ERWC: Vocab 16 2018

Abhor Verb To hate something/be disgusted by He abhorred the fact that he was always put on vomit duty at Rockin’ Jump.

Assent Noun Expression of agreement to something She anticipated their assent but was cautious about how she presented the idea anyway.

Comprise Verb To be made up of / to include or contain The Avengers are comprised of five original members: Ant Man, Wasp, Thor, Iron Man, and Hulk. (The others all came later.) (This issue is worth about $270,000 in mint condition.)

Dignified Adjective Behaving in a serious way that commands respect Noun: Dignity Behaving in a serious way that commands respect He was a dignified and fair leader who was respected by all those who met him.

Decrepit Adjective Old and weak (person) Old and falling apart (object) The building was decrepit and was eventually condemned. I may be old, but I am not yet decrepit.

Disreputable Adjective Not respectable The mechanic was disreputable and often charged customers for repairs that he didn’t do.

Itinerary Noun Schedule of activities I asked to see the itinerary on the cruise so that I could plan out my day.

Intrepid Adjective Fearless/Adventurous There is often a fine line between intrepid and idiotic. The intrepid astronaut embarked on a spacewalk to repair the hull.

Novice Noun A beginner I am a novice painter at best, so any advice you can give would be greatly appreciated.

Prosaic Adjective Commonplace/Not special I had a pretty prosaic weekend: Mowed the lawn, went grocery shopping, and watched football.

Vindicate Verb To prove someone was right/to clear them from blame I felt vindicated when the assistant manager at Wendy’s, who was often rude to customers and employees, was caught by a secret shopper.

Wary (of) Adjective Cautious or Suspicious about Not the same as “weary,” which means “tired” I was wary of the student’s essay that was written in distinctly different handwriting than he usually used.

Acclimate Verb To get used to something The water was cold, but I acclimated quickly and it no longer bothered me. It took me a little while to acclimate to the differences between college and high school.

1984 A couple of points of clarification:   The point of 1984 is that if the people allow those in power to accumulate too much power, they will eventually become hopelessly oppressed. According to Orwell, that is the nature of “power,” so people need to constantly keep power in check so that it doesn’t grow out of control. Surveillance is a tool that the Party uses to create fear and also to limit opportunities for criticism and ultimately challenge. They can identify those whose ideas would challenge them and then target them. This is not about the United States. This doesn’t mean that the US Government is the Party. What it means is that, according to Orwell, no government should be allowed to do certain things, and the people are the ones who allow or don’t allow things. Orwell believes that there are some things, like privacy and truth, that shouldn’t be given up for any reason because to give them up is to open the door for abuse and oppression. Orwell believes that it is the responsibility of every person to be skeptical of those in power and to arm themselves against oppression by understanding what it looks like, how it works, and having the courage to resist it.

Projects The goal of the project was to illustrate how propaganda works. It uses deceptive means to manipulate belief and action. My hope is that this will make you all a little more aware of it in the real world—advertising, politics, etc. and therefore a little more resistant to it. Knowing how easy it is to fake things should make you a little more skeptical of the information you encounter. This doesn’t mean you can’t trust anything. It means that you need to think and ask questions. It’s their job to convince you via ethos, logos, pathos, etc. Today, we will take some time to check out your projects and evaluate how successful they are.

Today Get into your project groups.