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.
"Yes. And your last year at college was--was all I could wish. I see now that you needed a blow in the face to wake you up--and you got it. And you waked." The great engineer smiled with clean pleasure.
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 40/113 · 5 reading units · Lines 196–200
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.
exhale hard
From this reading “I see now that you needed a blow in the face to wake you up--and you got it.”
free from dirt or impurities; or having clean habits
From this reading “The great engineer smiled with clean pleasure.”
the body of faculty and students of a college
From this reading “And your last year at college was--was all I could wish.”
a person who uses scientific knowledge to solve practical problems
From this reading “The great engineer smiled with clean pleasure.”
necessary for relief or supply
From this reading “I see now that you needed a blow in the face to wake you up--and you got it.”
a fundamental feeling that is hard to define but that people desire to experience
From this reading “The great engineer smiled with clean pleasure.”
past form of “smile” — change one's facial expression by spreading the lips, often to signal pleasure
From this reading “The great engineer smiled with clean pleasure.”
be awake, be alert, be there
From this reading “I see now that you needed a blow in the face to wake you up--and you got it.”
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 see now that you needed a blow in the face to wake you up--and you got it.
(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 And your last year at college was--was all I could wish.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading And your last year at college was--was all I could wish.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading And your last year at college was--was all I could wish.
exhale hard
From this reading I see now that you needed a blow in the face to wake you up--and you got it.
free from dirt or impurities; or having clean habits
From this reading The great engineer smiled with clean pleasure.
the body of faculty and students of a college
From this reading And your last year at college was--was all I could wish.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading And your last year at college was--was all I could wish.
a person who uses scientific knowledge to solve practical problems
From this reading The great engineer smiled with clean pleasure.
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading I see now that you needed a blow in the face to wake you up--and you got it.
inflected form of “get” — come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading I see now that you needed a blow in the face to wake you up--and you got it.
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading The great engineer smiled with clean pleasure.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading And your last year at college was--was all I could wish.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading I see now that you needed a blow in the face to wake you up--and you got it.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading I see now that you needed a blow in the face to wake you up--and you got it.
immediately past
From this reading And your last year at college was--was all I could wish.
necessary for relief or supply
From this reading I see now that you needed a blow in the face to wake you up--and you got it.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading I see now that you needed a blow in the face to wake you up--and you got it.
a fundamental feeling that is hard to define but that people desire to experience
From this reading The great engineer smiled with clean pleasure.
perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading I see now that you needed a blow in the face to wake you up--and you got it.
past form of “smile” — change one's facial expression by spreading the lips, often to signal pleasure
From this reading The great engineer smiled with clean pleasure.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading I see now that you needed a blow in the face to wake you up--and you got it.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading I see now that you needed a blow in the face to wake you up--and you got it.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading I see now that you needed a blow in the face to wake you up--and you got it.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading I see now that you needed a blow in the face to wake you up--and you got it.
be awake, be alert, be there
From this reading I see now that you needed a blow in the face to wake you up--and you got it.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading And you waked."
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading And your last year at college was--was all I could wish.
hope for; have a wish
From this reading And your last year at college was--was all I could wish.
in the company of; together with
From this reading The great engineer smiled with clean pleasure.
a period of time containing 365 (or 366) days
From this reading And your last year at college was--was all I could wish.
an affirmative
From this reading "Yes.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading I see now that you needed a blow in the face to wake you up--and you got it.
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading And your last year at college was--was all I could wish.
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.
