Chapter 2 of My Brilliant Career is here in full — 427 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of My Brilliant Career is here in full — 427 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“I see Blackshaw coming across the flat. Call your mother. You bring the leg-ropes—I’ve got the dog-leg. Come at once; we’ll give the cows another lift. Poor devils—might as well knock ’em on the head at once, but there might be rain next moon.
Chapter 2 of My Brilliant Career is here in full — 427 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/85 · 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.
take something or somebody with oneself somewhere
From this reading “You bring the leg-ropes—I’ve got the dog-leg.”
domesticated bovine animals as a group regardless of sex or age
From this reading “Come at once; we’ll give the cows another lift.”
plural of “devil” — (Judeo-Christian and Islamic religions) chief spirit of evil and adversary of God; tempter of mankind; master of Hell
From this reading “Poor devils—might as well knock ’em on the head at once, but there might be rain next moon.”
having a surface without slope, tilt in which no part is higher or lower than another
From this reading ““I see Blackshaw coming across the flat.”
deliver a sharp blow or push
From this reading “Poor devils—might as well knock ’em on the head at once, but there might be rain next moon.”
raise from a lower to a higher position
From this reading “Come at once; we’ll give the cows another lift.”
the natural satellite of the Earth
From this reading “Poor devils—might as well knock ’em on the head at once, but there might be rain next moon.”
water falling in drops from vapor condensed in the atmosphere
From this reading “Poor devils—might as well knock ’em on the head at once, but there might be rain next moon.”
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.
from one side of something to the other
From this reading “I see Blackshaw coming across the flat.
one more of the same kind, or a different one
From this reading Come at once; we’ll give the cows another lift.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Poor devils—might as well knock ’em on the head at once, but there might be rain next moon.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Come at once; we’ll give the cows another lift.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading Poor devils—might as well knock ’em on the head at once, but there might be rain next moon.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “I see Blackshaw coming across the flat.
take something or somebody with oneself somewhere
From this reading You bring the leg-ropes—I’ve got the dog-leg.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading Poor devils—might as well knock ’em on the head at once, but there might be rain next moon.
assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading Call your mother.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading Come at once; we’ll give the cows another lift.
the act of drawing spatially closer to something
From this reading “I see Blackshaw coming across the flat.
domesticated bovine animals as a group regardless of sex or age
From this reading Come at once; we’ll give the cows another lift.
plural of “devil” — (Judeo-Christian and Islamic religions) chief spirit of evil and adversary of God; tempter of mankind; master of Hell
From this reading Poor devils—might as well knock ’em on the head at once, but there might be rain next moon.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading You bring the leg-ropes—I’ve got the dog-leg.
a quad with a square body
From this reading Poor devils—might as well knock ’em on the head at once, but there might be rain next moon.
having a surface without slope, tilt in which no part is higher or lower than another
From this reading “I see Blackshaw coming across the flat.
cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense
From this reading Come at once; we’ll give the cows another lift.
inflected form of “get” — come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading You bring the leg-ropes—I’ve got the dog-leg.
the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading Poor devils—might as well knock ’em on the head at once, but there might be rain next moon.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading “I see Blackshaw coming across the flat.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading You bring the leg-ropes—I’ve got the dog-leg.
deliver a sharp blow or push
From this reading Poor devils—might as well knock ’em on the head at once, but there might be rain next moon.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading You bring the leg-ropes—I’ve got the dog-leg.
raise from a lower to a higher position
From this reading Come at once; we’ll give the cows another lift.
used to say something is possible but not certain
From this reading Poor devils—might as well knock ’em on the head at once, but there might be rain next moon.
the natural satellite of the Earth
From this reading Poor devils—might as well knock ’em on the head at once, but there might be rain next moon.
a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother)
From this reading Call your mother.
immediately following in time or order
From this reading Poor devils—might as well knock ’em on the head at once, but there might be rain next moon.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading Poor devils—might as well knock ’em on the head at once, but there might be rain next moon.
on one occasion
From this reading Come at once; we’ll give the cows another lift.
deserving or inciting pity
From this reading Poor devils—might as well knock ’em on the head at once, but there might be rain next moon.
water falling in drops from vapor condensed in the atmosphere
From this reading Poor devils—might as well knock ’em on the head at once, but there might be rain next moon.
perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading “I see Blackshaw coming across the flat.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading “I see Blackshaw coming across the flat.
in or at that place or location
From this reading Poor devils—might as well knock ’em on the head at once, but there might be rain next moon.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Come at once; we’ll give the cows another lift.
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading Poor devils—might as well knock ’em on the head at once, but there might be rain next moon.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading You bring the leg-ropes—I’ve got the dog-leg.
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Call your mother.
Chapter 2 of My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin holds 427 sentences, grouped into 86 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 2 holds 427 sentences of My Brilliant Career, unabridged, divided into 86 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 427 sentences, grouped into 86 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 86 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 86 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 2 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 My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5079 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #11620 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #11620, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 423 minutes of reading across 1016 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through My Brilliant Career section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 12 chapters of My Brilliant Career 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 My Brilliant Career, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
