List 4: Sentence Pattern: loose sentence

1. Akin: adjective; of similar character

2.Corroborate: verb; confirm or give support to (a statement, theory or finding)

3.Inexorable: adjective; impossible to stop or prevent

4.Insipid: adjective; lacking flavor; lacking vigor in interest

5.Nefarious: adjective; wicked or criminal

6. Physiognomy: noun; a person’s facial features or expression, especially when regarded as indicative of character or ethnic origin

7. Retinue: noun; group of advisers, assistants, or other accompanying an important person

8.Suppliant: noun; a person making a humble plea to someone in power or authority. OR adjective; making or expressing plea to someone in power or authority

9. Tedium: noun; the state of being tedious

10.Torrid: adjective; very hot and dry; full of difficulty or tribulation

We couldn’t bear the torrid heat anymore, for in the entire city there was not one place where shade could shield us, or any spot where a light breeze could blow the sultriness away. Crops died, people fainted, and lethargy pervaded throughout the kingdom. This situation went on for months and months, therefore a petition to the King was inexorable, because there’s a limit to everybody’s woes. My father was one of those who put the group together, a party of hard-working, respected men who approached the throne, suppliant for some kind of solution. The King’s physiognomy gave an impression of nefariousness, probably because he had small, black eyes, a pointy nose and a rigid mouth that never curved into a smile. My father gave an extensive explanation of the problem, with hard, cold facts to corroborate his claims, but the king just looked at him with a blank, insipid expression. My father was not quite sure if this was the King’s typical countenance, or if he simply did not care about his people’s sufferings. After all, he lived in a grand palace, akin to those of the great sultans in the Middle East, surrounded by marble walls, gold cutlery, lavish gardens and hundreds of servants. What went on outside the palace walls had no major effects on him. After the men’s presentation, the King met with his retinue to discuss what was to be done, but it was evident to all in the room that these officials couldn’t care less and considered the job a tedious chore. It came as no surprise when the King announced that there was nothing the government could do, for it could not control Mother Nature’s wishes. Disappointed, frustrated and hopeless, the men exited the palace into the scorching sun. 

1. Avocation: noun; a hobby or minor occupation

2. Callous: adjective; showing or having an insensitive and cruel disregard for others.

3. Capricious: adjective; given to sudden and unaccountable changes of mood or behavior

4. Disparity: noun; a great difference

5. Efficacy: noun; the ability to produce a desired or intended result

6. Epistle: noun; a letter

7. Hospice: noun; a home providing care of the sick, especially the terminally ill

8. Impetus: noun; the force or energy with which a body moves

9. Moribund: adjective; a person on the verge of death

10. Vacillate: verb; alternate or waver between different opinions or actions; indecisive

My aunt never gets tired of insisting on how she has the worst job in the world. Even though medicine has always been her passion, she finds hospices extremely depressing, so she regularly thinks of quitting. When she started working there, it was merely an avocation, but it eventually turned into a full-time job. She tells me that at first it felt rewarding to be able to make a difference in someone’s life, as short as that life might be. She tries to describe the warmth that used to spread through her chest when she realized that she helped someone depart this world in peace. However, because of the various deaths she constantly witnesses, she has become seriously depressed, and no longer feels that her efforts are efficacious. In the epistles she sends me every week, she says that because of the melancholic and grim atmosphere that pervades in the hospice, even she feels callous, for she no longer has any positive energy or impetus left in her.

Because I constantly speak to her, I can easily identify the disparity between how she used to behave and how she behaves now, and it worries me deeply. Since she never feels positive, she is very prone to capricious behavior, and drives my family insane with her constant mood swings. Because I really wish I could help her, I constantly vacillate with the idea of driving down to New Mexico to keep her company, but I never do it because I am afraid of interacting with her moribund patients. I guess that I simply do not feel comfortable with being exposed to that level of suffering just yet. 

1. Admonish- verb: to warn or reprimand someone firmly

2. Akimbo- adverb: with hands on the hips and elbows turned outward

3. Lassitude- noun: lack of energy; state of mental weariness

4. Licentious- adjective: promiscuous and unprincipled in sexual matters

5. Muse (noun and verb)- verb: be absorbed in thought; noun: an instance or period of reflection

6. Pecuniary- adjective: of, relating to, or consisting of money; monetary; financial

7. Plight- noun: a dangerous, difficult, or otherwise unfortunate situation. Verb: pledge or promise solemnly

8. Presumptuous- adjective: arrogant, overconfident, brazen

9. Subversive- adjective: disruptive, troublemaking, seditious. Noun: dissident, agitator, rebel

10. Vacuous- adjective: having or showing lack of thought or intelligence

Growing up with a sister five years older than me was not always easy. When I still liked playing with Barbie, I had to deal with constant clashes between my mother and my sister. Witnessing these outbursts was not pleasant, but it definitely influenced the perspective I have today on being a teenager. For instance, there is still one quarrel I remember vividly.  I had just gotten home from school, but I was so overcome by lassitude that I decided to rest my mind and take a short nap on the couch. Since I was lying down, the back of the couch hid me from sight. I lay on my back for a while just musing on my life, but I was soon interrupted. My sister stormed into the living room, and my mom, furious, followed soon after. My mom stood with her arms akimbo, so she looked quite intimidating. She started admonishing my sister, but I wasn’t quite sure why. At first I thought that it was probably due to Lucia’s recent licentious behavior, for lately she had been sneaking out of the house late at night. I then realized that the outburst was just the culmination of a long period of tension between the two of them. Their heated debates could include Lucia’s new gothic clothes and makeup, or even more pecuniary problems, such as her insistence on an allowance raise.    

In those days couldn’t understand why there was so much conflict and tension between my mother and my sister. It is until now, that I am a teenager myself, that I can finally see the mismatch that existed between Lucia’s wants and my mother’s opinions. As Lucia neared her adulthood she started behaving more subversively and acting more presumptuously, for she was thirsty for more independence and authority in the household. However, my mother knew that too much freedom could actually be harmful, for reckless behavior often brings plights. Five years ago, I thought Lucia’s conduct was simply vacuous, but now I realize I judged her too harshly. Today I understand that my sister’s obnoxious behavior was simply her way of transitioning from childhood to adulthood. Now that I am more mature I finally understand how hard it is to yearn for more independence but still be confined to strict limits someone else has laid out. I also understand my mom, who just wants to protect her daughters. As I experience the same situations my older sister once experienced, the only conclusion I can formulate is this: being a teenager is not easy.

List 1: Sentence Pattern: complex sentence

1. Brazen: adjective; bold; without shame

2. Compunction: noun; feeling of guilt after doing something bad; unease; regret

3. Din: noun; loud and annoying noise; racket OR verb; make a loud, unpleasant and prolonged noise

4. Edict: noun; an official order issued by a person in authority; decree

5. Indiscretion: noun; imprudence; recklessness; carelessness

6. Perquisites: noun; something regarded as a special privilege enjoyed as a result of one’s position

7. Sepulcher: noun; small room or monument, cut in rock or built of stone, in which a dead person is buried OR verb; lay or bury a person

8. Suppliant: noun; a person who makes a plea to someone with power or authority OR adjective; pleading; begging; imploring

9. Tumult: noun; loud and confused noise caused by a large group of people; confusion and disorder

10. Marauding: Adjective; predatory; thieving; plundering OR verb; to roam in search of things to steal or people to attack

Pennsylvania, 1791

When George Washington passed the edict that imposed a new tax on whisky, there was no way he could have foreseen the chaos that would ensue.  When the news reached western Pennsylvania, a region whose economy depended on whisky production, marauding mobs started to emerge. Without any hint of compunction, rebels boldly used force to coerce the government to repeal the tax. Officials were lynched, tarred and feathered. Businesses were plundered. After a few days, the insurgents were so wildly out of control that they even started trespassing on the graveyard and looting various sepulchers.

General John Neville was one of the tax inspectors posted in Pennsylvania. Regardless of the recent pandemonium, he was still responsible for carrying out his job. Even though he tried to do it with a brazen attitude, he shivered with fear every time he heard the din and tumult of the approaching throngs. Soon enough, because of the perquisites he enjoyed for being in a government position, resentment against him began to spread across the region. One morning, five hundred armed men attacked his home, finally forcing Washington in intervene.

 Because of the rebels’ indiscretion, the government knew it had to act boldly. If Washington didn’t show that the government had some muscle, the revolt would most likely happen again. Troops were sent to western Pennsylvania, where the leaders of the riot were arrested. Once these men were incarcerated, they were so suppliant for forgiveness that they were eventually pardoned. However, the government’s strong and assertive reaction left an impact—from then on, people respected the power of the federal government.