Chapter 12 of Erik Dorn is here in full — 48 sentences across 10 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XII
Chapter 12 of Erik Dorn is here in full — 48 sentences across 10 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"Boom, boom," said the city of New York, "we have gone to war!" And all the other cities, big and little, said a boom-boom of their own. A mighty nation had gone to war. A time of singing. Songs on the lips of crowds.
Chapter 12 of Erik Dorn is here in full — 48 sentences across 10 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/9 · 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.
make a resonant sound, like artillery
From this reading “"Boom, boom," said the city of New York, "we have gone to war!"”
plural of “city” — a large and densely populated urban area; may include several independent administrative districts
From this reading “And all the other cities, big and little, said a boom-boom of their own.”
plural of “crowd” — a large number of things or people considered together
From this reading “Songs on the lips of crowds.”
having or showing great strength or force or intensity
From this reading “A mighty nation had gone to war.”
a politically organized body of people under a single government
From this reading “A mighty nation had gone to war.”
the act of singing vocal music
From this reading “A time of singing.”
plural of “song” — a short musical composition with words
From this reading “Songs on the lips of crowds.”
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 “"Boom, boom," said the city of New York, "we have gone to war!"”
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 And all the other cities, big and little, said a boom-boom of their own.
(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 And all the other cities, big and little, said a boom-boom of their own.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading And all the other cities, big and little, said a boom-boom of their own.
above average in size or number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading And all the other cities, big and little, said a boom-boom of their own.
make a resonant sound, like artillery
From this reading "Boom, boom," said the city of New York, "we have gone to war!"
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading And all the other cities, big and little, said a boom-boom of their own.
plural of “city” — a large and densely populated urban area; may include several independent administrative districts
From this reading And all the other cities, big and little, said a boom-boom of their own.
a large and densely populated urban area; may include several independent administrative districts
From this reading "Boom, boom," said the city of New York, "we have gone to war!"
plural of “crowd” — a large number of things or people considered together
From this reading Songs on the lips of crowds.
destroyed or killed
From this reading "Boom, boom," said the city of New York, "we have gone to war!"
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading A mighty nation had gone to war.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading "Boom, boom," said the city of New York, "we have gone to war!"
plural of “lip” — either of two fleshy folds of tissue that surround the mouth and play a role in speaking
From this reading Songs on the lips of crowds.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading And all the other cities, big and little, said a boom-boom of their own.
having or showing great strength or force or intensity
From this reading A mighty nation had gone to war.
a politically organized body of people under a single government
From this reading A mighty nation had gone to war.
not of long duration; having just (or relatively recently) come into being or been made or acquired or discovered
From this reading "Boom, boom," said the city of New York, "we have gone to war!"
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading "Boom, boom," said the city of New York, "we have gone to war!"
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading Songs on the lips of crowds.
not the same one or ones already mentioned or implied
From this reading And all the other cities, big and little, said a boom-boom of their own.
have ownership or possession of
From this reading And all the other cities, big and little, said a boom-boom of their own.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "Boom, boom," said the city of New York, "we have gone to war!"
the act of singing vocal music
From this reading A time of singing.
plural of “song” — a short musical composition with words
From this reading Songs on the lips of crowds.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading "Boom, boom," said the city of New York, "we have gone to war!"
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading And all the other cities, big and little, said a boom-boom of their own.
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading A time of singing.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading "Boom, boom," said the city of New York, "we have gone to war!"
the waging of armed conflict against an enemy
From this reading "Boom, boom," said the city of New York, "we have gone to war!"
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading "Boom, boom," said the city of New York, "we have gone to war!"
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 "Boom, boom," said the city of New York, "we have gone to war!"
Chapter 12 of Erik Dorn by Ben Hecht holds 48 sentences, grouped into 10 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 12 holds 48 sentences of Erik Dorn, unabridged, divided into 10 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 12 of Erik Dorn by Ben Hecht exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 48 sentences, grouped into 10 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 10 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 10 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 12 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 Erik Dorn by Ben Hecht on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 9290 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #22358 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #22358, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1858 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Erik Dorn section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 33 chapters of Erik Dorn 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 Erik Dorn, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
