Chapter 20 of Show Boat is here in full — 392 sentences across 79 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XX
Chapter 20 of Show Boat is here in full — 392 sentences across 79 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“I sing. I sing Negro songs with a banjo.” “All right,” said the thin young man, resignedly. “Get out your banjo and sing us one.” “I haven’t got one.”
Chapter 20 of Show Boat is here in full — 392 sentences across 79 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/78 · 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 stringed instrument of the guitar family that has long neck and circular body
From this reading “I sing Negro songs with a banjo.””
inflected form of “get” — come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading ““I haven’t got one.””
a person with African ancestry, "Negro" and "Negroid" are archaic and pejorative today
From this reading “I sing Negro songs with a banjo.””
precisely, exactly
From this reading ““All right,” said the thin young man, resignedly.”
deliver by singing
From this reading ““I sing.”
plural of “song” — a short musical composition with words
From this reading “I sing Negro songs with a banjo.””
Having little thickness or extent.
From this reading ““All right,” said the thin young man, resignedly.”
(used of living things especially persons) in an early period of life or development or growth
From this reading ““All right,” said the thin young man, resignedly.”
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.
a teenager or a young adult male
In this reading ““All right,” said the thin young man, resignedly.”
move out of or depart from
In this reading ““Get out your banjo and sing us one.””
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.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading I sing Negro songs with a banjo.”
(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 “All right,” said the thin young man, resignedly.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading “Get out your banjo and sing us one.”
a stringed instrument of the guitar family that has long neck and circular body
From this reading I sing Negro songs with a banjo.”
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading “Get out your banjo and sing us one.”
inflected form of “get” — come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading “I haven’t got one.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “I haven’t got one.”
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading “I sing.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading “All right,” said the thin young man, resignedly.
a person with African ancestry, "Negro" and "Negroid" are archaic and pejorative today
From this reading I sing Negro songs with a banjo.”
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading “Get out your banjo and sing us one.”
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading “Get out your banjo and sing us one.”
with resignation and acceptance; in a resigned manner
From this reading “All right,” said the thin young man, resignedly.
precisely, exactly
From this reading “All right,” said the thin young man, resignedly.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “All right,” said the thin young man, resignedly.
deliver by singing
From this reading “I sing.
plural of “song” — a short musical composition with words
From this reading I sing Negro songs with a banjo.”
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading “All right,” said the thin young man, resignedly.
Having little thickness or extent.
From this reading “All right,” said the thin young man, resignedly.
the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading “Get out your banjo and sing us one.”
in the company of; together with
From this reading I sing Negro songs with a banjo.”
(used of living things especially persons) in an early period of life or development or growth
From this reading “All right,” said the thin young man, resignedly.
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “Get out your banjo and sing us one.”
Chapter 20 of Show Boat by Edna Ferber holds 392 sentences, grouped into 79 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 20 holds 392 sentences of Show Boat, unabridged, divided into 79 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 20 of Show Boat by Edna Ferber exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 392 sentences, grouped into 79 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 79 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 79 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 20 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 Show Boat by Edna Ferber on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 0 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #? are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #?, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 5 minutes of reading across 0 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Show Boat section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of Show Boat 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 Show Boat, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
