Chapter 12 of The Great American Novel is here in full — 100 sentences across 20 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XII
Chapter 12 of The Great American Novel is here in full — 100 sentences across 20 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
That cat is funny. I think she'd be a good one for the circus. When she's hungry she bites your legs. Then she jumps at you as much as to say: _Carramba_, give me something. America needs the flamboyant to save her soul--said Vachel Lindsay to the indifferent mountains.
Chapter 12 of The Great American Novel is here in full — 100 sentences across 20 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/20 · 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.
plural of “bite” — a wound resulting from biting by an animal or a person
From this reading “When she's hungry she bites your legs.”
a travelling company of entertainers; including trained animals
From this reading “I think she'd be a good one for the circus.”
marked by ostentation but often tasteless
From this reading “America needs the flamboyant to save her soul--said Vachel Lindsay to the indifferent mountains.”
arousing or provoking laughter
From this reading “That cat is funny.”
marked by a lack of interest
From this reading “America needs the flamboyant to save her soul--said Vachel Lindsay to the indifferent mountains.”
plural of “jump” — a sudden and decisive increase
From this reading “Then she jumps at you as much as to say: _Carramba_, give me something.”
United States playwright who collaborated with Russel Crouse on several musicals (1889-1931)
From this reading “America needs the flamboyant to save her soul--said Vachel Lindsay to the indifferent mountains.”
in such a manner as could not be otherwise
From this reading “America needs the flamboyant to save her soul--said Vachel Lindsay to the indifferent mountains.”
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 “Then she jumps at you as much as to say: _Carramba_, give me something.”
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 I think she'd be a good one for the circus.
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 America needs the flamboyant to save her soul--said Vachel Lindsay to the indifferent mountains.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Then she jumps at you as much as to say: _Carramba_, give me something.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Then she jumps at you as much as to say: _Carramba_, give me something.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading I think she'd be a good one for the circus.
plural of “bite” — a wound resulting from biting by an animal or a person
From this reading When she's hungry she bites your legs.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Then she jumps at you as much as to say: _Carramba_, give me something.
feline mammal usually having thick soft fur and no ability to roar: domestic cats; wildcats
From this reading That cat is funny.
a travelling company of entertainers; including trained animals
From this reading I think she'd be a good one for the circus.
marked by ostentation but often tasteless
From this reading America needs the flamboyant to save her soul--said Vachel Lindsay to the indifferent mountains.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading I think she'd be a good one for the circus.
arousing or provoking laughter
From this reading That cat is funny.
cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense
From this reading Then she jumps at you as much as to say: _Carramba_, give me something.
having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified
From this reading I think she'd be a good one for the circus.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading America needs the flamboyant to save her soul--said Vachel Lindsay to the indifferent mountains.
feeling hunger; feeling a need or desire to eat food
From this reading When she's hungry she bites your legs.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I think she'd be a good one for the circus.
marked by a lack of interest
From this reading America needs the flamboyant to save her soul--said Vachel Lindsay to the indifferent mountains.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading That cat is funny.
plural of “jump” — a sudden and decisive increase
From this reading Then she jumps at you as much as to say: _Carramba_, give me something.
staying power
From this reading When she's hungry she bites your legs.
United States playwright who collaborated with Russel Crouse on several musicals (1889-1931)
From this reading America needs the flamboyant to save her soul--said Vachel Lindsay to the indifferent mountains.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Then she jumps at you as much as to say: _Carramba_, give me something.
plural of “mountain” — a land mass that projects well above its surroundings; higher than a hill
From this reading America needs the flamboyant to save her soul--said Vachel Lindsay to the indifferent mountains.
to a great degree or extent
From this reading Then she jumps at you as much as to say: _Carramba_, give me something.
in such a manner as could not be otherwise
From this reading America needs the flamboyant to save her soul--said Vachel Lindsay to the indifferent mountains.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading I think she'd be a good one for the circus.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading America needs the flamboyant to save her soul--said Vachel Lindsay to the indifferent mountains.
except for; apart from
From this reading America needs the flamboyant to save her soul--said Vachel Lindsay to the indifferent mountains.
express in words
From this reading Then she jumps at you as much as to say: _Carramba_, give me something.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading When she's hungry she bites your legs.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I think she'd be a good one for the circus.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading When she's hungry she bites your legs.
a thing, without saying which
From this reading Then she jumps at you as much as to say: _Carramba_, give me something.
the immaterial part of a person; the actuating cause of an individual life
From this reading America needs the flamboyant to save her soul--said Vachel Lindsay to the indifferent mountains.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading That cat is funny.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading I think she'd be a good one for the circus.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Then she jumps at you as much as to say: _Carramba_, give me something.
judge or regard; look upon; judge
From this reading I think she'd be a good one for the circus.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Then she jumps at you as much as to say: _Carramba_, give me something.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading America needs the flamboyant to save her soul--said Vachel Lindsay to the indifferent mountains.
at the time that
From this reading When she's hungry she bites your legs.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Then she jumps at you as much as to say: _Carramba_, give me something.
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading When she's hungry she bites your legs.
Chapter 12 of The Great American Novel by William Carlos Williams holds 100 sentences, grouped into 20 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 100 sentences of The Great American Novel, unabridged, divided into 20 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 12 of The Great American Novel by William Carlos Williams exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 100 sentences, grouped into 20 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 20 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 20 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 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.
