Chapter 37 of Rough-Hewn is here in full — 194 sentences across 39 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXXVII
Chapter 37 of Rough-Hewn is here in full — 194 sentences across 39 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Father had grown stouter. He always did. But he looked very well. And his shirts and socks seemed to be all right. Melanie had seen to them, although the dust was thick all over the furniture, and the windows were semi-opaque with smoke.
Chapter 37 of Rough-Hewn is here in full — 194 sentences across 39 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/38 · 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.
remove the dust from
From this reading “Melanie had seen to them, although the dust was thick all over the furniture, and the windows were semi-opaque with smoke.”
furnishings that make a room or other area ready for occupancy
From this reading “Melanie had seen to them, although the dust was thick all over the furniture, and the windows were semi-opaque with smoke.”
(of animals) fully developed
From this reading “Father had grown stouter.”
plural of “shirt” — a garment worn on the upper half of the body
From this reading “And his shirts and socks seemed to be all right.”
a cloud of fine particles suspended in a gas
From this reading “Melanie had seen to them, although the dust was thick all over the furniture, and the windows were semi-opaque with smoke.”
plural of “sock” — hosiery consisting of a cloth covering for the foot; worn inside the shoe; reaches to between the ankle and the knee
From this reading “And his shirts and socks seemed to be all right.”
not thin; of a specific thickness or of relatively great extent from one surface to the opposite usually in the smallest of the three solid dimensions
From this reading “Melanie had seen to them, although the dust was thick all over the furniture, and the windows were semi-opaque with smoke.”
(trademark) an operating system with a graphical user interface
From this reading “Melanie had seen to them, although the dust was thick all over the furniture, and the windows were semi-opaque with smoke.”
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.
In this reading “But he looked very well.”
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.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading And his shirts and socks seemed to be all right.
in spite of the fact that
From this reading Melanie had seen to them, although the dust was thick all over the furniture, and the windows were semi-opaque with smoke.
at all times; all the time and on every occasion
From this reading He always did.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading And his shirts and socks seemed to be all right.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading And his shirts and socks seemed to be all right.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But he looked very well.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading He always did.
remove the dust from
From this reading Melanie had seen to them, although the dust was thick all over the furniture, and the windows were semi-opaque with smoke.
a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)
From this reading Father had grown stouter.
furnishings that make a room or other area ready for occupancy
From this reading Melanie had seen to them, although the dust was thick all over the furniture, and the windows were semi-opaque with smoke.
(of animals) fully developed
From this reading Father had grown stouter.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Father had grown stouter.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He always did.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading And his shirts and socks seemed to be all right.
past form of “look” — perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading But he looked very well.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Melanie had seen to them, although the dust was thick all over the furniture, and the windows were semi-opaque with smoke.
above and across; more than
From this reading Melanie had seen to them, although the dust was thick all over the furniture, and the windows were semi-opaque with smoke.
precisely, exactly
From this reading And his shirts and socks seemed to be all right.
past form of “seem” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading And his shirts and socks seemed to be all right.
inflected form of “see” — perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading Melanie had seen to them, although the dust was thick all over the furniture, and the windows were semi-opaque with smoke.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Melanie had seen to them, although the dust was thick all over the furniture, and the windows were semi-opaque with smoke.
plural of “shirt” — a garment worn on the upper half of the body
From this reading And his shirts and socks seemed to be all right.
a cloud of fine particles suspended in a gas
From this reading Melanie had seen to them, although the dust was thick all over the furniture, and the windows were semi-opaque with smoke.
plural of “sock” — hosiery consisting of a cloth covering for the foot; worn inside the shoe; reaches to between the ankle and the knee
From this reading And his shirts and socks seemed to be all right.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Father had grown stouter.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Melanie had seen to them, although the dust was thick all over the furniture, and the windows were semi-opaque with smoke.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading Melanie had seen to them, although the dust was thick all over the furniture, and the windows were semi-opaque with smoke.
not thin; of a specific thickness or of relatively great extent from one surface to the opposite usually in the smallest of the three solid dimensions
From this reading Melanie had seen to them, although the dust was thick all over the furniture, and the windows were semi-opaque with smoke.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading And his shirts and socks seemed to be all right.
precisely as stated
From this reading But he looked very well.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Melanie had seen to them, although the dust was thick all over the furniture, and the windows were semi-opaque with smoke.
(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 But he looked very well.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Melanie had seen to them, although the dust was thick all over the furniture, and the windows were semi-opaque with smoke.
(trademark) an operating system with a graphical user interface
From this reading Melanie had seen to them, although the dust was thick all over the furniture, and the windows were semi-opaque with smoke.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Melanie had seen to them, although the dust was thick all over the furniture, and the windows were semi-opaque with smoke.
Chapter 37 of Rough-Hewn by Dorothy Canfield Fisher holds 194 sentences, grouped into 39 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 37 holds 194 sentences of Rough-Hewn, unabridged, divided into 39 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 37 of Rough-Hewn by Dorothy Canfield Fisher exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 194 sentences, grouped into 39 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 39 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 39 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 37 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 Rough-Hewn by Dorothy Canfield Fisher on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 9559 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #37451 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #37451, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1912 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Rough-Hewn section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of Rough-Hewn 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 Rough-Hewn, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
