The Copybook

Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.

1339

Via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

Kate gets a Dressing-Down by Charles Dickens

Kate Nickleby must bite her lip as she experiences snobbery for the first time.

Read

1340

From Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

Muzio Clementi by Clay Lane

From performance and composition to instrument-making, Clementi left his mark on British and European classical music.

Read

1341

From the Walters Art Museum, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

Wulfstan and the Seal of Approval by Clay Lane

William the Conqueror’s purge of the English Church was halted by a humble bishop and a dead king.

Read

1342

© Martyn Gorman, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

The Sword of Damocles by Clay Lane

A reminder that those with extreme wealth and power have everything but the peace to enjoy it.

Read

1343

© Chneophytou, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.

Heracles and the Cerynaean Hind by Clay Lane

Eurystheus sends his cousin on another labour, this time hoping the task is too delicate for the big man.

Read

1344

© TheTurfBurner, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

The Evacuation of Dunkirk by Clay Lane

The fate of the British army hung by a thread in May 1940, but ships large and small, military and civilian, came to the rescue.

Read

Clay Lane The Copybook
About Clay Lane nicholas@claylane.uk

© Nicholas Armitage / Clay Lane, 2025

May 2 NS

April 19 OS

She was a Phantom of Delight : Mary Wordsworth wasn’t pretty or bookish, but she was kind and vital, and William loved her.
Hardly : Tone down these bold assertions with ‘hardly’.
The Death of Julius Caesar : When Julius Caesar entered the Senate that day, a note warning him of treachery was clutched in his hand — unread.
Two Letters Home : A German soldier stopped the Great War so he could ask Captain Hulse to post a letter for him.
Smile : Choose adjectives of praise for these nouns, at about the 7/10 level.
The Making of Mark : St Mark wrote his Gospel as a summary of the preaching of St Peter.
Zheng He and the Rise of Malacca : Malacca became a refuge from the overbearing empires of the Far East, thanks to a celebrated Chinese admiral.
Confusables : Compose sentences to bring out the similarities and differences between these words.
Jill and I : Include yourself in these sentences about Jill.
Saddled : Use these words in sentences, and see if you can use one of them as a verb.
Russia’s Heroic Stand : In 1941, with much of the West subdued, Adolf Hitler bent the full force of his hatred on Moscow.
Approachable : Replace the verb ‘can’ with these alternatives, and explain how the meaning of the sentence has changed.
Latest

Clay Lane Home

Search

Blog

The Copybook

Think and Speak

Comfortable Words

Word Games

Featured Authors

Featured Subjects

Search The Copybook

About Clay Lane

Close Menu