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The Red Badge of Courage
The Red Badge of Courage

Chapter IV · Chapter 4

Chapter 4 of The Red Badge of Courage is here in full — 94 sentences across 19 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.

Cover illustration for The Red Badge of Courage
Context Illustration Reading 1/18 · 5 lines
English subtitles · tap any word to listen 1 / 5
The brigade was halted in the fringe of a grove.
The men crouched among the trees and pointed their restless guns out at the fields.
They tried to look beyond the smoke.
Out of this haze they could see running men.
Some shouted information and gestured as they hurried.
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AI-generated narration by OpenAI · Slow US English
LEARNER DICTIONARY
Archivist
/ˈɑːrkɪvɪst/
Editorial verification pending

A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.

The Red Badge of Courage

Chapter IV · Chapter 4

Chapter 4 of The Red Badge of Courage is here in full — 94 sentences across 19 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.

Reading 1/18 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5

Line 1
The brigade was halted in the fringe of a grove.
Line 2
The men crouched among the trees and pointed their restless guns out at the fields.
Line 3
They tried to look beyond the smoke.
Line 4
Out of this haze they could see running men.
Line 5
Some shouted information and gestured as they hurried.

All words in this reading · 38

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.

a

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The brigade was halted in the fringe of a grove.

among

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The men crouched among the trees and pointed their restless guns out at the fields.

and

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The men crouched among the trees and pointed their restless guns out at the fields.

as

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Some shouted information and gestured as they hurried.

at

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The men crouched among the trees and pointed their restless guns out at the fields.

beyond

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading They tried to look beyond the smoke.

brigade

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The brigade was halted in the fringe of a grove.

could

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Out of this haze they could see running men.

crouched

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The men crouched among the trees and pointed their restless guns out at the fields.

fields

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The men crouched among the trees and pointed their restless guns out at the fields.

fringe

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The brigade was halted in the fringe of a grove.

gestured

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Some shouted information and gestured as they hurried.

grove

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The brigade was halted in the fringe of a grove.

guns

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The men crouched among the trees and pointed their restless guns out at the fields.

halted

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The brigade was halted in the fringe of a grove.

haze

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Out of this haze they could see running men.

hurried

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Some shouted information and gestured as they hurried.

in

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The brigade was halted in the fringe of a grove.

information

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Some shouted information and gestured as they hurried.

look

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading They tried to look beyond the smoke.

men

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The men crouched among the trees and pointed their restless guns out at the fields.

of

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The brigade was halted in the fringe of a grove.

out

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The men crouched among the trees and pointed their restless guns out at the fields.

pointed

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The men crouched among the trees and pointed their restless guns out at the fields.

restless

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The men crouched among the trees and pointed their restless guns out at the fields.

running

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Out of this haze they could see running men.

see

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Out of this haze they could see running men.

shouted

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Some shouted information and gestured as they hurried.

smoke

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading They tried to look beyond the smoke.

Some

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Some shouted information and gestured as they hurried.

The

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The brigade was halted in the fringe of a grove.

their

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The men crouched among the trees and pointed their restless guns out at the fields.

They

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading They tried to look beyond the smoke.

this

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Out of this haze they could see running men.

to

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading They tried to look beyond the smoke.

trees

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The men crouched among the trees and pointed their restless guns out at the fields.

tried

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading They tried to look beyond the smoke.

was

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The brigade was halted in the fringe of a grove.

Chapter 4 of The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane holds 94 sentences, grouped into 19 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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.

What does chapter 4 of The Red Badge of Courage contain?

Chapter 4 holds 94 sentences of The Red Badge of Courage, unabridged, divided into 19 reading sections.

This page carries chapter 4 of The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 94 sentences, grouped into 19 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.

How do I study chapter 4 of The Red Badge of Courage?

Work through the 19 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.

Each of the 19 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.

Can chapter 4 be read aloud to me?

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.

Questions about reading The Red Badge of Courage

Common questions about reading The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane on this page, its source edition and its audio.

Is this the complete text of The Red Badge of Courage?

Yes. All 3525 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #73 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.

Which edition of The Red Badge of Courage is used?

Project Gutenberg eBook #73, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.

How long does The Red Badge of Courage take to read?

About 293 minutes of reading across 705 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.

How to read The Red Badge of Courage section by section

How to work through The Red Badge of Courage section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.

  1. Open a chapter

    Choose one of the 24 chapters of The Red Badge of Courage to begin.

  2. Read one section

    Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.

  3. Listen and tap

    Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.

Vocabulary met early in The Red Badge of Courage

Words and structures a reader meets early in The Red Badge of Courage, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.

Passed
A word that appears in the opening chapter of The Red Badge of Courage; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.
Reluctantly
A word that appears in the opening chapter of The Red Badge of Courage; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.
Earth
A word that appears in the opening chapter of The Red Badge of Courage; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.
Retiring
A word that appears in the opening chapter of The Red Badge of Courage; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.