Chapter 12 of "The Debatable Land": A Novel is here in full — 265 sentences across 53 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XII
Chapter 12 of "The Debatable Land": A Novel is here in full — 265 sentences across 53 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Antietam. A big gun boomed far away in the dark. From nearer came the snip-snap of picket-shooting, which increased to a rattle and settled into volleying. On the hill to the right some one climbed on a gun-carriage and stood vaguely against the sky. Shadows came running from the door of a barn into the grass.
Chapter 12 of "The Debatable Land": A Novel is here in full — 265 sentences across 53 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/53 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
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.
an outlying farm building for storing grain or animal feed and housing farm animals
From this reading “Shadows came running from the door of a barn into the grass.”
past form of “boom” — make a resonant sound, like artillery
From this reading “A big gun boomed far away in the dark.”
past form of “climb” — go upward with gradual or continuous progress
From this reading “On the hill to the right some one climbed on a gun-carriage and stood vaguely against the sky.”
a weapon that discharges a missile at high velocity (especially from a metal tube or barrel)
From this reading “A big gun boomed far away in the dark.”
made greater in size or amount or degree
From this reading “From nearer came the snip-snap of picket-shooting, which increased to a rattle and settled into volleying.”
make short successive sounds
From this reading “From nearer came the snip-snap of picket-shooting, which increased to a rattle and settled into volleying.”
plural of “shadow” — shade within clear boundaries
From this reading “Shadows came running from the door of a barn into the grass.”
in a vague way
From this reading “On the hill to the right some one climbed on a gun-carriage and stood vaguely against the sky.”
English keeps certain words together, and knowing the pair is worth more than knowing each word alone. Every partnership below was counted across our whole published library, and earns its place by appearing far more often than two unrelated words of the same frequency would.
Shown as this reading writes them, with the form the library counts, what kind of pairing it is, and how often it occurs.
In this reading “On the hill to the right some one climbed on a gun-carriage and stood vaguely against the sky.”
an important influential person
In this reading “A big gun boomed far away in the dark.”
In this reading “Shadows came running from the door of a barn into the grass.”
In this reading “On the hill to the right some one climbed on a gun-carriage and stood vaguely against the sky.”
In this reading “A big gun boomed far away in the dark.”
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 A big gun boomed far away in the dark.
touching and pressing; in opposition to
From this reading On the hill to the right some one climbed on a gun-carriage and stood vaguely against the sky.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading From nearer came the snip-snap of picket-shooting, which increased to a rattle and settled into volleying.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Antietam.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading A big gun boomed far away in the dark.
an outlying farm building for storing grain or animal feed and housing farm animals
From this reading Shadows came running from the door of a barn into the grass.
above average in size or number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading A big gun boomed far away in the dark.
past form of “boom” — make a resonant sound, like artillery
From this reading A big gun boomed far away in the dark.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading From nearer came the snip-snap of picket-shooting, which increased to a rattle and settled into volleying.
past form of “climb” — go upward with gradual or continuous progress
From this reading On the hill to the right some one climbed on a gun-carriage and stood vaguely against the sky.
absence of light or illumination
From this reading A big gun boomed far away in the dark.
a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
From this reading Shadows came running from the door of a barn into the grass.
to a considerable degree; very much
From this reading A big gun boomed far away in the dark.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading From nearer came the snip-snap of picket-shooting, which increased to a rattle and settled into volleying.
shoot down, of birds
From this reading Shadows came running from the door of a barn into the grass.
a weapon that discharges a missile at high velocity (especially from a metal tube or barrel)
From this reading A big gun boomed far away in the dark.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading On the hill to the right some one climbed on a gun-carriage and stood vaguely against the sky.
a local and well-defined elevation of the land
From this reading On the hill to the right some one climbed on a gun-carriage and stood vaguely against the sky.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading A big gun boomed far away in the dark.
made greater in size or amount or degree
From this reading From nearer came the snip-snap of picket-shooting, which increased to a rattle and settled into volleying.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading From nearer came the snip-snap of picket-shooting, which increased to a rattle and settled into volleying.
(comparative of “near” or “close”) within a shorter distance
From this reading From nearer came the snip-snap of picket-shooting, which increased to a rattle and settled into volleying.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading From nearer came the snip-snap of picket-shooting, which increased to a rattle and settled into volleying.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading On the hill to the right some one climbed on a gun-carriage and stood vaguely against the sky.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading On the hill to the right some one climbed on a gun-carriage and stood vaguely against the sky.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading From nearer came the snip-snap of picket-shooting, which increased to a rattle and settled into volleying.
make short successive sounds
From this reading From nearer came the snip-snap of picket-shooting, which increased to a rattle and settled into volleying.
precisely, exactly
From this reading On the hill to the right some one climbed on a gun-carriage and stood vaguely against the sky.
(of fluids) moving or issuing in a stream
From this reading Shadows came running from the door of a barn into the grass.
established or decided beyond dispute or doubt
From this reading From nearer came the snip-snap of picket-shooting, which increased to a rattle and settled into volleying.
plural of “shadow” — shade within clear boundaries
From this reading Shadows came running from the door of a barn into the grass.
the atmosphere and outer space as viewed from the earth
From this reading On the hill to the right some one climbed on a gun-carriage and stood vaguely against the sky.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading From nearer came the snip-snap of picket-shooting, which increased to a rattle and settled into volleying.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading On the hill to the right some one climbed on a gun-carriage and stood vaguely against the sky.
Maintained an upright posture.
From this reading On the hill to the right some one climbed on a gun-carriage and stood vaguely against the sky.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading A big gun boomed far away in the dark.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading From nearer came the snip-snap of picket-shooting, which increased to a rattle and settled into volleying.
in a vague way
From this reading On the hill to the right some one climbed on a gun-carriage and stood vaguely against the sky.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading From nearer came the snip-snap of picket-shooting, which increased to a rattle and settled into volleying.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading From nearer came the snip-snap of picket-shooting, which increased to a rattle and settled into volleying.
Chapter 12 of "The Debatable Land": A Novel by Arthur Colton holds 265 sentences, grouped into 53 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 12 holds 265 sentences of "The Debatable Land": A Novel, unabridged, divided into 53 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 12 of "The Debatable Land": A Novel by Arthur Colton exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 265 sentences, grouped into 53 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 53 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 53 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 12 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 Debatable Land": A Novel by Arthur Colton on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4252 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #41963 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #41963, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 354 minutes of reading across 851 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through "The Debatable Land": A Novel section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 23 chapters of "The Debatable Land": A Novel 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 Debatable Land": A Novel, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
