Chapter 8 of California Sketches, New Series is here in full — 400 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VIII
Chapter 8 of California Sketches, New Series is here in full — 400 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"Mostly in Lynchburg." "Lynchburg! dat's whar I was fotched up. I belonged to de Widder Tate, dat lived on de New London Road. Gib me yer han', Massa!" He rushed up to the buggy, and taking my extended hand in his huge fist he shook it heartily, grinning with delight.
Chapter 8 of California Sketches, New Series is here in full — 400 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/80 · 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 small lightweight carriage; drawn by a single horse
From this reading “He rushed up to the buggy, and taking my extended hand in his huge fist he shook it heartily, grinning with delight.”
a hand with the fingers clenched in the palm (as for hitting)
From this reading “He rushed up to the buggy, and taking my extended hand in his huge fist he shook it heartily, grinning with delight.”
a unit of information equal to 1024 mebibytes or 2^30 (1,073,741,824) bytes
From this reading “Gib me yer han', Massa!"”
a facial expression characterized by turning up the corners of the mouth; usually shows pleasure or amusement
From this reading “He rushed up to the buggy, and taking my extended hand in his huge fist he shook it heartily, grinning with delight.”
imperial dynasty that ruled China (most of the time from 206 BC to AD 220) and expanded its boundaries and developed its bureaucracy; remembered as one of the great eras of Chinese civilization
From this reading “Gib me yer han', Massa!"”
a city in central Virginia
From this reading “"Mostly in Lynchburg."”
in large part; mainly or chiefly
From this reading “"Mostly in Lynchburg."”
United States poet and critic (1899-1979)
From this reading “I belonged to de Widder Tate, dat lived on de New London Road.”
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 to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading He rushed up to the buggy, and taking my extended hand in his huge fist he shook it heartily, grinning with delight.
past form of “belong” — be owned by; be in the possession of
From this reading I belonged to de Widder Tate, dat lived on de New London Road.
a small lightweight carriage; drawn by a single horse
From this reading He rushed up to the buggy, and taking my extended hand in his huge fist he shook it heartily, grinning with delight.
a digital tape recording of sound
From this reading I belonged to de Widder Tate, dat lived on de New London Road.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Lynchburg! dat's whar I was fotched up.
a Mid-Atlantic state; one of the original 13 colonies
From this reading I belonged to de Widder Tate, dat lived on de New London Road.
give pleasure to or be pleasing to
From this reading He rushed up to the buggy, and taking my extended hand in his huge fist he shook it heartily, grinning with delight.
relatively long in duration; tediously protracted
From this reading He rushed up to the buggy, and taking my extended hand in his huge fist he shook it heartily, grinning with delight.
a hand with the fingers clenched in the palm (as for hitting)
From this reading He rushed up to the buggy, and taking my extended hand in his huge fist he shook it heartily, grinning with delight.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Lynchburg! dat's whar I was fotched up.
a unit of information equal to 1024 mebibytes or 2^30 (1,073,741,824) bytes
From this reading Gib me yer han', Massa!"
a facial expression characterized by turning up the corners of the mouth; usually shows pleasure or amusement
From this reading He rushed up to the buggy, and taking my extended hand in his huge fist he shook it heartily, grinning with delight.
imperial dynasty that ruled China (most of the time from 206 BC to AD 220) and expanded its boundaries and developed its bureaucracy; remembered as one of the great eras of Chinese civilization
From this reading Gib me yer han', Massa!"
the (prehensile) extremity of the superior limb
From this reading He rushed up to the buggy, and taking my extended hand in his huge fist he shook it heartily, grinning with delight.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He rushed up to the buggy, and taking my extended hand in his huge fist he shook it heartily, grinning with delight.
with gusto and without reservation
From this reading He rushed up to the buggy, and taking my extended hand in his huge fist he shook it heartily, grinning with delight.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading He rushed up to the buggy, and taking my extended hand in his huge fist he shook it heartily, grinning with delight.
unusually great in size or amount or degree or especially extent or scope
From this reading He rushed up to the buggy, and taking my extended hand in his huge fist he shook it heartily, grinning with delight.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "Lynchburg! dat's whar I was fotched up.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading "Mostly in Lynchburg."
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading He rushed up to the buggy, and taking my extended hand in his huge fist he shook it heartily, grinning with delight.
past form of “live” — be an inhabitant of or reside in
From this reading I belonged to de Widder Tate, dat lived on de New London Road.
the capital and largest city of England; located on the Thames in southeastern England; financial and industrial and cultural center
From this reading I belonged to de Widder Tate, dat lived on de New London Road.
a city in central Virginia
From this reading "Mostly in Lynchburg."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Gib me yer han', Massa!"
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Gib me yer han', Massa!"
in large part; mainly or chiefly
From this reading "Mostly in Lynchburg."
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading He rushed up to the buggy, and taking my extended hand in his huge fist he shook it heartily, grinning with delight.
not of long duration; having just (or relatively recently) come into being or been made or acquired or discovered
From this reading I belonged to de Widder Tate, dat lived on de New London Road.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading I belonged to de Widder Tate, dat lived on de New London Road.
an open way (generally public) for travel or transportation
From this reading I belonged to de Widder Tate, dat lived on de New London Road.
done under pressure
From this reading He rushed up to the buggy, and taking my extended hand in his huge fist he shook it heartily, grinning with delight.
a disassembled barrel; the parts packed for storage or shipment
From this reading He rushed up to the buggy, and taking my extended hand in his huge fist he shook it heartily, grinning with delight.
the act of someone who picks up or takes something
From this reading He rushed up to the buggy, and taking my extended hand in his huge fist he shook it heartily, grinning with delight.
United States poet and critic (1899-1979)
From this reading I belonged to de Widder Tate, dat lived on de New London Road.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading He rushed up to the buggy, and taking my extended hand in his huge fist he shook it heartily, grinning with delight.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading I belonged to de Widder Tate, dat lived on de New London Road.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading "Lynchburg! dat's whar I was fotched up.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "Lynchburg! dat's whar I was fotched up.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Lynchburg! dat's whar I was fotched up.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I belonged to de Widder Tate, dat lived on de New London Road.
in the company of; together with
From this reading He rushed up to the buggy, and taking my extended hand in his huge fist he shook it heartily, grinning with delight.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Gib me yer han', Massa!"
Chapter 8 of California Sketches, New Series by O. P. (Oscar Penn) Fitzgerald holds 400 sentences, grouped into 80 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 8 holds 400 sentences of California Sketches, New Series, unabridged, divided into 80 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 8 of California Sketches, New Series by O. P. (Oscar Penn) Fitzgerald exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 400 sentences, grouped into 80 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 80 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 80 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 8 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 California Sketches, New Series by O. P. (Oscar Penn) Fitzgerald on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3254 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #12564 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #12564, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 271 minutes of reading across 651 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through California Sketches, New Series section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 8 chapters of California Sketches, New Series 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 California Sketches, New Series, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
