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.

Extracts from Literature

The Grammar of Jays and Cats

In Jim Baker’s considered opinion, the bluejay had a much better command of language than Mark Twain’s cats did.

Length: 117 words

Anglo-Saxon Era

The Making of England

In 917, King Edward embarked on a swashbuckling tour of the midlands, and brought their towns under one crown for the first time in five hundred years.

Length: 109 words

Free Speech and Conscience

A Right and a Duty

The tighter the US Government’s stranglehold on dissent grew, the harder Daniel Webster fought for freedom of speech.

Length: 117 words

Poets and Poetry

On Westminster Bridge

On his way to war-torn France, William Wordsworth passed through London and was overwhelmed by the quiet of the early morning.

Length: 57 words

American Revolutionary War

English Spirit

Edmund Burke told the House of Commons that the American colonies’ refusal to be dictated to by Westminster was the very spirit that had made the Empire great.

Length: 119 words

Greek History

The Liberty of Athens

The supreme arts and literature of ancient Athens all sprang from the State’s refusal to interfere in the life of the citizen.

Length: 60 words