Chapter 5 of The Ordeal of Mark Twain is here in full — 334 sentences across 67 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter V
Chapter 5 of The Ordeal of Mark Twain is here in full — 334 sentences across 67 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE CANDIDATE FOR GENTILITY "Follow his call? Good heavens! That is what men do as bachelors; but an engaged man only follows his bride." IBSEN: _The Comedy of Love_. The Free-Thinkers' Society in "Pudd'nhead Wilson," as I have recalled, consisted of two members, Judge Driscoll, the president, and Pudd'nhead himself.
Chapter 5 of The Ordeal of Mark Twain is here in full — 334 sentences across 67 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/66 · 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 “bachelor” — a man who has never been married
From this reading “That is what men do as bachelors; but an engaged man only follows his bride."”
a politician who is running for public office
From this reading “THE CANDIDATE FOR GENTILITY "Follow his call?”
light and humorous drama with a happy ending
From this reading “IBSEN: _The Comedy of Love_.”
past form of “consist” — originate
From this reading “The Free-Thinkers' Society in "Pudd'nhead Wilson," as I have recalled, consisted of two members, Judge Driscoll, the president, and Pudd'nhead himself.”
elegance by virtue of fineness of manner and expression
From this reading “THE CANDIDATE FOR GENTILITY "Follow his call?”
realistic Norwegian author who wrote plays on social and political themes (1828-1906)
From this reading “IBSEN: _The Comedy of Love_.”
past form of “recall” — recall knowledge from memory; have a recollection
From this reading “The Free-Thinkers' Society in "Pudd'nhead Wilson," as I have recalled, consisted of two members, Judge Driscoll, the president, and Pudd'nhead himself.”
author of the first novel by an African American that was published in the United States (1808-1870)
From this reading “The Free-Thinkers' Society in "Pudd'nhead Wilson," as I have recalled, consisted of two members, Judge Driscoll, the president, and Pudd'nhead himself.”
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 “The Free-Thinkers' Society in "Pudd'nhead Wilson," as I have recalled, consisted of two members, Judge Driscoll, the president, and Pudd'nhead himself.”
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.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading That is what men do as bachelors; but an engaged man only follows his bride."
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The Free-Thinkers' Society in "Pudd'nhead Wilson," as I have recalled, consisted of two members, Judge Driscoll, the president, and Pudd'nhead himself.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading That is what men do as bachelors; but an engaged man only follows his bride."
plural of “bachelor” — a man who has never been married
From this reading That is what men do as bachelors; but an engaged man only follows his bride."
a woman who has recently been married
From this reading That is what men do as bachelors; but an engaged man only follows his bride."
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading That is what men do as bachelors; but an engaged man only follows his bride."
assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading THE CANDIDATE FOR GENTILITY "Follow his call?
a politician who is running for public office
From this reading THE CANDIDATE FOR GENTILITY "Follow his call?
light and humorous drama with a happy ending
From this reading IBSEN: _The Comedy of Love_.
past form of “consist” — originate
From this reading The Free-Thinkers' Society in "Pudd'nhead Wilson," as I have recalled, consisted of two members, Judge Driscoll, the president, and Pudd'nhead himself.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading That is what men do as bachelors; but an engaged man only follows his bride."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The Free-Thinkers' Society in "Pudd'nhead Wilson," as I have recalled, consisted of two members, Judge Driscoll, the president, and Pudd'nhead himself.
having ones attention or mind or energy engaged
From this reading That is what men do as bachelors; but an engaged man only follows his bride."
to travel behind, go after, come after
From this reading THE CANDIDATE FOR GENTILITY "Follow his call?
third-person singular of “follow” — to travel behind, go after, come after
From this reading That is what men do as bachelors; but an engaged man only follows his bride."
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading THE CANDIDATE FOR GENTILITY "Follow his call?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The Free-Thinkers' Society in "Pudd'nhead Wilson," as I have recalled, consisted of two members, Judge Driscoll, the president, and Pudd'nhead himself.
elegance by virtue of fineness of manner and expression
From this reading THE CANDIDATE FOR GENTILITY "Follow his call?
having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified
From this reading Good heavens!
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading The Free-Thinkers' Society in "Pudd'nhead Wilson," as I have recalled, consisted of two members, Judge Driscoll, the president, and Pudd'nhead himself.
the apparent surface of the imaginary sphere on which celestial bodies appear to be projected
From this reading Good heavens!
used when the man or boy doing the action is also its object
From this reading The Free-Thinkers' Society in "Pudd'nhead Wilson," as I have recalled, consisted of two members, Judge Driscoll, the president, and Pudd'nhead himself.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading THE CANDIDATE FOR GENTILITY "Follow his call?
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading The Free-Thinkers' Society in "Pudd'nhead Wilson," as I have recalled, consisted of two members, Judge Driscoll, the president, and Pudd'nhead himself.
realistic Norwegian author who wrote plays on social and political themes (1828-1906)
From this reading IBSEN: _The Comedy of Love_.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The Free-Thinkers' Society in "Pudd'nhead Wilson," as I have recalled, consisted of two members, Judge Driscoll, the president, and Pudd'nhead himself.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading That is what men do as bachelors; but an engaged man only follows his bride."
determine the result of (a competition)
From this reading The Free-Thinkers' Society in "Pudd'nhead Wilson," as I have recalled, consisted of two members, Judge Driscoll, the president, and Pudd'nhead himself.
a strong positive emotion of regard and affection
From this reading IBSEN: _The Comedy of Love_.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading That is what men do as bachelors; but an engaged man only follows his bride."
plural of “member” — one of the persons who compose a social group (especially individuals who have joined and participate in a group organization)
From this reading The Free-Thinkers' Society in "Pudd'nhead Wilson," as I have recalled, consisted of two members, Judge Driscoll, the president, and Pudd'nhead himself.
the force of workers available
From this reading That is what men do as bachelors; but an engaged man only follows his bride."
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading IBSEN: _The Comedy of Love_.
and nothing more
From this reading That is what men do as bachelors; but an engaged man only follows his bride."
an executive officer of a firm or corporation
From this reading The Free-Thinkers' Society in "Pudd'nhead Wilson," as I have recalled, consisted of two members, Judge Driscoll, the president, and Pudd'nhead himself.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The Free-Thinkers' Society in "Pudd'nhead Wilson," as I have recalled, consisted of two members, Judge Driscoll, the president, and Pudd'nhead himself.
past form of “recall” — recall knowledge from memory; have a recollection
From this reading The Free-Thinkers' Society in "Pudd'nhead Wilson," as I have recalled, consisted of two members, Judge Driscoll, the president, and Pudd'nhead himself.
an extended social group having a distinctive cultural and economic organization
From this reading The Free-Thinkers' Society in "Pudd'nhead Wilson," as I have recalled, consisted of two members, Judge Driscoll, the president, and Pudd'nhead himself.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading That is what men do as bachelors; but an engaged man only follows his bride."
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE CANDIDATE FOR GENTILITY "Follow his call?
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading The Free-Thinkers' Society in "Pudd'nhead Wilson," as I have recalled, consisted of two members, Judge Driscoll, the president, and Pudd'nhead himself.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading That is what men do as bachelors; but an engaged man only follows his bride."
author of the first novel by an African American that was published in the United States (1808-1870)
From this reading The Free-Thinkers' Society in "Pudd'nhead Wilson," as I have recalled, consisted of two members, Judge Driscoll, the president, and Pudd'nhead himself.
Chapter 5 of The Ordeal of Mark Twain by Van Wyck Brooks holds 334 sentences, grouped into 67 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 5 holds 334 sentences of The Ordeal of Mark Twain, unabridged, divided into 67 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 5 of The Ordeal of Mark Twain by Van Wyck Brooks exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 334 sentences, grouped into 67 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 67 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 67 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 5 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.
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About 266 minutes of reading across 641 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
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Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in The Ordeal of Mark Twain, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
