Vocab for "A Song For a Barbarian Reed Pipe"

-Frenum: a fold of membrane that checks or restrains the motion of a part, as the fold on the underside of the tongue. (p. 164)
-Tauten: To be tightly drawn; tense; not slack. (p. 164)
-Rectify: to make, put, or set right; remedy; correct. (p. 170)
-Censers: A vessel in which incense is burned, especially during religious services. (p. 170)
-reparation: the making of amends for wrong or injury done. (p. 170)
-Guttural: of or pertaining to the throat. (p. 171)
-Recluses: Withdrawn from the world. (p. 182)
-Gesticulating: to make or use gestures, esp. in an animated or excited manner with or instead of speech. (p. 183)
-Rictus: the gape of the mouth of a bird. (p. 187)
-Camphoraceous: any substance having medicinal or aromatic characteristics similar to those of camphor. (p. 187)
-Slough: an area of soft, muddy ground; swamp or swamplike region. (p. 187)
-Trestle: a frame typically composed of a horizontal bar or beam rigidly joined or fitted at each end to the top of a transverse A-frame, used as a barrier, a transverse support for planking. (p. 188)
-Infanticide: the act of killing an infant. (p. 191)
-Hunkered: To squat close to the ground; crouch. (p. 198)
-Gabbings: to talk or chat idly; chatter. (p. 200)
-Desultorily: lacking in consistency, constancy, or visible order, disconnected; fitful (p. 208)

The words in this chapter describe one of the most important things to do in a chinese family; talking story. This whole book consists of different stories that Maxine went through in her life. The words show is in many different parts of the story how often chinese families talk story and how important it is. Maxine's mother cuts out her frenum so that she can talk more when she is little. This shows that in chinese it is better to talk more than less. However Maxine's mother also doesn't want her to gab senselessly. This shows that even though talking story is very important, the story should have some value and not just be a pointless story. They also talk a lot about how the voice sounds because the way a story sounds is just as important as the story itself. She uses the word guttural to describe the way a word should not sound. The word gesticulating also tells us that when they are talking story using motions emphasizes certain points more which helps the story become more alive.