Name Date English 12 Vocabulary Lesson 8

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English 12 Vocabulary Lesson 8

CONTEXT-- Literary Figures

Rudyard Kipling: At Home on Four Continents Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) is my favorite author.

Kipling lived an interesting and varied life. He lived in India, England, America, and Rhodesia, and

he wrote about all of those places. My whole family likes his writing. My father says that he tries to

live up to the advice in Kipling's poem 'If,' and my mother is still delighted by the Jungle Books,

which are classics of children's literature. To me, the appeal of Kipling's writing is that there's

something for readers of every age.

In the following exercises, you will have the opportunity to expand your vocabulary by reading

about Rudyard Kipling's life and writing. Below are ten vocabulary words that will be used in these

exercises.

absolve

antipathy antipodes

indigent infringe

ostensible nettle

retroactive specious subjugate

Exercise 1: Directions. Use a dictionary to look up each word. Highlight the context clues in each sentence. Then go to Exercise 2 and complete by adding the words to the correct blanks and adding the forms.

1. I made a resolution that before I graduated from high school I would read all of Kipling's works. When I made the vow, I didn't realize how much he had written, so I've had to absolve myself from the promise and set a new and more realistic deadline.

2. Some of my friends have an antipathy for reading, but I love it. Maybe if they read something exciting, like Kipling's Captains Courageous or Kim, they would develop a liking for books.

3. Kipling was born in India but later lived in Vermont. Those points on the globe are in different hemispheres, but they are not true antipodes. They are not directly opposite each other, though they are so far away from each other that it seems like they could be.

4. Kipling's parents lived in India, where his father was the principal of an art school. I don't know how much money Kipling's father made, but I know that the family was not indigent. In fact, they had enough money to send Kipling to England for schooling when he was five.

5. Kipling was miserable in England because the retired naval officer and his wife with whom Kipling lived neglected and mistreated him. His parents did not realize that the couple had infringed on the agreement to provide proper child earn.

6. Although the abusive couple nettled Kipling, he had to live with the irritation until he was twelve. At that time he was sent to United Services College, where he performed in plays and began writing poetry.

7. When he was seventeen, Kipling returned to India, ostensibly to edit a newspaper. In reality he spent much of his time writing stories for it.

8. Kipling's stories and poems were published in India and became popular with travelers, some of whom brought them to England. When he returned to England in 1889, it must have seemed to Kipling that his fame was retroactive: He had become famous in England months before he even arrived there.

9. In England, Kipling went to pubs, barracks rooms, and music halls to listen to songs. He thought many of the lyrics were specious; they sounded good on the surface but lacked meaning and truth. He wrote new lyrics for some of these songs and published them as Barracks Room Ballads in 1892. 10. Kipling loved to travel and was never able to subjugate his wanderlust, except for brief periods of time. Even after he married and supposedly submitted to a more settled life in Vermont, he returned to England briefly to gather material for his novel Captains Courageous. Exercise 2 Directions. Write the correct word next to the definition. Then, write forms of the word and at least one synonym. 1. __________________________ v. to violate or disregard a law or an agreement; to trespass; to break in on

Forms:

Synonym: 2. __________________________ adj. seemingly desirable, reasonable, or true but not really so; having a deceptively good appearance; plausible

Forms:

Synonym: 3. __________________________ adj. outwardly professed; apparent; seeming

Forms:

Synonym:

4. __________________________ v. to declare free from guilt and blame; to set free from a promise or an obligation

Forms:

Synonym:

5. __________________________ v. to subdue; to conquer; to force to submit

Forms:

Synonym:

6. __________________________ n. any two places at directly opposite points on the earth; two opposite things

Forms:

Synonym:

7. __________________________ adj. applying to events that are past

Forms:

Synonym:

8. __________________________ n. a strong dislike; an aversion

Forms:

Synonym:

9. __________________________ n. a spiny or stinging plant v. to sting with, or as if with, a nettle; to cause sharp annoyance; to irritate

Forms:

Synonym:

10. __________________________ adj. poor; needy

Forms:

Synonym:

Exercise 3: Fill in each sentence with the correct list word (or form of the word) 1. Kipling viewed Eastern and Western philosophies and lifestyles as complete opposites. He commented on the __________________________of Asian and European cultures in "The Ballad of East and West."

2. Kipling did not consider it a __________________________statement to say that 'Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet. . . .' To him, the statement was utterly true and reasonable.

3. Kipling's interest in children's stories was not a__________________________ desire stemming from unfinished business in his own childhood; it grew from his desire to make up stories for his own children.

4. In the story 'The Elephant's Child,' a young elephant is constantly punished for asking questions. He asks the Kolokolo Bird, who is sitting in a sharp __________________________, to help him. The Kolokolo Bird looks down at him from its perch in the spiny plant.

5. The Kolokolo Bird appears to help the little elephant, but his __________________________ friendly advice really places the elephant child in danger, for the Kolokolo Bird sends him to visit the

Crocodile. 6. So far in the story, the other animals have failed to __________________________the little elephant's curiosity and questioning, which seems to have no end. They don't know how to subdue such inquisitiveness.

7. They think that his never-ending questions __________________________their right to live in peace and quiet, trespassing on their privacy.

8. All the animals have an__________________________ for the Elephant Child's curiosity, but he finds ways to get even for their dislike and mistreatment of him.

9. Eventually, when the little elephant comes home with something all of his relatives want, they __________________________him, no longer blaming him for his curiosity.

10. The popularity of this story and others in Just So Stories brought Kipling a good income, so he was never__________________________. In fact, he was probably among the most financially successful authors of his day.

Exercise 4: Directions. For each of the following, highlight the word or words that best completes the sentences.

1. Kipling held political views that were popular w ith many other British people at the time. For example, he did not think imperialism ___ on native people's rights, violating their freedoms. (A) nettled (B) subjugated (C) absolved (D) admonished (E) infringed

2. He spent time in Rhodesia each summer for eight years and seemed to have no ___for colonial policies there. He apparently saw nothing to violently dislike. (A) retroactivity (B) infringement (C) antipathy (D) antipode (E) subjugation

3. Kipling felt that the benefits Europeans brought to native peoples they conquered compensated for the ___of their cultures.

(A) speciousness (B) subjugation (C) antipathy (D) absolvement (E) retroactivity

4. Kipling had more than a seeming, or ___interest in native cultures; his interest was real and evident. (A) indigent (B) antipodal (C) antipathetic (D) ostensible (E) absolvent

5. Many imperialists at the time felt that it was natural for Europeans to be affluent and for native peoples to be ___. (A) indigent (B) antipodal (C) ostensible (D) specious (E) retroactive

6 . Some people see Kipling's poem "The White Man's Burden" as ___ the colonial powers of guilt for

___, or trespassing, on native people's rights.

(A) subjugating ...absolving (B) infringing ...subjugating (C) absolving...infringing

(D)

nettling...absolving (E) subjugating ... nettling

7. The cruel deeds of the past can't be undone ___; we can't change the past. But we must realize

that no one has the right to ___, or forcefully subdue, another human being.

(A) antipathetically... nettle (B) retroactively... subjugate (C) indigently...absolve

(D) speciously...infringe (E) ostensibly...absolve

8. Some of Kipling's views may ___ people now, and their irritation is understandable. Still, there is

no reason to develop ___ for all of Kipling's writing.

(A) subjugate...an absolvent (B) absolve ...a retroactivity (C) infringe ...a speciousness (D)

absolve ...an infringement

(E) nettle ...an antipathy

9. Kipling's writings are not ___, but are of genuine value. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature in 1907, which is more than an ___ honor: it is a very real one. (A) subjugated ...absolvent (B) retroactive ...antipathetic (C) specious...ostensible (D) indigent...antipodal (E) nettlesome...indigent

10. Kipling thought the East and West were ___,or opposite, in nature, yet his enjoyable, informative stories and poems have surely lessened the ___ people sometimes feel for different cultures. (A) indigent ... retroactivity (B) antipathetic ... subjugation (C) antipodal ...antipathy (D) specious ...infringement (E) retroactive ...speciosity

Exercise 5. Create ten sentences, each sentence containing a vocabulary word. Each sentence is worth three points: one for spelling, one for the appropriate part of speech, and one for sufficient context clues. Be careful not to create run-on sentences!

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