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This section presents terms and phrases that are central to understanding the text and may present a challenge to the reader. Use this list to create a vocabulary quiz or worksheet, to prepare flashcards for a standardized test, or to inspire classroom word games and other group activities.
1. unruly (adjective):
not submissive or conforming to rule; ungovernable; unrestrained
“Her dark curls aren’t on display anymore, / tumbling to her shoulders / in unruly waves that remind me of laughter.” (Poem 3, Page 8)
2. treasonous (adjective):
involving betrayal of one’s country; traitorous
“He calls them treasonous and / Issa says that it is our president / Bashar al-Assad / who is treasonous, / who is oppressing his own people.” (Poem 6, Page 16)
3. posh (adjective):
rich, fancy, upper-class
“I almost laughed but / then I realized she wasn’t being funny. / She was being posh / which is an English word she taught me.” (Poem 7, Page 18)
4. manipulate (verb):
to handle or influence skillfully, typically in an unfair manner
“Those men who spill blood and manipulate the Quran to say / things that the rest of us know it does not say.” (Poem 11, Page 32)
5. deference (noun):
respectful or submissive regard
“When you walk around town, / you had better show deference to our president— / to his large picture that is in almost every shop, / and the armed guards that are now on every corner.
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