Chapter 4 of The Oxford Book of American Essays is here in full — 401 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 Oxford Book of American Essays is here in full — 401 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
But _great men_--the word is injurious. Is there caste? Is there fate? What becomes of the promise to virtue? The thoughtful youth laments the superfœtation of nature.
Chapter 4 of The Oxford Book of American Essays is here in full — 401 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.
third-person singular of “become” — enter or assume a certain state or condition
From this reading “What becomes of the promise to virtue?”
social status or position conferred by a system based on class
From this reading “Is there caste?”
an event (or a course of events) that will inevitably happen in the future
From this reading “Is there fate?”
harmful to living things
From this reading “But _great men_--the word is injurious.”
plural of “lament” — a cry of sorrow and grief
From this reading “The thoughtful youth laments the superfœtation of nature.”
make a promise or commitment
From this reading “What becomes of the promise to virtue?”
having intellectual depth
From this reading “The thoughtful youth laments the superfœtation of nature.”
Moral excellence and goodness of character; the highest human attainment in Stoic philosophy.
From this reading “What becomes of the promise to virtue?”
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.
third-person singular of “become” — enter or assume a certain state or condition
From this reading What becomes of the promise to virtue?
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But _great men_--the word is injurious.
social status or position conferred by a system based on class
From this reading Is there caste?
an event (or a course of events) that will inevitably happen in the future
From this reading Is there fate?
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading But _great men_--the word is injurious.
harmful to living things
From this reading But _great men_--the word is injurious.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading But _great men_--the word is injurious.
plural of “lament” — a cry of sorrow and grief
From this reading The thoughtful youth laments the superfœtation of nature.
the force of workers available
From this reading But _great men_--the word is injurious.
the essential qualities or characteristics by which something is recognized
From this reading The thoughtful youth laments the superfœtation of nature.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading What becomes of the promise to virtue?
make a promise or commitment
From this reading What becomes of the promise to virtue?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The thoughtful youth laments the superfœtation of nature.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading But _great men_--the word is injurious.
in or at that place or location
From this reading Is there caste?
having intellectual depth
From this reading The thoughtful youth laments the superfœtation of nature.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading What becomes of the promise to virtue?
Moral excellence and goodness of character; the highest human attainment in Stoic philosophy.
From this reading What becomes of the promise to virtue?
used to ask for information about something
From this reading What becomes of the promise to virtue?
a unit of language that native speakers can identify
From this reading But _great men_--the word is injurious.
a young person (especially a young man or boy)
From this reading The thoughtful youth laments the superfœtation of nature.
Chapter 4 of The Oxford Book of American Essays by Brander [Editor] Matthews holds 401 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 401 sentences of The Oxford Book of American Essays, unabridged, divided into 81 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of The Oxford Book of American Essays by Brander [Editor] Matthews exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 401 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 Oxford Book of American Essays by Brander [Editor] Matthews on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6383 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #40196 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #40196, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 531 minutes of reading across 1277 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Oxford Book of American Essays section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 16 chapters of The Oxford Book of American Essays 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 Oxford Book of American Essays, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
