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Book Summary For Oil!

vocabulary -- Word List, Word Games and Vocabulary
  • Common Core alignment to "Reading: Literature and Subject-related Content" is to 3 key phrases: "Particular Topic", "Context" and "Reading Literature". CCSS Alignment Strand Numbers for Specific Grades: Particular Topic: "CCSS.ELA-Literacy." precedes these numbers: 4.6. 5.6, 6.6, 7.6, 8.6, 9-10.6, 11-12.6 Context: "CCSS.ELA-Literacy." precedes these numbers: 2.4a, 3.4a, 4.4a, 5.4a, 6.4a, 7.4a, 8.4a, 9-10.4a, 11-12.4a Reading: Literature: "CCSS.ELA-Literacy." precedes these numbers: RL.2.4, RL.3.4, RL.4.4. RL.5.4, RL.6.4, RL.7.4, RL.8.4, RL.9-10.4, RL.11-12.4 Reading: Informational Text: "CCSS.ELA-Literacy." precedes these numbers: RI.2.4, RI.3.4, RI.4.4. RI.5.4, RI.6.4, RI.7.4, RI.8.4, RI.9-10.4, RI.11-12.4
To see vocabulary lists for all 155 books/novels/plays click: Vocabulary for 155 novel and play word lists and activities by Title Vocabulary for 155 novel and play word lists and activities by Author

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A vocabulary word list for Oil!is arranged in order of appearance

  • Chapter I: The Ride pp. 1-22
    magnate, unmarred, gauntlet, cataleptic, spavine, capacious, apex, abyss, donned, autocrat, indignities, bovine, pervade, rampage, asphalt, patronize, variegated
  • Chapter II: The Lease: pp. 23-50
    wild-catting, toiling, lament, celluloid, exasperating, rotund, ominous, apportion, wrangle, fractional, benevolent, metropolitan, sordidness, bickering, anticline, judiciously, Romanist
  • Chapter III: The Drilling pp. 51-79
    ordained, strenuous, derrick, tract, khaki, unpretentious, joshing, spindly, curlicue, landau, barouche, patronize, threshing, rivet, birching, fraudulent, tarnished, ingenious
  • Chapter IV: The Ranch pp. 80-107
    renounced, fretting, peril, arroyo, Gospel, stow, ravings, incantation, conspicuous, morsel, fornication, calico, anaemic, pretext, equity, jist, prominent, immolation
  • Chapter V: The Revelation pp. 108-134
    gnome, esoteric, bout, rubbish, infidel, cardinal point, dispensation, supersede, yokel, kaleidescope, jabber, spawn, benefactor, crockery, touselled, deputation, carmine, muckymuck, bougainvillea
  • Chapter VI: The Wildcat pp. 136-164
    spiel, probe, demure, consecration, abrogate, remitted, geyser
  • Chapter VII: The Strike pp. 165-197
    latter, stills, speculation, grafter, plying, sentries, personification, sabbath, abound, Pentacostal, full-fledged, breach, throng, denounce, condescend, belligerency, propaganda, impartial, mimeograph exhortation, conferred, goatee, fervor
  • Chapter VIII: The War pp. 198-217
    Puritan, convulsion, villanies, Huns, foibles, exemption, insatiable, ravenous, prevailing, allurement, decorous, Bolshevik, prattling, dissipations, chaos
  • Chapter IX: The Victory pp.218-238
    cantonment, propaganda, foreboding, hosanna, furlough, Bohemians, mercenaries, veranda, stein, allies, censorship, toddle over, tenter-hooks
  • Chapter X: The University pp. 239-264
    deferential, scrutiny, voluble, allurement, prestige, primness, unorthodox, elucidate, indemnity, munificent, repudiate, compel, tirade, subsidize, vermin, invincible, marshalled, apoplectic
  • Chapter XI: The Rebel pp. 265-290
    tacitly, repast, tarpaulin, steerage, balalaika, plumb, cholera, manifold, shunting, contradict, prerogative, locusts, chrysalis, qualm, hob-nailed, oration, badgered, browbeaten, notoriety, rebuke, provocateur
  • Chapter XII: The Siren pp. 291-315
    gusto, cattlepuncher, rhetorical, terminal, vaudeville, inscriptions, chronic, incite, mahatma, aura, elusive, modesty, chastity, till, vindicated, revival
  • Chapter XIII: The Monastery pp. 316-343
    faction, blacklist, orthodox, clamoring, contemptuously, repelled, crenellation, machicolations, luminary, roystering, sinewy, fathomless, bootlegger, ventriloquist, skeezick, codger, clamber, swarthy, orgies, chain mail, profligate, miser
  • Chapter XIV: The Star pp. 344-376
    precarious, enmity, boycott, scant, lagoon, aristocratic, toxin, cordiality, hunkydory, zodiac, gaunt, goy, Yiddish, infringement, harrowing, keen-witted, ascertain, naturalization, incommunicado, habeas corpus, injunction, kike, suffuse, ineffably, scintillating, kleig, ermine, lavished, haughty, degenerate, concoct, odious, insolent, convulsed, caste, loathsome
  • Chapter XV: The Vacation pp. 377-403
    fatuous, discourse, bamboozled, gregarious, wrought, whim, subsidize, geniality, buffoonery, hokum, clandestinely, endowment, shoddy, renegade, wrangling, minx, tempestuous, pageantry
  • Chapter XVI: The Killing pp 404-426
    unventilated, alcove, advocate, exploitation, scheming, connive, farcical, gladiator, emissary, pachyderm, subpoena, fastidious, behest, geologist, feeble, cunning
  • Chapter XVII: The Exposure pp. 427-453
    reputed, inception, sumptuous, proverbial, tabernacle, indignation, collaborator, placard, telepathic
  • Chapter XVIII: The Flight pp. 454-478
    divert, tarry with, palatial, popinjay, indictment, diversion
  • Chapter XIX: The Penalty pp. 479-499
    quizzical, medium, seance, surly, incarnation, eminent, debauch, urchin, coquetry
  • Chapter XX: The Dedication pp. 500-517
    repentance, jollity, expulsion, tangible, haggard, sectarian, bourgeois
  • Chapter XXI: The Honeymoon pp. 518-548
    stammer, sedate, reticent, importunities, vigil, incoherent, bangle, paraplegia, maniacal, fervid, prodigal son

    Study and discussion ideas for Oil! by Upton Sinclair:

  • 1. The Harding administration\’s policies enraged Sinclair Lewis. Explain his viewpoint.
  • 2. Critics have noted that OIL is a powerful example of social injustice. Do you agree with this statement? Why? Why not? Support your theories.
  • 3. Sinclair Lewis paints a picture of the early development of the oil industry in southern California. What scandals surprise/alarm you? Discuss the implications of business in 1927 at the time the novel was written.
  • 4. Discuss examples of avarice and corruption.
  • 5. Choose two characters who contribute meaningfully to the story in Oil!.