part 2 Vocab

Question 1

Baleful

Answer 1

threatening harm;menacing
We finish cleaning the floor in silence,under Dad’s baleful stare

Question 2

ad hoc

Answer 2

created or done for a particular purpose as necessary
The WRA has canceled school while the loyal Tuleans move out and the No-Nod move in,but Dad enrolls me in one of the ad hoc schools the Japanese cultural organizations have set up in rec centers

Question 3

Glower

Answer 3

Have an angry or sullen look on one’s face;scowl
I glower at him, hoping he’ll take the hint and leave me alone

Question 4

Surreptitiously

Answer 4

in a way that attempts to avoid notice or attention; secretively
Surreptitiously, our neighbors peer through their windows

Question 5

Repatriation

Answer 5

the return of someone to their own country
Her parents haven’t requested repatriation back to Japan, but we both know they don’t want to be Americans anymore

Question 6

Wistfulness

Answer 6

Full of yearning or desire tinged with melancholy
You can hear the wistfulness in Tommy’s voice when he talks about his old records, the ones he had to sell when we left San Francisco

Question 7

Sullen

Answer 7

bad-tempered and sulky;gloomy
I am the seething, sullen presence they wish they could forget, only I won’t let them

Question 8

Placid

Answer 8

(of a person or animal) not easily upset or excited;(of a place or stretch of water) calm and peaceful with little movement or activity
Instead, it’s even, almost placid like he’s afraid of his own volume

Question 9

Traipses

Answer 9

walk about casually or needlessly
Mary,Stan,Tommy and I walk four abreast, our breaths puffing in the chill air, while Aiko traipses ahead, belting out the words to “Chattanooga Choo Choo”

Question 10

Noxious

Answer 10

harmful, poisonous, or very unpleasant
People shriek and scatter as noxious white smoke hisses from the canister

Question 11

Sheepishly

Answer 11

in an embarrassed manner due to shame or lack of self-confidence
Sheepishly, I move the paring knife, the only kind of knife they’ve left us after the raids, away from my thumb

Question 12

Subjugate

Answer 12

bring under domination or control, especially by conquest
I’m an insecure asshole who needs to subjugate others so I can feel better about myself!

Question 13

Unsavory

Answer 13

disagreeable to taste, smell, or look at; distasteful
I was Mas Ito, and every time they needed someone for kitchen patrol, for latrine duty, for any of the unsavory jobs they give to army grunts, it was me

Question 14

Billowing

Answer 14

moving or flowing outward with an undulating motion
Or were you somewhere else, somewhere like an ocean current, or a wind, unseen, billowing in the fabric of an American flag?

Question 15

Undulant

Answer 15

having a rising and falling motion or appearance like that of waves
You dance under the bare bulb, hips swaying, limbs like liquid. You feel undulant

Question 16

Bivouac

Answer 16

stay in a temporary camp without cover
Only problem is, and we don’t find this out til we eat there, that us suckers in King and Item companies are bivouacking in the middle of the goddamn minefield

Question 17

Platitudes

Answer 17

remarks or statements, especially ones with a moral content, that have been used too often to be interesting or thoughtful
What can you say? What do you have but platitudes? We’re sorry for your loss. He was a good boy. we loved him

Question 18

Stoic

Answer 18

not affected by it showing passion or feeling; firmly restraining response to pain or distress
In her dreams, her son is obedient,
Speaks Japanese without an accent,
Is stoic, good with money,
Going into engineering or
Another profession of equal pay

Question 19

Martyr

Answer 19

a person who is killed because of their religious or other beliefs
Her son, a martyr. His portrait, a shrine

Question 20

Umbrage

Answer 20

offense or annoyance
“You’re sorry?” She croaks.
Her umbrage. Her throat bulge

Question 21

Harried

Answer 21

feeling strained as a result of having demands persistently made on one;harassed
The whole scene reminds me of the evacuation:the luggage, the harried families, the way people kept snapping at one another in the travel-strained voices