Considerations on responses and responding

I have two observations regarding my performance on the GRE practice exams.  Both relate to my current pattern of answering, and the sorts of answers that the GRE provides as options.

First, I am having a more difficult time with the sentence equivalences and the fill in the blanks.  My problem seems to stem from the fact that I do not know the meaning of the words being provided.  For instance, take a look at the following list.  Without exception, I stumbled on all of these words.

• Clement
• Meet
• Condign
• Jocund
• Recondite
• Metonym 
• Homonym 
• Pugnacious 
• Stalwart
• Doughty 
• Intractable 
• Opprobrious
• Invective
• Beguile 
• Cloying 
• Cant 
• Plaintive
• Arresting 
• Attracting 
• Intriguing 

Compounding the problem is the fact that two words provided by GRE questions (if Kaplan's practice sets are of any reliability) can typically be eliminated, which leaves three answer choices that are similar in meaning, but not exact synonyms.  Of course, there are never two "exact" synonyms since then we'd just have the same word, and that would be inefficient, and language is an efficiency system, but the problem remains: there are three words, with subtle differences, and a course lexicaliztation of the words is problematic.  My suggestion for myself (and others if they bother reading) is to concentrate on a method of differentiating the almost synonyms.  One idea that has been suggested is to categorize words in terms of their negative and positive connotations.  I've begun doing this, but I'm not at no Major Najjar point in my study.  Kudos to you, Major.

The second problem that I am confronting, or rather pattern in responding and responses, is found on the GRE reading comprehension questions.  There's usually one or two questions that ask for an inference to the best conclusion.  On these questions, it's typically quite easy to eliminate three of the responses, which leaves us with two.  The problem, and pattern, is that I am reading the responses, and going with the intuitive appeal of one over the other.  I don't have time to waste reasoning through the details of a thick passage on Einstein's theory of relativity or the correlation of pollution rates in cities that house pharmaceutical manufacturing plants.  But, it turns out that my intuition is typically wrong.  I can't bring myself to answer contrary to my intuition on these questions, because....well....what if I turn out right?  I'd much rather get something wrong based on following my intuition, than get something right because I followed an algorithm of answering contrary to my intuition.  For starters, won't this develop in myself a mistrust of my intuition, and won't this strategy impede the experimentation process, which I take to be a process of testing intuitions?  Still, though, the appeal of getting another question right by rebelling against my intuition is strong, and I think on the next few tests, I will run contrary to my intuition and test the strategy.  It just may be the case that I'm wrong about all this, but if I'm right, and it can land me into a graduate program, I'll bite the bullet and say my intuition is typically in difficult circumstances like these, distracted.

So, without wasting any more time reasoning about my pattern of responses, I'm going to define the terms I got wrong.

Coming up in the next day or so is the strict, strict schedule I need to stick to.  32 more days til test time.

More vocab

Last night, I rearranged my stick-it notes.  I grouped them into categories.

HAVING TO DO WITH TALK v BEING CAPABLE OF PREDICATING TALK
Pellucid - able to transmit light through
Lucid - Easily understandable
Aver - To report or maintain as true
Laconic - brief and to the point
Brusque - marked by rude or preemptory shortness (one might say that this is the negative connotation of laconic)
Felicitous - appropriate or fitting to the situation
Pointed - having a point
Punctilious - meticulous, exact, conscientiousness, painstaking
Meticulous - carefully detailed, detail orientated
Anecdotal - short narratives, having the quality of
Effigy - a image or likeness (made in the likeness of something) from the latin figurare, fiction

DISORDERLY
Desultory - lacking plan or purpose
Vacillating - incapable of deciding on course of action or belief
Bedlam - state of extreme confusion or confusion
Inchoate - not fully formed

DECEPTION
Prevaricate - to speak falsely; to deliberately mislead, or create the wrong impression
Guile - Assiduous cunning in attaining a goal; interminable deceitful means of attaining a goal  
Furtive - taken, done by stealth
Chicanery - trickery
Surreptitious - taken, done by stealth

RELATING TO DISTANCE
Apogee - high point; furtherest point away from point A
Apex - far away; high point

Perigee - nearest point of a heavenly body to earth ]]

PREDICATING TALK IN A BAD WAY
Vituperate - to address with harsh language
Acrimonious - caustic, stinging, bitter
Salacious - lusty, characterized by lust
Scourge - a whip that is used to beat someone, but also language that is biting
Excoriate - to rip the skin off, but also language that is severely hurtful
Chastise - to censure severely
Cosseted - to treat as a pet or pamper (as in, talking down to someone)

POSITIVE ATTRIBUTES
Ambrosial - sweet smelling and or tasting
ANTONYM: INSIPID - lacking taste or flavor 
Sanguine - optimistic
Blithe - happy joyous and free

RELATING TO PARTS, PIECES
Detritus - small rubble broken away from a larger chunk
Pulverous - being in a state of pulverized

BEING OR RELATED TO SLEEP
Torpor - hibernation
Quiescent -inactive, being in a state of rest
Soporific - causing to sleep
Mournful - gloomy, sorrowful, grief, death (all metaphorized as "down" in western culture and assosicated with sleep)

PERTURBATION
Vex -to annoy, perturb
Petulant - easily annoyed

OF or RELATING TO DISCORD
Detente - a easing of the tension between two sides (by negotiations)
Capitulate - to give into the demands
Precipitate - to bring about a sudden change, quickly without deliberation
Impetuous - impulsive, having sudden force

NOT BELONGING
Repudiate - to not recognize as valid
Pariah - outcast

There's more but I haven't been able to categorize them yet...

Depilate (v.) to remove the hair from 

• The young feminist questioned her motives for engaging in full body depilation week after week, year after year.

Desultory (adj.) lacking a plan, purpose, or enthusiasm

• The professor critiqued the man's paper for being desultory; it meandered from topic to topic without any clear argument.  The man has vowed to convalesce from this critique by creating meticulous outlines, and punctilious thesis statements.  

Vacillate (adj.) alternate or waver between different opinions or actions; be indecisive

• The man vacillated often and sometimes in the same breathe; some days he professed atheism, other days agnosticism, and yet still other days, theism.  

Infinitesimal (adj.) extremely small

• Although imperceptible to his prospective new boss, the infinitesimal mustard stain on the man's shirt plagued him throughout the meeting.

Rubicon (n.) a point of no return (a stream in Northeastern Italy that Caesar crossed illegally; thus committing himself to war against the Senate and Pompey) 

• I, myself, have reached the rubicon in my self-actualization; one more step, and I will be beyond my former self recognition.  
• Punching his mother was the rubicon for boy of which his father could never conciliate.

Penurious (adj.) extremely poor; poverty-stricken

• The free-spirited couple collected aluminum cans, chasing away their impending penurious fate.  

Convalesce (v.) to recover one’s health and strength over a period of time after an illness or operation

• He did so convalesce, partly as a result of following the doctor's orders, and partly as a result of drinking noni-juice.

Quotidian (adj.) of or occurring every day; daily

• Performed daily, flushing the toilets at the school was another quotidian chore the custodian felt proved that the children were being cosseted at home by their parents.  

Sanguine (adj.) optimistic or positive, especially in an apparently bad or difficult situation

• Eliminating an inauthentic sanguine attitude borne from the assiduous desire for social companions is our primary goal; one's attitude must be authentic, even if authenticity entails pessimism, and even if this creates a pariah.   

Vocabulary Building

1. Brusque (adj.) abrupt in manner; blunt
1. [brʌsk]
2. The tall man brusquely swept into the marriage ceremony and announced his love for the bride.
1. The man made a brusque pass at the end of the first date, which deterred the woman from returning his phone calls.
2. Obviate (v.) to eliminate with effective measures
1. [ɒbviet]
2. The groomsmen tackled the tall man and covered his mouth with duct tape, obviating the possibility of another outburst.  
3. The medicine obviated any future need for a doctor.
3. Picayune (adj.) of little value or small account; petty; trivial; small-minded; diminutive 
1. [pɪkiyun]
2. Although to most of the celebrants at the wedding, the tall man's outburst seemed driven by a picayune sentiment to ruin an otherwise beautiful ceremony, the bride thought it to be a colossal gesture of love.   
3. The picayune settlement in the divorce was incompatible with the collosal emotional damage each partner inflicted upon the other.  
4. A picayune idea is an idea with no implications or consequences.
4. Rustic (adj.) having the appearance of rough, unkempt texture
1. [rʌstɪk]
2. The wedding itself was held in a rustic church 50 miles outside of the city.
5. Bucolic (ad.) of or pertaining to shepherds or pastoral life; suggesting an idyllic rural life
1. [byukɒlɪk]
2. The groom had chosen the bucolic destination in hopes that the bride's former lover, having never left the city, would stay away from the ceremony.
6. Parsimony (n.) extreme or excessive frugality or economy; stingy 
1. The parsimonious parents of the groom were unwilling to pitch in even a penny for the matrimony.  
7. Detritus (n.) any dis-integrated material; small rock broken away from glacial or mountain through the act of water erosion; rubble 
1. The tall man believed the bride was capable of reassembling his heart's detritus.
2. The groom's heart was crushed to detritus.  
8. Apex (n.) the top, point or summit; zenith; the highest point
1. Bored with the plateau of formality, an old man laughed hysterically when the emotional upheaval reached an apex.  
9. Probity (n.) integrity and upright honesty; rectitude; rightness in principles or conduct; moral virtue 
1. The priest was prone to examine the character of the tall man to determine his probity before proceeding with the vows of the couple; a legitimate usurping of ritual deserved to be heard," he thought.
1. I rarely use abstract nouns in sentences.  
1. For instance, I have a difficult time writing sentences with nouns that aren't people.  
2. Probity is rarely upheld by the power hungry.  
10. Chicanery (n.) trickery by quibbling or sophistry; double-dealing; skullduggery 
1. It was possible that the bride averred her acceptance of the proposal based on the groom's chicanery and not her sincere love.  
2. It was also possible that the bride had been engaged in chicanery herself, stringing along the tall man with sweet sayings, while indulging in a lustrous affair with her groom.
3. The possibilities were endless, and the priest knew that to assess the level of chicanery going on in the relationships now on display, he would need to interrogate each one individually.  
11. Inchoate (adj.) not yet completed or fully developed; not organized; embryonic; immature; nascent 
1. With an inchoate plan, the priest brusquely stopped the wedding and requested a meeting with the tall man.  
12. Paltry (adj.) insultingly small; picayune 
1. The bridge-groom couple suddenly felt paltry in their own ceremony; both had realized that the ritual was much larger than their desire for attention.
13. Lucid (adj) readily understood; shining; pellucid; comprehension; limpid 
1. The actions of the priest were lucidly perceived by the laughing old man who delighted in the specatcle, and knew that that the priest needed to assess the meaning of the outburst.  
14. Avaricious (adj.) pathological greediness accompanied by miserliness; rapacious; greedy; covetous; selfishness
1. Avariciously demanding that the crowds attention be repaid in full to their daughter, the bride's parents stood up from their pew and began to shout at the priest.
2. Seizing an opportunity, an avaricious boy surreptitiously left the ceremony to steal from the church's coffer.  
1. "Avarice", a painting by the German artist Albrecht Dürer, depicts a grotesque old woman with a sagging exposed breast clutching a bag of coins.  Apparently, Dürer wanted to warn his viewers of the dangers of avariciousness.  
15. Mien (n.) air, bearing or demeanor showing character; countenance; display 
1. The calm mien of the tall man as he explained his story to the priest was interrupted by brusque knock at the office door.  
1. The stolid mien of employees gave the impression that they disliked the dull work. 
16. Ambrosial (adj.) especially pleasing to taste or smell; worthy of the gods
1. The ambrosial bride stepped into the office.  
17. Unctuous (adj.) excessively pious with pretense
1. Begging pardon for her intrusion and imploring the priest to return to the ceremony, the unctuous mien of the bridge gave pause to the priest who knew from experience that she was hiding something far more obsequious.    
1. This word actually went through some changes in history.  At one point, it indicated the "act of anointing", I suppose in ritual that transformed the laity into the priestly caste, but it came to have pejorative sense, most likely by teasing people that they were acting "holier than thou".  "Don't be so unctuous.  We might describe Ted Cruz's actions, insofar as he is feigning care for the American people and is instead simply interested in his own power moves, as unctuous.  
18. Obsequious (adj.) showing or characterized by servile compliance; obedient or dutiful
1. The priest questioned the relationship of the bridge-groom in front of the tall man; and the tall man admitted to believing that the acceptance of the bride was borne from her obsequious need to please everyone.  
1. The word comes from the L. ob meaning "after" and the L. sequi meaning "to follow".  So, we can infer the meaning of obsequious to be "to follow after", but since it's an adjective formed from a noun by adding -ous, we can infer that it means something like "being like something that follows after".  In that sense, we can say that someone that is obsequious is also someone who is a follower.  That's about as far as I want to go with that...
19. Obdurate (adj.) unmoved by feeling, persuasion, pity or tender feelings; bullheaded; adamant; inexorable
1. Believing in free-spirited decisions, the obdurate priest demanded that the bride explain her love of the groom for the tall man.
2. The suffix -ate turns an adjective into a noun.  But, obdurate is not a noun.  So, what gives?  Well, it's not going to help me to sit here and research why it is the case that certain words are not being formed via strict derivational rules according to the linguists.  I can say that obdurate is related to endure.  They both have that middle part "dur", which comes from the Latin durare, which means "harden".  Now, I wish Latin was easily than just saying, oh, above you said "ob" means something like "after" in Latin, but it's not that simple.  "Ob" means several things, including ""toward, against, across, down," also... "toward, to, over against, in the way of, by reason of, about, before, in front of"....so it's not quite that easy.  It never is.  Shit.  That's a crappy attitude.  But, if we can just remember that obdurate has that part in the middle that mans "harden", than depending on the context of the sentence, I should be able to remember it.  
3. The obdurate pain would not leave the poor man's heart.  
20. Reprobate (n.) depraved or wicked person; person rejected by god and beyond hope of absolution  
1. In tears, the bride explained to the priest that the groom was in fact a reprobate; he had used his chicanery to prey on her parsimonious parents and her obsequious nature; the bucolic appearance of their relationship was due solely to her ambrosial and unctuous mien.  
21.  Impetus (n.) a moving force or cause; impulse; stimulant 
1. The teary-eyed explanation was the impetus for a reunion of the tall man and the bride.  The priest was pleased with his own probity; he had stood on a moral apex as he watched the young couple escape from the church window.  How exactly he would obviate the people from the crowded church without a stir was no paltry sentence.  

Vocab Building

Vituperate (v) /vaɪˈtupəˌreɪt/ to use or address with harsh or abusive language; censure; berate; vilify 

• The upset father vituperated the prodigal son for wasting time and money on frivolous parties.  
• This is just one of those words that I need to memorize.
• Only slobs vituperate women from their moving car.
• If something is vituperating, then it is also using harsh or abusive language.

Deadpan /ˈdɛdˌpæn/ (adj) marked by or accomplished with diligent pretense of seriousness; stolid (v) to behave in deadpan manner 

• The clinical professor was known by residents for his deadpan reactions to horrifying displays of human trauma.  

Colossal (adj) /kəˈlɒsəl/ extraordinarily great in size

• At its apex, the Holy Roman Empire was colossal, stretching as far as modern day Turkey and England.  

Capitulate (v) /kəˈpɪtʃəˌleɪt/ to surrender unconditionally or on stipulated terms; to give up resistance  yield; acquiesce; accede  

• The frightened father capitulated to the terms of the kidnappers, agreeing to pay the ransom in exchange for his daughter.  

Burnished (v) /ˈbɜrnɪʃ/ to polish a surface; to make bright 

• The antique dealer had burnished the silver utensils prior to placing them on display in his store.   

Apogee (n) /ˈæpəˌdʒi/ the highest or most distant point 

• Standing on the apogee of the island, the young man imagined himself as king on his throne.  

Furtive (adj)  /ˈfɜrtɪv/ taken, done, used, by stealth; sly; shifty; surreptitious; circumspect 

• After a successful night, the casino card counter used his furtive earnings to purchase a ring for his girlfriend.  
• Another word I will just need to remember.  
• The child snuck into the kitchen for a furtive cookie.  
• She furtively hid her journal knowing that the contents would put her in jeopardy of an excoriation by her boyfriend.  

Diffident (adj) /ˈdɪfɪdənt/  lacking confidence in one's ability or manner or worth; timorous 

• The scientist was known among his peers as diffident; they furtively stole his ideas, as he devalued his own worth.  

Perigee (n) /ˈpɛrɪˌdʒi/ the point at which a heavenly body is nearest to the Earth.

• To prepare for the approach of their gods, astrologists consult astronomers to determine the perigee of their favored celestial bodies

Anecdote (n) /ˈænɪkˌdoʊt/ short account of an incident or event; related episode

• The old war veteran enjoyed sharing anecdotes about his foreign espionage.

Pointed (adj)  /ˈpɔɪntɪd/ having a point; having direct effect or significance

• The incredulous scientist disputed the pointedness of the latest research, believing the field to have lost relevancy decades ago.  

Interminable (adj) /ɪnˈtɜrmənəbəl/ incapable of being terminated; incessant; monotonously annoying without stop

• The interminable rash plagued the woman; she had seen four doctors in the past four months to no avail.  

Aver (v) /əˈvɜr/ to assert or affirm with confidence 

• The car salesman averred his opinion of his competitor: they were dishonest, and their product was lousy.  

Blithe (adj) /blaɪθ/ happy, joyous and free; bouyant; jocund; mirthful; jovial; carefree; not morose

• Addicts know that the serenity prayer precipitates a blithe attitude; therefore, they make it a center piece of their recovery.   

Vocab Practice

Today, I have 14 words because I missed vocabulary building last night.  I want to begin by noticing something about my experience of my own semantic web (not sure if I could call it a lexicon or not?). I typically know just a few applications of a word in context; and I will be forced to deduce the meaning of the word from those contextual applications on the GRE.  For instance, on the list today is the word "harbinger".  When I think of the word, I call to mind the phrase, "harbinger of death" or "harbinger of life", and by that I mean "bringer of death" or "bringer of life".  So, for me, "harbinger" denotes an entity that brings, or carries something else to the present, usually life or death.  I also remember hearing people say, "I don't want to be the harbinger of bad news".  However, the meaning provided in the physical dictionary is much more precise and neutral.  It has the connotations of "going ahead and making known the future presence of another".  I do not remember the biblical story, but I am under the impression that either an angel told the wise men of the appearance of Christ, or the wise men gave the baby Jesus some gifts, and went out into the night to spread the news of the arrival of The Christ.  Whatever it may be, the connotations are clear.  Given that I was raised in a Catholic environment, it is not too surprising to find out that the connotations of the word "harbinger" for me are entrenched in the Catholic story.  I have written stories with the GRE words for the past few nights.  This method clearly works.  It's worked since I was a child, as is clear from the "harbinger" example.

Pellucid (adj.) \pə-ˈlü-səd\ translucent or transparent; extremely clear in style or meaning; admitting maximum passage of light without diffusion or distortion; easy to understand.

• Synonyms: lucid, limpid
• The pellucid message of the guitarist was made possible by years of assiduous practice; if he was sad, his instrument weeped; and if he was happy, his instrument cheered.  

Pulver (v) /pʌl.vər/ to make into powder or dust (adj.) pulver-ous

• The addition of the -ous suffix creates adjectives.  "The typical function of an adjective is to designate a property or attribute of the entities denoted by nouns" (O'Grady, 2010, p. 158).
• Therefore, the meaning of "pulverous" is "having the property of making something into powder or dust".  
• The drummer's pulverous pounding during his solo won the affection of the all the rhythmists in the crowd.  

Palpable (adj.) capable of being touch or felt; readily or plainly perceived

• Despite naive claims to the contrary, empirical science does not restrict itself to the palpable reality of sense.  

Salacious (adj.) lustful or lecherous

• We must question the relevancy of journalistic coverage of the salacious affairs of politicians that seek merely to dither the public's trust in the judgments of their elected officials.

Acrimonious (adj.) stinging, caustic, bitter in speech, behavior, manner etc.

• The acrimonious effect of the divorce of his parents rippled through the boy's adult relationships. 

Effigy (n.) a representation or image of something or someone; a crude image of someone disliked, used as a straw-man; simulacrum; idol

• The prisoners in Plato's allegory of the cave, uninterested seeing the light of the sun, serve as effigies for people that squander their talents.  

Harbinger (n.) a person that goes ahead and makes known the approach of another; a herald; anything that is premonitory in nature

• Rendering the commander's plan for a sneak attack futile, the treasonous solider acted as a harbinger for the enemy.

Cosseted (v.) to pamper; treat as a pet; coddle

• The infatuated man cosseted his lover, showering her with material gifts and affection.  

Chastise (v.) to discipline, especially by corporeal punishment; to restrain; to chasten

• The infuriated mob recommended that the girl be chastised for her silly prank.

Mollify (v.) [used with direct object] to soften in feeling or temper; pacify; appease; placate

• The keen judge mollified the shouting crowd with his silver tongue. 

Punctilio (n) a fine or petty point of detail or conduct; strictness or exactness in the observance of formalities; docorum (adj.) [-ous] having the property or character of being strict in adhering to detail or propriety

• The defendant emulated the punctilious attorney in his dealings with the court officials and guards, ensuring that each interaction began and ended with the appropriate salutations.  

Meticulous (adj.) taking or showing extreme care to details; precise, thorough; fastidious; scrupulous; punctilious

• The meticulous detective marked his legal pad in various places with stick-it notes and small messages in the margins.  

Guile (n.) assiduous cunning in attaining a goal; crafty or artful deception; duplicity

• It was guile that enabled the self-proclaimed supporter of morals to amass a fortune by building an amoral enterprise.  

Assiduous (adj.) constant; unremitting; persevering; diligent  

The pellucid message of the guitarist was made possible by years of assiduous practice; if he was sad, his instrument weeped; and if he was happy, his instrument cheered.  

Vocab Building

Words serve a purpose.  And like tools that serve their masters well, the good words tend to be put away into a tool box.  We call a tool box for words, a dictionary.  Phonologists call our mental dictionary, the inner tool box of words, our "lexicon".  Have you ever wondered how you know how to say so many words?  How your tongue and lips and glottis "know" how to behave to produce meaningful sounds?  Your lexicon is key. A lexicon is a special tool box.  A lexicon not only contains our tools, but special instructions for their assemblage, and rules for their appropriate use.  Some people must have very tidy mental toolboxes, me thinks.  I would very much like to be one of those persons.  

Vocabulary building is an exercise that I have been doing for the past three nights.  I plan to continue this exercise since it turns out to be good fun.  I do not as of yet having any set rules for the game.  But, last night, I created a kind of story with my vocabulary words.  The story was about a philandering husband, his stolid wife.  In that story, we learned that the husband is semi-religious, atoning for his sins by reading verse from the holy bible.  I'm not sure he will turn up again, but he might.  Anyway, on with the show.

Pecuniary /pɪˈkyuniˌɛri/ (adj) of or pertaining to money 

Beset with pecuniary worry, the widowed mother encouraged her young boy to earn money for his keep.  

Pariah /pəˈraɪə/ (n) an outcast, any person or animal that is despised

The young boy yearned for a sense of belonging; his schoolmates treated him as a pariah.  

Craven /ˈkreɪvən/ (adj) cowardly (n) a coward

The Old Greek Socrates overlooked the craven nature of the guardians of the state; instead of approaching the unknown with strength and openness, they barked like watchdogs.

Felicitous /fɪˈlɪsɪtəs/ (adj) well suited for the occasion as an expression, manner, or an action; appropriate; apt 

A felicitous trainer, the young boy calmed the watchdogs by giving them treats.

Premonitory /prɪˈmɒnɪˌtɔri/ (adj) serving to warn beforehand

His new sense of belongingness ought to have been the premonitory signal for his mother, the widow, who misinterpreted the sign as the blossoming of a butterfly. 

Détente /deɪˈtɑnt; French deɪˈtɑ̃t/ (n) a relaxing of tension, especially between nations, by agreeements or negotiation 

A détente formed between the young boy and his mother; for, she stopped nagging once he had obeyed her commands to provide for himself.  

excoriate  /ɪkˈskɔriˌeɪt, -ˈskoʊr-/ (v) to denounce or berate severely; to remove the skin from 

Gainfully employed as a watchdog trainer, the boy excoriated his youth and would soon be calling himself an adult.  


Beset with pecuniary worry, the widowed mother encouraged her young boy to earn money for his keep.  The young boy yearned for a sense of belonging; his schoolmates treated him as a pariah. The Old Greek Socrates overlooked the craven nature of the guardians of the state; instead of approaching the unknown with strength and openness, they barked like watchdogs. A felicitous trainer, the young boy endeared himself to the watchdogs by giving them treats.  His new sense of belongingness ought to have been the premonitory signal for his mother, the widow, who misinterpreted the sign as the blossoming of a butterfly. A détente formed between the young boy and his mother since she stopped nagging once he had obeyed her commands to provide for himself.  Gainfully employed as a watchdog trainer, the boy excoriated his youth and would soon be calling himself an adult.  

Here we have a story of a young boy and his mother.  I like the first sentence the most.  It's sad.  The second sentence comes in close second, but from there, I do not think they become better.  Still, it's a cool story.  Can anyone take a stab at what happened to the young boy?  Or is it too entrenched in metaphor?