Chapter 6 of Anthem is here in full — 204 sentences across 41 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VI
Chapter 6 of Anthem is here in full — 204 sentences across 41 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
We stopped when we felt hunger. We saw birds in the tree branches, and flying from under our footsteps. We picked a stone and we sent [-is-] {+it+} as an arrow at a bird. It fell before us. We made a fire, we cooked the bird, and we ate it, and no meal had ever tasted better to us.
Chapter 6 of Anthem is here in full — 204 sentences across 41 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/40 · 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 mark to indicate a direction or relation
From this reading “We picked a stone and we sent [-is-] {+it+} as an arrow at a bird.”
goddess of criminal rashness and its punishment
From this reading “We made a fire, we cooked the bird, and we ate it, and no meal had ever tasted better to us.”
plural of “branch” — a division of some larger or more complex organization
From this reading “We saw birds in the tree branches, and flying from under our footsteps.”
having been prepared for eating by the application of heat
From this reading “We made a fire, we cooked the bird, and we ate it, and no meal had ever tasted better to us.”
plural of “footstep” — the sound of a step of someone walking
From this reading “We saw birds in the tree branches, and flying from under our footsteps.”
a physiological need for food; the consequence of food deprivation
From this reading “We stopped when we felt hunger.”
the food served and eaten at one time
From this reading “We made a fire, we cooked the bird, and we ate it, and no meal had ever tasted better to us.”
past form of “taste” — have flavor; taste of something
From this reading “We made a fire, we cooked the bird, and we ate it, and no meal had ever tasted better to us.”
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 We picked a stone and we sent [-is-] {+it+} as an arrow at a bird.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading We picked a stone and we sent [-is-] {+it+} as an arrow at a bird.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading We saw birds in the tree branches, and flying from under our footsteps.
a mark to indicate a direction or relation
From this reading We picked a stone and we sent [-is-] {+it+} as an arrow at a bird.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading We picked a stone and we sent [-is-] {+it+} as an arrow at a bird.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading We picked a stone and we sent [-is-] {+it+} as an arrow at a bird.
goddess of criminal rashness and its punishment
From this reading We made a fire, we cooked the bird, and we ate it, and no meal had ever tasted better to us.
earlier than; in front of
From this reading It fell before us.
(comparative of “good”) superior to another (of the same class or set or kind) in excellence or quality or desirability or suitability; more highly skilled than another
From this reading We made a fire, we cooked the bird, and we ate it, and no meal had ever tasted better to us.
warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wings
From this reading We picked a stone and we sent [-is-] {+it+} as an arrow at a bird.
plural of “bird” — warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wings
From this reading We saw birds in the tree branches, and flying from under our footsteps.
plural of “branch” — a division of some larger or more complex organization
From this reading We saw birds in the tree branches, and flying from under our footsteps.
having been prepared for eating by the application of heat
From this reading We made a fire, we cooked the bird, and we ate it, and no meal had ever tasted better to us.
at any time
From this reading We made a fire, we cooked the bird, and we ate it, and no meal had ever tasted better to us.
cause to fall by or as if by delivering a blow
From this reading It fell before us.
mat together and make felt-like
From this reading We stopped when we felt hunger.
start firing a weapon
From this reading We made a fire, we cooked the bird, and we ate it, and no meal had ever tasted better to us.
moving swiftly
From this reading We saw birds in the tree branches, and flying from under our footsteps.
plural of “footstep” — the sound of a step of someone walking
From this reading We saw birds in the tree branches, and flying from under our footsteps.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading We saw birds in the tree branches, and flying from under our footsteps.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading We made a fire, we cooked the bird, and we ate it, and no meal had ever tasted better to us.
a physiological need for food; the consequence of food deprivation
From this reading We stopped when we felt hunger.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading We saw birds in the tree branches, and flying from under our footsteps.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading We picked a stone and we sent [-is-] {+it+} as an arrow at a bird.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading We picked a stone and we sent [-is-] {+it+} as an arrow at a bird.
produced by a manufacturing process
From this reading We made a fire, we cooked the bird, and we ate it, and no meal had ever tasted better to us.
the food served and eaten at one time
From this reading We made a fire, we cooked the bird, and we ate it, and no meal had ever tasted better to us.
not any; not one
From this reading We made a fire, we cooked the bird, and we ate it, and no meal had ever tasted better to us.
belonging to the speaker and others
From this reading We saw birds in the tree branches, and flying from under our footsteps.
past form of “pick” — select carefully from a group
From this reading We picked a stone and we sent [-is-] {+it+} as an arrow at a bird.
cut with a saw
From this reading We saw birds in the tree branches, and flying from under our footsteps.
100 senti equal 1 kroon in Estonia
From this reading We picked a stone and we sent [-is-] {+it+} as an arrow at a bird.
a lump or mass of hard consolidated mineral matter
From this reading We picked a stone and we sent [-is-] {+it+} as an arrow at a bird.
(of a nose) blocked
From this reading We stopped when we felt hunger.
past form of “taste” — have flavor; taste of something
From this reading We made a fire, we cooked the bird, and we ate it, and no meal had ever tasted better to us.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading We saw birds in the tree branches, and flying from under our footsteps.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading We made a fire, we cooked the bird, and we ate it, and no meal had ever tasted better to us.
a tall perennial woody plant having a main trunk and branches forming a distinct elevated crown; includes both gymnosperms and angiosperms
From this reading We saw birds in the tree branches, and flying from under our footsteps.
below or beneath something; less than
From this reading We saw birds in the tree branches, and flying from under our footsteps.
the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading It fell before us.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading We stopped when we felt hunger.
at the time that
From this reading We stopped when we felt hunger.
Chapter 6 of Anthem by Ayn Rand holds 204 sentences, grouped into 41 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 6 holds 204 sentences of Anthem, unabridged, divided into 41 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 6 of Anthem by Ayn Rand exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 204 sentences, grouped into 41 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 41 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 41 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 6 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 Anthem by Ayn Rand on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1405 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #1249 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #1249, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 117 minutes of reading across 281 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Anthem section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 7 chapters of Anthem 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 Anthem, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
