Chapter 13 of The Great American Novel is here in full — 121 sentences across 25 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XIII
Chapter 13 of The Great American Novel is here in full — 121 sentences across 25 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
It was a shock to discover that she, that most well built girl, so discrete, so comely, so able a thing in appearance, should be so stupid. There are things that she cannot learn. She will never finish school. Positively stupid. Why her little brother, no bigger than Hop o' my Thumb has caught up to her and will soon outstrip her.
Chapter 13 of The Great American Novel is here in full — 121 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.
large or big relative to something else
From this reading “Why her little brother, no bigger than Hop o' my Thumb has caught up to her and will soon outstrip her.”
according with custom or propriety
From this reading “It was a shock to discover that she, that most well built girl, so discrete, so comely, so able a thing in appearance, should be so stupid.”
constituting a separate entity or part
From this reading “It was a shock to discover that she, that most well built girl, so discrete, so comely, so able a thing in appearance, should be so stupid.”
jump lightly
From this reading “Why her little brother, no bigger than Hop o' my Thumb has caught up to her and will soon outstrip her.”
be or do something to a greater degree
From this reading “Why her little brother, no bigger than Hop o' my Thumb has caught up to her and will soon outstrip her.”
extremely
From this reading “Positively stupid.”
lacking or marked by lack of intellectual acuity
From this reading “It was a shock to discover that she, that most well built girl, so discrete, so comely, so able a thing in appearance, should be so stupid.”
the thick short innermost digit of the forelimb
From this reading “Why her little brother, no bigger than Hop o' my Thumb has caught up to her and will soon outstrip her.”
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.
reach the point where one should be after a delay
In this reading “Why her little brother, no bigger than Hop o' my Thumb has caught up to her and will soon outstrip her.”
a younger brother
In this reading “Why her little brother, no bigger than Hop o' my Thumb has caught up to her and will soon outstrip her.”
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 It was a shock to discover that she, that most well built girl, so discrete, so comely, so able a thing in appearance, should be so stupid.
(usually followed by “to”) having the necessary means or skill or know-how or authority to do something
From this reading It was a shock to discover that she, that most well built girl, so discrete, so comely, so able a thing in appearance, should be so stupid.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Why her little brother, no bigger than Hop o' my Thumb has caught up to her and will soon outstrip her.
outward or visible aspect of a person or thing
From this reading It was a shock to discover that she, that most well built girl, so discrete, so comely, so able a thing in appearance, should be so stupid.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading There are things that she cannot learn.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading It was a shock to discover that she, that most well built girl, so discrete, so comely, so able a thing in appearance, should be so stupid.
large or big relative to something else
From this reading Why her little brother, no bigger than Hop o' my Thumb has caught up to her and will soon outstrip her.
a male with the same parents as someone else
From this reading Why her little brother, no bigger than Hop o' my Thumb has caught up to her and will soon outstrip her.
(used of soaps or cleaning agents) having a substance (an abrasive or filler) added to increase effectiveness
From this reading It was a shock to discover that she, that most well built girl, so discrete, so comely, so able a thing in appearance, should be so stupid.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading There are things that she cannot learn.
inflected form of “catch” — discover or come upon accidentally, suddenly, or unexpectedly; catch somebody doing something or in a certain state
From this reading Why her little brother, no bigger than Hop o' my Thumb has caught up to her and will soon outstrip her.
according with custom or propriety
From this reading It was a shock to discover that she, that most well built girl, so discrete, so comely, so able a thing in appearance, should be so stupid.
discover or determine the existence, presence, or fact of
From this reading It was a shock to discover that she, that most well built girl, so discrete, so comely, so able a thing in appearance, should be so stupid.
constituting a separate entity or part
From this reading It was a shock to discover that she, that most well built girl, so discrete, so comely, so able a thing in appearance, should be so stupid.
come or bring to a finish or an end
From this reading She will never finish school.
a young female
From this reading It was a shock to discover that she, that most well built girl, so discrete, so comely, so able a thing in appearance, should be so stupid.
the form of “have” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Why her little brother, no bigger than Hop o' my Thumb has caught up to her and will soon outstrip her.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Why her little brother, no bigger than Hop o' my Thumb has caught up to her and will soon outstrip her.
jump lightly
From this reading Why her little brother, no bigger than Hop o' my Thumb has caught up to her and will soon outstrip her.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading It was a shock to discover that she, that most well built girl, so discrete, so comely, so able a thing in appearance, should be so stupid.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was a shock to discover that she, that most well built girl, so discrete, so comely, so able a thing in appearance, should be so stupid.
gain knowledge or skills
From this reading There are things that she cannot learn.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading Why her little brother, no bigger than Hop o' my Thumb has caught up to her and will soon outstrip her.
used to form the superlative
From this reading It was a shock to discover that she, that most well built girl, so discrete, so comely, so able a thing in appearance, should be so stupid.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading Why her little brother, no bigger than Hop o' my Thumb has caught up to her and will soon outstrip her.
not ever; at no time in the past or future
From this reading She will never finish school.
not any; not one
From this reading Why her little brother, no bigger than Hop o' my Thumb has caught up to her and will soon outstrip her.
a nonmetallic bivalent element that is normally a colorless odorless tasteless nonflammable diatomic gas; constitutes 21 percent of the atmosphere by volume; the most abundant element in the earth's crust
From this reading Why her little brother, no bigger than Hop o' my Thumb has caught up to her and will soon outstrip her.
be or do something to a greater degree
From this reading Why her little brother, no bigger than Hop o' my Thumb has caught up to her and will soon outstrip her.
extremely
From this reading Positively stupid.
an educational institution
From this reading She will never finish school.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading It was a shock to discover that she, that most well built girl, so discrete, so comely, so able a thing in appearance, should be so stupid.
the feeling of distress and disbelief that you have when something bad happens accidentally
From this reading It was a shock to discover that she, that most well built girl, so discrete, so comely, so able a thing in appearance, should be so stupid.
used to say what is right, expected, or advisable
From this reading It was a shock to discover that she, that most well built girl, so discrete, so comely, so able a thing in appearance, should be so stupid.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading It was a shock to discover that she, that most well built girl, so discrete, so comely, so able a thing in appearance, should be so stupid.
in the near future
From this reading Why her little brother, no bigger than Hop o' my Thumb has caught up to her and will soon outstrip her.
lacking or marked by lack of intellectual acuity
From this reading It was a shock to discover that she, that most well built girl, so discrete, so comely, so able a thing in appearance, should be so stupid.
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading Why her little brother, no bigger than Hop o' my Thumb has caught up to her and will soon outstrip her.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading It was a shock to discover that she, that most well built girl, so discrete, so comely, so able a thing in appearance, should be so stupid.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There are things that she cannot learn.
a special situation
From this reading It was a shock to discover that she, that most well built girl, so discrete, so comely, so able a thing in appearance, should be so stupid.
any movable possession (especially articles of clothing)
From this reading There are things that she cannot learn.
the thick short innermost digit of the forelimb
From this reading Why her little brother, no bigger than Hop o' my Thumb has caught up to her and will soon outstrip her.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading It was a shock to discover that she, that most well built girl, so discrete, so comely, so able a thing in appearance, should be so stupid.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading Why her little brother, no bigger than Hop o' my Thumb has caught up to her and will soon outstrip her.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was a shock to discover that she, that most well built girl, so discrete, so comely, so able a thing in appearance, should be so stupid.
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading It was a shock to discover that she, that most well built girl, so discrete, so comely, so able a thing in appearance, should be so stupid.
the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase “the whys and wherefores”
From this reading Why her little brother, no bigger than Hop o' my Thumb has caught up to her and will soon outstrip her.
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading She will never finish school.
Chapter 13 of The Great American Novel by William Carlos Williams holds 121 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 13 holds 121 sentences of The Great American Novel, unabridged, divided into 25 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 13 of The Great American Novel by William Carlos Williams exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 121 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 13 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.
