Chapter 1 of The Shoulders of Atlas: A Novel is here in full — 155 sentences across 31 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Shoulders of Atlas: A Novel is here in full — 155 sentences across 31 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
There was another silence. The husband and wife were pale, with mouths agape like fishes. So little prosperity had come into their lives that they were rendered almost idiotic by its approach. "Us?" said Sylvia, at length, with a gasp. "Us?" said Henry.
Chapter 1 of The Shoulders of Atlas: A Novel is here in full — 155 sentences across 31 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/31 · 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.
with the mouth wide open as in wonder or awe
From this reading “The husband and wife were pale, with mouths agape like fishes.”
move towards
From this reading “So little prosperity had come into their lives that they were rendered almost idiotic by its approach.”
plural of “fish” — any of various mostly cold-blooded aquatic vertebrates usually having scales and breathing through gills
From this reading “The husband and wife were pale, with mouths agape like fishes.”
a short labored intake of breath with the mouth open
From this reading “"Us?" said Sylvia, at length, with a gasp.”
insanely irresponsible
From this reading “So little prosperity had come into their lives that they were rendered almost idiotic by its approach.”
plural of “mouth” — the opening through which food is taken in and vocalizations emerge
From this reading “The husband and wife were pale, with mouths agape like fishes.”
an economic state of growth with rising profits and full employment
From this reading “So little prosperity had come into their lives that they were rendered almost idiotic by its approach.”
past form of “render” — cause to become
From this reading “So little prosperity had come into their lives that they were rendered almost idiotic by its approach.”
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 "Us?" said Sylvia, at length, with a gasp.
with the mouth wide open as in wonder or awe
From this reading The husband and wife were pale, with mouths agape like fishes.
(of actions or states) slightly short of or not quite accomplished; all but
From this reading So little prosperity had come into their lives that they were rendered almost idiotic by its approach.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The husband and wife were pale, with mouths agape like fishes.
one more of the same kind, or a different one
From this reading There was another silence.
move towards
From this reading So little prosperity had come into their lives that they were rendered almost idiotic by its approach.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading "Us?" said Sylvia, at length, with a gasp.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading So little prosperity had come into their lives that they were rendered almost idiotic by its approach.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading So little prosperity had come into their lives that they were rendered almost idiotic by its approach.
plural of “fish” — any of various mostly cold-blooded aquatic vertebrates usually having scales and breathing through gills
From this reading The husband and wife were pale, with mouths agape like fishes.
a short labored intake of breath with the mouth open
From this reading "Us?" said Sylvia, at length, with a gasp.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading So little prosperity had come into their lives that they were rendered almost idiotic by its approach.
a unit of inductance in which an induced electromotive force of one volt is produced when the current is varied at the rate of one ampere per second
From this reading "Us?" said Henry.
a married man; a woman's partner in marriage
From this reading The husband and wife were pale, with mouths agape like fishes.
insanely irresponsible
From this reading So little prosperity had come into their lives that they were rendered almost idiotic by its approach.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading So little prosperity had come into their lives that they were rendered almost idiotic by its approach.
belonging to the thing or animal already mentioned
From this reading So little prosperity had come into their lives that they were rendered almost idiotic by its approach.
the linear extent in space from one end to the other; the longest dimension of something that is fixed in place
From this reading "Us?" said Sylvia, at length, with a gasp.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading The husband and wife were pale, with mouths agape like fishes.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading So little prosperity had come into their lives that they were rendered almost idiotic by its approach.
plural of “life” — a characteristic state or mode of living
From this reading So little prosperity had come into their lives that they were rendered almost idiotic by its approach.
plural of “mouth” — the opening through which food is taken in and vocalizations emerge
From this reading The husband and wife were pale, with mouths agape like fishes.
very light colored; highly diluted with white
From this reading The husband and wife were pale, with mouths agape like fishes.
an economic state of growth with rising profits and full employment
From this reading So little prosperity had come into their lives that they were rendered almost idiotic by its approach.
past form of “render” — cause to become
From this reading So little prosperity had come into their lives that they were rendered almost idiotic by its approach.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "Us?" said Sylvia, at length, with a gasp.
Complete absence of sound; a state of quietness and stillness.
From this reading There was another silence.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading So little prosperity had come into their lives that they were rendered almost idiotic by its approach.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Us?" said Sylvia, at length, with a gasp.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading So little prosperity had come into their lives that they were rendered almost idiotic by its approach.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The husband and wife were pale, with mouths agape like fishes.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading So little prosperity had come into their lives that they were rendered almost idiotic by its approach.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There was another silence.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading So little prosperity had come into their lives that they were rendered almost idiotic by its approach.
the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading "Us?" said Sylvia, at length, with a gasp.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading There was another silence.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading The husband and wife were pale, with mouths agape like fishes.
a married woman; a man's partner in marriage
From this reading The husband and wife were pale, with mouths agape like fishes.
in the company of; together with
From this reading The husband and wife were pale, with mouths agape like fishes.
Chapter 1 of The Shoulders of Atlas: A Novel by Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman holds 155 sentences, grouped into 31 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 1 holds 155 sentences of The Shoulders of Atlas: A Novel, unabridged, divided into 31 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Shoulders of Atlas: A Novel by Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 155 sentences, grouped into 31 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 31 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 31 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 1 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 Shoulders of Atlas: A Novel by Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5620 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #17566 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #17566, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 468 minutes of reading across 1124 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Shoulders of Atlas: A Novel section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 19 chapters of The Shoulders of Atlas: A 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 Shoulders of Atlas: A Novel, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
