Chapter 4 of A Parody Outline of History Wherein May Be is here in full — 147 sentences across 30 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of A Parody Outline of History Wherein May Be is here in full — 147 sentences across 30 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
MRS. BREWSTER: Priscilla! What an idea! And please dear, give Auntie Brewster the gin. I--er--promised to take some to the church social tonight and it's almost all gone now.
Chapter 4 of A Parody Outline of History Wherein May Be is here in full — 147 sentences across 30 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/29 · 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 sister of your father or mother; the wife of your uncle
From this reading “And please dear, give Auntie Brewster the gin.”
one of the groups of Christians who have their own beliefs and forms of worship
From this reading “I--er--promised to take some to the church social tonight and it's almost all gone now.”
strong liquor flavored with juniper berries
From this reading “And please dear, give Auntie Brewster the gin.”
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading “What an idea!”
give pleasure to or be pleasing to
From this reading “And please dear, give Auntie Brewster the gin.”
past form of “promise” — make a promise or commitment
From this reading “I--er--promised to take some to the church social tonight and it's almost all gone now.”
relating to human society and its members
From this reading “I--er--promised to take some to the church social tonight and it's almost all gone now.”
On the present night.
From this reading “I--er--promised to take some to the church social tonight and it's almost all gone now.”
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.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading I--er--promised to take some to the church social tonight and it's almost all gone now.
(of actions or states) slightly short of or not quite accomplished; all but
From this reading I--er--promised to take some to the church social tonight and it's almost all gone now.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading What an idea!
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading And please dear, give Auntie Brewster the gin.
the sister of your father or mother; the wife of your uncle
From this reading And please dear, give Auntie Brewster the gin.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading BREWSTER: Priscilla!
one of the groups of Christians who have their own beliefs and forms of worship
From this reading I--er--promised to take some to the church social tonight and it's almost all gone now.
dearly loved
From this reading And please dear, give Auntie Brewster the gin.
a trivalent metallic element of the rare earth group; occurs with yttrium
From this reading I--er--promised to take some to the church social tonight and it's almost all gone now.
strong liquor flavored with juniper berries
From this reading And please dear, give Auntie Brewster the gin.
cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense
From this reading And please dear, give Auntie Brewster the gin.
destroyed or killed
From this reading I--er--promised to take some to the church social tonight and it's almost all gone now.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I--er--promised to take some to the church social tonight and it's almost all gone now.
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading What an idea!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I--er--promised to take some to the church social tonight and it's almost all gone now.
a form of address for a married woman
From this reading MRS.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading I--er--promised to take some to the church social tonight and it's almost all gone now.
give pleasure to or be pleasing to
From this reading And please dear, give Auntie Brewster the gin.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading BREWSTER: Priscilla!
past form of “promise” — make a promise or commitment
From this reading I--er--promised to take some to the church social tonight and it's almost all gone now.
relating to human society and its members
From this reading I--er--promised to take some to the church social tonight and it's almost all gone now.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading I--er--promised to take some to the church social tonight and it's almost all gone now.
carry out
From this reading I--er--promised to take some to the church social tonight and it's almost all gone now.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading And please dear, give Auntie Brewster the gin.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading I--er--promised to take some to the church social tonight and it's almost all gone now.
On the present night.
From this reading I--er--promised to take some to the church social tonight and it's almost all gone now.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading What an idea!
Chapter 4 of A Parody Outline of History Wherein May Be by Donald Ogden Stewart holds 147 sentences, grouped into 30 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 4 holds 147 sentences of A Parody Outline of History Wherein May Be, unabridged, divided into 30 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of A Parody Outline of History Wherein May Be by Donald Ogden Stewart exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 147 sentences, grouped into 30 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 30 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 30 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 4 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 Parody Outline of History Wherein May Be by Donald Ogden Stewart on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1210 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #1478 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #1478, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 100 minutes of reading across 242 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through A Parody Outline of History Wherein May Be section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 7 chapters of A Parody Outline of History Wherein May Be 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 Parody Outline of History Wherein May Be, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
