Chapter 7 of Uncle William: The Man Who Was Shif'less is here in full — 424 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VII
Chapter 7 of Uncle William: The Man Who Was Shif'less is here in full — 424 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Uncle William held out a hand detainingly. “You set right down and go to work. I come early a-purpose. I thought I’d like to set a spell and watch ye.” The girl resumed her copying.
Chapter 7 of Uncle William: The Man Who Was Shif'less is here in full — 424 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/84 · 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.
an act of copying
From this reading “The girl resumed her copying.”
at or near the beginning of a period of time or course of events or before the usual or expected time
From this reading “I come early a-purpose.”
occupied or in the control of; often used in combination
From this reading “Uncle William held out a hand detainingly.”
past form of “resume” — take up or begin anew
From this reading “The girl resumed her copying.”
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading ““You set right down and go to work.”
orally recite the letters of or give the spelling of
From this reading “I thought I’d like to set a spell and watch ye.””
the brother of your father or mother; the husband of your aunt
From this reading “Uncle William held out a hand detainingly.”
look attentively
From this reading “I thought I’d like to set a spell and watch ye.””
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 Uncle William held out a hand detainingly.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I come early a-purpose.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading “You set right down and go to work.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading I come early a-purpose.
an act of copying
From this reading The girl resumed her copying.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Uncle William held out a hand detainingly.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading “You set right down and go to work.
at or near the beginning of a period of time or course of events or before the usual or expected time
From this reading I come early a-purpose.
a young female
From this reading The girl resumed her copying.
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading “You set right down and go to work.
the (prehensile) extremity of the superior limb
From this reading Uncle William held out a hand detainingly.
occupied or in the control of; often used in combination
From this reading Uncle William held out a hand detainingly.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading The girl resumed her copying.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I come early a-purpose.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I thought I’d like to set a spell and watch ye.”
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading I thought I’d like to set a spell and watch ye.”
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading Uncle William held out a hand detainingly.
past form of “resume” — take up or begin anew
From this reading The girl resumed her copying.
precisely, exactly
From this reading “You set right down and go to work.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading “You set right down and go to work.
orally recite the letters of or give the spelling of
From this reading I thought I’d like to set a spell and watch ye.”
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The girl resumed her copying.
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading I thought I’d like to set a spell and watch ye.”
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading “You set right down and go to work.
the brother of your father or mother; the husband of your aunt
From this reading Uncle William held out a hand detainingly.
look attentively
From this reading I thought I’d like to set a spell and watch ye.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Uncle William held out a hand detainingly.
exert oneself by doing mental or physical work for a purpose or out of necessity
From this reading “You set right down and go to work.
an old word for “you”, speaking to more than one person
From this reading I thought I’d like to set a spell and watch ye.”
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “You set right down and go to work.
Chapter 7 of Uncle William: The Man Who Was Shif'less by Jennette Lee holds 424 sentences, grouped into 85 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.
Chapter 7 holds 424 sentences of Uncle William: The Man Who Was Shif'less, unabridged, divided into 85 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 7 of Uncle William: The Man Who Was Shif'less by Jennette Lee exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 424 sentences, grouped into 85 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 85 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 85 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 7 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 Uncle William: The Man Who Was Shif'less by Jennette Lee on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3413 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #4634 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #4634, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 284 minutes of reading across 683 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Uncle William: The Man Who Was Shif'less section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 8 chapters of Uncle William: The Man Who Was Shif'less 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 Uncle William: The Man Who Was Shif'less, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
