This section presents terms and phrases that are central to understanding the text and may present a challenge to the reader. Use this list to create a vocabulary quiz or worksheet, to prepare flashcards for a standardized test, or to inspire classroom word games and other group activities.

1. unruly (adjective): 

not submissive or conforming to rule; ungovernable; unrestrained

“Her dark curls aren’t on display anymore, / tumbling to her shoulders / in unruly waves that remind me of laughter.” (Poem 3, Page 8)

2. treasonous (adjective):

involving betrayal of one’s country; traitorous

“He calls them treasonous and / Issa says that it is our president / Bashar al-Assad / who is treasonous, / who is oppressing his own people.” (Poem 6, Page 16)

3. posh (adjective):

rich, fancy, upper-class

“I almost laughed but / then I realized she wasn’t being funny. / She was being posh / which is an English word she taught me.” (Poem 7, Page 18)

4. manipulate (verb):

to handle or influence skillfully, typically in an unfair manner

“Those men who spill blood and manipulate the Quran to say / things that the rest of us know it does not say.” (Poem 11, Page 32)

5. deference (noun):

respectful or submissive regard

“When you walk around town, / you had better show deference to our president— / to his large picture that is in almost every shop, / and the armed guards that are now on every corner.