ESL STATION

Dreams from My Father: Vocabulary Review, Unit 1

Words can be categorized by topic. The table below lists categories of topics discussed in Chapter 1. Below the table is a list of words and phrases. Write the letter of the category the phrase relates to.

A. Racial Relations / racial slurs

B. Inner city urban life/ bad economic conditions

C. social norms (unwritten rules) / indicators of social class

D. Personality traits / ways of thinking, feeling, and acting

Match the words and phrases below with the appropriate category above. Write the letter of the category next to the phrase. Use CAPITAL letters -A, B, C, or D. Click the highlighted text to hear the word and its definition.

to sit out on the fire escape	to be a prominent farmer	to be wary of something
live a solitary life/live in solitude	to think one a kindred spirit	treeless and barren
to be sure of oneself	to hear gunshots	to grow skeptical of something
to be adamant about something	miscegenation	lineage that was a source of shame
soot-colored walk-ups	abrupt and imperious	to pace in vigilant patrol
to show great promise	to hang out on the stoop	bigot / bigotry
nigger / wop	the pioneer spirit	conformity, respectability and status
standards of decency	farm foreclosures	to live off odd jobs
racism / racist	too young to live on her own	provincial and tactless
a liberal freethinker	the mortified look	unspoken codes governing life
to be filled with apprehension	to be a loner	to have eccentricities
to give (someone) a piece of one's mind	to be kept on the outside looking in	instability and violent temper
indenturing system	internment of Japanese Americans	to make off-color jokes

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