Farewell to Manzanar Paper

1. Abate pg. 22
“It was a bitter cold when we arrived, and the wind did not abate.”
Definition: to reduce in amount, degree, intensity, etc.
The word abate used in this sentence meant that the wind did not calm or die down.

2. Alleviate pg. 22
“But when the call came through camp for workers to alleviate the wartime labor shortage, it sounded better than life at manzanar.
Definition: to make easier to endure; lessen; mitigate
What the author wrote by alleviate in the sentence was that it shortened the labor hours making it easier for the workers.

3. Knotholes pg.23
“We woke early, shivering and coated with dust that had blown up through the knotholes and in through the slits around the doorway.”
Definition: a hole in a board or blank formed by the falling out of a knot or a portion of a knot.
Obviously dirt was coming inside through the doorway where there were little holes for it to seep through.
4. Whimsical pg. 24
“Offstage it was whimsical, as if some joke were bursting to be told.”
Definition: quaint, unusual, of fantastic
Whimsical meaning some odd or remarkable thing was bound to happen in that moment as the author describes woody’s smile is.
5. Barracks pg. 26
“Outside the sky was clear, but icy gusts of wind were buffeting our barracks every few minutes, sending fresh dust puffs up through the floorboards.”
Definition: a building or group of buildings for lodging soldiers, especially in garrison
It is like a small shelter or space.
6. Cubicles pg. 26
“We would hear voices in other cubicles now.”
Definition: a small space or compartment partitioned off.
It means like a small room or area.
7. Sagebrush pg. 29
“Some old men left Los Angeles wearing Hawaiian shirts and Panama hats and stepped off the bus at an altitude of 4,000 feet, with nothing available but sagebrush and tarpaper to stop the April winds pouring down off the backside of the Sierras.”
Definition: any of several sagelike, bushy composite plants of the genus Artemisia
It’s a type of plant.
8. Seldom pg.167
“Papa seldom spoke to Caucasians since leaving camp.”
Definition: on only a few occasions; rarely; infrequently; not often
Papa only talked to Caucasians in a small amount every so often.
9. Sarong pg. 173
“I decided to go exotic, with a flower-print sarong, black hair loose and a hibiscus flower behind my ear.”
Definition: a loose-fitting skirt like garment formed by wrapping a strip of cloth around the lower body part of the body, worn by both men and women in the Malay Archipelago and certain islands of the Pacific Ocean.
It is a type of garment that can be worn like a skirt.
10. Internment pg.195
“That hollow ache I carried during the early months of internment had shrunk, over the years, to a tiny silver of suspicion about the very person I was.
Definition: an act or instance of interning; confinement
What the author meant by internment was how the character felt confined and imprisoned inside the camp.