Dr. Stephen Campbell, who was at University of California, Irvine, at the time offered the following to his students:

EXTRA CREDIT:
It is anticipated that many of you will encounter some terms (words, names, places, etc.) in the course text that are unfamiliar to you. Extra credit will be given, at the discretion of the instructor, for those of you that take the time and effort to write down those terms along with a brief statement, in your own words, of what you think the author meant, or may have been referring to. Listing unusual terms that you have genuine difficulty in understanding, will be considered more favorably than those readily found in your pocket dictionary (if you don't already have one, get one, because you will need it).
If you do choose to submit such a list as an addendum to your assignments, be sure to indicate the page number and location where the term was used in the text. Use the following codes: top#, mop#, and bop#, to indicate, respectively, the top, middle, and bottom thirds of the page number on which you first encountered the term. Here are some examples:
"acrimony" (bop. 33): a harsh use of language or an expression of bad feelings.
"polemics" (bop. 33): to be artfully or purposefully engaged in disputes.
"paronymia" (top. 34): something to do with language, but I don't quite understand what.
"avant la lettre" (mop. 35): French for "before the letter."
The first two words may be unfamiliar to most of you, but you can readily discover their meaning by looking them up in a dictionary and trying to make sense of what the author meant by the way he has used them. In comparing the context of the word with the definition, you should try to briefly explain what is meant in your own words rather than simply writing out the dictionary's definition.
The third word, "paronymia," is a very unusual word that you may not find in a pocket dictionary. In this case, some effort to try and understand what the author meant from the context in which the word is found would be better than just listing it as a word that you don't understand. Sometimes Egan uses common phrases from other languages such as "avant la lettre," that may require consulting special dictionaries.


Word List Extra Credit

tenuous (top, 2): Having little support or flimsy
panoply (mop, 2): A splendid collection of things
litany (mop, 2): An act of repetition
amelioration (bop, 3): To make better or imporove
polysemous (top, 4): Having many meanings
Somatic (top, 6): Relating to the body
preternatural (bop, 6): Surpassing the normal; extraordinary
waspish (bop, 6): Easily irritated
recapitulation (top, 7): A summary or review
iatrogenic (top, 10): Induced in a patient by a physician
cretinizing (bop, 14): Not quite sure what this means; idiotic or having
meaningless--making people like cretins.

"constituent" (mop. 155) : Serving as part of a whole; component
"corrosive" (bop. 155) : Spitefully sarcastic
"slog" (bop. 155) : To work diligently with a slow, heavy pace for long hours
"enshrine" (top. 156) : To enclose in
"epistemological" (top. 156) : The branch of philosophy that studies the
nature of knowledge, its presuppositions and foundations, and its extent and
validity
"bemusement" (mop. 156) : State of being bewildered; confused
"contingent" (mop. 156) : Liable to occur but not with certainty; possible
"imbued" (bop. 158): Inspired, permeated, or invaded
"coalesce" (bop. 158) : To come together so as to form one whole; unite
"desiccation" (bop. 158) : State of lacking life, spirit, or animation ;
dried out
"enervation" (bop. 158) : State of being deprived of strength, vitality
"solipsistic" (top. 160) : The theory or view that the self is the only
reality.
"unshackled" (top. 160) : to be free from…
"starkness" (mop. 160) : Bare; blunt
"futile" (bop. 161) : Having no useful result
"buoyant" (top. 162) : Lighthearted; gay
"mimetic" (mop 163): Of or relating to an imitation; imitative.
"vestigial" (bop 163) : Of, relating to, or constituting a vestige -- A
visible trace, evidence, or sign of something that once existed but exists or
appears no more.
"recapitulated" (top 164) : Repeated in concise form.
"repertoire" (mop 165) : The range or number of skills, aptitudes, or special
accomplishments of a particular person or group.
"hypnagogic" (top. 168): Inducing sleep; soporific
"inexorable" (top. 169) : Not capable of being persuaded by entreaty;
relentless
"intractable" (top. 169): Difficult to mold or manipulate
"ineffable" (mop. 170) : Incapable of being expressed; indescribable or
unutterable
"entrammelled" (mop. 170): Entangled

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