"He also said I should use the vocabulary words that I learn in class like 'corpulent' and jaundice.' I would use them here, but I really don't think they are really appropriate in this format" (Chbosky, 1999, p.14)
Chbosky, S. (1999). The perks of being a wallflower. New York City: MTV Books.
Definition:
Corpulent: large or bulky of body; portly; stout; fat.
Taken from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/corpulent
In context: After eating McDonald's every day for a year, the boy was rather corpulent and had to be rolled to school.
Level of Familiarity: I thought I had heard of this word before. It sounds familiar but the definition does not match what I thought it was.
Reflective Commentary: Previously I always assumed the word meant something along the lines of dealing with the penal system. I cannot exactly write out what I had thought it meant but I assumed it related to being bad or being punished. I curious what the words meant because they were words that should be known by 9th graders, at least the kids in the book. Ordinarily I would not struggle with not knowing two words in the same sentence. But in this case, the narrator, Charlie, did not provide
any context clues to go with the words. He was merely stating two words his English teacher wanted him to use in everyday context. This is what most of us want as teachers; to have students became familiar enough with the words to use them in every day sentences. I think everyone should know this word because if you want to insult someone by calling them fat, you can call them corpulent instead since they probably will not know what it means. But in all seriousness it is a great word to know instead of just saying fat or large.
No comments:
Post a Comment