by Mitch Albom
For this month's book, we have chosen The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom. It is a very touching story of a man named Eddie who died, and like the others, met five people in heaven who eventually changes the way he looks at his life.
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Discussion Director (Jermaine Dela
Cruz)
1. Do you think Eddie
should be blamed for the death of the Blue Man?
All our lives are
connected with one another, but it doesn't mean one should be blamed for the
death of another one if that person isn't even aware of what he has done. The
issue here is whether he should be blamed or not. Our stand for that matter is
NO. He shouldn't be blamed because what happened was an accident. Eddie was
very young then that he wasn't even aware that Blue Man was passing along that
road that day. It was, unfortunately, the fate of the Blue Man to die that day.
2. If Eddie had known
earlier why Captain shot his leg, would his life be the same as the life he had
when he was alive?
Of course NO. But let's
just say that he was never shot by Captain. Do you think he would still be
working in Ruby Pier? He would have worked another job. In that way, he
wouldn't be able to secure the lives of the people, especially children
patronizing the rides of the carnival. We believe it was better that Captain
shot his leg. You know things happen for a reason.
3. If you could change
one person in the 5 people Eddie met in heaven, who would it be, who would you
replace and why?
The beauty of the
5-people framework is that not all of them know Eddie intimately, but have
certain connection with him. A special connection which shaped the entirety of
the novel. Each person, brought important lesson on Eddie's life-- The Blue Man
teaches Eddie his first lesson, which is that there are no random acts in life,
and that all incidents are intertwined in some way. Captain teaches Eddie that
when one loses something, they often gain something else. Ruby teaches Eddie to
let go of his anger and to forgive his father for the damage he caused in his
life. Marguerite teaches him the lesson that love is not lost with death. Tala
teaches Eddie that his life did have a purpose which was to keep children safe
at the pier.
4. Why do you think
Eddie has to meet 5 people in heaven before he could finally see his heaven?
Ideally, the novel tells
us that each person in the world has to meet 5 people in heaven before they
could proceed to their own heaven to become one of another person's 5 people.
The main reason is to teach them important lessons in life so that they would
realize their existence in the world when they are still alive.
5. What do you think
would happen to Ruby Pier after Eddie's death?
Eddie was regarded as an
important character in Ruby Pier. Children love him and his co-workers look up
to him. Perhaps, upon his death, Ruby Pier would still be operating but with
extreme care because his death brought lesson with regards to proper monitoring
of rides. Eddie has left a legacy at Ruby Pier and with respect to that, Willie
and other workers would take care of that legacy by working hard and know the
importance of their job as Maintenance of the carnival.
Passage Picker (Arjun Dango)
“That
there are no random acts.
That
we are all connected.
That
you cannot separate one life from another than you can separate a breeze from
the wind.”
-The
Blue Man
As
the passage picker, I picked this line from Mitch Albom’s The Five People You
Meet in Heaven stated by Joseph Corvelzchik or commonly known as The Blue Man.
In
life, sometimes, we don’t notice some acts that may affect other people;
decisions that can lead to chains of effect to the people that surrounds us.
There are many circumstances that show the chains and effects in our lives,
such as the issues of our government these days. Some governors take advantage
of their positions to filch the money of the people; in the long run, they get
richer every month, and the poor people gets poorer day by day. In the story of
the book, the blue man died because of Eddie because of the car accident that
Eddie doesn’t even notice. The example that I have given is far from the story,
but as you analyzes it well, the governors can be Eddie, they did things that
they don’t notice but they’re acquainted with, and the poor people can be the
blue man who will be affected.
Thus, we should think before we act, not by the usual things that we do,
but by the things can make us regret.
Comment:
The Blue Man was indeed very unfortunate. His
death proved that all our lives are connected from one another. I think the
passage picker did his task well. I'm only concerned about his explanation. I'm
wondering why he only mentioned the governors. Maybe he had a bad experience
with governors before. I don't know, but the entire message is clear which can
be contained in this two lines: "No man is an island" and "Each
one of us is like unlimited Wifi-- always connected". So no matter what we
do, even what we do unto ourelves, will always affect another person, at least
one, one way or another.
Character Captain (Ryan Mark L. Catanio)
Eddie
“The Maintenance”
- The protagonist and the main character that
the novel centers. Eddie is 83 years old amusement park maintenance and a war
veteran. The novel introduced him first in his death, but it was also said that
his death is only the beginning. “All endings are also beginnings. We just
don't know it at the time.” (1). Eddie is children lover, a loyal husband
and a good brother. But he was changed because of war; he lost his leg and
became oblivious. Eddie is also a good man, sacrificing his life to save a
little girl named Amy. As the story
progresses, he will meet the five people in heaven that has a significance in
his life. Eddie will learn from this five people about fairness,
sacrifice, realization, forgiveness,loyalty, love, peace. This five
people will also change him from being oblivious to someone who can appreciate
life as it should be.
Ø Eddie is a “man twisted by war”.
He was an ambitious man, a man full of dreams before, the war changed him. “Eddie,
before enlisting, had been working to save money to study engineering. That was
his goal—he wanted to build things, even if his brother, Joe, kept saying,
‘C'mon, Eddie, you aren't smart enough for that.’ ” (68). Because of war,
Eddie lost his leg, and by that Eddie lost hope in his life. His fiery
passionate dreams died, as the beautiful flower burned by fire.
Ø Eddie becomes an oblivious man.
He is an oblivious man, because he keeps himself from drowning deeper into his
own oblivion of regression. He did not do anything to raise himself up from the
war that has changed his life. Instead, he blamed himself, his father and all
the things that surround him that caused his the miserable life.
Ø Eddie is also a good man. Eddie
sacrificed and died in order to save Amy’s life, a girl who is standing on the
"ride's metal base" that one of Freddy's Free Fall's carts comes
crashing down on.Eddie doesn't know whether or not he saved her until the end
of the book.
Joseph Corvelzshick “The Blue Man” – Fairness
“…there are no random acts… we are all connected…
you can no more separate one life from another than you can separate a breeze
from the wind.”(50)The First
Lesson
- Joseph Corvelzshick, the first man in
Eddie’s journey to his heaven. Joseph Corvelzshick a middle-aged man who became
blue, due to the side effect of repeated ingestion of silver nitrate. He was
called the Blue Man, because he worked at the freak show and people like
calling him that.
- The Blue Man is the first to introduce and
to inform Eddie on the journey that he is facing. The Blue Man also explained
the true meaning of heaven and that everyone has its own heaven and everyone
has its own five people to meet.
- “‘There are five people you meet in
heaven,’ the Blue Man suddenly said. ‘Each of us was in your life for a reason.
You may not have known the reason at the time, and that is what heaven is for.
For understanding your life on earth.’ ‘People think of heaven as a paradise
garden, a place where they can float on clouds and laze in rivers and
mountains. But scenery without solace is meaningless.’‘This is the greatest
gift God can give you: to understand what happened in your life. To have it
explained. It is the peace you have been searching for.’ ” (42).
- The Blue Man died on an accident that Eddie
had cause. But the Blue Man forgave Eddie and teaches him about “fairness”
of life.
- “ ‘Fairness,’ he said, ‘does not govern
life and death. If it did, no good person would ever die young.’ ” (54).
The Blue Man died has died but Eddie has live to continue his life on earth. A
good man died, another good man live. Fairness.
"Strangers,"
the Blue Man said, "are just family you have yet to come to know."
-The Blue Man, The Five People You Meet in
Heaven-
The Captain–Sacrifice
“Sometimes when you sacrifice something precious,
you’re not really losing it. You’re just passing it on to someone else.”(98) The
Second Lesson
- Eddie's commanding officer at war and the
second person on his journey towards his heaven. The Captain is a man of his
30’s with a full head of dark hair. He was raised to be a soldier for his
father and ancestor was also a soldier.“‘Did you know,’ the Captain said,
‘that I come from three generations of military?’ Eddie shrugged. ‘Yep. I knew
how to fire a pistol when I was six. In the mornings, my father would inspect
my bed, actually bounce a quarter on the sheets. At the dinner table it was
always, 'Yes, sir,' and, 'No, sir.'”(100).
- The Captain isthe one who shoot Eddie’s leg
to save Eddie’s life. Eddie did not know about it, till the captain told him
so. “‘Because I was the one,’ he said, ‘who shot you.’” (100). The
Captain did so, because the Captain always promised he would "leave no one
behind," nomatter what happened, even though it means to sacrifice
its own life.
- “ ‘Sacrifice,’ THE CAPTAIN said. ‘You
made one. I made one. We all make them. But you were angry over yours. You kept
thinking about what you lost. ‘You didn't get it. Sacrifice is a part of life.
It's supposed to be. It's not something to regret. It's something to aspire to.
Little sacrifices. Big sacrifices. A mother works so her son can go to school.
A daughter moves home to take care of her sick father. ‘A man goes to war. . .
.’ ” (108).
- Sacrifice is what Eddie
learned from the Captain. The Captain sacrificed his life to save Eddie, and
Eddie sacrificed his life to saved Amy.
Sacrifice“It's not something to regret. It's something to
aspire to.”
-The Captain, The Five People You Meet in Heaven-
Ruby–Realization,
Forgivenessand Loyalty
“Which was worse when left unexplained: a life,
or a death?”(148)The Third
Lesson
- Eddie’s third person to meet in heaven.
Eddie meets Ruby at a diner. She is described as woman with a gaunt face, with
sagging cheeks, rose-colored lipstick, and tightly pulled-back white hair. Ruby
was a poor working girl until she met Emile, a sophisticated, self-earned, rich
man. Emile builds Ruby a beautiful, red and crème amusement park and names it
Ruby Pier, after Ruby. The amusement park later sets on fire and kills Emile,
who tries to save it. He is hospitalized in the same room as Eddie’s father.
Ruby always taught that it was all of her fault: her husband’s death, Eddie’s
father’s death and pier worker’s miserable life. She wished that the pier
should have never been built. It was her past, Ruby learned to forgive herself
in heaven. And so, Ruby past it on to Eddie.
- Ruby helps Eddie to “realize”
and to explain his life and most importantly his father’s mistake.
- “All parents damage their children. It
cannot be helped. Youth, like pristine glass, absorbs the prints of its
handlers. Some parents smudge, others crack, a few shatter childhoods
completely into jagged little pieces, beyond repair.”(110).
- “Parents rarely let go of their
children, so children let go of them. They move on. They move
away. The moments that used to define them – a mother’s approval, a
father’s nod –are covered by moments of their own accomplishments. It is
not until much later, as the skin sags and the heart weakens, that children
understand; their stories, and all their accomplishments, sit atop the stories
of their mothers and fathers, stones upon stones, beneath the waters of their
lives.”(133).
- “Holding anger is a poison. It eats you
from inside. We think that hating is a weapon that attacks the person who
harmed us. But hatred is a curved blade. And the harm we do, we do to
ourselves.” (141).
- And with his realization, Eddie forgave
himself and his father.
- Ruby did not only teach Eddie about the
realization and forgiveness, but also about loyalty.
- “ ‘Fifty-six,’ the old woman repeated.
‘His body had weakened, the ocean had left him vulnerable, pneumonia took hold
of him, and in time, he died.’ ‘Because of Mickey?’ Eddie said. ‘Because of
loyalty,’ she said. ‘People don’t die because of loyalty.’ ‘They don’t?’ She
smiled. ‘Religion?Government? Are we not loyal to such things, sometimes to the
death?’ Eddie shrugged. ‘Better,’ she said, ‘to be loyal to one another.’ ”(138).
- Ruby turned Eddie into a something new: a
person who’s past is at deepest oblivion is now at end and at peace. As
beautiful flower burned by fire, yet revived to become more glowing and more
beautiful.
“You have peace when you make it with yourself.”
-Ruby, TheFive People You Meet in Heaven-
Marguerite “Eddie’s Wife”–Love
“Love like rain, can nourish from above,
drenching couples with a soaking joy. But sometimes, under the angry heat of
life, love dries on the surface and must nourish from below, tending to its
roots, keeping itself alive.”(164)
The Forth Lesson
- Eddie’s forth person to meet in heaven.
Eddie’s wife, Marguerite, is introduced in the very beginning as a “wound
beneath an old bandage… a bandage he had become accustomed to.”(11).
- She is the love of Eddie’s life, but dies
at the young age of 47. Although both Eddie and Marguerite love children,
Marguerite is not able to conceive and they try to adopt. Marguerite, after a
car accident is hospitalized and due to the months spent in recovery they are
never able to adopt a child. Although this tests their marriage, they overcome
even this and slowly start to be happier. That is until Marguerite is suddenly
diagnosed with a brain tumor and leaves Eddie. Eddie meets Marguerite in heaven
and learns that she did not just leave Eddie and that Eddie’s love for her was
never weakened due to her death.
“I never wanted anyone else,” he said quietly.
“I know,” she said.
“I was still in love with you.”
“I know.” She nodded. “I felt it.”
“Here in heaven?” he asked.
“Even here,” she said, smiling. “That’s how
strong lost love can be.”
“Lost love is still
love. It takes a different form, that’s all. You can’t see their
smile or bring them food or tousle their hair or move them around a dance
floor. But when those senses weaken, another heightens.
Memory. Memory becomes your partner. You nurture it. You hold
it. You dance with it.
Life has to
end. Love doesn’t.”
-Marguerite, The Five People You Meet in Heaven-
Tala–Peace
"Not her hands," she said. "My
hands. I bring you to heaven. Keep you safe."(213)
The Fifth Lesson
- Eddie’s last of five, Tala. Tala is a
young 6 years old Filipina girl, who Eddie accidentally burned inside the nipahut
in the Philippines.
- “With a beautiful cinnamon complexion, hair
the color of a dark plum, a small flat nose, full lips that spread joyfully
over her gapped teeth, and the most arresting eyes, as black as a seal's hide,
with a pinhead of white serving as a pupil.”(214)
- Tala is an innocent girl who did not
deserve to die at a young age. Tala forgave Eddie for murdering her.
- Tala’s purpose is to tell Eddie that her
death is only an accident and only intentional. And that Eddie should not blame
himself and have peaceinside of him.
- Tala is also the one who told Eddie that he
saved Amy.
"Children,"
she said. "You keep them safe. You make good for me."
-Tala, The Five People
You Meet in Heaven-
Comment:
This has been a very comprehensive
characterization. Two thumbs up for the Character Captain.
Summarizer (Elaiza Tero)
The
story begins with Eddie's death at eighty-three years of age and then through
flashbacks reveals his entire life. He wears a badge that reads "Eddie
Maintenance." The children call him that, as if Maintenance were his last
name. He is in charge of the rides at Ruby Pier along with his assistant,
Dominguez. Eddie takes pride in the accident-free safety record at the Pier. In
the first chapter, readers learn that a young man has lost his car keys, and
eventually the keys cause the most popular ride, Freddy's Free Fall, to
malfunction. Eddie directs the rescue of riders whose cart has tilted. The ride
starts again. Eddie sees that the cable has been shredded, but he is unable to
make himself heard in time to prevent one of the carts from falling towards a little
girl. He leaps to save her, and that is the last thing he remembers on earth.
The
remainder of the novel is told in alternating present-tense encounters in
Heaven and flashbacks that are organized around Eddie's birthdays. He is told
that he will meet five people in Heaven, and the purpose of those meetings is
to help him understand his life on earth. The first person he meets is the Blue
Man from the freak show on the Pier, who died when Eddie was eight years old.
The Blue Man reveals that eight-year-old Eddie was responsible for the Blue
Man's death when he ran in front of the car the Blue Man was driving. In
Heaven, the man tells Eddie his life story, and the lesson Eddie is to learn
from this first person is that there are no random acts. All lives are
interconnected, and fairness does not govern life or death.
The
second person Eddie meets is his captain from the war. Four of his men,
including Eddie, were captured with him in the Philippines. The captain was
killed by a landmine as they were escaping after several months as captives of
brutal enemy soldiers. Eddie was sure that there was a child in a tent he had
torched, and he was going into the fire to rescue it. As he headed into the
fire, Eddie's leg was shot, leaving him a resentful cripple for the rest of his
life. His chief resentment is an unproductive life spent maintaining rides in
an amusement park as the result of the war and the injury. He discovers in this
second encounter in Heaven that his captain shot him in order to save him from
being burned in the tent. He comes to accept the act of the captain, who was
determined to leave no one behind. The lesson he learns is that no one dies for
nothing and that when you sacrifice something precious, such as a leg, you
always gain something. Eddie just doesn't know yet what he has gained.
The
third person Eddie meets is a woman named Ruby, for whom Ruby Pier was named
long before Eddie's time. He meets her near a diner, where Eddie is shocked to
find his father. She takes him to a scene in his family's kitchen where an old
friend of his father's, Mickey Shea, attempts to assault his mother. His father
comes home and chases Mickey with a hammer but ends up rescuing him from an
attempted suicide-by-drowning off the pier. Ruby tells Eddie that his father is
angry but that he can't let an old friend die without trying to save him.
Mickey befriended Eddie's father in times of need. Besides, Mickey has just
lost his job because of his drinking and is drunk at the time. His father gets
them both out of the water, but he is unable to get himself up from the beach
for several hours. He dies of pneumonia a few weeks later, and Eddie ends up
working on the Pier to save his father's job. Once his father dies, he stays on
the job, and he and Marguerite move into the same apartment house where he had
grown up. The lesson he learns from this encounter is taught by Ruby. She tells
him that anger is self-destructive and that he must forgive. Eddie goes back to
the diner and kneels beside his father, who is not able to hear him or speak to
him because he has already moved on in Heaven. Eddie tells him that he has
forgiven him and is letting his resentment go.
The
fourth person Eddie meets is his wife, Marguerite. Their relationship was a
rewarding and fulfilling one although it went through a bad period when Eddie
lost money at a racetrack. The money would have paid for the adoption of a
child that Marguerite wanted very much, since she was unable to bear children.
He called her from the racetrack to tell her that he was winning, and she was
angry and begged him to come home. In retaliation for her anger, he foolishly
gambled away all he had won. She was remorseful that she was angry when he
called and drove to the racetrack to tell him so. On the way, she had an accident
and was seriously injured. Eventually, they got past the damage that had been
done, and for the last three years before she died of a brain tumor, they were
once again close and supportive. Now they have a happy reunion in Heaven,
organized against the backdrop of several weddings from different countries.
The lesson that he learns from this fourth encounter is that lost love is still
love. It just takes a different form. Although life has to end, love doesn't.
The
fifth person Eddie meets is a little girl, named Tala, whom he tried to rescue
in the burning tent in the Philippines in the war. She asks him to take a stone
and wash her as her mother had done. When he does, all the damage done by the
fire is washed away. She asks him why he was so unhappy on earth, and he tells
her it was because he never accomplished anything. She tells him that he was
where he was supposed to be, keeping children safe on the rides for her sake.
She also tells him that he did, in fact, save the little girl from the falling
cart and that as he died, the hands he felt in his were her own, Tala's. She
was bringing him to Heaven to keep him safe, she tells him. At last, Eddie
feels peace. Eddie isthen transported back to Marguerite to spend eternity with
her at home in Heaven.
Comment:
The Summarizer did well on summarizing the novel.
It is very concise, without any "side-dishes" which could remove the
essence of it becoming a summary. I think it's a simple, but wisely-made
summary.
Artistic Director (Hara Vessa
Escabarte)
Comment:
This photo
was originally taken at Tamban, Davao Oriental several months ago, during our
fieldwork in Folklore. It was a perfect photo and the Artistic Director did
well in making use of this photo for the novel. Even the quote from the novel
written above, it is perfect. Two thumbs up for the Artistic Director.
Connector
(John Salvador Demdam)
As the
connector, I will connect the novel The Five People You Meet in Heaven to the
song 100 Years.
100 Years
by: Five for Fighting
I'm fifteen
for a moment
Caught in
between ten and twenty
And I'm just
dreaming
Counting the
ways to where you are
I'm twenty
two for a moment
She feels
better than ever
And we're on
fire
Making our
way back from Mars
Fifteen
there's still time for you
Time to buy
and time to lose
Fifteen,
there's never a wish better than this
When you
only got hundred years to live
I'm thirty
three for a moment
Still the
man, but you see I'm of age
A kid on the
way
A family on
my mind
I'm forty
five for a moment
The sea is
high
And I'm
heading into a crisis
Chasing the
years of my life
Fifteen
there's still time for you
Time to buy,
time to lose yourself
Within a
morning star
Fifteen I'm
all right with you
Fifteen,
there's never a wish better than this
When you
only got hundred years to live
Half time
goes by
Suddenly
you're wise
Another
blink of an eye
Sixty seven
is gone
The sun is
getting high
We're moving
on I'm ninety nine for a moment
Dying for
just another moment
And I'm just
dreaming
Counting the
ways to where you are
Fifteen
there's still time for you
Twenty two I
feel her too
Thirty three
you're on your way
Every day's
a new day
Fifteen
there's still time for you
Time to buy
and time to choose
Hey fifteen,
there's never a wish better than this
When you
only got hundred years to live.
The song
just simply tells us that we should live our life according to what we want and
loved to. If we have just that 100 years assurance to live, that we can do all
of the things we want. But then, life is sudden, that we cannot assure on what
year in our life all of these things will end. As soon as we have already the
maturity in us, that we may weigh things, we may think a hundred times in
decision making and even show or express what we feel. By this, some points in
our life will just come along without any regret and frustrations for there
were no expectations.
Let's have
some lines from the song. "Fifteen there's still time for you, Time to buy
and time to lose, Fifteen, there's never a wish better than this When you only
got hundred years to live". We may have all what we want and do what we
want to do at this point of time, at this point of being in early age. But of
course losing everything we have is present as well.
So as long
as we are living, we should make use of our time wisely. As long as we have the
strength to excert all of our extra effort just to show to all VIP's in our
life, let's do it accordingly to what we want. Let us not wait for the next
time. Let us do it this time.
Comment:
I heard this
song on the trailer of this novel's movie version. I find it perfect too
because the lines are very simple, yet very meaningful. Even the melody of this
song is very beautiful, so beautiful that it has become one of my favorites.
I do agree
with the Connector that life on earth is too short, so short that we must spend
it wisely. We should not waste our time hating other people, and living with
regret for these things will imprison us and make us suffer. So we should live
our life to the fullest by spending it wisely.
Vocabulary Enricher (Ronald II
Surilla)
Protude (pg.2)
(V) extend beyond or above a surface.
Squint (pg.112)
(V) look at someone or something with one or both eyes partly closed in an attempt. to see more clearly or as a reaction to strong light.
Feign (pg.176)
(V) pretend to be affected by (a feeling, state, or injury).
Embankment (pg.181)
(N) a raised bank or wall that is built to carry a roadway or hold back water.
Shudder (pg.180)
(V) (of a person) tremble convulsively, typically as a result of fear or revulsion.
Succulent (pg.100)
(Adj.) of plants : having thick, heavy leaves or stems that store water.
Retaliate (pg.60)
(V) make an attack or assault in return for a similar attack.
Scabies (pg.63)
(N) a contagious skin disease marked by itching and small raised red spots, caused by the itch mite.
Carbine (pg.62)
(N) a light automatic rifle.
Bandolier (pg.62)
(N) a shoulder-belt with loops or pockets for cartridges.
Phantom (pg.52)
(N) a figment of the imagination.
Faltered (pg.157)
(V) start to lose strength or momentum.
Squawk (pg.13)
(V) (of a bird) make a loud, harsh noise.
Smolder (pg.95)
(V) burn slowly with smoke but no flame.
Shortcoming (pg.95)
(N) a fault or failure to meet a certain standard, typically in a person's character, a plan, or a system.
Vouched (pg.137)
(V) assert or confirm as a result of one's own experience that something is true or accurately so described.
Flail (pg.136)
(V) wave or swing or cause to wave or swing wildly.
Pelt (pg.136)
(V) attack (someone) by repeatedly hurling things at them.
Protude (pg.2)
(V) extend beyond or above a surface.
Squint (pg.112)
(V) look at someone or something with one or both eyes partly closed in an attempt. to see more clearly or as a reaction to strong light.
Feign (pg.176)
(V) pretend to be affected by (a feeling, state, or injury).
Embankment (pg.181)
(N) a raised bank or wall that is built to carry a roadway or hold back water.
Shudder (pg.180)
(V) (of a person) tremble convulsively, typically as a result of fear or revulsion.
Succulent (pg.100)
(Adj.) of plants : having thick, heavy leaves or stems that store water.
Retaliate (pg.60)
(V) make an attack or assault in return for a similar attack.
Scabies (pg.63)
(N) a contagious skin disease marked by itching and small raised red spots, caused by the itch mite.
Carbine (pg.62)
(N) a light automatic rifle.
Bandolier (pg.62)
(N) a shoulder-belt with loops or pockets for cartridges.
Phantom (pg.52)
(N) a figment of the imagination.
Faltered (pg.157)
(V) start to lose strength or momentum.
Squawk (pg.13)
(V) (of a bird) make a loud, harsh noise.
Smolder (pg.95)
(V) burn slowly with smoke but no flame.
Shortcoming (pg.95)
(N) a fault or failure to meet a certain standard, typically in a person's character, a plan, or a system.
Vouched (pg.137)
(V) assert or confirm as a result of one's own experience that something is true or accurately so described.
Flail (pg.136)
(V) wave or swing or cause to wave or swing wildly.
Pelt (pg.136)
(V) attack (someone) by repeatedly hurling things at them.
Comment:
This has
been very helpful because new words are added into my vocabulary. This has also
improved my reading comprehension. The Vocabulary Enricher did his job well.
