The Witch of Blackbird Pond

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The Witch of Blackbird Pond

• Chapter 9 Vocabulary

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earnestly

• intensely or excessively serious and grave in
  manner or attitude
• Two small heads bent earnestly over each of the
  three dog-eared primers which were all the dame
  school boast. p. 82

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primer

• a book used to teach young children to read,
  usually containing simple stories
• At the opposite end of the kitchen Mercy, having
  generously alloted to Kit the primer readers, was
  laboring with the beginners. p. 83

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hornbook

• formerly, a page of text used as an aid in
  teaching reading, usually printed with the
  alphabet, letter combinations, and a religious
  passage, covered with a thin layer of horn
• ..each holding a hornbook.. p. 83

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sober

• serious and thoughtful in demeanor or quality
• Sober little adults they had appeared on that
  first day, dressed in fashions much like their
  parents. p. 84

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quill

• an old-fashioned pen made from the shaft of a
  feather
• The six children followed every motion of her
  quill with breathless eagerness. p. 84

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zest

• lively enjoyment and enthusiasm
• Kit chose the stories that she herself enjoyed
  most, and her reading had a zest p. 86

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enthralled

• fascinated and giving total attention to
  something
• and liveliness that enthralled the children.
  p. 86

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hearth

• the floor of a fireplace, especially when it
  extends into the room
• Charity picked up the broom by the hearth and
  began to sweep. p. 87

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obstreperous

• noisily and aggressively boisterous
• By chance she had chosen the three most
  obstreperous pupils in the school to be her
  thieves and robbers. p. 87

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subdued

• sad or in low spirits
• Across the subdued childrens heads Kit and
  Mercy faced their two visitors p. 88

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incredulously

• unable or unwilling to believe something or
  completely unconvinced by it
• Reverend Woodbridge stared incredulously at
  Mercy. p. 89

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dumbfounded

• to make somebody temporarily speechless with
  astonishment
• For a moment Kit was too dumbfounded to move.
  p. 91