Vocabulary in Anne of Green Gables

A small, natural freshwater stream. In this text it is used both literally for the streams near Green Gables and as a romantic, poetic feature of the landscape Anne loves.

A coarse, rough fabric woven from a mixture of linen and wool, associated here with plain, old-fashioned country clothing.

A style of sleeve fashionable in the late 19th century that is gathered and ballooned out at the shoulder, which Anne desperately wants on her dresses as a mark of being stylish.

An institution that houses and cares for orphaned or abandoned children; here, the orphanage from which Anne is sent to Green Gables.

An extremely close, intimate friend — someone you share your deepest feelings with, as opposed to a mere acquaintance. Anne uses the phrase with great romantic intensity.

A person who shares your deepest feelings, imagination, and outlook on life; someone you feel an immediate and rare spiritual connection with.

Room or opportunity for the imagination to work and roam freely. Anne uses this phrase to judge whether a place or situation is worth caring about.

A feeling of irritation, frustration, or annoyance, often caused by something that cannot easily be fixed or undone.

A significant, memorable period or turning point in a person's life; a moment that marks a clear before and after.

An older or heightened form of 'tragic,' meaning deeply sad or disastrous. Anne uses it with dramatic flair to describe misfortunes both large and small.

Deeply serious and sincere, often with a ceremonial or sacred feeling, as when Anne and Diana make their friendship vow.

A set of questions and answers used to teach the basic principles of Christian religion, typically memorized and recited in Sunday school.

Here used as a metaphor drawn from the title: Death personified as a harvester who cuts down lives as a farmer cuts grain.

A violent storm; used figuratively in the chapter title to mean a fierce outbreak of conflict or uproar, in this case a quarrel at school.

A new or different course of action; a change from what was done before. 'A new departure in flavorings' means trying an unexpected ingredient.

Filled with shock and strong disapproval, not merely surprised. Mrs. Rachel Lynde is not just startled but morally scandalized by Anne's behavior.

The publicly posted list of students who have successfully passed their examinations and qualified to move on, here the entrance results for Queen's Academy.

A special advanced class organized at the Avonlea school to prepare selected students for the entrance examination to Queen's Academy, a teacher-training college.

The process of raising and educating a child; upbringing. The chapter title signals that Marilla is formally beginning the task of shaping Anne's character and manners.

A formal, spoken expression of regret for having done something wrong or offensive, which in this text Anne must deliver to Mrs. Rachel Lynde as a condition of being allowed to stay.

The pleasure of looking forward to something enjoyable that has not yet happened; Anne finds this imagined happiness sometimes sweeter than the event itself.

A reference to Elaine, the 'lily maid of Astolat' from Tennyson's Arthurian poetry, who floated dead in a boat. Anne and her friends act out this romantic, tragic scene.

A sudden, disastrous event or terrible outcome. Anne uses the word both for genuine disasters and for smaller embarrassments she experiences with great dramatic feeling.

A substance added to food or drink to give it a particular taste. The chapter's comedy turns on Anne accidentally using the wrong flavoring in a recipe.

Excessive pride in one's appearance or achievements; also, in the biblical sense echoed by the chapter title, the emptiness or futility of worldly things.