Chapter 8 of The Great American Novel is here in full — 122 sentences across 25 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VIII
Chapter 8 of The Great American Novel is here in full — 122 sentences across 25 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
No man can tell the truth and survive--save through prestige. And no child either. Aristocracy is license to tell the truth. And to hear it. Witness the man William in Henry Fifth, the camp incident.
Chapter 8 of The Great American Novel is here in full — 122 sentences across 25 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/24 · 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.
a privileged class holding hereditary titles
From this reading “Aristocracy is license to tell the truth.”
a quantity of liquor equal to one fifth of a United States gallon
From this reading “Witness the man William in Henry Fifth, the camp incident.”
a unit of inductance in which an induced electromotive force of one volt is produced when the current is varied at the rate of one ampere per second
From this reading “Witness the man William in Henry Fifth, the camp incident.”
a single distinct event
From this reading “Witness the man William in Henry Fifth, the camp incident.”
a legal document giving official permission to do something
From this reading “Aristocracy is license to tell the truth.”
a high standing achieved through success or influence or wealth etc.
From this reading “No man can tell the truth and survive--save through prestige.”
continue to live and avoid dying
From this reading “No man can tell the truth and survive--save through prestige.”
someone who sees an event and reports what happened
From this reading “Witness the man William in Henry Fifth, the camp incident.”
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 “No man can tell the truth and survive--save through prestige.”
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 to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading No man can tell the truth and survive--save through prestige.
a privileged class holding hereditary titles
From this reading Aristocracy is license to tell the truth.
temporary living quarters specially built by the army for soldiers
From this reading Witness the man William in Henry Fifth, the camp incident.
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading No man can tell the truth and survive--save through prestige.
a young person of either sex
From this reading And no child either.
one or the other of two
From this reading And no child either.
a quantity of liquor equal to one fifth of a United States gallon
From this reading Witness the man William in Henry Fifth, the camp incident.
perceive (sound) via the auditory sense
From this reading And to hear it.
a unit of inductance in which an induced electromotive force of one volt is produced when the current is varied at the rate of one ampere per second
From this reading Witness the man William in Henry Fifth, the camp incident.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Witness the man William in Henry Fifth, the camp incident.
a single distinct event
From this reading Witness the man William in Henry Fifth, the camp incident.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Aristocracy is license to tell the truth.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading And to hear it.
a legal document giving official permission to do something
From this reading Aristocracy is license to tell the truth.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading No man can tell the truth and survive--save through prestige.
not any; not one
From this reading No man can tell the truth and survive--save through prestige.
a high standing achieved through success or influence or wealth etc.
From this reading No man can tell the truth and survive--save through prestige.
except for; apart from
From this reading No man can tell the truth and survive--save through prestige.
continue to live and avoid dying
From this reading No man can tell the truth and survive--save through prestige.
express in words
From this reading No man can tell the truth and survive--save through prestige.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading No man can tell the truth and survive--save through prestige.
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading No man can tell the truth and survive--save through prestige.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Aristocracy is license to tell the truth.
a fact that has been verified
From this reading No man can tell the truth and survive--save through prestige.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Witness the man William in Henry Fifth, the camp incident.
someone who sees an event and reports what happened
From this reading Witness the man William in Henry Fifth, the camp incident.
Chapter 8 of The Great American Novel by William Carlos Williams holds 122 sentences, grouped into 25 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 8 holds 122 sentences of The Great American Novel, unabridged, divided into 25 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 8 of The Great American Novel by William Carlos Williams exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 122 sentences, grouped into 25 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 25 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 25 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 8 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 Great American Novel by William Carlos Williams on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1885 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #63888 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #63888, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 157 minutes of reading across 377 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Great American Novel section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 19 chapters of The Great American 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 Great American Novel, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
