Chapter 15 of Opus 21 Descriptive Music for the Lower is here in full — 400 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XV
Chapter 15 of Opus 21 Descriptive Music for the Lower is here in full — 400 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
I shook my head. "Hattie's calm about it--and she really knows the girl." "Really knows Marcia? That bat-faced old strumpet? The hell she does!"
Chapter 15 of Opus 21 Descriptive Music for the Lower is here in full — 400 sentences across 80 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.
make calm or still
From this reading “"Hattie's calm about it--and she really knows the girl."”
a young female
From this reading “"Hattie's calm about it--and she really knows the girl."”
the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading “I shook my head.”
any place of pain and turmoil
From this reading “The hell she does!"”
plural of “know” — the fact of being aware of information that is known to few people
From this reading “"Hattie's calm about it--and she really knows the girl."”
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading “That bat-faced old strumpet?”
in accordance with truth or fact or reality
From this reading “"Hattie's calm about it--and she really knows the girl."”
a disassembled barrel; the parts packed for storage or shipment
From this reading “I shook my head.”
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.
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.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading "Hattie's calm about it--and she really knows the girl."
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading "Hattie's calm about it--and she really knows the girl."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading That bat-faced old strumpet?
make calm or still
From this reading "Hattie's calm about it--and she really knows the girl."
the form of “do” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The hell she does!"
a young female
From this reading "Hattie's calm about it--and she really knows the girl."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Hattie's calm about it--and she really knows the girl."
the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading I shook my head.
any place of pain and turmoil
From this reading The hell she does!"
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I shook my head.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading "Hattie's calm about it--and she really knows the girl."
plural of “know” — the fact of being aware of information that is known to few people
From this reading "Hattie's calm about it--and she really knows the girl."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Really knows Marcia?
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading I shook my head.
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading That bat-faced old strumpet?
in accordance with truth or fact or reality
From this reading "Hattie's calm about it--and she really knows the girl."
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "Hattie's calm about it--and she really knows the girl."
a disassembled barrel; the parts packed for storage or shipment
From this reading I shook my head.
a woman adulterer
From this reading That bat-faced old strumpet?
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading That bat-faced old strumpet?
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading "Hattie's calm about it--and she really knows the girl."
Chapter 15 of Opus 21 Descriptive Music for the Lower by Philip Wylie holds 400 sentences, grouped into 80 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 15 holds 400 sentences of Opus 21 Descriptive Music for the Lower, unabridged, divided into 80 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 15 of Opus 21 Descriptive Music for the Lower by Philip Wylie exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 400 sentences, grouped into 80 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 80 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 80 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 15 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 Opus 21 Descriptive Music for the Lower by Philip Wylie on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 9988 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #62900 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #62900, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1998 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Opus 21 Descriptive Music for the Lower section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 25 chapters of Opus 21 Descriptive Music for the Lower 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 Opus 21 Descriptive Music for the Lower, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
