Chapter 1 of Pointed roofs is here in full — 288 sentences across 58 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Pointed roofs is here in full — 288 sentences across 58 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Miriam left the gaslit hall and went slowly upstairs. The March twilight lay upon the landings, but the staircase was almost dark. The top landing was quite dark and silent. There was no one about. It would be quiet in her room.
Chapter 1 of Pointed roofs is here in full — 288 sentences across 58 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/57 · 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.
an interior passage or corridor onto which rooms open
From this reading “Miriam left the gaslit hall and went slowly upstairs.”
an intermediate platform in a staircase
From this reading “The top landing was quite dark and silent.”
plural of “landing” — an intermediate platform in a staircase
From this reading “The March twilight lay upon the landings, but the staircase was almost dark.”
march in a procession
From this reading “The March twilight lay upon the landings, but the staircase was almost dark.”
a way of access (upward and downward) consisting of a set of steps
From this reading “The March twilight lay upon the landings, but the staircase was almost dark.”
the upper part of anything
From this reading “The top landing was quite dark and silent.”
the time of day immediately following sunset
From this reading “The March twilight lay upon the landings, but the staircase was almost dark.”
on a floor above
From this reading “Miriam left the gaslit hall and went slowly upstairs.”
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 There was no one about.
(of actions or states) slightly short of or not quite accomplished; all but
From this reading The March twilight lay upon the landings, but the staircase was almost dark.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Miriam left the gaslit hall and went slowly upstairs.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading It would be quiet in her room.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading The March twilight lay upon the landings, but the staircase was almost dark.
absence of light or illumination
From this reading The March twilight lay upon the landings, but the staircase was almost dark.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Miriam left the gaslit hall and went slowly upstairs.
an interior passage or corridor onto which rooms open
From this reading Miriam left the gaslit hall and went slowly upstairs.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading It would be quiet in her room.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading It would be quiet in her room.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It would be quiet in her room.
an intermediate platform in a staircase
From this reading The top landing was quite dark and silent.
plural of “landing” — an intermediate platform in a staircase
From this reading The March twilight lay upon the landings, but the staircase was almost dark.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading The March twilight lay upon the landings, but the staircase was almost dark.
location near or direction toward the left side; i.e. the side to the north when a person or object faces east
From this reading Miriam left the gaslit hall and went slowly upstairs.
march in a procession
From this reading The March twilight lay upon the landings, but the staircase was almost dark.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Miriam left the gaslit hall and went slowly upstairs.
not any; not one
From this reading There was no one about.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading There was no one about.
characterized by an absence or near absence of agitation or activity
From this reading It would be quiet in her room.
to a degree (not used with a negative)
From this reading The top landing was quite dark and silent.
an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling
From this reading It would be quiet in her room.
marked by absence of sound
From this reading The top landing was quite dark and silent.
without speed (“slow” is sometimes used informally for “slowly”)
From this reading Miriam left the gaslit hall and went slowly upstairs.
a way of access (upward and downward) consisting of a set of steps
From this reading The March twilight lay upon the landings, but the staircase was almost dark.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Miriam left the gaslit hall and went slowly upstairs.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There was no one about.
the upper part of anything
From this reading The top landing was quite dark and silent.
the time of day immediately following sunset
From this reading The March twilight lay upon the landings, but the staircase was almost dark.
a formal word for “on”
From this reading The March twilight lay upon the landings, but the staircase was almost dark.
on a floor above
From this reading Miriam left the gaslit hall and went slowly upstairs.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The March twilight lay upon the landings, but the staircase was almost dark.
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading Miriam left the gaslit hall and went slowly upstairs.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading It would be quiet in her room.
Chapter 1 of Pointed roofs by Dorothy M. (Dorothy Miller) Richardson holds 288 sentences, grouped into 58 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 288 sentences of Pointed roofs, unabridged, divided into 58 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Pointed roofs by Dorothy M. (Dorothy Miller) Richardson exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 288 sentences, grouped into 58 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 58 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 58 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 Pointed roofs by Dorothy M. (Dorothy Miller) Richardson on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4227 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #3019 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #3019, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 352 minutes of reading across 846 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Pointed roofs section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 10 chapters of Pointed roofs 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 Pointed roofs, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
