Chapter 1 of A Daughter of the Union is here in full — 207 sentences across 42 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of A Daughter of the Union is here in full — 207 sentences across 42 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Author of "A Colonial Maid," Etc. Manufactured in the U. S. A. "That finishes everything," exclaimed Jeanne Vance, placing a neatly folded handkerchief in a basket. "And oh, girls, what a little bit of a pile it makes!" The five girls drew their chairs closer to the basket and gazed ruefully at its contents.
Chapter 1 of A Daughter of the Union is here in full — 207 sentences across 42 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/41 · 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.
of or relating to or characteristic of or inhabiting a colony
From this reading “Author of "A Colonial Maid," Etc.”
plural of “finish” — a decorative texture or appearance of a surface (or the substance that gives it that appearance)
From this reading “"That finishes everything," exclaimed Jeanne Vance, placing a neatly folded handkerchief in a basket.”
past form of “fold” — bend or lay so that one part covers the other
From this reading “"That finishes everything," exclaimed Jeanne Vance, placing a neatly folded handkerchief in a basket.”
produced in a large-scale industrial operation
From this reading “Manufactured in the U. S. A.”
with neatness
From this reading “"That finishes everything," exclaimed Jeanne Vance, placing a neatly folded handkerchief in a basket.”
a collection of objects laid on top of each other
From this reading “"And oh, girls, what a little bit of a pile it makes!"”
-ing form of “place” — put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading “"That finishes everything," exclaimed Jeanne Vance, placing a neatly folded handkerchief in a basket.”
in a rueful manner
From this reading “The five girls drew their chairs closer to the basket and gazed ruefully at its contents.”
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 “"And oh, girls, what a little bit of a pile it makes!"”
In this reading “"That finishes everything," exclaimed Jeanne Vance, placing a neatly folded handkerchief in a basket.”
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 Author of "A Colonial Maid," Etc.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading "And oh, girls, what a little bit of a pile it makes!"
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading The five girls drew their chairs closer to the basket and gazed ruefully at its contents.
writes (books or stories or articles or the like) professionally (for pay)
From this reading Author of "A Colonial Maid," Etc.
a container that is usually woven and has handles
From this reading "That finishes everything," exclaimed Jeanne Vance, placing a neatly folded handkerchief in a basket.
a small piece or quantity of something
From this reading "And oh, girls, what a little bit of a pile it makes!"
plural of “chair” — a seat for one person, with a support for the back
From this reading The five girls drew their chairs closer to the basket and gazed ruefully at its contents.
(comparative of “near” or “close”) within a shorter distance
From this reading The five girls drew their chairs closer to the basket and gazed ruefully at its contents.
of or relating to or characteristic of or inhabiting a colony
From this reading Author of "A Colonial Maid," Etc.
(usually plural) everything that is included in a collection and that is held or included in something
From this reading The five girls drew their chairs closer to the basket and gazed ruefully at its contents.
United States actor (born in Ireland); father of Georgiana Emma Barrymore (1827-1862)
From this reading The five girls drew their chairs closer to the basket and gazed ruefully at its contents.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Author of "A Colonial Maid," Etc.
all things; all of a situation
From this reading "That finishes everything," exclaimed Jeanne Vance, placing a neatly folded handkerchief in a basket.
past form of “exclaim” — utter aloud; often with surprise, horror, or joy
From this reading "That finishes everything," exclaimed Jeanne Vance, placing a neatly folded handkerchief in a basket.
plural of “finish” — a decorative texture or appearance of a surface (or the substance that gives it that appearance)
From this reading "That finishes everything," exclaimed Jeanne Vance, placing a neatly folded handkerchief in a basket.
the cardinal number that is the sum of four and one
From this reading The five girls drew their chairs closer to the basket and gazed ruefully at its contents.
past form of “fold” — bend or lay so that one part covers the other
From this reading "That finishes everything," exclaimed Jeanne Vance, placing a neatly folded handkerchief in a basket.
past form of “gaze” — look at with fixed eyes
From this reading The five girls drew their chairs closer to the basket and gazed ruefully at its contents.
plural of “girl” — a young female
From this reading "And oh, girls, what a little bit of a pile it makes!"
a square piece of cloth used for wiping the eyes or nose or as a costume accessory
From this reading "That finishes everything," exclaimed Jeanne Vance, placing a neatly folded handkerchief in a basket.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Manufactured in the U. S. A.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading "And oh, girls, what a little bit of a pile it makes!"
belonging to the thing or animal already mentioned
From this reading The five girls drew their chairs closer to the basket and gazed ruefully at its contents.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "That finishes everything," exclaimed Jeanne Vance, placing a neatly folded handkerchief in a basket.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading "And oh, girls, what a little bit of a pile it makes!"
a female domestic
From this reading Author of "A Colonial Maid," Etc.
plural of “make” — a recognizable kind
From this reading "And oh, girls, what a little bit of a pile it makes!"
produced in a large-scale industrial operation
From this reading Manufactured in the U. S. A.
with neatness
From this reading "That finishes everything," exclaimed Jeanne Vance, placing a neatly folded handkerchief in a basket.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Author of "A Colonial Maid," Etc.
a midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region
From this reading "And oh, girls, what a little bit of a pile it makes!"
a collection of objects laid on top of each other
From this reading "And oh, girls, what a little bit of a pile it makes!"
-ing form of “place” — put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading "That finishes everything," exclaimed Jeanne Vance, placing a neatly folded handkerchief in a basket.
in a rueful manner
From this reading The five girls drew their chairs closer to the basket and gazed ruefully at its contents.
1/60 of a minute; the basic unit of time adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites
From this reading Manufactured in the U. S. A.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading "That finishes everything," exclaimed Jeanne Vance, placing a neatly folded handkerchief in a basket.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Manufactured in the U. S. A.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading The five girls drew their chairs closer to the basket and gazed ruefully at its contents.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The five girls drew their chairs closer to the basket and gazed ruefully at its contents.
a base containing nitrogen that is found in RNA (but not in DNA) and derived from pyrimidine; pairs with adenine
From this reading Manufactured in the U. S. A.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "That finishes everything," exclaimed Jeanne Vance, placing a neatly folded handkerchief in a basket.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading "And oh, girls, what a little bit of a pile it makes!"
Chapter 1 of A Daughter of the Union by Lucy Foster Madison holds 207 sentences, grouped into 42 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 1 holds 207 sentences of A Daughter of the Union, unabridged, divided into 42 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of A Daughter of the Union by Lucy Foster Madison exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 207 sentences, grouped into 42 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 42 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 42 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 1 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 Daughter of the Union by Lucy Foster Madison on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5145 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #32993 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #32993, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 428 minutes of reading across 1029 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through A Daughter of the Union section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 30 chapters of A Daughter of the Union 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 Daughter of the Union, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
