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.
Is Johnny McLean dead?" She did fall down, or cry out, but then Brant knew. Swiftly he came up and put his big, brotherly arm around her. "Wait, my dear," he said. "There's a ray of hope.
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 66/113 · 5 reading units · Lines 326–330
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.
small dark geese that breed in the north and migrate southward
From this reading “She did fall down, or cry out, but then Brant knew.”
like or characteristic of or befitting a brother
From this reading “Swiftly he came up and put his big, brotherly arm around her.”
utter a sudden loud cry
From this reading “She did fall down, or cry out, but then Brant knew.”
descend in free fall under the influence of gravity
From this reading “She did fall down, or cry out, but then Brant knew.”
“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 “Is Johnny McLean dead?"”
a column of light (as from a beacon)
From this reading “"There's a ray of hope.”
in a swift manner
From this reading “Swiftly he came up and put his big, brotherly arm around her.”
stay in one place and anticipate or expect something
From this reading “"Wait, my dear," he said.”
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 "There's a ray of hope.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Swiftly he came up and put his big, brotherly arm around her.
a human limb; technically the part of the superior limb between the shoulder and the elbow but commonly used to refer to the whole superior limb
From this reading Swiftly he came up and put his big, brotherly arm around her.
surrounding, or on every side of, something
From this reading Swiftly he came up and put his big, brotherly arm around her.
above average in size or number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading Swiftly he came up and put his big, brotherly arm around her.
small dark geese that breed in the north and migrate southward
From this reading She did fall down, or cry out, but then Brant knew.
like or characteristic of or befitting a brother
From this reading Swiftly he came up and put his big, brotherly arm around her.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading She did fall down, or cry out, but then Brant knew.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading Swiftly he came up and put his big, brotherly arm around her.
utter a sudden loud cry
From this reading She did fall down, or cry out, but then Brant knew.
no longer having or seeming to have or expecting to have life
From this reading Is Johnny McLean dead?"
dearly loved
From this reading "Wait, my dear," he said.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading She did fall down, or cry out, but then Brant knew.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading She did fall down, or cry out, but then Brant knew.
descend in free fall under the influence of gravity
From this reading She did fall down, or cry out, but then Brant knew.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Swiftly he came up and put his big, brotherly arm around her.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Swiftly he came up and put his big, brotherly arm around her.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Swiftly he came up and put his big, brotherly arm around her.
a specific instance of feeling hopeful
From this reading "There's a ray of hope.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Is Johnny McLean dead?"
“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 Is Johnny McLean dead?"
inflected form of “know” — be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading She did fall down, or cry out, but then Brant knew.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Is Johnny McLean dead?"
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading "Wait, my dear," he said.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading "There's a ray of hope.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading She did fall down, or cry out, but then Brant knew.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading She did fall down, or cry out, but then Brant knew.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading Swiftly he came up and put his big, brotherly arm around her.
a column of light (as from a beacon)
From this reading "There's a ray of hope.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "Wait, my dear," he said.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She did fall down, or cry out, but then Brant knew.
in a swift manner
From this reading Swiftly he came up and put his big, brotherly arm around her.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading She did fall down, or cry out, but then Brant knew.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "There's a ray of hope.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading Swiftly he came up and put his big, brotherly arm around her.
stay in one place and anticipate or expect something
From this reading "Wait, my dear," he said.
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.
