Increase Vocabulary by Reading Voltaire's Candide

Reading, unlike memorizing definitions, is a natural way of acquiring vocabulary. Voltaire's CANDIDE is rich in vocabulary essential to the intellectual progress of modern learners. INCREASE VOCABULARY BY READING VOLTAIRE'S CANDIDE introduces those words with definitions, pronunciations guides, and sample sentences. It then gives the reader the opportunity to experience those words in context. Learning is quizzed, opportunity for usage is provided, and (in an appendix) additional examples from classic literature are presented. For many words, variations (with examples) are also presented.Reading, unlike memorizing definitions, is a natural way of acquiring vocabulary. Voltaire's CANDIDE is rich in vocabulary essential to the intellectual progress of modern learners. INCREASE VOCABULARY BY READING VOLTAIRE'S CANDIDE introduces those words with definitions, pronunciations guides, and sample sentences. It then gives the reader the opportunity to experience those words in context. Learning is quizzed, opportunity for usage is provided, and (in an appendix) additional examples from classic literature are presented. For many words, variations (with examples) are also presented.MAKE THESE WORDS AND MORE PART OF YOUR WORKING VOCABULARY.abyss - amends - approbation - bourgeois - circumspection - complaisant - consummate - contingent - covert - disconsolate - dissipated - droll - effrontery - execrate - fettered - foible - gauntlet - habitable - imperious - ignominious - heretic - impudence - ingenuous - insipid - lament - lethargic - morass - officious - pallor - pensive - precipice - prodigious - rapacious - sanction - satiate - subsist - tractable - vehemence - vicissitudes - vitriol - wherewithalONE HUNDRED FORTY-THREE FEATURED WORDS!CANDIDE is a work of satire. In this novel, Voltaire's primary target is the optimistic philosophy of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, one of perhaps the two greatest scientists of his day. The other, greatly admired by Voltaire, was Sir Isaac Newton. Leibniz (satirized in the novel as the character Pangloss) believed that a perfect God could have created only a perfect world-the "best of all possible worlds." Voltaire's own experiences and recent destructive events, especially the tragic Lisbon Earthquake of 1755 and the Seven Years' War, which began in 1756, led him to disagree. The name of his protagonist-Candide-is from the Latin word CANDIDUS, literally "white" but figuratively "innocent or pure." Voltaire satirizes not only Leibniz but also religious hierarchy, promoters of war, and utopian philosophers in general. While the historical and philosophical components are essential to the purpose of the novel, the humor and wit of Voltaire's writing has made CANDIDE a favorite for casual as well as scholarly readers.