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.

Character and Conduct

A War of Words

A few years before the Battle of Agincourt, the Duke of Orléans challenged King Henry IV to meet him in Bordeaux for a winner-takes-all joust.

Length: 115 words

Character and Conduct

A Stout Answer

A few weeks after a large French raiding party had been driven away from the Isle of Wight, another flotilla arrived from across the Channel demanding money with menaces.

Length: 58 words

Poets and Poetry

Surprised by Heaven

We turn to books seeking an author’s sympathy and fellowship, but William Cowper’s verse is unusual: he turns to us for ours.

Length: 114 words

Poets and Poetry

The Gods of the Copybook Headings

After the devastation of the Great War, calls rose for a new economic and social system, and to put the wisdom of our forebears behind us.

Length: 172 words

Tales from the Old Testament

The Sacrifice of Isaac

Abraham invites his son Isaac to accompany him to a nearby mountain to offer sacrifice, and the boy is naturally curious to know what gift his father proposes to offer.

Length: 175 words

Stuart Era

The (Secret) Treaty of Dover

Months after promising England would help Holland escape the clutches of Catholic Europe, Charles II did a secret deal with France to sell out Holland and England together.

Length: 118 words