Chapter 4 of The Jazz Singer is here in full — 402 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of The Jazz Singer is here in full — 402 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
DILLINGS This jazz singer of yours, Jack Robin, and Mary’s interest in him. LEE I thought we settled that a month ago. DILLINGS I’m afraid we didn’t. I’ve been thinking it over, and I’ve decided to take my money out of your show. LEE I don’t get you, Randy.
Chapter 4 of The Jazz Singer is here in full — 402 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/80 · 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.
empty rhetoric or insincere or exaggerated talk
From this reading “DILLINGS This jazz singer of yours, Jack Robin, and Mary’s interest in him.”
United States filmmaker whose works explore the richness of black culture in America (born in 1957)
From this reading “LEE I thought we settled that a month ago.”
possessive form of “mary” — the mother of Jesus; Christians refer to her as the Virgin Mary; she is especially honored by Roman Catholics
one of the twelve divisions of the calendar year
From this reading “LEE I thought we settled that a month ago.”
feeling great sexual desire
From this reading “LEE I don’t get you, Randy.”
small Old World songbird with a reddish breast
From this reading “DILLINGS This jazz singer of yours, Jack Robin, and Mary’s interest in him.”
established or decided beyond dispute or doubt
From this reading “LEE I thought we settled that a month ago.”
a person who sings
From this reading “DILLINGS This jazz singer of yours, Jack Robin, and Mary’s interest in him.”
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.
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 LEE I thought we settled that a month ago.
filled with fear or apprehension
From this reading DILLINGS I’m afraid we didn’t.
in the past
From this reading LEE I thought we settled that a month ago.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading DILLINGS This jazz singer of yours, Jack Robin, and Mary’s interest in him.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading I’ve been thinking it over, and I’ve decided to take my money out of your show.
recognizable; marked
From this reading I’ve been thinking it over, and I’ve decided to take my money out of your show.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading DILLINGS I’m afraid we didn’t.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading DILLINGS This jazz singer of yours, Jack Robin, and Mary’s interest in him.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading LEE I don’t get you, Randy.
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading LEE I don’t get you, Randy.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading DILLINGS This jazz singer of yours, Jack Robin, and Mary’s interest in him.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading LEE I thought we settled that a month ago.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading DILLINGS I’m afraid we didn’t.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I’ve been thinking it over, and I’ve decided to take my money out of your show.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading DILLINGS This jazz singer of yours, Jack Robin, and Mary’s interest in him.
a sense of concern with and curiosity about someone or something
From this reading DILLINGS This jazz singer of yours, Jack Robin, and Mary’s interest in him.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading I’ve been thinking it over, and I’ve decided to take my money out of your show.
a small worthless amount
From this reading DILLINGS This jazz singer of yours, Jack Robin, and Mary’s interest in him.
empty rhetoric or insincere or exaggerated talk
From this reading DILLINGS This jazz singer of yours, Jack Robin, and Mary’s interest in him.
United States filmmaker whose works explore the richness of black culture in America (born in 1957)
From this reading LEE I thought we settled that a month ago.
possessive form of “mary” — the mother of Jesus; Christians refer to her as the Virgin Mary; she is especially honored by Roman Catholics
From this reading DILLINGS This jazz singer of yours, Jack Robin, and Mary’s interest in him.
the most common medium of exchange; functions as legal tender
From this reading I’ve been thinking it over, and I’ve decided to take my money out of your show.
one of the twelve divisions of the calendar year
From this reading LEE I thought we settled that a month ago.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading I’ve been thinking it over, and I’ve decided to take my money out of your show.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading DILLINGS This jazz singer of yours, Jack Robin, and Mary’s interest in him.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading I’ve been thinking it over, and I’ve decided to take my money out of your show.
above and across; more than
From this reading I’ve been thinking it over, and I’ve decided to take my money out of your show.
feeling great sexual desire
From this reading LEE I don’t get you, Randy.
small Old World songbird with a reddish breast
From this reading DILLINGS This jazz singer of yours, Jack Robin, and Mary’s interest in him.
established or decided beyond dispute or doubt
From this reading LEE I thought we settled that a month ago.
give an exhibition of to an interested audience
From this reading I’ve been thinking it over, and I’ve decided to take my money out of your show.
a person who sings
From this reading DILLINGS This jazz singer of yours, Jack Robin, and Mary’s interest in him.
carry out
From this reading I’ve been thinking it over, and I’ve decided to take my money out of your show.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading LEE I thought we settled that a month ago.
the process of using your mind to consider something carefully
From this reading I’ve been thinking it over, and I’ve decided to take my money out of your show.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading DILLINGS This jazz singer of yours, Jack Robin, and Mary’s interest in him.
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading LEE I thought we settled that a month ago.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading I’ve been thinking it over, and I’ve decided to take my money out of your show.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading LEE I thought we settled that a month ago.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading LEE I don’t get you, Randy.
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading I’ve been thinking it over, and I’ve decided to take my money out of your show.
the one or ones belonging to the person spoken to
From this reading DILLINGS This jazz singer of yours, Jack Robin, and Mary’s interest in him.
Chapter 4 of The Jazz Singer by Samson Raphaelson holds 402 sentences, grouped into 81 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 4 holds 402 sentences of The Jazz Singer, unabridged, divided into 81 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of The Jazz Singer by Samson Raphaelson exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 402 sentences, grouped into 81 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 81 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 81 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 4 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 Jazz Singer by Samson Raphaelson on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2503 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #67583 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #67583, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 208 minutes of reading across 501 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Jazz Singer section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 6 chapters of The Jazz Singer 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 Jazz Singer, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
