Chapter 26 of A Modern Madonna is here in full — 216 sentences across 44 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXVI
Chapter 26 of A Modern Madonna is here in full — 216 sentences across 44 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
HEARTS AND SKINS "Mammy Cely," said Philip one day after a thoughtful consideration of her face, "what makes you black?" "I can't he'p it, honey. God made me that way." The child looked at her in perplexity. "Well, what did he do it for?"
Chapter 26 of A Modern Madonna is here in full — 216 sentences across 44 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/43 · 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.
the process of giving careful thought to something
From this reading “HEARTS AND SKINS "Mammy Cely," said Philip one day after a thoughtful consideration of her face, "what makes you black?"”
a form of whist in which players avoid winning tricks containing hearts or the queen of spades
From this reading “HEARTS AND SKINS "Mammy Cely," said Philip one day after a thoughtful consideration of her face, "what makes you black?"”
a sweet yellow liquid produced by bees
From this reading “"I can't he'p it, honey.”
plural of “make” — a recognizable kind
From this reading “HEARTS AND SKINS "Mammy Cely," said Philip one day after a thoughtful consideration of her face, "what makes you black?"”
trouble or confusion resulting from complexity
From this reading “The child looked at her in perplexity.”
Englishman and husband of Elizabeth II (born 1921)
From this reading “HEARTS AND SKINS "Mammy Cely," said Philip one day after a thoughtful consideration of her face, "what makes you black?"”
plural of “skin” — a natural protective body covering and site of the sense of touch
From this reading “HEARTS AND SKINS "Mammy Cely," said Philip one day after a thoughtful consideration of her face, "what makes you black?"”
having intellectual depth
From this reading “HEARTS AND SKINS "Mammy Cely," said Philip one day after a thoughtful consideration of her face, "what makes you black?"”
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.
take into consideration for exemplifying purposes
In this reading “The child looked at her in perplexity.”
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 HEARTS AND SKINS "Mammy Cely," said Philip one day after a thoughtful consideration of her face, "what makes you black?"
later than; following
From this reading HEARTS AND SKINS "Mammy Cely," said Philip one day after a thoughtful consideration of her face, "what makes you black?"
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading HEARTS AND SKINS "Mammy Cely," said Philip one day after a thoughtful consideration of her face, "what makes you black?"
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading The child looked at her in perplexity.
being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light
From this reading HEARTS AND SKINS "Mammy Cely," said Philip one day after a thoughtful consideration of her face, "what makes you black?"
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "I can't he'p it, honey.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading HEARTS AND SKINS "Mammy Cely," said Philip one day after a thoughtful consideration of her face, "what makes you black?"
a young person of either sex
From this reading The child looked at her in perplexity.
the process of giving careful thought to something
From this reading HEARTS AND SKINS "Mammy Cely," said Philip one day after a thoughtful consideration of her face, "what makes you black?"
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading HEARTS AND SKINS "Mammy Cely," said Philip one day after a thoughtful consideration of her face, "what makes you black?"
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading "Well, what did he do it for?"
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading "Well, what did he do it for?"
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading HEARTS AND SKINS "Mammy Cely," said Philip one day after a thoughtful consideration of her face, "what makes you black?"
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading "Well, what did he do it for?"
the supernatural being conceived as the perfect and omnipotent and omniscient originator and ruler of the universe; the object of worship in monotheistic religions
From this reading God made me that way."
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "Well, what did he do it for?"
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "I can't he'p it, honey.
a form of whist in which players avoid winning tricks containing hearts or the queen of spades
From this reading HEARTS AND SKINS "Mammy Cely," said Philip one day after a thoughtful consideration of her face, "what makes you black?"
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading HEARTS AND SKINS "Mammy Cely," said Philip one day after a thoughtful consideration of her face, "what makes you black?"
a sweet yellow liquid produced by bees
From this reading "I can't he'p it, honey.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "I can't he'p it, honey.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The child looked at her in perplexity.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading "I can't he'p it, honey.
past form of “look” — perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading The child looked at her in perplexity.
produced by a manufacturing process
From this reading God made me that way."
plural of “make” — a recognizable kind
From this reading HEARTS AND SKINS "Mammy Cely," said Philip one day after a thoughtful consideration of her face, "what makes you black?"
an offensive term for a Black nursemaid in the southern U.S.
From this reading HEARTS AND SKINS "Mammy Cely," said Philip one day after a thoughtful consideration of her face, "what makes you black?"
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading God made me that way."
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading HEARTS AND SKINS "Mammy Cely," said Philip one day after a thoughtful consideration of her face, "what makes you black?"
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading HEARTS AND SKINS "Mammy Cely," said Philip one day after a thoughtful consideration of her face, "what makes you black?"
trouble or confusion resulting from complexity
From this reading The child looked at her in perplexity.
Englishman and husband of Elizabeth II (born 1921)
From this reading HEARTS AND SKINS "Mammy Cely," said Philip one day after a thoughtful consideration of her face, "what makes you black?"
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading HEARTS AND SKINS "Mammy Cely," said Philip one day after a thoughtful consideration of her face, "what makes you black?"
plural of “skin” — a natural protective body covering and site of the sense of touch
From this reading HEARTS AND SKINS "Mammy Cely," said Philip one day after a thoughtful consideration of her face, "what makes you black?"
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading God made me that way."
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The child looked at her in perplexity.
having intellectual depth
From this reading HEARTS AND SKINS "Mammy Cely," said Philip one day after a thoughtful consideration of her face, "what makes you black?"
how something is done or how it happens
From this reading God made me that way."
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading "Well, what did he do it for?"
used to ask for information about something
From this reading HEARTS AND SKINS "Mammy Cely," said Philip one day after a thoughtful consideration of her face, "what makes you black?"
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading HEARTS AND SKINS "Mammy Cely," said Philip one day after a thoughtful consideration of her face, "what makes you black?"
Chapter 26 of A Modern Madonna by Caroline Abbot Stanley holds 216 sentences, grouped into 44 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 26 holds 216 sentences of A Modern Madonna, unabridged, divided into 44 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 26 of A Modern Madonna by Caroline Abbot Stanley exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 216 sentences, grouped into 44 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 44 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 44 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 26 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 Modern Madonna by Caroline Abbot Stanley on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7951 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #57418 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #57418, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1591 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through A Modern Madonna section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of A Modern Madonna 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 Modern Madonna, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
