The Copybook

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

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1543

© Colin Smith, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

The Tide of Popularity by Jane Austen

First impressions prove to be quite misleading in the case of handsome, disagreeable Mr Darcy.

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1544

© David Croker, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

Presumption and Innocence by Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens chastises those who alter the plots of classic tales to push some social agenda of their own.

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1545

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

‘Please Sir, I Want Some More!’ by Charles Dickens

Oliver was elected as the unwilling spokesman for all the hungry children.

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1546

© William Cho, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

The Insect on the Leaf by Charles Dickens

Scrooge begs the Spirit of Christmas to tell him what will happen to Tiny Tim.

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1547

© Ricardo Liberato, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

A King-Sized Conspiracy by Anthony Hope

Rudolf Rassendyll is on holiday in Ruritania when he stumbles across a plot by the King’s brother to steal the crown.

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1548

© Derek Harper, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

The Footprints at the Gate by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

What Dr Mortimer saw beside the body of Sir Charles Baskerville sent him hastily to London, to consult Sherlock Holmes.

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© Nicholas Armitage / Clay Lane, 2025

May 9 NS

April 26 OS

A Gallant Attempt for the Crown : Only months after kidnapping the Duke of Ormond, Irish radical Thomas Blood was at it again, this time attempting to steal the Crown Jewels.
Russia’s Heroic Stand : In 1941, with much of the West subdued, Adolf Hitler bent the full force of his hatred on Moscow.
A Thousand Commas : Assess the punctuation of this sentence, according to the author’s own principles.
Batter My Heart : John Donne gives God a free hand to do whatever needs to be done.
Window Seat : Describe the view from one of the following vantage points.
Repeat Offender :
In Two Minds : Join these ideas together to a form a single sentence, in at least two different ways.
The First Traffic Lights : The busy crossroads outside the Houses of Parliament was the testing ground for a new technology.
Good Companions : Explain what these wise classical authors are telling us.
The Rule of the Road : Being a free citizen doesn’t mean that everyone else has to get out of your way.
Blind Courage : George Santayana reprimanded politicians and military men who thought war was good for the country’s soul.
Patience : Make a single sentence out of these three ideas.
The Angel Cried : A hymn sung in the weeks after Easter, imagining how Gabriel brought the news of Christ’s resurrection to Mary.
She was a Phantom of Delight : Mary Wordsworth wasn’t pretty or bookish, but she was kind and vital, and William loved her.
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