Chapter 4 of Shapes of Clay is here in full — 352 sentences across 71 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of Shapes of Clay is here in full — 352 sentences across 71 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Shakespeare says act and word Must match together true. From what you've seen and heard, How can you doubt they do? Enchanting drama! Mark The crowd "from pit to dome", One box alone is dark-- The prompter stays at home. Stupendous artist!
Chapter 4 of Shapes of Clay is here in full — 352 sentences across 71 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/70 · 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.
a person whose creative work shows sensitivity and imagination
From this reading “Stupendous artist!”
a concave shape whose distinguishing characteristic is that the concavity faces downward
From this reading “Mark The crowd "from pit to dome", One box alone is dark-- The prompter stays at home.”
a dramatic work intended for performance by actors on a stage
From this reading “Enchanting drama!”
capturing interest as if by a spell
From this reading “Enchanting drama!”
A large hole in the ground, or an abyss of darkness and peril.
From this reading “Mark The crowd "from pit to dome", One box alone is dark-- The prompter stays at home.”
English poet and dramatist considered one of the greatest English writers (1564-1616)
From this reading “Shakespeare says act and word Must match together true.”
a woman's close-fitting foundation garment
From this reading “Mark The crowd "from pit to dome", One box alone is dark-- The prompter stays at home.”
so great in size or force or extent as to elicit awe
From this reading “Stupendous artist!”
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.
perform an action, or work out or perform (an action)
From this reading Shakespeare says act and word Must match together true.
Having no one else present.
From this reading Mark The crowd "from pit to dome", One box alone is dark-- The prompter stays at home.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Shakespeare says act and word Must match together true.
a person whose creative work shows sensitivity and imagination
From this reading Stupendous artist!
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Mark The crowd "from pit to dome", One box alone is dark-- The prompter stays at home.
a (usually rectangular) container; may have a lid
From this reading Mark The crowd "from pit to dome", One box alone is dark-- The prompter stays at home.
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading From what you've seen and heard, How can you doubt they do?
cause to herd, drive, or crowd together
From this reading Mark The crowd "from pit to dome", One box alone is dark-- The prompter stays at home.
absence of light or illumination
From this reading Mark The crowd "from pit to dome", One box alone is dark-- The prompter stays at home.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading From what you've seen and heard, How can you doubt they do?
a concave shape whose distinguishing characteristic is that the concavity faces downward
From this reading Mark The crowd "from pit to dome", One box alone is dark-- The prompter stays at home.
the state of being unsure of something
From this reading From what you've seen and heard, How can you doubt they do?
a dramatic work intended for performance by actors on a stage
From this reading Enchanting drama!
capturing interest as if by a spell
From this reading Enchanting drama!
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading From what you've seen and heard, How can you doubt they do?
detected or perceived by the sense of hearing
From this reading From what you've seen and heard, How can you doubt they do?
where you live at a particular time
From this reading Mark The crowd "from pit to dome", One box alone is dark-- The prompter stays at home.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading From what you've seen and heard, How can you doubt they do?
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Mark The crowd "from pit to dome", One box alone is dark-- The prompter stays at home.
attach a tag or label to
From this reading Mark The crowd "from pit to dome", One box alone is dark-- The prompter stays at home.
be compatible, similar or consistent; coincide in their characteristics
From this reading Shakespeare says act and word Must match together true.
used to say something is necessary, or almost certainly true
From this reading Shakespeare says act and word Must match together true.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading Mark The crowd "from pit to dome", One box alone is dark-- The prompter stays at home.
A large hole in the ground, or an abyss of darkness and peril.
From this reading Mark The crowd "from pit to dome", One box alone is dark-- The prompter stays at home.
someone who assists a performer by providing the next words of a forgotten speech
From this reading Mark The crowd "from pit to dome", One box alone is dark-- The prompter stays at home.
plural of “say” — the chance to speak
From this reading Shakespeare says act and word Must match together true.
inflected form of “see” — perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading From what you've seen and heard, How can you doubt they do?
English poet and dramatist considered one of the greatest English writers (1564-1616)
From this reading Shakespeare says act and word Must match together true.
a woman's close-fitting foundation garment
From this reading Mark The crowd "from pit to dome", One box alone is dark-- The prompter stays at home.
so great in size or force or extent as to elicit awe
From this reading Stupendous artist!
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Mark The crowd "from pit to dome", One box alone is dark-- The prompter stays at home.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading From what you've seen and heard, How can you doubt they do?
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Mark The crowd "from pit to dome", One box alone is dark-- The prompter stays at home.
in contact with each other or in proximity
From this reading Shakespeare says act and word Must match together true.
consistent with fact or reality; not false
From this reading Shakespeare says act and word Must match together true.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading From what you've seen and heard, How can you doubt they do?
a unit of language that native speakers can identify
From this reading Shakespeare says act and word Must match together true.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading From what you've seen and heard, How can you doubt they do?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading From what you've seen and heard, How can you doubt they do?
Chapter 4 of Shapes of Clay by Ambrose Bierce holds 352 sentences, grouped into 71 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 4 holds 352 sentences of Shapes of Clay, unabridged, divided into 71 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of Shapes of Clay by Ambrose Bierce exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 352 sentences, grouped into 71 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 71 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 71 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 4 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 Shapes of Clay by Ambrose Bierce on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2460 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #12658 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #12658, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 205 minutes of reading across 492 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Shapes of Clay section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 7 chapters of Shapes of Clay 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 Shapes of Clay, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
