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.
Except himself. The girl had thought it such a disgrace that she would not look at him! Then he grew angry. It wasn't decent, to hit a man when he was down. A woman ought to be gentle--if his mother had been alive--but then he was glad she wasn't.
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 27/113 · 5 reading units · Lines 131–135
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.
possessing life
From this reading “A woman ought to be gentle--if his mother had been alive--but then he was glad she wasn't.”
feeling or showing anger
From this reading “Then he grew angry.”
socially or conventionally correct; refined or virtuous
From this reading “It wasn't decent, to hit a man when he was down.”
bring shame or dishonor upon
From this reading “The girl had thought it such a disgrace that she would not look at him!”
apart from; not including
From this reading “Except himself.”
soft and mild; not harsh or stern or severe
From this reading “A woman ought to be gentle--if his mother had been alive--but then he was glad she wasn't.”
inflected form of “grow” — pass into a condition gradually, take on a specific property or attribute; become
From this reading “Then he grew angry.”
cause to move by striking
From this reading “It wasn't decent, to hit a man when he was down.”
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 The girl had thought it such a disgrace that she would not look at him!
possessing life
From this reading A woman ought to be gentle--if his mother had been alive--but then he was glad she wasn't.
feeling or showing anger
From this reading Then he grew angry.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading The girl had thought it such a disgrace that she would not look at him!
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading A woman ought to be gentle--if his mother had been alive--but then he was glad she wasn't.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading A woman ought to be gentle--if his mother had been alive--but then he was glad she wasn't.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading A woman ought to be gentle--if his mother had been alive--but then he was glad she wasn't.
socially or conventionally correct; refined or virtuous
From this reading It wasn't decent, to hit a man when he was down.
bring shame or dishonor upon
From this reading The girl had thought it such a disgrace that she would not look at him!
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading It wasn't decent, to hit a man when he was down.
apart from; not including
From this reading Except himself.
soft and mild; not harsh or stern or severe
From this reading A woman ought to be gentle--if his mother had been alive--but then he was glad she wasn't.
a young female
From this reading The girl had thought it such a disgrace that she would not look at him!
showing or causing joy and pleasure; especially made happy
From this reading A woman ought to be gentle--if his mother had been alive--but then he was glad she wasn't.
inflected form of “grow” — pass into a condition gradually, take on a specific property or attribute; become
From this reading Then he grew angry.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading The girl had thought it such a disgrace that she would not look at him!
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Then he grew angry.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading The girl had thought it such a disgrace that she would not look at him!
used when the man or boy doing the action is also its object
From this reading Except himself.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading A woman ought to be gentle--if his mother had been alive--but then he was glad she wasn't.
cause to move by striking
From this reading It wasn't decent, to hit a man when he was down.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading A woman ought to be gentle--if his mother had been alive--but then he was glad she wasn't.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading The girl had thought it such a disgrace that she would not look at him!
perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading The girl had thought it such a disgrace that she would not look at him!
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading It wasn't decent, to hit a man when he was down.
a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother)
From this reading A woman ought to be gentle--if his mother had been alive--but then he was glad she wasn't.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading The girl had thought it such a disgrace that she would not look at him!
used with “to” to say what is right or advisable
From this reading A woman ought to be gentle--if his mother had been alive--but then he was glad she wasn't.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading The girl had thought it such a disgrace that she would not look at him!
of the kind already mentioned
From this reading The girl had thought it such a disgrace that she would not look at him!
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading The girl had thought it such a disgrace that she would not look at him!
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The girl had thought it such a disgrace that she would not look at him!
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Then he grew angry.
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading The girl had thought it such a disgrace that she would not look at him!
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading It wasn't decent, to hit a man when he was down.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It wasn't decent, to hit a man when he was down.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It wasn't decent, to hit a man when he was down.
at the time that
From this reading It wasn't decent, to hit a man when he was down.
an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
From this reading A woman ought to be gentle--if his mother had been alive--but then he was glad she wasn't.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading The girl had thought it such a disgrace that she would not look at him!
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.
