Chapter 10: The Enchanted April by Elizabeth Von Arnim

Today's note is actually a thank you. Thank you to all my high school English teachers and the work you put into us, and really, for making us do vocabulary lessons. I even had a teacher that had us do an additional, college-level book of vocabulary so that as we moved through the world, we would have a better understanding of the words we encountered - and hopefully be able to pronounce them correctly too. Looking back, there was always a struggle to learn each week's new words and the attitude that vocab was just busy work. Now, however, I see how those lessons still help me today to read through and understand the pictures drawn for me by the words in every book. 

 

I have experienced this pressing appreciation for words lately. Because of reading older books, I read more words I don't immediately know. This week the word I learned was "marchioness" and the definition, according to Merriam-Webster, is a woman holding the rank of marquess (ranking above an earl and below a duke) in her own right. Also, the ch is pronounced with the sh sound - Who knew??!? Well, I'm sure somebody did, but I sure didn't. Anyway, the point of all of this is that as unsexy as word definitions can seem, as soon as I looked up this one simple word, the whole section of the book was illuminated. Yes, I've read it before without knowing the definition  and understood the section generally, but this gave the story more depth and fullness - it painted a better picture for my heart and mind to attach to. When you listen to today's chapter, you'll understand the meanderings of Lady Caroline's mind that much better too: her background, her experiences, what's she's escaping from and what she hopes to be moving toward. All illuminated better.

 

So again, thank you to all the English teachers who taught me over the years to enjoy and appreciate the words that make up our world. Join me and enjoy this new section of (the better illuminated) The Enchanted April.