Name Date

from SELF-RELIANCE / from NATURE COPY MASTER

Vocabulary Study

SELF-ASSESSMENT OF WORD MEANING

A. Directions: As your teacher reads each set of sentences, listen for the boldfaced word and clues to its possible meanings.

1. Janet could not hide her aversion to spiders. The creepy bugs made her shudder with disgust.

2. The children in the boys’ choir were models of decorum. They stood quietly and attentively, their faces respectful and serious.

3. The runner felt a great surge of exhilaration toward the end of the race. The feeling gave her the extra energy she needed to pull out ahead of the fastest runner.

4. The spoiled child has learned to importune his mother until he gets what he wants. His endless whining is insufferable to everyone around him.

5. Although I am usually thought of as a nonconformist, I must agree with my family about holiday traditions. I do not object to the importance of a family gathering.

6. We wondered about the occult practices of the mysterious women. We wondered why they hid their actions.

B. Directions: To determine how well you understand each vocabulary word, fill in the chart. As you read the selection, revise your definitions as needed.

Vocabulary Word / New / Seen Before / Can Use in a
Sentence / Possible Meanings
1. aversion
2. decorum
3. exhilaration
4. importune
5. nonconformist
6. occult

Resource Manager Unit 2 129

American Literature Name Date

from SELF-RELIANCE / from NATURE COPY MASTER

Vocabulary Practice

aversion exhilaration nonconformist decorum importune occult

A. Directions: Fill in each blank with the correct word from the box.

1. A Transcendentalist often feels when walking through nature.

2. Many Transcendentalists feel an to acting or thinking as others do.

3. Emerson recognizes an relationship between humans and nature.

4. Emerson believes that a good Transcendentalist must resist when old friends and acquaintances him to behave in a way he or she does not believe in.

5. A Transcendentalist should behave with when striking out on his or her own path.

6. Above all, a Transcendentalist must be his or her own person, a complete

B. Directions: Circle the word in each group that is the same or almost the same in meaning

as the boldfaced word.

7. decorum

a. elegance b. rudeness c. silence d. politeness

8. importune

a. exhaust b. confuse c. beg d. ignore

9. occult

a. hidden b. magnified c. revealed d. repeated

10. nonconformist

a. believer b. individual c. intellectual d. dancer

11. exhilaration

a. terror b. doubt c. exactness d. excitement

12. aversion

a. dislike b. ease c. desire d. prevention

130 Unit 2 Resource Manager

American Literature