Chapter 8 of Journal 02, 1850-September 15, 1851 — Volume 08 is here in full — 403 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VIII
Chapter 8 of Journal 02, 1850-September 15, 1851 — Volume 08 is here in full — 403 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The marsh-marigold, _Caltha palustris_, improperly called cowslip. The white oak, _Quercus alba_. And the commonest scrub oak, the bear or black oak, _Q. ilicifolia_. The chinquapin, or dwarf chestnut, oak, the smallest of our oaks, _Q. prinoides_. The _Cratægus coccinea_ (?), or scarlet-fruited thorn (?)
Chapter 8 of Journal 02, 1850-September 15, 1851 — Volume 08 is here in full — 403 sentences across 81 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 genus of Caltha
(of hair or feathers) of a golden brown to reddish brown color
From this reading “The chinquapin, or dwarf chestnut, oak, the smallest of our oaks, _Q. prinoides_.”
early spring flower common in British isles having fragrant yellow or sometimes purple flowers
From this reading “The marsh-marigold, _Caltha palustris_, improperly called cowslip.”
a person who is markedly small
From this reading “The chinquapin, or dwarf chestnut, oak, the smallest of our oaks, _Q. prinoides_.”
in an improper way
From this reading “The marsh-marigold, _Caltha palustris_, improperly called cowslip.”
plural of “oak” — the hard durable wood of any oak; used especially for furniture and flooring
From this reading “The chinquapin, or dwarf chestnut, oak, the smallest of our oaks, _Q. prinoides_.”
clean with hard rubbing
From this reading “And the commonest scrub oak, the bear or black oak, _Q. ilicifolia_.”
something that causes irritation and annoyance
From this reading “The _Cratægus coccinea_ (?), or scarlet-fruited thorn (?)”
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.
any of various chiefly American small shrubby oaks often a dominant form on thin dry soils sometimes forming dense thickets
In this reading “And the commonest scrub oak, the bear or black oak, _Q. ilicifolia_.”
medium to large deciduous timber tree of the eastern United States and southeastern Canada having dark outer bark and yellow inner bark used for tanning; broad five-lobed leaves are bristle-tipped
In this reading “And the commonest scrub oak, the bear or black oak, _Q. ilicifolia_.”
any of numerous Old World and American oaks having 6 to 8 stamens in each floret, acorns that mature in one year and leaf veins that never extend beyond the margin of the leaf
In this reading “The white oak, _Quercus alba_.”
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 The white oak, _Quercus alba_.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading And the commonest scrub oak, the bear or black oak, _Q. ilicifolia_.
have
From this reading And the commonest scrub oak, the bear or black oak, _Q. ilicifolia_.
being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light
From this reading And the commonest scrub oak, the bear or black oak, _Q. ilicifolia_.
past form of “call” — assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading The marsh-marigold, _Caltha palustris_, improperly called cowslip.
a genus of Caltha
From this reading The marsh-marigold, _Caltha palustris_, improperly called cowslip.
(of hair or feathers) of a golden brown to reddish brown color
From this reading The chinquapin, or dwarf chestnut, oak, the smallest of our oaks, _Q. prinoides_.
shrubby tree closely related to the Allegheny chinkapin but with larger leaves; southern midwestern United States
From this reading The chinquapin, or dwarf chestnut, oak, the smallest of our oaks, _Q. prinoides_.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The _Cratægus coccinea_ (?), or scarlet-fruited thorn (?)
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading And the commonest scrub oak, the bear or black oak, _Q. ilicifolia_.
early spring flower common in British isles having fragrant yellow or sometimes purple flowers
From this reading The marsh-marigold, _Caltha palustris_, improperly called cowslip.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The _Cratægus coccinea_ (?), or scarlet-fruited thorn (?)
a person who is markedly small
From this reading The chinquapin, or dwarf chestnut, oak, the smallest of our oaks, _Q. prinoides_.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading And the commonest scrub oak, the bear or black oak, _Q. ilicifolia_.
in an improper way
From this reading The marsh-marigold, _Caltha palustris_, improperly called cowslip.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The marsh-marigold, _Caltha palustris_, improperly called cowslip.
the hard durable wood of any oak; used especially for furniture and flooring
From this reading The white oak, _Quercus alba_.
plural of “oak” — the hard durable wood of any oak; used especially for furniture and flooring
From this reading The chinquapin, or dwarf chestnut, oak, the smallest of our oaks, _Q. prinoides_.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The chinquapin, or dwarf chestnut, oak, the smallest of our oaks, _Q. prinoides_.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading And the commonest scrub oak, the bear or black oak, _Q. ilicifolia_.
belonging to the speaker and others
From this reading The chinquapin, or dwarf chestnut, oak, the smallest of our oaks, _Q. prinoides_.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The marsh-marigold, _Caltha palustris_, improperly called cowslip.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The chinquapin, or dwarf chestnut, oak, the smallest of our oaks, _Q. prinoides_.
the 17th letter of the Roman alphabet
From this reading And the commonest scrub oak, the bear or black oak, _Q. ilicifolia_.
oaks
From this reading The white oak, _Quercus alba_.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The _Cratægus coccinea_ (?), or scarlet-fruited thorn (?)
clean with hard rubbing
From this reading And the commonest scrub oak, the bear or black oak, _Q. ilicifolia_.
superlative of “small” — limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading The chinquapin, or dwarf chestnut, oak, the smallest of our oaks, _Q. prinoides_.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The marsh-marigold, _Caltha palustris_, improperly called cowslip.
something that causes irritation and annoyance
From this reading The _Cratægus coccinea_ (?), or scarlet-fruited thorn (?)
a Caucasian
From this reading The white oak, _Quercus alba_.
Chapter 8 of Journal 02, 1850-September 15, 1851 — Volume 08 by Henry David Thoreau holds 403 sentences, grouped into 81 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 403 sentences of Journal 02, 1850-September 15, 1851 — Volume 08, unabridged, divided into 81 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 8 of Journal 02, 1850-September 15, 1851 — Volume 08 by Henry David Thoreau exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 403 sentences, grouped into 81 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 81 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 81 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 Journal 02, 1850-September 15, 1851 — Volume 08 by Henry David Thoreau on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6940 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #59031 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #59031, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 578 minutes of reading across 1388 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Journal 02, 1850-September 15, 1851 — Volume 08 section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 17 chapters of Journal 02, 1850-September 15, 1851 — Volume 08 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 Journal 02, 1850-September 15, 1851 — Volume 08, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
