Activity When you come across unfamiliar words in a story, you can discover what they mean by
looking for context clues.
Look at the following table for some words from " The Most Dangerous Game "that may
be unfamiliar to you. Refer back to the story to find these words and see if you can
determine their meanings from the context clues. The words are listed in the table in the
order that they appear in the story. Fill out the column labeled Contextual Meaning with
what you think the meaning is. Then look up these words in the dictionary and fill out the
column labeled Dictionary Definition. Finally, explain what clues you used in the story to
come up with the contextual meaning of each word. Write your explanations in the
comments column.

dankunpleasant; darkunpleasantly moistFrom the context, I understood that the night is unpleasant to some extent. It is a “tropical night,” which explains why it is moist or humid.

palpableintensely feltevident; readily seenBecause the night is described as a “dank, palpable night that presses its warm blanket against the yacht,” I thought palpable meant “hot,” but when I checked the dictionary definition, I realized it could contextually mean “intensely felt.”

doggedlydeterminedlywith persistenceBecause I read that “Rainsford swam doggedly,” I realized he did it with determination.

ardententhusiasticpassionateWhen I read that Zaroff’s father was an ardent sportsman, I realized that it meant he was enthusiastic.

scruplesprinciplesmorals, principlesZaroff says that Rainsford’s scruples are ill-founded when he calls Zaroff a murderer, which is why I thought that scruples meant principles.

ennuifeeling tiredboredomWhen Zaroff gets bored of hunting, he says he is afflicted by ennui. So I figured this word meant being tired of or bored of something.

zealouspassionateextremely passionate or enthusiasticWhen I read that Zaroff is a zealous hunter, I guessed that the word meant passionate because so much of the story is about his love of hunting.

uncannystrangemysteriousThe general could follow Rainsford’s trail even at night, which made me think uncanny meant “strange” or “supernatural.”

mockingmaking fun ofridiculing; contemptuousThe trap Rainsford sets for the general is not successful, which makes the general mock him, so I assumed it meant “to make fun of.”

placidrelaxedcalm; pleasantSince placid was used to describe a pastime, I assumed it meant “relaxed and easygoing.”

there is no passage what do you mean?

give me the passage and i will answer your question

in other words

to put it differently

for one thing

as an illustration

in this case

for this reason

to put it another way

that is to say

with attention to

by all means

important to realize

another key point

first thing to remember

most compelling evidence

must be remembered

point often overlooked

to point out

on the positive side

on the negative side

with this in mind

notably

including

like

to be sure

namely

chiefly

truly

indeed

certainly

surely

markedly

such as

especially

explicitly

specifically

expressly

surprisingly

frequently

significantly

particularly

in fact

in general

in particular

in detail

for example

for instance

to demonstrate

to emphasize

to repeat

to clarify

to explain

to enumerate