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.
That was all, the newspaper said. The girl read it. All! And his father racing across the continent, to stand with the shawled women at the head of the shaft. And she, in the far-off city, going though the motions of living.
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 75/113 · 5 reading units · Lines 371–375
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 large and densely populated urban area; may include several independent administrative districts
From this reading “And she, in the far-off city, going though the motions of living.”
one of the large landmasses of the earth
From this reading “And his father racing across the continent, to stand with the shawled women at the head of the shaft.”
the experience of being alive; the course of human events and activities
From this reading “And she, in the far-off city, going though the motions of living.”
plural of “motion” — the use of movements (especially of the hands) to communicate familiar or prearranged signals
From this reading “And she, in the far-off city, going though the motions of living.”
a daily or weekly publication on folded sheets; contains news and articles and advertisements
From this reading “That was all, the newspaper said.”
the sport of engaging in contests of speed
From this reading “And his father racing across the continent, to stand with the shawled women at the head of the shaft.”
a line that forms the length of an arrow pointer
From this reading “And his father racing across the continent, to stand with the shawled women at the head of the shaft.”
be standing; be upright
From this reading “And his father racing across the continent, to stand with the shawled women at the head of the shaft.”
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.
from one side of something to the other
From this reading And his father racing across the continent, to stand with the shawled women at the head of the shaft.
(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 That was all, the newspaper said.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading And his father racing across the continent, to stand with the shawled women at the head of the shaft.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading And his father racing across the continent, to stand with the shawled women at the head of the shaft.
a large and densely populated urban area; may include several independent administrative districts
From this reading And she, in the far-off city, going though the motions of living.
one of the large landmasses of the earth
From this reading And his father racing across the continent, to stand with the shawled women at the head of the shaft.
very far away in space or time
From this reading And she, in the far-off city, going though the motions of living.
a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)
From this reading And his father racing across the continent, to stand with the shawled women at the head of the shaft.
a young female
From this reading The girl read it.
the act of departing
From this reading And she, in the far-off city, going though the motions of living.
the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading And his father racing across the continent, to stand with the shawled women at the head of the shaft.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading And his father racing across the continent, to stand with the shawled women at the head of the shaft.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading And she, in the far-off city, going though the motions of living.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading The girl read it.
the experience of being alive; the course of human events and activities
From this reading And she, in the far-off city, going though the motions of living.
plural of “motion” — the use of movements (especially of the hands) to communicate familiar or prearranged signals
From this reading And she, in the far-off city, going though the motions of living.
a daily or weekly publication on folded sheets; contains news and articles and advertisements
From this reading That was all, the newspaper said.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading And his father racing across the continent, to stand with the shawled women at the head of the shaft.
the sport of engaging in contests of speed
From this reading And his father racing across the continent, to stand with the shawled women at the head of the shaft.
interpret something that is written or printed
From this reading The girl read it.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading That was all, the newspaper said.
a line that forms the length of an arrow pointer
From this reading And his father racing across the continent, to stand with the shawled women at the head of the shaft.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading And his father racing across the continent, to stand with the shawled women at the head of the shaft.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading And she, in the far-off city, going though the motions of living.
be standing; be upright
From this reading And his father racing across the continent, to stand with the shawled women at the head of the shaft.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading That was all, the newspaper said.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading That was all, the newspaper said.
in spite of the fact that
From this reading And she, in the far-off city, going though the motions of living.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading And his father racing across the continent, to stand with the shawled women at the head of the shaft.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading That was all, the newspaper said.
in the company of; together with
From this reading And his father racing across the continent, to stand with the shawled women at the head of the shaft.
plural of “woman” — an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
From this reading And his father racing across the continent, to stand with the shawled women at the head of the shaft.
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.
