English 11

Students should read up to the end of Chapter 14 in the class novel.  Before reading, however, write a 1/2 page to 3/4 page journal response on your first day of something as a child.  This could be your first day of school (if you can remember this), your first day of high school, or your first day of attending an organization, music or sporting activity.

The first ten class vocabulary words from the novel are as follows:

1. matriarch (n): female head of a family or tribe
2. seer (n): one with supernatural ability who can see the future
3. stoic (adj) : one who can endure pain/hardship without complaint
4. spectre (n): a ghost; something widely feared
5. to pine (v): to yearn for the return of something; to waste away especially because of a broken heart
6. thrall (n): the state of being in someone’s power or having great power overs someone
7. transient (adj or n): (adj) impermanent; lasting just a short time; (n) a person who stays or works in a place for  just a short time
8. manitou (n): Algonquin/Ojibway spirits or forces that pervade and control the natural world (Gitchee Manitou=the Great Manitou; the Creator)
9. shaman (n): a holy person in a pre-industrial community, a liaison between the physical and spiritual world who is responsible for divination, healing, and leading rituals within a community
10. to scuttle (v or n):  (v) to run hurriedly/furtively with short, quick steps; to purposely sink a ship; (n) a small pan for shovelling coal