Chapter 11 of The Great American Novel is here in full — 132 sentences across 27 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter XI
Chapter 11 of The Great American Novel is here in full — 132 sentences across 27 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The American background is America. If there is to be a new world Europe must not invade us. It is not a matter of changing the y to i as in Chile. They are bound. The background of America is not Europe but America.
Chapter 11 of The Great American Novel is here in full — 132 sentences across 27 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/26 · 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.
North American republic containing 50 states - 48 conterminous states in North America plus Alaska in northwest North America and the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean; achieved independence in 1776
From this reading “The American background is America.”
a native or inhabitant of the United States
From this reading “The American background is America.”
a person's social heritage: previous experience or training
From this reading “The American background is America.”
confined by bonds
From this reading “They are bound.”
marked by continuous change or effective action
From this reading “It is not a matter of changing the y to i as in Chile.”
a republic in southern South America on the western slopes of the Andes on the south Pacific coast
From this reading “It is not a matter of changing the y to i as in Chile.”
the 2nd smallest continent (actually a vast peninsula of Eurasia); the British use “Europe” to refer to all of the continent except the British Isles
From this reading “If there is to be a new world Europe must not invade us.”
march aggressively into another's territory by military force for the purposes of conquest and occupation
From this reading “If there is to be a new world Europe must not invade us.”
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.
the hemisphere that includes North America and South America
In this reading “If there is to be a new world Europe must not invade us.”
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 If there is to be a new world Europe must not invade us.
North American republic containing 50 states - 48 conterminous states in North America plus Alaska in northwest North America and the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean; achieved independence in 1776
From this reading The American background is America.
a native or inhabitant of the United States
From this reading The American background is America.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading They are bound.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading It is not a matter of changing the y to i as in Chile.
a person's social heritage: previous experience or training
From this reading The American background is America.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading If there is to be a new world Europe must not invade us.
confined by bonds
From this reading They are bound.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading The background of America is not Europe but America.
marked by continuous change or effective action
From this reading It is not a matter of changing the y to i as in Chile.
a republic in southern South America on the western slopes of the Andes on the south Pacific coast
From this reading It is not a matter of changing the y to i as in Chile.
the 2nd smallest continent (actually a vast peninsula of Eurasia); the British use “Europe” to refer to all of the continent except the British Isles
From this reading If there is to be a new world Europe must not invade us.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading It is not a matter of changing the y to i as in Chile.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading If there is to be a new world Europe must not invade us.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading It is not a matter of changing the y to i as in Chile.
march aggressively into another's territory by military force for the purposes of conquest and occupation
From this reading If there is to be a new world Europe must not invade us.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The American background is America.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It is not a matter of changing the y to i as in Chile.
a vaguely specified concern
From this reading It is not a matter of changing the y to i as in Chile.
used to say something is necessary, or almost certainly true
From this reading If there is to be a new world Europe must not invade us.
not of long duration; having just (or relatively recently) come into being or been made or acquired or discovered
From this reading If there is to be a new world Europe must not invade us.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading If there is to be a new world Europe must not invade us.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading It is not a matter of changing the y to i as in Chile.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The American background is America.
in or at that place or location
From this reading If there is to be a new world Europe must not invade us.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They are bound.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading If there is to be a new world Europe must not invade us.
the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading If there is to be a new world Europe must not invade us.
everything that exists anywhere
From this reading If there is to be a new world Europe must not invade us.
a silvery metallic element that is common in rare-earth minerals; used in magnesium and aluminum alloys
From this reading It is not a matter of changing the y to i as in Chile.
Chapter 11 of The Great American Novel by William Carlos Williams holds 132 sentences, grouped into 27 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 11 holds 132 sentences of The Great American Novel, unabridged, divided into 27 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 11 of The Great American Novel by William Carlos Williams exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 132 sentences, grouped into 27 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 27 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 27 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 11 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.
