“Yes, can I help you?” she asked.
“I want to start a blog,” he said. “Is there someone here who can help me?”
“Sure. I am the resident computer expert.”
He blinked at her. “You mean, you live in the library?”
Wordsworth grinned. “No. The word resident has several meanings. For example, if I were to say, "I'm a resident of Kodiak," that means I live in Kodiak. When I say I’m the "resident computer expert," that means I’m the person who works here who knows most about computers.”
"Oh, I see," said the teenager. "Whew. I hear people on TV – on hospital shows, you know – talk about being residents of the hospital. I always thought it meant they lived inside the hospital."
Wordsworth grinned again. "For most of them, it probably seems like that. They work a lot of hours. As a matter of fact, I think in the early days, they did live in the hospital. That's probably where the term started. Residents are doctors, or physicians, who know all about general medicine, and are on the staff of a hospital to narrow the focus of their studies."
"It’s so confusing when the same word means three different things," said the teenager.
Wordsworth nodded. "That’s where you have to think about the context of where a word is used. Most of the time you can tell what a word is supposed to mean by how it is used in a sentence. (Always assuming that the person using it, uses it correctly in the first place, she thought to herself.) Anyway, let’s go get on a computer."
Wordsworth helped the boy sign on to one of the websites that offered free host space for bloggers, and created his blog. Then she said, "Okay, now it's time to write your first blog entry. I always call it a manifesto."
“What’s a manifesto?” asked the teen.
“You’ve heard of a ship’s manifest?” asked Wordsworth. “That’s a list of all the cargo that it is carrying? Well, the word manifesto comes from the same source. It means a list of all the goals that you want to accomplish with your blog. You’re explaining it at the very beginning so everyone who reads your blog knows what you want it to be.”
The teen laughed. “My mom says my love of music manifests itself by how loud I play my radio.”
Wordsworth nodded. "Yes, that’s another usage. Playing your radio loud is one manifestation, or part of a list, of what you love about music. If you tap your hands to the beat, that's another manifestation of how you love it."
The teen nodded. "Okay, I understand. Well, I think I’m ready to work on my own now. Thanks so much."
"Sure, no problem," said Wordsworth with a smile. She returned to her desk and looked at her watch. Another fifteen minutes and she would have to make the announcement that the library would be closing, and another fifteen minutes after that, the library would close.
As Wordsworth sat behind her desk, putting away some files, events were happening outside the library that were to have far-reaching consequences.
A rocketship was hurtling toward the Earth, out of control. Its trajectory – its flight path – was going to bring it down right on top of the library.
Vocabulary
indigenous - originating in, or characteristic of a particular region or country
umbrella term - a term used to inlcude items in a broad category. Doctor is an umbrella term for physician, surgeon, resident and so on, although each term has its own meanings...they all practice medicine.
resident - living or staying at a place in discharge of duty
physician - a person engaged in general medical practice, as distinguished from one specializing in surgery.
manifesto - a public declaration of intentions, opinions, objectives, or motives
trajectory - the curve made by a projectile, such as a ball or a rocket. in its flight
Cultural References
Eskimos - When Europeans, such as the French and the British, first discovered the lands now called Alaska, Canada and Greenland, they already had indigenous inhabitants. Over the years the term Eskimo came to be applied to all of these inhabitants, when in fact each of these native races referred to themselves in their own language. In addition, native people have come to dislike the term, preferring that they be addressed by their correct names. The Alutiiq, therefore, are the indigenous people of Kodiak Island, with their own language. The Aleuts also live in Alaska. The Yupik live in Alaska and in Russia. The Inuit live in Canada.
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