The Third Level Vocabulary Flashcards

Flashcards covering key terms, characters, and historical details from Jack Finney's story 'The Third Level'.

The Third Level

A physical location at Grand Central Station that Charley believes exists, which serves as a gateway to the year 1894.

Waking-dream wish fulfillment

The term used by Charley's psychiatrist friend to describe Charley's experience of the third level as an escape from the modern world's insecurity and fear.

Charley

A 31-year-old ordinary man who wears a tan gabardine suit and a straw hat with a fancy band, and who discovers the third level at Grand Central Station.

Louisa

Charley's wife who becomes worried about his search for the third level and eventually joins him in looking for it.

Sam Weiner

Charley's psychiatrist friend who disappears and eventually sends a letter from Galesburg, Illinois, dated July 18, 1894.

Temporary refuge from reality

How Charley's friends described his hobby of stamp collecting, linking it to his desire to escape modern insecurities.

First-day cover

An envelope mailed by stamp collectors to themselves on the first day of a new stamp's sale, containing blank paper and bearing a postmark that proves the date.

The World

A newspaper that hasn't been published for years, which Charley finds on the third level with a front page dated June 11, 1894.

Galesburg, Illinois

A peaceful town described as having big frame houses and huge lawns where Charley lived as a boy and where he tries to travel to in 1894.

Old-style bills

Currency used in 1894 that was half again as big as modern money and different-looking.

Leg-of-mutton sleeves

A style of dress sleeve worn by a woman Charley sees on the third level, characteristic of 1890s fashion.

Currier & Ives

The name of the very small locomotive with a funnel-shaped stack that Charley sees at the tracks on the third level.

President Garfield

The president whose picture appeared on the six-cent, dull brown stamp found on the first-day cover mailed to Charley's grandfather.

President Cleveland

The person featured in the lead story of the June 11, 1894, edition of The World newspaper.

July 18, 1894

The date found on the postmark and at the top of the letter Sam Weiner sent to Charley from the past.

800 dollars

The amount of old-style currency Sam Weiner bought to set up a hay, feed, and grain business in 1894 Galesburg.

300 dollars

The amount of modern currency Charley withdrew from the bank to exchange for old-style bills, receiving less than 200 dollars in return.

June 11, 1894

The date printed on the front page of The World newspaper that Charley found in the Public Library files.