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.

Stories in Short

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Hermia and her lover Lysander elope from Athens, only to become tangled with squabbling fairies in the woods.

Length: 119 words

Discovery and Invention

The Gift of the Gab

There was one form of power that self-taught engineering genius George Stephenson never harnessed.

Length: 59 words

Music and Musicians

The Siren ‘Greatness’

In encouraging women into music, Alice Mary Smith thought promises of ‘greatness’ counterproductive.

Length: 58 words

Jacobite Rebellions

The Jacobite Rebellions

Loyal subjects of King James II continued to fight his corner after he, and any real hope of success, had gone.

Length: 54 words

Liberty and Prosperity

Fit and Proper Persons

No one is more dangerous than the man who thinks that it is his destiny to direct things for the common good.

Length: 61 words

Indian History

Victoria and the Munshi

Abdul Karim’s rapid rise in Victoria’s household made him enemies.

Length: 57 words