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 Poetry

Milton! Thou Shouldst be Living at this Hour

William Wordsworth comes back from France and realises with a shock what his own country has become.

Length: 57 words

Extracts from Fiction

Money to Burn

Pip receives a visitor from among the criminal classes, but his condescending attempt to play the gentleman rebounds spectacularly.

Length: 114 words

Anecdotes

Tough Customer

A little anecdote about a schoolmaster who wasn’t as much of a Wackford Squeers as he appeared to be.

Length: 59 words

Extracts from Poetry

Mary’s Lamb

A much-loved children’s poem, even if most of us struggle to remember more than a few lines.

Length: 60 words

Charles Dickens

Rochester Reverie

Mr Pickwick has embarked on a tour of Kent, and this sunny morning finds him leaning over the parapet of Rochester Bridge, deep in reflection.

Length: 106 words

Extracts from Fiction

The Selfishness of Mr Willoughby

Now that Mr Willoughby has been found, and found to be married, Elinor Dashwood has the disagreeable task of making sure that her sister feels it is all for the best.

Length: 118 words