Chapter 20 of Mark Twain's Letters — Complete (1853-1910) is here in full — 379 sentences across 76 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XX
Chapter 20 of Mark Twain's Letters — Complete (1853-1910) is here in full — 379 sentences across 76 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
***** To Mrs. Clemens, in Hartford: QUINCY, ILL. May 17, '82. Livy darling, I am desperately homesick. But I have promised Osgood, and must stick it out; otherwise I would take the train at once and break for home.
Chapter 20 of Mark Twain's Letters — Complete (1853-1910) is here in full — 379 sentences across 76 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/75 · 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.
United States writer and humorist best known for his novels about Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn (1835-1910)
From this reading “***** To Mrs. Clemens, in Hartford:”
a special loved one
From this reading “Livy darling, I am desperately homesick.”
with great urgency
From this reading “Livy darling, I am desperately homesick.”
the state capital of Connecticut; located in central Connecticut on the Connecticut river; a center of the insurance business
From this reading “***** To Mrs. Clemens, in Hartford:”
longing to return home
From this reading “Livy darling, I am desperately homesick.”
in other respects or ways
From this reading “But I have promised Osgood, and must stick it out; otherwise I would take the train at once and break for home.”
American patriot who presented the colonists' grievances to the English king (1744-1775)
From this reading “QUINCY, ILL.”
put, fix, force, or implant
From this reading “But I have promised Osgood, and must stick it out; otherwise I would take the train at once and break for home.”
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 May 17, '82.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading May 17, '82.
the form of “be” used with “I”
From this reading Livy darling, I am desperately homesick.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading But I have promised Osgood, and must stick it out; otherwise I would take the train at once and break for home.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading But I have promised Osgood, and must stick it out; otherwise I would take the train at once and break for home.
terminate
From this reading But I have promised Osgood, and must stick it out; otherwise I would take the train at once and break for home.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But I have promised Osgood, and must stick it out; otherwise I would take the train at once and break for home.
United States writer and humorist best known for his novels about Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn (1835-1910)
From this reading ***** To Mrs. Clemens, in Hartford:
a special loved one
From this reading Livy darling, I am desperately homesick.
with great urgency
From this reading Livy darling, I am desperately homesick.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading But I have promised Osgood, and must stick it out; otherwise I would take the train at once and break for home.
the state capital of Connecticut; located in central Connecticut on the Connecticut river; a center of the insurance business
From this reading ***** To Mrs. Clemens, in Hartford:
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading But I have promised Osgood, and must stick it out; otherwise I would take the train at once and break for home.
where you live at a particular time
From this reading But I have promised Osgood, and must stick it out; otherwise I would take the train at once and break for home.
longing to return home
From this reading Livy darling, I am desperately homesick.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Livy darling, I am desperately homesick.
affected by an impairment of normal physical or mental function
From this reading QUINCY, ILL.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading ***** To Mrs. Clemens, in Hartford:
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading But I have promised Osgood, and must stick it out; otherwise I would take the train at once and break for home.
Roman historian whose history of Rome filled 142 volumes (of which only 35 survive) including the earliest history of the war with Hannibal (59 BC to AD 17)
From this reading Livy darling, I am desperately homesick.
used to say something is possible, or to give permission
From this reading May 17, '82.
a form of address for a married woman
From this reading ***** To Mrs. Clemens, in Hartford:
used to say something is necessary, or almost certainly true
From this reading But I have promised Osgood, and must stick it out; otherwise I would take the train at once and break for home.
on one occasion
From this reading But I have promised Osgood, and must stick it out; otherwise I would take the train at once and break for home.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading But I have promised Osgood, and must stick it out; otherwise I would take the train at once and break for home.
in other respects or ways
From this reading But I have promised Osgood, and must stick it out; otherwise I would take the train at once and break for home.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading But I have promised Osgood, and must stick it out; otherwise I would take the train at once and break for home.
past form of “promise” — make a promise or commitment
From this reading But I have promised Osgood, and must stick it out; otherwise I would take the train at once and break for home.
American patriot who presented the colonists' grievances to the English king (1744-1775)
From this reading QUINCY, ILL.
put, fix, force, or implant
From this reading But I have promised Osgood, and must stick it out; otherwise I would take the train at once and break for home.
carry out
From this reading But I have promised Osgood, and must stick it out; otherwise I would take the train at once and break for home.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading But I have promised Osgood, and must stick it out; otherwise I would take the train at once and break for home.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading ***** To Mrs. Clemens, in Hartford:
create by training and teaching
From this reading But I have promised Osgood, and must stick it out; otherwise I would take the train at once and break for home.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading But I have promised Osgood, and must stick it out; otherwise I would take the train at once and break for home.
Chapter 20 of Mark Twain's Letters — Complete (1853-1910) by Mark Twain holds 379 sentences, grouped into 76 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 20 holds 379 sentences of Mark Twain's Letters — Complete (1853-1910), unabridged, divided into 76 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 20 of Mark Twain's Letters — Complete (1853-1910) by Mark Twain exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 379 sentences, grouped into 76 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 76 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 76 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 20 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 Mark Twain's Letters — Complete (1853-1910) by Mark Twain on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 14985 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #3199 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #3199, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 2997 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Mark Twain's Letters — Complete (1853-1910) section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of Mark Twain's Letters — Complete (1853-1910) 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 Mark Twain's Letters — Complete (1853-1910), each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
