Four Chapters

bev·y

[bev-ee]

noun

1. a group of birds, as larks or quail, or animals, as roebuck, in close association.
2. a large group or collection: a bevy of boisterous sailors.

Source: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bevy

so·lil·o·quy

[suh-lil-uh-kwee]

noun, plural -quies.

1. an utterance or discourse by a person who is talking to himself or herself or is disregardful of or oblivious to any hearers present (often used as a device in drama to disclose a character’s innermost thoughts): Hamlet’s soliloquy begins with “To be or not to be.”
2. the act of talking while or as if alone.

Source: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/soliloquy

Potemkin village

noun

1. a pretentiously showy or imposing façade intended to mask or divert attention from an embarrassing or shabby fact or condition.

Origin:

1935–40; after Prince Potëmkin, who allegedly had villages of cardboard constructed for Catherine II’s visit to the Ukraine and the Crimea in 1787

Source: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Potemkin%20village

prof·li·ga·cy

[prof-li-guh-see]

noun

1. shameless dissoluteness.
2. reckless extravagance.
3. great abundance.

Source: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/profligacy

vo·li·tion

[voh-lish-uhn, vuh-]

noun

1. the act of willing, choosing, or resolving; exercise of willing: She left of her own volition.
2. a choice or decision made by the will.
3. the power of willing; will.

Source: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/volition