Vocabulary List 1

Fall 2023 Intensive Writing Workshop I

Unit: Born a Crime Chapters 1-3

No. Word Definition Context (taken from BAC)

1 Apartheid a social policy of racial The genius of apartheid was

n. convincing people who were the
segregation
overwhelming majority to turn on each
other.

2 Faction a dissenting clique/group of Long before apartheid existed these

n. tribal factions clashed and warred with
people
one another.

3 Animosity a feeling of ill will arousing active Then white rule used that animosity to
n. divide and conquer.
hostility

4 Futility -uselessness as a consequence The Xhosa waged a long war against

n. of having no practical result
-the fact of having no effect or of
achieving nothing
the white man as well, but after
experiencing the futility of battle
against a better-armed foe, many
Xhosa chiefs took a more nimble
approach.

5 Catharsis purging of emotional tensions The third church offered passion and
n. catharsis; it was a place where you
truly felt the presence of the Holy Spirit
inside you.

6 Accrue come into the possession of The more time we spent at church, she
v. reckoned, the more blessings we
accrued, like a Starbucks Rewards
Card.

7 Obstinacy resolute adherence to your own Whenever I found myself up against

n. ideas or desires my mother’s faith-based obstinacy, I
would try, as respectfully as possible,
to counter with an opposing point of
view.

8 Spate a large number or amount or Spates of violence broke out between

n. extent the Inkatha Freedom Party and the
ANC, the African National Congress,
as they jockeyed for power.

9 Jockey compete or struggle for an Spates of violence broke out between

v. advantage or a position the Inkatha Freedom Party and the
ANC, the African National Congress,
as they jockeyed for power.

10 Encompass include in scope The ANC was a broad coalition

v. encompassing many different tribes,
but its leaders at the time were
primarily Xhosa.
11 Sprawling spreading out in different Eden Park sat not far from the
adj. directions; spread out over a sprawling townships of the East Rand,
large area Thokoza and Katlehong, which were
the sites of some of the most horrific
Inkatha—ANC clashes.

12 Crony a close friend or associate Another guy, his crony, got out of the
n. passenger side.

13 Harangue (verb) address forcefully In addition to being violent gangsters,

v. South African minibus drivers are
notorious for complaining and
haranguing passengers as they drive.

14 Promiscuous casual and unrestrained in sexual The stereotypes of Zulu and Xhosa
adj. behavior women were as ingrained as those of
the men. Zulu women were
well-behaved and dutiful. Xhosa
women were promiscuous and
unfaithful.

15 Subjugate make subservient; force to To impose white rule, the Dutch

v. submit or subdue; bring under colonists went to war with the natives,
domination or control, especially ultimately developing a set of laws to
by conquest subjugate and enslave them.

16 Expendable suitable to be used up; of little They did so because, in the

adj. significance when compared to
an
overall purpose, and therefore
able to be abandoned.
mid-1800s, in what had been written
off as a near-worthless way station on
the route to the Far East, a few lucky
capitalists stumbled upon the richest
gold and diamond reserves in the
world, and an endless supply of
expendable bodies was needed to go
in the ground and get it all out.

17 Robust sturdy and strong in form, To maintain power in the face of the
adj. constitution, or construction country’s rising and restless black
majority, the government realized they
needed a newer and more robust set
of tools.

18 Compendium a publication containing a variety A full compendium of those laws would

n. of works run more than three thousand pages
and weigh approximately ten pounds,
but the general thrust of it should be
easy enough for any American to
understand.

19 Rebuke an act or expression of criticism Race-mixing proves that races can

v. and censure mix—and in a lot of cases, want to
mix. Because a mixed person
embodies that rebuke to the logic of
the system, race-mixing becomes a
crime worse than treason.

20 Buffer a neutral zone between two rival Indian areas were segregated from
 n. powers colored areas, which were segregated
from black areas—all of them
segregated from white areas and
separated from one another by buffer
zones of empty land.

21 Ramification a consequence, especially one If you ask my mother whether she ever
n. that causes complications considered the ramifications of having
a mixed child under apartheid, she will
say no.

22 Quell overcome or allay; put an end to
v. (a rebellion or other disorder),
typically by the use of force;
subdue or silence someone;
suppress (a feeling, especially an
unpleasant one).
In the early 1980s, the South African
government began making minor
reforms in an attempt to quell
international protest over the atrocities
and human rights abuses of apartheid.

23 Contrive make or work out a plan for; So she stayed in town, hiding and
v. devise sleeping in public restrooms until she
learned the rules of navigating the city
from the other black women who had
contrived to live there...

24 Expatriate a person who is voluntarily As a former trading colony, South

n. absent from home or country; Africa has always had a large
an individual who does not reside expatriate community.
in his native nation or birthplace

25 Cosmopolitan composed of people from many Hillbrow at the time was the Greenwich
adj. parts of the world; Village of South Africa. It was a thriving
reflecting the influence of scene, cosmopolitan and liberal.
numerous cultures and countries

26 Estrange remove from customary Estranged from her family, pregnant by

v. environment or associations; to a man she could not be seen with in
cause a person to be alienated public, she was alone.
from (no longer close) a group, a
friend, or family member

27 Statute an act passed by a legislative The doctors took her up to the delivery
n. body room, cut open her belly, and reached
in and pulled out a half-white,
half-black child who violated any
number of laws, statutes, and
regulations—I was born a crime.

28 Prodigal recklessly wasteful When I was born, my mother hadn’t

adj. seen her family in three years, but she
wanted me to know them and wanted
them to know me, so the prodigal
daughter returned.

29 Insurrection organized opposition to authority The township was in a constant state

n. of insurrection; someone was always
marching or protesting somewhere
and had to be suppressed.
30 Shaman one acting as a medium between I come from a country where people
n. the visible and spirit worlds are more likely to visit sangomas—
shamans, traditional healers,
pejoratively known as witch
doctors—than they are to visit doctors
of Western medicine.

31 Pejorative expressing disapproval or I come from a country where people

adj. belittling the importance of are more likely to visit
something sangomas—shamans, traditional
healers, pejoratively known as witch
doctors—than they are to visit doctors
of Western medicine.

32 Docket the calendar of a court The court is presided over by a judge.

n. There is a docket. There is a
prosecutor.

33 Staunch firm and dependable especially in Your defense attorney has to prove
adj. loyalty lack of motive, go through the
crime-scene forensics, present a
staunch defense.

34 Temperance the trait of avoiding excesses His name was Temperance Noah,
n. which was odd since he was not a
man of moderation at all.

35 Boisterous noisy and lacking in restraint or He was boisterous and loud.

adj. discipline

36 Eccentric conspicuously or grossly We found out much later in life that he

adj. unconventional or unusual was bipolar, but before that we just
thought he was eccentric.

37 Dinky small and insignificant Dinky, as his name implies, was dinky.
adj.

38 Masquerade making a false outward show Dinky was trying to masquerade as

n. this patriarch that he wasn’t.

39 Recourse something or someone turned to In Soweto you were always hearing

n. for assistance or security during
a difficult period or situation
about men getting doused with pots of
boiling water—often a woman’s only
recourse. And men were lucky if it was
water. Some women used hot cooking
oil.

40 Cataract disease that involves the Her eyes had gone white, clouded
n. clouding of the lens of the eye over by cataracts.

41 Shanty a small crude shelter used as a You’d first build a shanty on your plot,
adj. dwelling a makeshift structure of plywood and
corrugated iron.

42 Corrugated shaped into alternating parallel You’d first build a shanty on your plot,
adj. grooves and ridges a makeshift structure of plywood and
corrugated iron.
43 Bewitch cast a spell over someone or My mother gasped. “We’ve been
v. something bewitched! It’s a demon!”

44 Totem emblem consisting of an object If someone has put a curse on you or

n. such as an animal or plant your home, there is always the
talisman or totem, a tuft of hair or the
head of a cat, the physical
manifestation of the spiritual thing,
proof of the demon’s presence.

45 Manifestation an appearance in bodily form; the If someone has put a curse on you or
n. process of making something your home, there is always the
evident or obvious talisman or totem, a tuft of hair or the
head of a cat, the physical
manifestation of the spiritual thing,
proof of the demon’s presence.