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.

Cat Stories

Dick Whittington and his Cat

After Mr Fitzwarren took away Dick’s cat, even the charms of Alice Fitzwarren were not enough to keep him in that house another day.

Length: 117 words

Liberty and Prosperity

Give the Wall

Social niceties are essential for the smooth operation of society, but neither boxing a man’s ears nor calling in the lawyers will bring them back.

Length: 106 words

Tudor Era

Full Merrily

On July 5th, 1535, the night before he was to be executed by order of King Henry VIII, it seemed that Sir Thomas More was the only man in the Tower of London who was happy.

Length: 114 words

Character and Conduct

Peace with Dignity

Amid the Don Pacifico Affair, William Gladstone told Lord Palmerston that pride in his own country did not excuse bossing others about like a global schoolmaster.

Length: 116 words

Lives of the Saints

Educating Martin

When Sir Rodbert became Brother Martin, he found the change so difficult that he began to wonder if even the saints were against him.

Length: 116 words

Extracts from Literature

‘Poor Pamela’s Married At Last!’

Letitia Barbauld called Samuel Richardson’s 1740 novel Pamela ‘a new experiment’ in English literature, and to judge by its reception it was very successful.

Length: 114 words