Chapter 2 of So Big is here in full — 412 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of So Big is here in full — 412 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Klaas Pool was a school director. She was to live at his house. Perhaps she should not have said that about the cabbages. So now she drew herself up primly and tried to appear the school teacher, and succeeded in looking as severe as a white pansy. “Ahem!” (or nearly that).
Chapter 2 of So Big is here in full — 412 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/82 · 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.
plural of “cabbage” — any of various types of cabbage
From this reading “Perhaps she should not have said that about the cabbages.”
someone who controls resources and expenditures
From this reading “Klaas Pool was a school director.”
large-flowered garden plant derived chiefly from the wild pansy of Europe and having velvety petals of various colors
From this reading “So now she drew herself up primly and tried to appear the school teacher, and succeeded in looking as severe as a white pansy.”
an excavation that is (usually) filled with water
From this reading “Klaas Pool was a school director.”
in a prissy manner
From this reading “So now she drew herself up primly and tried to appear the school teacher, and succeeded in looking as severe as a white pansy.”
intensely or extremely bad or unpleasant in degree or quality
From this reading “So now she drew herself up primly and tried to appear the school teacher, and succeeded in looking as severe as a white pansy.”
past form of “succeed” — attain success or reach a desired goal
From this reading “So now she drew herself up primly and tried to appear the school teacher, and succeeded in looking as severe as a white pansy.”
a person whose occupation is teaching
From this reading “So now she drew herself up primly and tried to appear the school teacher, and succeeded in looking as severe as a white pansy.”
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 teacher in a school below the college level
In this reading “So now she drew herself up primly and tried to appear the school teacher, and succeeded in looking as severe as a white pansy.”
In this reading “So now she drew herself up primly and tried to appear the school teacher, and succeeded in looking as severe as a white pansy.”
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 Klaas Pool was a school director.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading Perhaps she should not have said that about the cabbages.
the utterance of a sound similar to clearing the throat; intended to get attention, express hesitancy, fill a pause, hide embarrassment, warn a friend, etc.
From this reading “Ahem!” (or nearly that).
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading So now she drew herself up primly and tried to appear the school teacher, and succeeded in looking as severe as a white pansy.
give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading So now she drew herself up primly and tried to appear the school teacher, and succeeded in looking as severe as a white pansy.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading So now she drew herself up primly and tried to appear the school teacher, and succeeded in looking as severe as a white pansy.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading She was to live at his house.
plural of “cabbage” — any of various types of cabbage
From this reading Perhaps she should not have said that about the cabbages.
someone who controls resources and expenditures
From this reading Klaas Pool was a school director.
United States actor (born in Ireland); father of Georgiana Emma Barrymore (1827-1862)
From this reading So now she drew herself up primly and tried to appear the school teacher, and succeeded in looking as severe as a white pansy.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading Perhaps she should not have said that about the cabbages.
used when the woman or girl doing the action is also its object
From this reading So now she drew herself up primly and tried to appear the school teacher, and succeeded in looking as severe as a white pansy.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading She was to live at his house.
a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading She was to live at his house.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading So now she drew herself up primly and tried to appear the school teacher, and succeeded in looking as severe as a white pansy.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Klaas Pool was a school director.
be an inhabitant of or reside in
From this reading She was to live at his house.
the act of directing the eyes toward something and perceiving it visually
From this reading So now she drew herself up primly and tried to appear the school teacher, and succeeded in looking as severe as a white pansy.
(of actions or states) slightly short of or not quite accomplished; all but
From this reading “Ahem!” (or nearly that).
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Perhaps she should not have said that about the cabbages.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading So now she drew herself up primly and tried to appear the school teacher, and succeeded in looking as severe as a white pansy.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading “Ahem!” (or nearly that).
large-flowered garden plant derived chiefly from the wild pansy of Europe and having velvety petals of various colors
From this reading So now she drew herself up primly and tried to appear the school teacher, and succeeded in looking as severe as a white pansy.
by chance
From this reading Perhaps she should not have said that about the cabbages.
an excavation that is (usually) filled with water
From this reading Klaas Pool was a school director.
in a prissy manner
From this reading So now she drew herself up primly and tried to appear the school teacher, and succeeded in looking as severe as a white pansy.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading Perhaps she should not have said that about the cabbages.
an educational institution
From this reading Klaas Pool was a school director.
intensely or extremely bad or unpleasant in degree or quality
From this reading So now she drew herself up primly and tried to appear the school teacher, and succeeded in looking as severe as a white pansy.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She was to live at his house.
used to say what is right, expected, or advisable
From this reading Perhaps she should not have said that about the cabbages.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading So now she drew herself up primly and tried to appear the school teacher, and succeeded in looking as severe as a white pansy.
past form of “succeed” — attain success or reach a desired goal
From this reading So now she drew herself up primly and tried to appear the school teacher, and succeeded in looking as severe as a white pansy.
a person whose occupation is teaching
From this reading So now she drew herself up primly and tried to appear the school teacher, and succeeded in looking as severe as a white pansy.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Perhaps she should not have said that about the cabbages.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Perhaps she should not have said that about the cabbages.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading She was to live at his house.
tested and proved useful or correct
From this reading So now she drew herself up primly and tried to appear the school teacher, and succeeded in looking as severe as a white pansy.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading So now she drew herself up primly and tried to appear the school teacher, and succeeded in looking as severe as a white pansy.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Klaas Pool was a school director.
a Caucasian
From this reading So now she drew herself up primly and tried to appear the school teacher, and succeeded in looking as severe as a white pansy.
Chapter 2 of So Big by Edna Ferber holds 412 sentences, grouped into 83 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 2 holds 412 sentences of So Big, unabridged, divided into 83 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of So Big by Edna Ferber exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 412 sentences, grouped into 83 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 83 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 83 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 2 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 So Big by Edna Ferber on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7956 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #61686 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #61686, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1592 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through So Big section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 19 chapters of So Big 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 So Big, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
