100 Words Every High School Graduate Should Know

Rating:
Summary: Evanescent isn't just musical and more fun word facts here.
Review: I was strolling through my local bookstore and spotted this title in the reference section, begging to be picked up and thumbed through. I really wanted to check my vocabulary with that of a respectable high school senior.

It was eye-opening to say the least. The last time I was in a conventional classroom was upon receiving my bachelor's degree twenty years ago..... and I wondered if I had been adequately introduced to these words then... or not?

(It reminds me of the line Tom Hanks speaks in "Sleepless in Seattle" - "I don't even want to think about what they are not teaching you in school.")

I knew some words well - like oligarchy and usurp and feckless. I patted myself on the back in that moment.

I had been able to sort of "get" inculcate (to impress upon the mind of another by frequent instruction) but on the other hand, I had no idea what nanotechnology meant nor did I know much about the word "evanescent" except for some songs made popular by a band called "Evanescence" which I now can tell you means "vanishing like vapors."

The book includes an occasional quote from thinkers and writers which incorporates the word being stressed. My favorites included Willa Cather and Thomas Hobbes.

I noticed from visiting here at Amazon there is also a version of this book for college freshmen. I think my seventh grade daughter and I will start with that volume (a word a day) and work up to this one.

Not only was it educational, it was enjoyable - a significant combination.