Chapter 1 of The Courage of the Commonplace is here in full — 569 sentences across 114 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Courage of the Commonplace is here in full — 569 sentences across 114 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
I'm going back to town." Sentences and scraps of sentences came flying at him from all over. "Hold him down"--"Chain him up"--"Going--tommy-rot--can't go!" "You'll be game for the roundup at eleven--you've got to be." "Our darling boy--he's got to be," and more language.
Chapter 1 of The Courage of the Commonplace is here in full — 569 sentences across 114 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 107/113 · 5 reading units · Lines 531–535
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 series of things depending on each other as if linked together
From this reading “"Hold him down"--"Chain him up"--"Going--tommy-rot--can't go!"”
a special loved one
From this reading “"Our darling boy--he's got to be," and more language.”
being one more than ten
From this reading “"You'll be game for the roundup at eleven--you've got to be."”
moving swiftly
From this reading “Sentences and scraps of sentences came flying at him from all over.”
a systematic means of communicating by the use of sounds or conventional symbols
From this reading “"Our darling boy--he's got to be," and more language.”
the activity of gathering livestock together so that they can be counted or branded or sold
From this reading “"You'll be game for the roundup at eleven--you've got to be."”
food that is discarded (as from a kitchen)
From this reading “Sentences and scraps of sentences came flying at him from all over.”
plural of “sentence” — a string of words satisfying the grammatical rules of a language
From this reading “Sentences and scraps of sentences came flying at him from all over.”
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.
(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 Sentences and scraps of sentences came flying at him from all over.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Sentences and scraps of sentences came flying at him from all over.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Sentences and scraps of sentences came flying at him from all over.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading I'm going back to town."
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading "You'll be game for the roundup at eleven--you've got to be."
a youthful male person
From this reading "Our darling boy--he's got to be," and more language.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading Sentences and scraps of sentences came flying at him from all over.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Hold him down"--"Chain him up"--"Going--tommy-rot--can't go!"
a series of things depending on each other as if linked together
From this reading "Hold him down"--"Chain him up"--"Going--tommy-rot--can't go!"
a special loved one
From this reading "Our darling boy--he's got to be," and more language.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading "Hold him down"--"Chain him up"--"Going--tommy-rot--can't go!"
being one more than ten
From this reading "You'll be game for the roundup at eleven--you've got to be."
moving swiftly
From this reading Sentences and scraps of sentences came flying at him from all over.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading "You'll be game for the roundup at eleven--you've got to be."
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading Sentences and scraps of sentences came flying at him from all over.
a contest with rules to determine a winner
From this reading "You'll be game for the roundup at eleven--you've got to be."
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading "Hold him down"--"Chain him up"--"Going--tommy-rot--can't go!"
the act of departing
From this reading I'm going back to town."
inflected form of “get” — come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading "You'll be game for the roundup at eleven--you've got to be."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Our darling boy--he's got to be," and more language.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Sentences and scraps of sentences came flying at him from all over.
cause to continue in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., “keep clean”
From this reading "Hold him down"--"Chain him up"--"Going--tommy-rot--can't go!"
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I'm going back to town."
a systematic means of communicating by the use of sounds or conventional symbols
From this reading "Our darling boy--he's got to be," and more language.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading "Our darling boy--he's got to be," and more language.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Sentences and scraps of sentences came flying at him from all over.
belonging to the speaker and others
From this reading "Our darling boy--he's got to be," and more language.
above and across; more than
From this reading Sentences and scraps of sentences came flying at him from all over.
the activity of gathering livestock together so that they can be counted or branded or sold
From this reading "You'll be game for the roundup at eleven--you've got to be."
food that is discarded (as from a kitchen)
From this reading Sentences and scraps of sentences came flying at him from all over.
plural of “sentence” — a string of words satisfying the grammatical rules of a language
From this reading Sentences and scraps of sentences came flying at him from all over.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading "You'll be game for the roundup at eleven--you've got to be."
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading I'm going back to town."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Hold him down"--"Chain him up"--"Going--tommy-rot--can't go!"
an urban area with a fixed boundary that is smaller than a city
From this reading I'm going back to town."
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading "Hold him down"--"Chain him up"--"Going--tommy-rot--can't go!"
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "You'll be game for the roundup at eleven--you've got to be."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "You'll be game for the roundup at eleven--you've got to be."
Chapter 1 of The Courage of the Commonplace by Mary Raymond Shipman Andrews holds 569 sentences, grouped into 114 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 569 sentences of The Courage of the Commonplace, unabridged, divided into 114 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Courage of the Commonplace by Mary Raymond Shipman Andrews exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 569 sentences, grouped into 114 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 114 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 114 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 Courage of the Commonplace by Mary Raymond Shipman Andrews on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 569 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #5825 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #5825, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 47 minutes of reading across 114 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Courage of the Commonplace section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 1 chapters of The Courage of the Commonplace 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 Courage of the Commonplace, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
