Chapter 1 of A Valiant Ignorance: A Novel in Three Volumes is here in full — 191 sentences across 39 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of A Valiant Ignorance: A Novel in Three Volumes is here in full — 191 sentences across 39 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“I hope you are quite well. I am quite well, and Smut is quite well. Her tail is very fat. I hope papa is quite well. I have a box of soldiers.
Chapter 1 of A Valiant Ignorance: A Novel in Three Volumes is here in full — 191 sentences across 39 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/38 · 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.
a (usually rectangular) container; may have a lid
From this reading “I have a box of soldiers.”
having an (over)abundance of flesh
From this reading “Her tail is very fat.”
a specific instance of feeling hopeful
From this reading ““I hope you are quite well.”
an informal term for a father; probably derived from baby talk
From this reading “I hope papa is quite well.”
to a degree (not used with a negative)
From this reading ““I hope you are quite well.”
a black colloidal substance consisting wholly or principally of amorphous carbon and used to make pigments and ink
From this reading “I am quite well, and Smut is quite well.”
plural of “soldier” — an enlisted man or woman who serves in an army
From this reading “I have a box of soldiers.”
the posterior part of the body of a vertebrate especially when elongated and extending beyond the trunk or main part of the body
From this reading “Her tail is very fat.”
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.
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 I have a box of soldiers.
the form of “be” used with “I”
From this reading I am quite well, and Smut is quite well.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading I am quite well, and Smut is quite well.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading “I hope you are quite well.
a (usually rectangular) container; may have a lid
From this reading I have a box of soldiers.
having an (over)abundance of flesh
From this reading Her tail is very fat.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading I have a box of soldiers.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Her tail is very fat.
a specific instance of feeling hopeful
From this reading “I hope you are quite well.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading “I hope you are quite well.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading I am quite well, and Smut is quite well.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading I have a box of soldiers.
an informal term for a father; probably derived from baby talk
From this reading I hope papa is quite well.
to a degree (not used with a negative)
From this reading “I hope you are quite well.
a black colloidal substance consisting wholly or principally of amorphous carbon and used to make pigments and ink
From this reading I am quite well, and Smut is quite well.
plural of “soldier” — an enlisted man or woman who serves in an army
From this reading I have a box of soldiers.
the posterior part of the body of a vertebrate especially when elongated and extending beyond the trunk or main part of the body
From this reading Her tail is very fat.
precisely as stated
From this reading Her tail is very fat.
(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 “I hope you are quite well.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “I hope you are quite well.
Chapter 1 of A Valiant Ignorance: A Novel in Three Volumes by Mary Angela Dickens holds 191 sentences, grouped into 39 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 191 sentences of A Valiant Ignorance: A Novel in Three Volumes, unabridged, divided into 39 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of A Valiant Ignorance: A Novel in Three Volumes by Mary Angela Dickens exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 191 sentences, grouped into 39 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 39 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 39 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 Valiant Ignorance: A Novel in Three Volumes by Mary Angela Dickens on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2259 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #54093 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #54093, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 188 minutes of reading across 452 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through A Valiant Ignorance: A Novel in Three Volumes section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 14 chapters of A Valiant Ignorance: A Novel in Three Volumes 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 Valiant Ignorance: A Novel in Three Volumes, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
