ENRICH YOUR VOCABULARY. And. SOME WORDS FROM THE AUTHOR.
PWA GREAT POLISH BOOKS ROUNDTABLE PROGRAM. “THE ZOOKEEPER'S
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INTRODUCING ENRICH YOUR VOCABULARY And SOME WORDS FROM THE AUTHOR PWA GREAT POLISH BOOKS ROUNDTABLE PROGRAM “THE ZOOKEEPER’S WIFE” BY DIANE ACKERMAN 1. vociferous adj. Making, given to, or marked by noisy and vehement outcry …vociferously chant a Hebrew prayer 2. alchemical n. 1. A medieval chemical philosophy having as its asserted aims the transmutation of base metals into gold, the discovery of the panacea, and the preparation of the elixir of longevity. 2. A seemingly magical power or process of transmuting. There was something alchemical about living with the likes of lion kitten, wolf cub… meaning #2 3. shaman n. A member of certain tribal societies who acts as a medium between the visible world and an invisible spirir world and who practices magic or sorcery for purposes of healing, divination, and control over natural events. …with the “metaphysical waves” of nearly shamanistic empathy 4. non serviam v. servire “I shall not serve” it was as if her brain…has issued a non serviam and refused to absorb anymore. 5. matryoshka a Russian nesting doll, a matron She was the top matryoshka. 6. reliquary n. a recepticle, such as a coffer or shrine, for keeping or displaying sacred items. It’s (referring to his diary) the reliquary of an impossible predicament, revealing “how a spiritual and moral man struggled to shield innocent children from the atrocities of the adult world during one of history’s darkest times.
7. jinni or jinnee also djinni or djinny n. In Moslem legend, a spirit capable of assuming human or animal form and exercising supernatural influence over people. the swirling cold that appeared as snow-djinns under the streetlamps. 8. pastiche n. 1. A dramatic, literary, or musical piece openly imitating the previous works of other artists, often with satirical intent. 2. A pasticcio of incongruous parts; a hodgepodge.
A thick pastiche of damp papers and book pages littered the floor. 9. feral adj. 1.a. Existing in a wild or untamed state. B. Having returned to an untamed state from domestication. 2. Of or suggestive of a wild animal; savage. a feral type of cattle. (referring to aurochsen) 10. aurochs Extinct wild ox (Bos primigenius) of Europe, the species from which cattle are probably descended. The aurochs survived in central Poland until 1627. It was black, stood 6ft (1.8 m) high at the shoulder, And had spreading, forward-curving horns. Some German breeders claim to have re-created this race since 1945, but their animals are smaller and probably lack the auroch’s genetic constitution. The name has sometimes been wrongly applied to the European bison. 11. European Bison The European bison (Bison bonasus), also called the wisent, and zubr (zshoobr) in Poland, once roamed the great temperate, deciduous forest biome that stretched from the British Isles, through most of Europe and into Siberia(PHVA, 1999). Today there are two subspecies-the lowland bison Bison bonasus bonasus) and the highland or Caucasus bison (Bison bonasus Caucasus), yet there are no remaining pure Caucasus stock---they were intermixed with the lowland bison and, in some cases, the American bison (Bison bison) before they went extinct in the wild. Today the herds are managed as two separate lineage and kept isolated to prevent interbreeding. There are approximately 1000 lowland bison today with 69% free ranging in Poland. 12. Tarpan is a prehistoric wild horse type that died out in the late 1800’s. The Polish government created a preserve for animals Descended from the wild Tarpan at a forest in Bialowieza. Today this breed is sometimes referred to as the Polish Primitive Horse. 13. Esperanto is by far the most widely spoken constructed international Auxiliary language in the world. Its name derives from Doktoro Esperanto, the pseudonym under which L. L. Zamenhop published the first book detailing Esperanto, the Unua Libro, in 1887. The word Esperanto means ‘one who hopes’ in the language itself. Zamenhof’s goal was to create an easy and flexible language that would serve as a universal second language to foster peach and international understanding.
PWA would like to credit the following sources for the above: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esperanto http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/horses/tarpan http://www.sfsuedu/~geog/bholzman/courses/316projects/bison.html http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1B1-356149.html
American Heritage Dictionary Group Questions asked of Diane Ackerman 1. What prompted Jan to go to Isreal? 2. Did Antonina ever go to Isreal with Jan at anytime? 3. When did you get interested in the Zabinski family? 4. How did you first get hold of the diary? Jan went to Israel to visit some of the Jews he sheltered during the war. He was ill by that time, and may have died in Israel-- I'm not sure. Antonina died in 1971, Jan in 1974. I first became interested in the story through the wild horses many years ago, and only discovered the Zabinskis a few years ago. As it happens, a Polish neighbor of mine has an uncle (still in Warsaw) who was a vet at their zoo during the war, and he told us about her long-out-of-print memoir, which I obtained through him and had translated. Research also turned up various interviews in Polish, Hebrew and Yiddish, and children's books by Antonina, which I had translated. KOMITET OSWIATY: SHARON ZAGO, VICE PRESIDENT AND CHAIRMAN COMMITTEE MEMBERS: ANTOINETTE TRELA-VANDER NOOT, SECRETARY-TREASURER DIRECTORS: DAWN MUSZYNSKI NELSON, HELEN SIMMONS, MARCIA MACKIEWICZ DUFFY, FELICIA PERLICK EX-OFFICIO VIRGINIA SIKORA, PRESIDENT
