Chapter 1 of The Convolvulus: A Comedy in Three Acts is here in full — 451 sentences across 91 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Convolvulus: A Comedy in Three Acts is here in full — 451 sentences across 91 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
JACK. I distinctly rebel against your proposing to my father. I was with father most of the morning and took especial pains that he should meet no one. Where did you find him? KATHRYN.
Chapter 1 of The Convolvulus: A Comedy in Three Acts is here in full — 451 sentences across 91 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/90 · 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.
clear to the mind; with distinct mental discernment
From this reading “I distinctly rebel against your proposing to my father.”
surpassing what is common or usual or expected
From this reading “I was with father most of the morning and took especial pains that he should meet no one.”
a small worthless amount
From this reading “JACK.”
come together
From this reading “I was with father most of the morning and took especial pains that he should meet no one.”
the time period between dawn and noon
From this reading “I was with father most of the morning and took especial pains that he should meet no one.”
an effortful attempt to attain a goal
From this reading “I was with father most of the morning and took especial pains that he should meet no one.”
-ing form of “propose” — make a proposal, declare a plan for something
From this reading “I distinctly rebel against your proposing to my father.”
“Johnny” was applied as a nickname for Confederate soldiers by the Federal soldiers in the American Civil War; “greyback” derived from their grey Confederate uniforms
From this reading “I distinctly rebel against your proposing to my father.”
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 “I was with father most of the morning and took especial pains that he should meet no 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.
touching and pressing; in opposition to
From this reading I distinctly rebel against your proposing to my father.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading I was with father most of the morning and took especial pains that he should meet no one.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading Where did you find him?
clear to the mind; with distinct mental discernment
From this reading I distinctly rebel against your proposing to my father.
surpassing what is common or usual or expected
From this reading I was with father most of the morning and took especial pains that he should meet no one.
a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)
From this reading I distinctly rebel against your proposing to my father.
come upon, as if by accident; meet with
From this reading Where did you find him?
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading I was with father most of the morning and took especial pains that he should meet no one.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Where did you find him?
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I distinctly rebel against your proposing to my father.
a small worthless amount
From this reading JACK.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading KATHRYN.
come together
From this reading I was with father most of the morning and took especial pains that he should meet no one.
the time period between dawn and noon
From this reading I was with father most of the morning and took especial pains that he should meet no one.
used to form the superlative
From this reading I was with father most of the morning and took especial pains that he should meet no one.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading I distinctly rebel against your proposing to my father.
not any; not one
From this reading I was with father most of the morning and took especial pains that he should meet no one.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading I was with father most of the morning and took especial pains that he should meet no one.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading I was with father most of the morning and took especial pains that he should meet no one.
an effortful attempt to attain a goal
From this reading I was with father most of the morning and took especial pains that he should meet no one.
-ing form of “propose” — make a proposal, declare a plan for something
From this reading I distinctly rebel against your proposing to my father.
“Johnny” was applied as a nickname for Confederate soldiers by the Federal soldiers in the American Civil War; “greyback” derived from their grey Confederate uniforms
From this reading I distinctly rebel against your proposing to my father.
used to say what is right, expected, or advisable
From this reading I was with father most of the morning and took especial pains that he should meet no one.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading I was with father most of the morning and took especial pains that he should meet no one.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading I was with father most of the morning and took especial pains that he should meet no one.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading I distinctly rebel against your proposing to my father.
inflected form of “take” — carry out
From this reading I was with father most of the morning and took especial pains that he should meet no one.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading I was with father most of the morning and took especial pains that he should meet no one.
in or at the place that
From this reading Where did you find him?
in the company of; together with
From this reading I was with father most of the morning and took especial pains that he should meet no one.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Where did you find him?
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading I distinctly rebel against your proposing to my father.
Chapter 1 of The Convolvulus: A Comedy in Three Acts by Allen Norton holds 451 sentences, grouped into 91 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 1 holds 451 sentences of The Convolvulus: A Comedy in Three Acts, unabridged, divided into 91 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Convolvulus: A Comedy in Three Acts by Allen Norton exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 451 sentences, grouped into 91 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 91 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 91 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 1 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 Convolvulus: A Comedy in Three Acts by Allen Norton on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1353 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #45571 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #45571, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 112 minutes of reading across 271 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Convolvulus: A Comedy in Three Acts section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 3 chapters of The Convolvulus: A Comedy in Three Acts 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 Convolvulus: A Comedy in Three Acts, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
