base tier/Upper tier
1. automaton: a mechanism that can move independently of external control
ex. "...the earth is background of restless, gloomy world of automatons...” (Remarque 115).
original. "The automatons moved speechless, with regularity."
2. banal: repeated too often; overfamiliar through overuse
ex. “If one wants to appraise it, it is at once heroic and banal - but who wants to do that?” (Remarque 272).
original. "No one laughs at banal jokes."
in-text. "Banal to hear about."(FW#6)
3. beckon: summon with a wave, nod, or some other gesture
ex. “...he beckons with his ladle to everyone that passes, and spoons him out a great dollop” (Remarque 1).
original. "I beckoned to his demands."
in-text. "She then has to beckon to work hard to earn her family the money she was paid for, with only few belongings she had, with all the responsibilities she got." (FW#2)
in-text. "The most world wide problem in this book is that Lakshmi has to beckon to go to prostitute, where it’s risky, neglecting, life-long and unequal." (FW#7)
in-text. "As long as wars include numerous deaths and murders, we cannot beckon to call it justice." (Just War Theory)
4. docile: easily handled or managed
ex. “They listen, they are docile-but when it begins again...” (Remarque 134).
original. "Smart dogs as border collies are docile."
in-text. "Even though the hope ends in a mere dream, these ambitions are the primary motive for the protagonist all the way in the book, to stand through works that aren’t docile." (FW#3)
in-text. "Nothing much...just some burdens are too tiring. I had a fight today, with my friend. So I couldn’t play with him. I’m tired, but I have to do my homeworks, now. And it’s not a docile homework.” (FW Short Story)
in-text. "It isn’t docile to communicate someone what you want to say." (FW#6)
5. essentially: at bottom or by something's very nature
ex. “In himself man is essentially a beast, only he butters it over like a slice of bread with a little decorum” (Remarque 44).
original. "Essentially, babies are cute."
in-text. "This book is essentially about a girl sent to prostitute, how she adapts there and finally gets out of that environment." (FW#1)
in-text. "Essentially, poverty." (FW#7)
in-text. "Essentially, it’s brutal." (Just War Theory)
in-text. "This novel is essentially along Lakshmi who encounters many different world and people, observing and understanding the different sides." (FW#4)
6. gape: look with amazement
ex. “Before me gapes the shell-hole” (Remarque 67).
original. "He gaped at the amazing tricks."
7. gigantic: so exceedingly large or extensive as to suggest a giant
ex. “The slide along it like gigantic tapering rulers” (Remarque 59).
original. "The gigantic teddy bear could not fit on my bed."
in-text. "This gigantic world, has many different sides and characteristics, all mingling together to make one environment." (FW#4)
in-text. "It’s one gigantic group of people trying to knock one another for their own sake." (Just War Theory)
in-text. "It’s a part of the gigantic world we live now today." (FW#4)
8. insatiable: impossible to satisfy
ex. “Muller is insatiable and gives himself no peace” (Remarque 77).
original. "His voracity is insatiable."
in-text. "At the end, she cannot take her illness, and is kicked out because her work is becoming insatiable." (FW#4)
in-text. "They are born every season, and dies every season. It’s because most of the time, it is insatiable to nourish all their voracity." (FW#5)
9. laconic: brief to the point
ex. “‘How does the cow-shit come on the roof?’ retorts Müller laconically, and turns to Haie Westhus again” (Remarque 78).
original. "Her explanations were very clear and laconic."
in-text. "Laconically it’s sad story, of poverty and prostitution." (FW#1)
in-text. "Laconically, it’s about poverty." (FW#5)
10. ludicrous: inviting ridicule
ex. “Nothing could look more ludicrous than his forage-cap and his uniform” (Remarque 176).
original. "That clown hat was peculiarly ludicrous."
11. marvel: be amazed at
ex. “It is a marvel that our post has had no casualties so far” (Remarque 21).
original. "Winning a novel prize was a clear marvel."
in-text. "As the girl is sold by her stepfather and sent to prostitution, she is marveled by the new world she sees." (FW#3)
in-text. "For Lakshmi, this world is mysterious and marvelous, yet frightful." (FW#4)
in-text. "He touched at my beautiful tails, but right away, I swung them back. It moved elegantly and marvelously, my beautiful tails. My black long tails. ” (FW Short Story)
12. melancholy: a constitutional tendency to be gloomy and depressed
ex. “We know that only in some strange and melancholy way we have become a wasteland” (Remarque 20).
original. "The melancholic tone of the song made me depressing."
in-text. "She is a rather patronizing character, but sometimes, shows a melancholic sad feeling toward the baby she left home." (FW#2)
13. monotonous: sounded or spoken in a tone unvarying in pitch
ex. “Monotonously the lorries sway, monotonously come the calls, monotonously falls the rain” (Remarque 74).
original. "The monotonous tone of the teacher made me sleepy in class."
in-text. "When most of the days are monotonous, repeated between sleep and food and work, the time the boy teaches her new words, is her only pleasure time." (FW#6)
14. nourish: provide with sustenance
ex. “Half an hour later every man had his tess-tin and we gathered at the cook-house. which smelt greasy and nourishing” (Remarque 3).
original. "We nourished ourselves with some cheese and bread."
in-text. "Although the protagonist girl feels fear to leave the village, at the same time, she encourages herself to go see the new world, and to stand up to nourish her family." (FW#3)
in-text. "They are born every season, and dies every season. It’s because most of the time, it is insatiable to nourish all their voracity." (FW#5)
in-text. "“If I was a cat, I’ll sleep the whole day here, sometimes go nourish some food, walk around in green planes of the park, and come back to sleep here again." (FW Short Story)
15. patronizing: characteristic of those who treat others with arrogance
ex. “Patronizingly he gives the youngster a portion and he says…” (Remarque 36).
original. "The patronizing attitude of John made me frustrated."
in-text. "She is a rather patronizing character, but sometimes, shows a melancholic sad feeling toward the baby she left home." (FW#2)
16. peculiar: beyond or deviating from the usual or expected
ex. “I’d been struck by the peculiarity of the man...” (Hesse 10).
original. "That clown hat was peculiarly ludicrous."
in-text. "It sounds peculiar." (FW#6)
17. putrefaction: the process of decay caused by bacterial or fungal action
ex. “This deadly exhalation from the shell-holes seems to be a mixture of chloroform and putrefaction, and fills us with nausea and retching” (Remarque 126).
original. "The putrefaction process takes a long time to complete."
18. queue: a line of people or vehicles waiting for something
ex. "At the head of the queue of course were the hungriest” (Remarque 3).
original. "The queue before the lunch lady was unbelievably long."
19. reluctantly: with a certain degree of unwillingness
ex. “I tread on Muller’s foot: reluctantly he puts the fine boots back again under the bed” (Remarque 17).
original. "He reluctantly nodded to his mother."
in-text. "This is why Ama has to try so hard to keep feeding, and why Lakshmi has to go for prostitution, reluctantly." (FW#2)
in-text. "Social responsibility in the book is forced to sacrifice themselves reluctantly under heavy burdens for family survival." (FW#2)
20. voracity: extreme gluttony
ex. “In Tjaden this is voracity, in Müller it is foresight” (Remarque 1-2).
original. "His voracity is insatiable."
in-text. "They are born every season, and dies every season. It’s because most of the time, it is insatiable to nourish all their voracity." (FW#5)
3 want-to-know vocabs
1. queer
2. artillery
3. froth
2. artillery
3. froth