was hardly audible
  • He had to be curt with her to forestall any more questions
  • I pray that the remorse and despair which he has known since the time of his desertion will bring his better self to the cause for which so many of his young compatriots have laid down their lives
  • many others in the country had taken advantage of this method of dodging the draft
  • The deserters came in droves. The Point Prospect campground south of Rose Hill was said to be swarming with soldiers who made forays on chicken coops, pigpens, and smokehouses where winter meat was hung
  • and he read the letter through without faltering
  • will be restored to their respective regiments without punishment except for forfeiture of pay and allowances for the period of their absence
  • Ellen fretted a great deal about it, but Matt insisted
  • men who knew what gangrenous wounds were like
  • “I’ll bring you what grub I can lay hands on -- I can always get eggs and a chicken for you”
  • Nancy, who had thought of going back to her own place the following summer, now heeded Ellen’s advice and closed her house completely
  • Jethro tossed at night and wondered: had he done an impudent thing, had he laid himself open to trouble, had he been a fool to think that a boy his age might act without the advice of his elders?
  • The long wait for an answer was interminable
  • The sunken cheeks were covered with a thick scattering of fuzz; the hair was lank and matted
  • providing for Eb’s needs in strictest secrecy became a task that seemed to grow in magnitude as the days went by
  • His silence seemed to provoke the young man
  • Eb’s often reiterated, “I’ll be goin’ on soon, Jeth; I won’t be a burden to you much longer”
  • a sheltered young boy who did the tasks his father set for him and shunned the idea that he dare think for himself
  • What about Ed Turner, staunch, level-headed neighbor?
  • “Jenny, you vex me when I’m not feelin’ so well. Can’t I have an upset stummick without you firin’ a passel of questions at me?”
  • Would it vex him that a boy from southern Illinois could be so bold?