Word Watcher

Chapter 1

pg.5
Serene-(adj.) calm, peaceful, or tranquil; unruffled.
Sentence- Marty was a very serene person, always calm in difficult times.

• Betty Smith used the word serene in the beginning paragraphs to depict the environment of Brooklyn during the summer time of 1912. This word help Betty Smith establish the setting of this novel.

Pg.7
Ragamuffin-(noun.) a child in ragged, ill-fitting, dirty clothes.
sentence- These ragamuffins intrudes the eloquent party.

• The word ragamuffin was used in order to depict the demographic of Brooklyn at the time. Clearly there was a lot of poor civilians.

Chapter 6

Pg.48
Pungent-(adj.) sharply affecting the organs of taste or smell, as if by a penetrating power; biting; acrid.
Sentence- The corpse laid there for over a week, and it began to have a pungent smell.

• The word pungent helps further explain the environment our protagonist faces in the novel. " It was still early in the evening and the street light had not yet come on. But already, the horseradish lady was sitting in front of the Hassler's grinding away at her pungent roots", this excerpt shows the way people acted during 1912 and unfortunately they don't act as civilized as we do today.