Chapter 1 of An Outcast is here in full — 231 sentences across 47 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of An Outcast is here in full — 231 sentences across 47 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
CHARLESTON. This simple story commences on a November evening, in the autumn of 185-. Charleston and New York furnish me with the scenes and characters. Our quaint old city has been in a disquiet mood for several weeks. Yellow fever has scourged us through the autumn, and we have again taken to scourging ourselves with secession fancies.
Chapter 1 of An Outcast is here in full — 231 sentences across 47 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/46 · 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.
state capital of West Virginia in the central part of the state on the Kanawha river
From this reading “CHARLESTON.”
third-person singular of “commence” — take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
From this reading “This simple story commences on a November evening, in the autumn of 185-.”
a feeling of mild anxiety about possible developments
From this reading “Our quaint old city has been in a disquiet mood for several weeks.”
plural of “fancy” — something many people believe that is false
From this reading “Yellow fever has scourged us through the autumn, and we have again taken to scourging ourselves with secession fancies.”
give something useful or necessary to
From this reading “Charleston and New York furnish me with the scenes and characters.”
past form of “scourge” — punish severely; excoriate
From this reading “Yellow fever has scourged us through the autumn, and we have again taken to scourging ourselves with secession fancies.”
-ing form of “scourge” — punish severely; excoriate
From this reading “Yellow fever has scourged us through the autumn, and we have again taken to scourging ourselves with secession fancies.”
an Austrian school of art and architecture parallel to the French art nouveau in the 1890s
From this reading “Yellow fever has scourged us through the autumn, and we have again taken to scourging ourselves with secession fancies.”
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.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading This simple story commences on a November evening, in the autumn of 185-.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading This simple story commences on a November evening, in the autumn of 185-.
anew
From this reading Yellow fever has scourged us through the autumn, and we have again taken to scourging ourselves with secession fancies.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Charleston and New York furnish me with the scenes and characters.
the season when the leaves fall from the trees
From this reading This simple story commences on a November evening, in the autumn of 185-.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading Our quaint old city has been in a disquiet mood for several weeks.
plural of “character” — an imaginary person represented in a work of fiction (play or film or story)
From this reading Charleston and New York furnish me with the scenes and characters.
state capital of West Virginia in the central part of the state on the Kanawha river
From this reading CHARLESTON.
a large and densely populated urban area; may include several independent administrative districts
From this reading Our quaint old city has been in a disquiet mood for several weeks.
third-person singular of “commence” — take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
From this reading This simple story commences on a November evening, in the autumn of 185-.
a feeling of mild anxiety about possible developments
From this reading Our quaint old city has been in a disquiet mood for several weeks.
the latter part of the day (the period of decreasing daylight from late afternoon until nightfall)
From this reading This simple story commences on a November evening, in the autumn of 185-.
plural of “fancy” — something many people believe that is false
From this reading Yellow fever has scourged us through the autumn, and we have again taken to scourging ourselves with secession fancies.
a rise in the temperature of the body; frequently a symptom of infection
From this reading Yellow fever has scourged us through the autumn, and we have again taken to scourging ourselves with secession fancies.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Our quaint old city has been in a disquiet mood for several weeks.
give something useful or necessary to
From this reading Charleston and New York furnish me with the scenes and characters.
the form of “have” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Our quaint old city has been in a disquiet mood for several weeks.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading Yellow fever has scourged us through the autumn, and we have again taken to scourging ourselves with secession fancies.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading This simple story commences on a November evening, in the autumn of 185-.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Charleston and New York furnish me with the scenes and characters.
a characteristic (habitual or relatively temporary) state of feeling
From this reading Our quaint old city has been in a disquiet mood for several weeks.
not of long duration; having just (or relatively recently) come into being or been made or acquired or discovered
From this reading Charleston and New York furnish me with the scenes and characters.
the month following October and preceding December
From this reading This simple story commences on a November evening, in the autumn of 185-.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading This simple story commences on a November evening, in the autumn of 185-.
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading Our quaint old city has been in a disquiet mood for several weeks.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading This simple story commences on a November evening, in the autumn of 185-.
belonging to the speaker and others
From this reading Our quaint old city has been in a disquiet mood for several weeks.
used when we are both doing the action and receiving it
From this reading Yellow fever has scourged us through the autumn, and we have again taken to scourging ourselves with secession fancies.
strange in an interesting or pleasing way
From this reading Our quaint old city has been in a disquiet mood for several weeks.
plural of “scene” — the place where some action occurs
From this reading Charleston and New York furnish me with the scenes and characters.
past form of “scourge” — punish severely; excoriate
From this reading Yellow fever has scourged us through the autumn, and we have again taken to scourging ourselves with secession fancies.
-ing form of “scourge” — punish severely; excoriate
From this reading Yellow fever has scourged us through the autumn, and we have again taken to scourging ourselves with secession fancies.
an Austrian school of art and architecture parallel to the French art nouveau in the 1890s
From this reading Yellow fever has scourged us through the autumn, and we have again taken to scourging ourselves with secession fancies.
(used with count nouns) of an indefinite number more than 2 or 3 but not many
From this reading Our quaint old city has been in a disquiet mood for several weeks.
having few parts; not complex or complicated or involved
From this reading This simple story commences on a November evening, in the autumn of 185-.
a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program
From this reading This simple story commences on a November evening, in the autumn of 185-.
understood in a certain way; made sense of
From this reading Yellow fever has scourged us through the autumn, and we have again taken to scourging ourselves with secession fancies.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading This simple story commences on a November evening, in the autumn of 185-.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading This simple story commences on a November evening, in the autumn of 185-.
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading Yellow fever has scourged us through the autumn, and we have again taken to scourging ourselves with secession fancies.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Yellow fever has scourged us through the autumn, and we have again taken to scourging ourselves with secession fancies.
the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Yellow fever has scourged us through the autumn, and we have again taken to scourging ourselves with secession fancies.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading Yellow fever has scourged us through the autumn, and we have again taken to scourging ourselves with secession fancies.
plural of “week” — any period of seven consecutive days
From this reading Our quaint old city has been in a disquiet mood for several weeks.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Charleston and New York furnish me with the scenes and characters.
of the color intermediate between green and orange in the color spectrum; of something resembling the color of an egg yolk
From this reading Yellow fever has scourged us through the autumn, and we have again taken to scourging ourselves with secession fancies.
the English royal house (a branch of the Plantagenet line) that reigned from 1461 to 1485; its emblem was a white rose
From this reading Charleston and New York furnish me with the scenes and characters.
Chapter 1 of An Outcast by F. Colburn (Francis Colburn) Adams holds 231 sentences, grouped into 47 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 231 sentences of An Outcast, unabridged, divided into 47 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of An Outcast by F. Colburn (Francis Colburn) Adams exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 231 sentences, grouped into 47 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 47 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 47 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 An Outcast by F. Colburn (Francis Colburn) Adams on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5541 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #20745 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #20745, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 461 minutes of reading across 1109 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through An Outcast section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of An Outcast 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 An Outcast, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
