Chapter 7 of The best short stories of 1919, and is here in full — 367 sentences across 74 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VII
Chapter 7 of The best short stories of 1919, and is here in full — 367 sentences across 74 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Old Mrs. Bray clucked pleasantly, and resumed. "I'd always wanted to wear one o' my good dresses afternoons, too. Well--Myry made me one. And she was reel good about wantin' me to wear it common. I had a good man.
Chapter 7 of The best short stories of 1919, and is here in full — 367 sentences across 74 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/73 · 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 “afternoon” — the part of the day between noon and evening
From this reading “"I'd always wanted to wear one o' my good dresses afternoons, too.”
braying characteristic of donkeys
From this reading “Old Mrs. Bray clucked pleasantly, and resumed.”
belonging to or participated in by a community as a whole; public
From this reading “And she was reel good about wantin' me to wear it common.”
plural of “dress” — a one-piece garment for a woman; has skirt and bodice
From this reading “"I'd always wanted to wear one o' my good dresses afternoons, too.”
in a cheerful manner
From this reading “Old Mrs. Bray clucked pleasantly, and resumed.”
walk as if unable to control one's movements
From this reading “And she was reel good about wantin' me to wear it common.”
past form of “resume” — take up or begin anew
From this reading “Old Mrs. Bray clucked pleasantly, and resumed.”
be dressed in
From this reading “"I'd always wanted to wear one o' my good dresses afternoons, too.”
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 had a good man.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading And she was reel good about wantin' me to wear it common.
plural of “afternoon” — the part of the day between noon and evening
From this reading "I'd always wanted to wear one o' my good dresses afternoons, too.
at all times; all the time and on every occasion
From this reading "I'd always wanted to wear one o' my good dresses afternoons, too.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Old Mrs. Bray clucked pleasantly, and resumed.
braying characteristic of donkeys
From this reading Old Mrs. Bray clucked pleasantly, and resumed.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Old Mrs. Bray clucked pleasantly, and resumed.
belonging to or participated in by a community as a whole; public
From this reading And she was reel good about wantin' me to wear it common.
plural of “dress” — a one-piece garment for a woman; has skirt and bodice
From this reading "I'd always wanted to wear one o' my good dresses afternoons, too.
having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified
From this reading "I'd always wanted to wear one o' my good dresses afternoons, too.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading I had a good man.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I had a good man.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "I'd always wanted to wear one o' my good dresses afternoons, too.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading And she was reel good about wantin' me to wear it common.
produced by a manufacturing process
From this reading Well--Myry made me one.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading I had a good man.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Well--Myry made me one.
a form of address for a married woman
From this reading Old Mrs. Bray clucked pleasantly, and resumed.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading "I'd always wanted to wear one o' my good dresses afternoons, too.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Well--Myry made me one.
a nonmetallic bivalent element that is normally a colorless odorless tasteless nonflammable diatomic gas; constitutes 21 percent of the atmosphere by volume; the most abundant element in the earth's crust
From this reading "I'd always wanted to wear one o' my good dresses afternoons, too.
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading Old Mrs. Bray clucked pleasantly, and resumed.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading "I'd always wanted to wear one o' my good dresses afternoons, too.
in a cheerful manner
From this reading Old Mrs. Bray clucked pleasantly, and resumed.
walk as if unable to control one's movements
From this reading And she was reel good about wantin' me to wear it common.
past form of “resume” — take up or begin anew
From this reading Old Mrs. Bray clucked pleasantly, and resumed.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading And she was reel good about wantin' me to wear it common.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading "I'd always wanted to wear one o' my good dresses afternoons, too.
to a degree exceeding normal or proper limits
From this reading "I'd always wanted to wear one o' my good dresses afternoons, too.
desired or wished for or sought
From this reading "I'd always wanted to wear one o' my good dresses afternoons, too.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading And she was reel good about wantin' me to wear it common.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading And she was reel good about wantin' me to wear it common.
be dressed in
From this reading "I'd always wanted to wear one o' my good dresses afternoons, too.
(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 Well--Myry made me one.
Chapter 7 of The best short stories of 1919, and by Edward J. (Edward Joseph) [Editor] O'Brien holds 367 sentences, grouped into 74 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 7 holds 367 sentences of The best short stories of 1919, and, unabridged, divided into 74 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 7 of The best short stories of 1919, and by Edward J. (Edward Joseph) [Editor] O'Brien exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 367 sentences, grouped into 74 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 74 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 74 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 7 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 The best short stories of 1919, and by Edward J. (Edward Joseph) [Editor] O'Brien on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 14810 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #23445 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #23445, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 2962 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The best short stories of 1919, and section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 39 chapters of The best short stories of 1919, and 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 The best short stories of 1919, and, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
