Minis
Mini Copy Book

Each post in this section is a short précis (summary) of a passage in The Copy Book. All of them are in modern English. They are intended for students of English as a Foreign Language at Elementary Level.

Myths and Legends

A Tail of Woe

Reynard the Fox was mortified to hear his efforts to rescue Isegrim’s wife from a frozen lake had been misinterpreted.

Length: 115 words

American Civil War

‘If They Can Stand It I Can’

However loud his critics shouted their disapproval, Abraham Lincoln would neither deprive them of free speech nor change his opinions.

Length: 59 words

History

Dmitry the Pretender

Boris Godunov was crowned Tsar of All Russia in 1598 in the belief that Tsar Ivan’s son Dmitry was dead — but was he?

Length: 168 words

Canadian History

Pontiac’s War

Following the disastrous Seven Years’ War, France agreed to quit Canada and leave it to the British, which was not at all what the local tribesmen wanted.

Length: 114 words

Canadian History

Hudson Bay

Canada’s Hudson Bay has been a cause of war and an engine of prosperity, but long before that it was the scene of cold treachery.

Length: 118 words

Extracts from Fiction

The Abduction of Tarzan

John Clayton, a British colonial official lost in the African jungle, is caught unawares by Kerchak, the gorilla.

Length: 58 words