Chapter 5 of A Book About Myself is here in full — 189 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter V
Chapter 5 of A Book About Myself is here in full — 189 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
IT made me happy to know that whether or not I was taken on I had at least achieved one friend at court. Maxwell advised me to stick. “You’ll get on,” he said a day or two later. “I believe you’ve got the stuff in you. Maybe I can help you.
Chapter 5 of A Book About Myself is here in full — 189 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/37 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
past form of “achieve” — to gain with effort
From this reading “IT made me happy to know that whether or not I was taken on I had at least achieved one friend at court.”
having the benefit of careful prior consideration or counsel
From this reading “Maxwell advised me to stick.”
an assembly (including one or more judges) to conduct judicial business
From this reading “IT made me happy to know that whether or not I was taken on I had at least achieved one friend at court.”
happening at a time subsequent to a reference time
From this reading ““You’ll get on,” he said a day or two later.”
a cgs unit of magnetic flux equal to the flux perpendicular to an area of 1 square centimeter in a magnetic field of 1 gauss
From this reading “Maxwell advised me to stick.”
by chance
From this reading “Maybe I can help you.”
put, fix, force, or implant
From this reading “Maxwell advised me to stick.”
the tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a physical object
From this reading ““I believe you’ve got the stuff in you.”
English keeps certain words together, and knowing the pair is worth more than knowing each word alone. Every partnership below was counted across our whole published library, and earns its place by appearing far more often than two unrelated words of the same frequency would.
Shown as this reading writes them, with the form the library counts, what kind of pairing it is, and how often it occurs.
In this reading “IT made me happy to know that whether or not I was taken on I had at least achieved one friend at court.”
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading “You’ll get on,” he said a day or two later.
past form of “achieve” — to gain with effort
From this reading IT made me happy to know that whether or not I was taken on I had at least achieved one friend at court.
having the benefit of careful prior consideration or counsel
From this reading Maxwell advised me to stick.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading IT made me happy to know that whether or not I was taken on I had at least achieved one friend at court.
accept as true; take to be true
From this reading “I believe you’ve got the stuff in you.
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading Maybe I can help you.
an assembly (including one or more judges) to conduct judicial business
From this reading IT made me happy to know that whether or not I was taken on I had at least achieved one friend at court.
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading “You’ll get on,” he said a day or two later.
a person you know well and regard with affection and trust
From this reading IT made me happy to know that whether or not I was taken on I had at least achieved one friend at court.
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading “You’ll get on,” he said a day or two later.
inflected form of “get” — come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading “I believe you’ve got the stuff in you.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading IT made me happy to know that whether or not I was taken on I had at least achieved one friend at court.
enjoying or showing or marked by joy or pleasure
From this reading IT made me happy to know that whether or not I was taken on I had at least achieved one friend at court.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading “You’ll get on,” he said a day or two later.
give help or assistance; be of service
From this reading Maybe I can help you.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading IT made me happy to know that whether or not I was taken on I had at least achieved one friend at court.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading “I believe you’ve got the stuff in you.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading IT made me happy to know that whether or not I was taken on I had at least achieved one friend at court.
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading IT made me happy to know that whether or not I was taken on I had at least achieved one friend at court.
happening at a time subsequent to a reference time
From this reading “You’ll get on,” he said a day or two later.
the superlative of “little” that can be used with mass nouns and is usually preceded by “the”; a quantifier meaning smallest in amount or extent or degree
From this reading IT made me happy to know that whether or not I was taken on I had at least achieved one friend at court.
produced by a manufacturing process
From this reading IT made me happy to know that whether or not I was taken on I had at least achieved one friend at court.
a cgs unit of magnetic flux equal to the flux perpendicular to an area of 1 square centimeter in a magnetic field of 1 gauss
From this reading Maxwell advised me to stick.
by chance
From this reading Maybe I can help you.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading IT made me happy to know that whether or not I was taken on I had at least achieved one friend at court.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading IT made me happy to know that whether or not I was taken on I had at least achieved one friend at court.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading IT made me happy to know that whether or not I was taken on I had at least achieved one friend at court.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading IT made me happy to know that whether or not I was taken on I had at least achieved one friend at court.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading IT made me happy to know that whether or not I was taken on I had at least achieved one friend at court.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “You’ll get on,” he said a day or two later.
put, fix, force, or implant
From this reading Maxwell advised me to stick.
the tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a physical object
From this reading “I believe you’ve got the stuff in you.
understood in a certain way; made sense of
From this reading IT made me happy to know that whether or not I was taken on I had at least achieved one friend at court.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading IT made me happy to know that whether or not I was taken on I had at least achieved one friend at court.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading “I believe you’ve got the stuff in you.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading IT made me happy to know that whether or not I was taken on I had at least achieved one friend at court.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading “You’ll get on,” he said a day or two later.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading IT made me happy to know that whether or not I was taken on I had at least achieved one friend at court.
used to introduce two or more possibilities
From this reading IT made me happy to know that whether or not I was taken on I had at least achieved one friend at court.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “I believe you’ve got the stuff in you.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “You’ll get on,” he said a day or two later.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “I believe you’ve got the stuff in you.
Chapter 5 of A Book About Myself by Theodore Dreiser holds 189 sentences, grouped into 38 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the source edition, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 5 holds 189 sentences of A Book About Myself, unabridged, divided into 38 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 5 of A Book About Myself by Theodore Dreiser exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 189 sentences, grouped into 38 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 38 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 38 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 5 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
Common questions about reading A Book About Myself by Theodore Dreiser on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 8541 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #62995 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #62995, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1709 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through A Book About Myself section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of A Book About Myself to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in A Book About Myself, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
