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VOCABULARY REFERENCE & PRACTICE — GRADE 12 — POWER & PLACE

The There That Remains

Key Vocabulary — 12 terms — Grade 12 High School

Name: _________________________    Date: _____________    Class: _____________

📚 Vocabulary Reference

Study each term with its definition and real-world context sentence.

1
urban
relating to a city; from the story: the narrator learns to see Oakland as an urban place where Indigenous people are making contemporary lives, not as a city without Indigenous presence.
2
indigeneity
the condition of being Indigenous to a place or of expressing Indigenous identity and belonging; from the story: the narrator questions the idea that indigeneity belongs only to a distant landscape.
3
erasure
the removal or invisibility of a person, history, or community from a story; from the story: the city can be full of Indigenous people and still be taught as if they are not there, which the narrator names as erasure.
4
diaspora
a people dispersed from an ancestral place while maintaining relationships, memory, or identity across distance; from the story: the characters carry family histories across Oakland rather than belonging to only one simplified origin.
5
displacement
the forced movement or estrangement of people from a home or place; from the story: the characters inherit the effects of displacement while trying to build belonging in the city where they live.
6
lineage
a line of descent, inheritance, or connection across generations; from the story: a body moving through a street can carry a lineage that is not printed on a map.
7
reclamation
the act of taking back, restoring, or asserting a right to something that has been denied or misrepresented; from the story: naming your own life and refusing the story of absence is a form of reclamation.
8
powwow
a gathering that may include Indigenous dancing, music, ceremony, community, and exchange; from the story: the powwow gathers separate lives without making them identical.
9
intergenerational
involving or moving between more than one generation; from the story: the work of making a place visible is intergenerational because it moves backward and forward through families.
10
sovereignty
the right or power of a people or person to govern, define, and make decisions for themselves; from the story: Ms. Alvarez explains sovereignty as the right to name your own life and decide which memories belong in the room.
11
ceremony
a formal or meaningful practice through which a community expresses belonging, memory, or shared values; from the story: a ceremony is not a performance for strangers but a way people practice belonging together.
12
constellation
a group of separate points that forms a pattern when seen together; from the story: the novel's many voices become a constellation whose pattern appears only when the reader holds them together.

◾ Vocabulary Crossword

Use the clues below to fill in the crossword. Each answer is a vocabulary word from this lesson.

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23
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1011
→ Across
4.the right or power of a people or person to govern, define, and make decisions for themselves; from the story: Ms. Alvarez explains sovereignty as the right to name your own life and decide which memories belong in the room.
9.a line of descent, inheritance, or connection across generations; from the story: a body moving through a street can carry a lineage that is not printed on a map.
10.involving or moving between more than one generation; from the story: the work of making a place visible is intergenerational because it moves backward and forward through families.
↓ Down
1.the forced movement or estrangement of people from a home or place; from the story: the characters inherit the effects of displacement while trying to build belonging in the city where they live.
2.a group of separate points that forms a pattern when seen together; from the story: the novel's many voices become a constellation whose pattern appears only when the reader holds them together.
3.the act of taking back, restoring, or asserting a right to something that has been denied or misrepresented; from the story: naming your own life and refusing the story of absence is a form of reclamation.
5.a people dispersed from an ancestral place while maintaining relationships, memory, or identity across distance; from the story: the characters carry family histories across Oakland rather than belonging to only one simplified origin.
6.a formal or meaningful practice through which a community expresses belonging, memory, or shared values; from the story: a ceremony is not a performance for strangers but a way people practice belonging together.
7.the condition of being Indigenous to a place or of expressing Indigenous identity and belonging; from the story: the narrator questions the idea that indigeneity belongs only to a distant landscape.
8.relating to a city; from the story: the narrator learns to see Oakland as an urban place where Indigenous people are making contemporary lives, not as a city without Indigenous presence.
11.the removal or invisibility of a person, history, or community from a story; from the story: the city can be full of Indigenous people and still be taught as if they are not there, which the narrator names as erasure.

🔍 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.

Words I plan to use (circle at least 5):