7.

Define the meaning of the following words according to the text: rampant, wantonly,
shredded, dog-earing the page.

Rampant, is a descriptive adjective which can be defined as growing or spreading steadily and without
stopping. In the above essay it is used to describe the growing nature of the Fadiman familys book
abuse in the meaning that instead of treating books as objects to be worshipped, they believed books
should show wear as a proof that they had not only been read, but devoured.

Wantonly is an adverb that means doing something without a motive, in a capricious way and without
control. The author is describing the family beliefs in carnal love for books and providing arguments for
them to behave in that unfair and uncontrolled way towards them.

Shredded, is the past tense of the verb to shred which means to cut or tear into small pieces. The writer
uses this verb to describe the way her old editor, Byron, treated books. He, same as the Fadiman
family, is a carnal book lover who believes books have to be used, underlined, wrote in, and cut into
small pieces since it means he has really use them to the point that his books sometimes became
unusable.

Dog-earing the page: Dog-earing is a verb which refers to folding a corner of a book as a way to mark
a page you want to go back later. It establishes a visual comparison between the way the paper looks
after being folded and some type of dog ears. Dog-earing is followed by the page which functions as a
direct object. The author uses this expression in the text to confess how she sometimes marks her pages.