"The Meanings of a Word" (15-19)

Pichu Little: " 'The Meanings of a Word'? That sounds interesting."
Pichu Big: "Let's read it together then!"

15) necrophiliac

• Source 1: "Had he called me a nymphomaniac or a necrophiliac, I couldn't have been more puzzled" (Naylor).

• Definition: n. "obsession with and usually erotic interest in or stimulation by corpses " (Merriam-Webster).

• Source 2: "Many deceased missing, runaway, overdosed, and prostitute children are at risk for being violated by a necrophiliac, usually male" (110).
• Flowers, R. Barri. The Prostitution of Women and Girls. Jefferson: McFarland, 1998.Google Books. Web. 9 Jan. 2013.

• Commentary: Necrophiliac is a complex word that is typically not part of a child's vocabulary. Comparing her confusion when she was called a negro to her confusion if she was called a necrophiliac blatantly displayed her immense bewilderment at the time. Although negro appears to be less sophisticated than necrophiliac due to its short length and syllables, they both have complex connotative meanings.

16) mecca

• Source 1: "Their ground-floor apartment in one of the buildings they owned in Harlem was a weekend mecca for my immediate family along with countless aunts, uncles, and cousins who brought along assorted friends. " (Naylor).

• Definition: n. "a place regarded as a center for a specified group, activity, or interest"(Merriam-Webster).

• Source 2: " The oyster farm is the source of roughly 40 percent of California’s oysters and is part of a local food web that makes the surrounding Marin County area a mecca for locavores."
• Barringer, Felicity. "End of the Line for an Oyster Farm." The New York Times. The New York Times, 30 Nov. 2012. Web. 09 Jan. 2013.

• Commentary: By listing the various family members who would congregate, Naylor generates a sense of rowdiness to match the apartment's description as a mecca. Readers who are familiar with large family meetings can also connect to the description, creating a better understanding of the situation anf its connection to her purpose.

17) innocuous

• Source 1: "Words themselves are innocuous; it is the consensus that gives them true power" (Naylor).

• Definition: adj. "not likely to give offense or to arouse strong feelings or hostility : inoffensive, insipid" (Merriam-Webster).

• Source 2: "For his work, Morgan selected a species of fruit fly, ... a common, generally innocuous insect that feeds on the fungi growing on fruit" (276).
• Campbell, Neil A., and Jane B. Reece. Biology. AP 7th ed. San Francisco: Pearson, Benjamin Cummings, 2005. Print.

• Commentary: Most words have several connotative meanings, affecting one's interpretation of the context. The words themselves do not carry emotions; it is the reader who applies the emotional value to the innocuous words. Similarly, fruit flies are typically not hostile to their environment and will not attack humans intentionally.

18) stratum

• "I don't agree with the argument that the use of the word nigger at this social stratum of the black community was an internalization of racism" (Naylor).

• Definition: n. "a socioeconomic level of society comprising persons of the same or similar status especially with regard to education or culture" (Merriam-Webster).

• Source 2: "He sought in particular to improve conditions for the city’s often unseen stratum of low-wage workers: the men and women who wash the cars, bag the groceries and mind the children of better-off residents."
• Fox, Margalit. "Jon Kest, Advocate for Low-Wage Workers in New York, Dies at 57." The New York Times. The New York Times, 07 Dec. 2012. Web. 09 Jan. 2013.

• Commentary: A stratum can apply to social status, literacy level, age groups, education level, and ethnic groups. 

19) endearment

• Source 1: "When used with a possessive adjective by a women--'my nigger'--it became a term of endearment for her husband or boyfriend" (Naylor).

• Definition: n. "a word or an act (as a caress) expressing affection" (Merriam-Webster).

• Source 2: "'Associates of General Allen said Tuesday that the e-mails were innocuous. Some of them used terms of endearment, but not in a flirtatious way,' they wrote."
• The New York Times. "Top U.S. General Is Ensnared in Petraeus Inquiry." At War:Notes From the Front Lines. The New York Times, 13 Nov. 2012. Web. 09 Jan. 2013.

• Commentary: The word endearment is made up of three parts: en-, dear, and -ment. "En-" typically describes causing something to be in a certain way, while -ment often describes the product of an action. When considering the separate parts, the word appears to define the result of causing something to be dear, which is similar to the actual definition.

Works Cited

Source 1:
Naylor, Gloria. "The Meanings of a Word." N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Jan. 2013.

Definitions:

   "Definitions and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary." Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 08 Jan. 2013.