Vocabulary in Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

A farming arrangement in which a tenant farmer works land owned by someone else and pays rent by giving the landowner a share of the crops harvested each season.

A loan secured against property — here, the Logan family's land — which must be repaid or the lender can seize the land.

Groups of white men, often Ku Klux Klan members, who rode at night to terrorize and violently punish Black families and individuals in the South.

A small beetle that destroys cotton crops by feeding on the bolls; its devastation was a major cause of poverty for Southern cotton farmers.

A local store owned by white characters that also serves as a social gathering place; the Logan family boycotts it because its owners are connected to racial violence.

An organized refusal to buy from or do business with a particular store or company as a form of protest against unjust or harmful practices.

An arrangement allowing a buyer to receive goods immediately and pay for them later; here, Black families are often trapped in debt by unfair credit terms at white-owned stores.

A violent punishment in which hot tar and feathers are applied to a person's body; used historically as a form of mob torture and humiliation.

Burned severely by hot liquid or steam; used in the novel to describe injuries inflicted on Black victims by white attackers.

The Great Depression of the 1930s, a period of severe economic hardship across the United States when jobs and money were extremely scarce.

A general store that sells a wide variety of goods; in this period, such stores were often the only place rural families could buy supplies.

A legal document proving ownership of a piece of land or property; the Logan family's deed to their land is central to their independence and dignity.

To kill someone, typically by hanging, through mob action outside the law; used in the South as a tool of racial terror against Black people.

The legal process by which a lender takes ownership of property when the borrower fails to keep up with loan payments.

A fee required to be paid before a person could register to vote; used in the South to prevent poor Black citizens from exercising their right to vote.

An action or statement deliberately intended to make someone angry or cause a confrontation; used here in the context of racial tensions and legal accusations.

Rolling around or moving heavily in mud or dirt; used literally to describe the red clay mud of the Mississippi roads.

A machine that separates cotton fibers from their seeds; central to the Southern cotton economy in which the Logan family and their neighbors live.

Spoke rudely or disrespectfully to someone, especially an adult or authority figure; a Southern dialect term used frequently in the novel.

A time of judgment or settling of accounts; used to suggest that a person or group will eventually face consequences for their actions.

A field of grass used for grazing animals; here also used to describe the open land around the Logan property.

To shout or call out loudly; a Southern dialect term used throughout the novel in everyday speech among characters.

A physical beating or spanking given as punishment, especially to a child; a Southern dialect term used by characters when discussing discipline.

Moving with exaggerated, bouncy motions to show annoyance or self-importance; used to describe a character's dramatic, huffy way of walking.