ESSAY WRITING #5
WORD MEANING:
1. Brutal: (adj) savage, cruel, barbaric, barbarous
2. Barbaric: (adj) brutal
3. Pessimism: (n) negativity
4. Downhill: (adv/ adj/ n) toward the bottom of a slope
5. Converging: (v) tend to meet at a point, link up
6. Mendacity: (n) untruthfulness, dishonesty
7. Preach: (v) proclaim, teach, spread, explain
8. Aspire: (v) desire, hope for
9. Cling: (v) hold on tightly to, grasp
10. Slosh: (v) flow, overflow, spill
11. Spit out: (v) to separate out into parts, divide
12. Searing: (adj) burning, scorching
13. Scolding: (n) an angry rebuke or reprimand
14. Reprimand: (n) rebuke
15. Accumulating: (v) gather, collect, pile up
16. Devour: (v) eat up, consume, engulf
17. Reflexes: (n) an involuntary and nearly instantaneous movement in response to a stimulus. A
reflex is made possible by neural pathways called reflex arcs which can act on an impulse before
that impulse reaches the brain
18. Opt for: (v) make a choice from a range of possibilities
- choose, go for
19. Splash: (n) a sound made by something striking into liquid
20. Fragile: (adj) easily broken or damaged
21. Brace: (v) support, hold on, carry
22. Excruciating: (adj) acute, extreme, severe
23. Reciprocating: (adj) a mutual exchange, a return in kind
24. Tinkle: (v) make light, clear ringing sound
25. Cutlery: (n) knives, forks and spoons used for eating or serving food
26. Awkwardly: (adv) not smoothly or gracefully
27. Prolonged: (adj) continuing for a long time, lengthy
28. Culinary: (adj) for cooking
29. Affinity: (n) empathy, sympathy
30. Evade: (v) escape from
31. Vigilant: (adj) watchful, observant
32. Proximity: (n) closeness
33. Hitch: (v) pull, jerk, lift
34. Futile: (adj) vain, useless
35. Stave off: (v) to fend off
36. Tendrils: (n) a slender threadlike appendage of a climbing plant, often growing in a spiral form,
that stretches out and twines round any suitable support
37. Gouty: (adj) affected with gout – “a swollen, gouty finger”
38. Gouts: (n) it is a form of inflammatory arthritis that causes severe pain and swelling in one or
more of your joints. These attacks happen suddenly when there’s a buildup of uric acid, a
chemical found naturally in your body’s tissues
39. Pangs: (n) a sudden sharp pain or painful emotion
40. Nostalgia: (n) a sentimental longing or wistful affection for a period in the past – “I was
overcome with acute nostalgia for my days at university.”
41. Marvel: (n) be filled with wonder or astonishment
42. Transpired: (v) to take place, go on, occur
43. Commenced: (v) begin, start, start off, get down to business
44. Endowed: (v) provide with a quality, ability, or asset – “He was endowed with tremendous
physical strength.”
45. Delusion: (n) illusion, hallucination, mirage means something that is believed to be true or real
but that is actually false or unreal
- deception, misleading, deluding, fooling, tricking, trickery
46. Unraveled: (v) untwist, undo, untie, and unkink – “Detectives are still trying to unravel the
mystery surrounding the death of a wealthy farmer.”
47. Dementia: (n) dementia is the loss of cognitive functioning – thinking, remembering, and
reasoning – and behavioral abilities to such an extent that it interferes with a person’s daily life
and activities
48. Demise: (n) a person’s death – “Mr.Grisenthwaite’s tragic demise.”
49. Smithereens: (n) small pieces – “A grenade blew him to smithereens.”
The New Beginning
The world still remains how it has always been – cold, brutal and barbaric. That is how most would
choose to describe the world that we are living in. Pessimism is prevalent everywhere I look because
things have been going downhill for so long that hoping for a ray of sunshine to break through the heavy
clouds converging above is basically to stab yourself with false, fruitless hope. Pessimism and mendacity
are all we preach now-a-days. I, however, aspire to see some betterment because this faith is all I can
cling to – now that my world is in ruins. Otherwise I would have no reason to drag out this burden of a
life.
I bring my coffee mug up to my lips and till it ever so lightly towards my mouth, allowing some coffee to
slosh into my mouth.
My reflexes alert me to spit out the searing hot coffee. But I gulp it down after letting it slosh about for a
while. The burning, scolding sensation in the wake of my mistake splits my thoughts into two parts – one
where I reprimand myself for being so cruel to myself and one which reminds me that this agony is
nothing compared to that which has been slowly accumulating inside my heart, threatening to devour
me forever.
I opt for the former to go with shaking myself back to my senses, I push myself off the wooden chair I
was sitting on and get myself some water from the kitchen tap. Some I drink while most of the water
that the tap emits, I splash onto my face.
The customary creak as a door is in the initial stage of its separation from its doorframe enters. Some
small pitter-patter of old, fragile feet follows. Wiping my face with the towel beside the sink, I brace
myself for the same excruciating pain that has been haunting me for almost a year now.
“Good morning………….. Robbie? Or is it Robert? Pardon me for my forgetful tendencies,” the woman
standing in the doorway says with an apologetic smile.
“Robert it is. Second time is a lucky charm,” I reply, reciprocating the sweet warm smile that has always
worked its magic on me. I struggle to bury the pain in my mind. It comes quite easily, thanks to my
practice of a year. “Ah! Breakfast is all set! Thank you, Robert,” she says in the most grateful of tones.
I watch as she sits down at the table and eats the breakfast that I prepared for her. She eats in silence
before the tinkle of cutlery being set down breaks the awkwardly prolonged absence of sound. She lauds
my modest culinary skills altogether forgetting to criticize my affinity for salt – something that would
never evade her vigilant taste buds once upon a time.
We step out of the apartment to start for the park two blocks away from my apartment. I lock the door
to the apartment and dump the key ring into the depths of my pocket. One moment there’s a jingle and
the next it is muffled.
The proximity of winter is evident in the air. My breath steams in the cold. I attempt to hitch the collar
of my jacket up my neck, in a futile try to stave off the frosty tendrils of winter air. “Robert, my legs do
not work like they used to before. Please turn down your walking speed so I might keep up with you,”
she pleads.
I turn my head around to find Rose huffing and puffing. Her face has turned a shade matching that of the
flower she was named after, owing to the strain of walking on those gouty legs she is barely supported
by. “My little brother, you need to teach me sometime how to walk as fast as you do,” she flashes her
trademark grin.
I feel a pang of nostalgia, mixed with pain. I recall how she used to run after me in my particularly
energetic babyhood and marvel at my pace as I outran her every time. This memory bears a striking
resemblance to the event that has transpired – if I do not take into account the fact that my identity
here had been confused with someone else’s. By someone else, I mean my long dead uncle Robert.
