Wandering Through Chapter 3 - More About Alcoholism
Chapter 3 - the sentence below spans pages 34-35
fraternity
"The experiment of quitting for a period of time will be helpful, but we think we can render an even greater service to alcoholic sufferers
and perhaps to the medical fraternity."
1
Big Book - More About Alcoholism - sentence spans pages 34-35
In this sentence the word fraternity functions as a noun. 2
In this sentence "medical fraternity," refers to the entire medical profession (doctors, researchers, and practitioners) as a unified body.
Definition is from Webster's 1930 edition. 3
Chapter 3 - page 35
relapse, crux
"So we shall describe some of the mental states that precede a relapse into drinking, for obviously this is the crux of the problem."
1
Big Book - More About Alcoholism - page 35
In this sentence the word relapse and crux both function as nouns. 2
The mental state is the most important factor before a slip back into drinking occurs.
Definitions are from Webster's 1930 edition. 3
dominates
"What sort of thinking dominates an alcoholic who repeats time after time the desperate experiment of the first drink?"
1
Big Book - More About Alcoholism - page 35
In this sentence the word dominates functions as a verb. 2
"What sort of thinking dominates .." the thinking that controls a person.
Definitions are from Webster's 1930 edition. 3
a friend we shall call Jim
"Our first example is a friend we shall call Jim."
1
Big Book - More About Alcoholism - page 35
In this chapter, Bill examines thought patterns in alcoholics that lead to relapse despite good intentions. He illustrates his points with case studies: Carpet Slippers Guy (page 32), Jim the car salesman (page 35), the Jay-Walker (page 37), and Fred the accountant (page 39).
In this example, Bill tells the story of "Jim," a car salesman, to illustrate the limits of willpower in overcoming the mental obsession with drinking. Jim is likely a composite of various early AA members, not a real person. Some have confused this Jim with Jim Burwell, an early AA member and part of the Oxford Group Alcoholic Squad that met each week at Bill’s house, but they are not the same. Bill introduces this character specifically to show how willpower alone cannot conquer the mental aspect of alcoholism.
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lucrative
"He inherited a lucrative automobile agency."
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Big Book - More About Alcoholism - page 35
In this sentence the word lucrative functions as an adjective. 2
A very profitable business.
Definitions are from Webster's 1930 edition. 3
consternation
"To his consternation, he found himself drunk half a dozen times in rapid succession."1 Big Book - More About Alcoholism - page 35
In this sentence the word consternation functions as a noun. 2
A very profitable business.
Definitions are from Webster's 1930 edition. 3
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Footnotes for page 35
1Quotes from the Big Book on listed on this page are from the public domain version, in the United States, of the 2nd edition of the book Alcoholics Anonymous. Accessible at 12step.org
2Sentence diagramming, to determine the word usage within the sentence, was performed by CoreNLP at corenlp.run.
3Definitions used are from the Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language 1930 Edition. Access to this dictionary online is at Hathitrust.org