Study each term with its definition and real-world context sentence.
1
advocacy
Active support for a cause, policy, or group; from the letter: Dorothy is engaged in sustained, lifelong advocacy, and the poem is itself a form of advocacy for the act of planting-forward.
2
continuity
The continuation of something over time; from the letter: "not certainty, but continuity" — the thing being passed down is the ongoing act of justice work, not a guaranteed outcome.
3
sustains
To give someone the strength or energy to continue; from the letter: "What sustains me is not hope, exactly. Hope is a feeling, and feelings change with the news. What sustains me is knowledge."
4
relay
A race in which each team member runs a portion of the course and hands off a baton; from the letter: "The work is a relay, and you are not always the person who carries the baton across the finish line."
5
persistence
The continued effort to do something despite difficulty or slow progress; from the letter: the water-through-rock metaphor is about the power of sustained, patient pressure rather than dramatic moments.
6
inheritance
Something that is passed from one generation to the next; from the poem: "This is the inheritance: not the tree... but the act of planting." The inheritance is the practice, not the result.
7
stubborn
Holding firmly to a belief or course of action despite difficulty; from the poem: "stubborn and weary / in the way that only people / who have been at it a long time can be" — and again: "the most stubborn act of hope there is."
8
refusal
The act of saying no; from the letter: "one act of refusal passes something forward" — Fannie Lou Hamer's refusal to accept the situation as permanent created space for everyone after her.
9
generations
Successive periods of time in a family's history; from the letter: "young people who never learned what we learned"; from the poem: the orchard was planted by people who won't see it, for people who don't yet exist.
10
morning
Used in both texts as a symbol of what comes after the struggle; from the letter: "working toward a morning you will not be in"; from the poem: "toward a morning / you will not be in" — both texts use morning as the image of a future the advocate will not experience but works toward anyway.
◾ Vocabulary Crossword
Use the clues below to fill in the crossword. Each answer is a vocabulary word from this lesson.
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→ Across
1.Used in both texts as a symbol of what comes after the struggle; from the letter: "working toward a morning you will not be in"; from the poem: "toward a morning / you will not be in" — both texts use morning as the image of a future the advocate will not experience but works toward anyway.
6.Holding firmly to a belief or course of action despite difficulty; from the poem: "stubborn and weary / in the way that only people / who have been at it a long time can be" — and again: "the most stubborn act of hope there is."
7.The continued effort to do something despite difficulty or slow progress; from the letter: the water-through-rock metaphor is about the power of sustained, patient pressure rather than dramatic moments.
8.To give someone the strength or energy to continue; from the letter: "What sustains me is not hope, exactly. Hope is a feeling, and feelings change with the news. What sustains me is knowledge."
9.The act of saying no; from the letter: "one act of refusal passes something forward" — Fannie Lou Hamer's refusal to accept the situation as permanent created space for everyone after her.
10.A race in which each team member runs a portion of the course and hands off a baton; from the letter: "The work is a relay, and you are not always the person who carries the baton across the finish line."
↓ Down
2.Successive periods of time in a family's history; from the letter: "young people who never learned what we learned"; from the poem: the orchard was planted by people who won't see it, for people who don't yet exist.
3.Active support for a cause, policy, or group; from the letter: Dorothy is engaged in sustained, lifelong advocacy, and the poem is itself a form of advocacy for the act of planting-forward.
4.Something that is passed from one generation to the next; from the poem: "This is the inheritance: not the tree... but the act of planting." The inheritance is the practice, not the result.
5.The continuation of something over time; from the letter: "not certainty, but continuity" — the thing being passed down is the ongoing act of justice work, not a guaranteed outcome.
🔍 Context Clues Challenge
Read each sentence and use context clues to identify the vocabulary word being described. Write the word on the line.
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✏️ Analytical Response
Write a well-structured paragraph of at least 6–8 sentences that analyzes the vocabulary words in relation to the themes of this lesson. Use at least 5 vocabulary words and demonstrate your understanding of both denotation (literal meaning) and connotation (emotional weight). Underline each vocabulary word you use.