Chapter 1 of Little Annie's Ramble is here in full — 136 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Little Annie's Ramble is here in full — 136 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
DING-DONG! Ding-dong! Ding-dong! The town crier has rung his bell, at a distant corner, and little Annie stands on her father's doorsteps, trying to hear what the man with the loud voice is talking about. Let me listen too.
Chapter 1 of Little Annie's Ramble is here in full — 136 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/27 · 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 hollow device made of metal that makes a ringing sound when struck
From this reading “The town crier has rung his bell, at a distant corner, and little Annie stands on her father's doorsteps, trying to hear what the man with the loud voice is talking about.”
a person who weeps
From this reading “The town crier has rung his bell, at a distant corner, and little Annie stands on her father's doorsteps, trying to hear what the man with the loud voice is talking about.”
the noise made by a bell
From this reading “DING-DONG!”
separated in space or coming from or going to a distance
From this reading “The town crier has rung his bell, at a distant corner, and little Annie stands on her father's doorsteps, trying to hear what the man with the loud voice is talking about.”
plural of “doorstep” — the sill of a door; a horizontal piece of wood or stone that forms the bottom of a doorway and offers support when passing through a doorway
From this reading “The town crier has rung his bell, at a distant corner, and little Annie stands on her father's doorsteps, trying to hear what the man with the loud voice is talking about.”
possessive form of “father” — a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)
From this reading “The town crier has rung his bell, at a distant corner, and little Annie stands on her father's doorsteps, trying to hear what the man with the loud voice is talking about.”
a crosspiece between the legs of a chair
From this reading “The town crier has rung his bell, at a distant corner, and little Annie stands on her father's doorsteps, trying to hear what the man with the loud voice is talking about.”
plural of “stand” — a support or foundation
From this reading “The town crier has rung his bell, at a distant corner, and little Annie stands on her father's doorsteps, trying to hear what the man with the loud voice is talking about.”
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 The town crier has rung his bell, at a distant corner, and little Annie stands on her father's doorsteps, trying to hear what the man with the loud voice is talking about.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading The town crier has rung his bell, at a distant corner, and little Annie stands on her father's doorsteps, trying to hear what the man with the loud voice is talking about.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The town crier has rung his bell, at a distant corner, and little Annie stands on her father's doorsteps, trying to hear what the man with the loud voice is talking about.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The town crier has rung his bell, at a distant corner, and little Annie stands on her father's doorsteps, trying to hear what the man with the loud voice is talking about.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading The town crier has rung his bell, at a distant corner, and little Annie stands on her father's doorsteps, trying to hear what the man with the loud voice is talking about.
a hollow device made of metal that makes a ringing sound when struck
From this reading The town crier has rung his bell, at a distant corner, and little Annie stands on her father's doorsteps, trying to hear what the man with the loud voice is talking about.
a place off to the side of an area
From this reading The town crier has rung his bell, at a distant corner, and little Annie stands on her father's doorsteps, trying to hear what the man with the loud voice is talking about.
a person who weeps
From this reading The town crier has rung his bell, at a distant corner, and little Annie stands on her father's doorsteps, trying to hear what the man with the loud voice is talking about.
the noise made by a bell
From this reading DING-DONG!
separated in space or coming from or going to a distance
From this reading The town crier has rung his bell, at a distant corner, and little Annie stands on her father's doorsteps, trying to hear what the man with the loud voice is talking about.
plural of “doorstep” — the sill of a door; a horizontal piece of wood or stone that forms the bottom of a doorway and offers support when passing through a doorway
From this reading The town crier has rung his bell, at a distant corner, and little Annie stands on her father's doorsteps, trying to hear what the man with the loud voice is talking about.
possessive form of “father” — a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)
From this reading The town crier has rung his bell, at a distant corner, and little Annie stands on her father's doorsteps, trying to hear what the man with the loud voice is talking about.
the form of “have” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The town crier has rung his bell, at a distant corner, and little Annie stands on her father's doorsteps, trying to hear what the man with the loud voice is talking about.
perceive (sound) via the auditory sense
From this reading The town crier has rung his bell, at a distant corner, and little Annie stands on her father's doorsteps, trying to hear what the man with the loud voice is talking about.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading The town crier has rung his bell, at a distant corner, and little Annie stands on her father's doorsteps, trying to hear what the man with the loud voice is talking about.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading The town crier has rung his bell, at a distant corner, and little Annie stands on her father's doorsteps, trying to hear what the man with the loud voice is talking about.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The town crier has rung his bell, at a distant corner, and little Annie stands on her father's doorsteps, trying to hear what the man with the loud voice is talking about.
used to make a suggestion or a command including the speaker
From this reading Let me listen too.
hear with intention
From this reading Let me listen too.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading The town crier has rung his bell, at a distant corner, and little Annie stands on her father's doorsteps, trying to hear what the man with the loud voice is talking about.
characterized by or producing sound of great volume or intensity
From this reading The town crier has rung his bell, at a distant corner, and little Annie stands on her father's doorsteps, trying to hear what the man with the loud voice is talking about.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading The town crier has rung his bell, at a distant corner, and little Annie stands on her father's doorsteps, trying to hear what the man with the loud voice is talking about.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Let me listen too.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading The town crier has rung his bell, at a distant corner, and little Annie stands on her father's doorsteps, trying to hear what the man with the loud voice is talking about.
a crosspiece between the legs of a chair
From this reading The town crier has rung his bell, at a distant corner, and little Annie stands on her father's doorsteps, trying to hear what the man with the loud voice is talking about.
plural of “stand” — a support or foundation
From this reading The town crier has rung his bell, at a distant corner, and little Annie stands on her father's doorsteps, trying to hear what the man with the loud voice is talking about.
an exchange of ideas via conversation
From this reading The town crier has rung his bell, at a distant corner, and little Annie stands on her father's doorsteps, trying to hear what the man with the loud voice is talking about.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The town crier has rung his bell, at a distant corner, and little Annie stands on her father's doorsteps, trying to hear what the man with the loud voice is talking about.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The town crier has rung his bell, at a distant corner, and little Annie stands on her father's doorsteps, trying to hear what the man with the loud voice is talking about.
to a degree exceeding normal or proper limits
From this reading Let me listen too.
an urban area with a fixed boundary that is smaller than a city
From this reading The town crier has rung his bell, at a distant corner, and little Annie stands on her father's doorsteps, trying to hear what the man with the loud voice is talking about.
hard to endure
From this reading The town crier has rung his bell, at a distant corner, and little Annie stands on her father's doorsteps, trying to hear what the man with the loud voice is talking about.
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading The town crier has rung his bell, at a distant corner, and little Annie stands on her father's doorsteps, trying to hear what the man with the loud voice is talking about.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading The town crier has rung his bell, at a distant corner, and little Annie stands on her father's doorsteps, trying to hear what the man with the loud voice is talking about.
in the company of; together with
From this reading The town crier has rung his bell, at a distant corner, and little Annie stands on her father's doorsteps, trying to hear what the man with the loud voice is talking about.
Chapter 1 of Little Annie's Ramble by Nathaniel Hawthorne holds 136 sentences, grouped into 28 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 136 sentences of Little Annie's Ramble, unabridged, divided into 28 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Little Annie's Ramble by Nathaniel Hawthorne exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 136 sentences, grouped into 28 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 28 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 28 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 Little Annie's Ramble by Nathaniel Hawthorne on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 136 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #9202 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #9202, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 11 minutes of reading across 28 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Little Annie's Ramble section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 1 chapters of Little Annie's Ramble 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 Little Annie's Ramble, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
