Dorothy's Triumph

Raymond, Evelyn, 1843-1910Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.3

Word count: 279K words
Chapters: 28

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Dorothy's Triumph by Evelyn RaymondAuthor: Raymond, Evelyn, 1843-1910,Language: English, Class: PZ: Language and Literatures: Juvenile belles lettres, Release Date: Feb 28, 2009

Editor's review

This book is a coming-of-age novel for young readers by Evelyn Raymond, and a relatively rare example of a girl protagonist in public-domain literature. The story follows Dorothy's experiences, using her resilience and growth as its throughline, and displays the typical narrative style of juvenile fiction from the late nineteenth to early twentieth century: clear plotting, sharply drawn good and evil characters, and an uplifting ending. As a public-domain ebook, its text is complete and easy to obtain, making it suitable as an entry-level read in the original English and as reference for readers studying early juvenile literature or narratives of female growth. The language is moderately difficult and the length is not long, so it can be read in segments during commutes or before bed; paired with background material on the period, it also reveals the family values and educational methods of the time. Note that this is the original English edition and carries the value expressions of its era; readers should view its gender roles and moralizing with a historical eye.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Middle school and university students who want to read a coming-of-age novel in the original English
Literature enthusiasts studying early narratives of female growth
English learners who need short English texts for extensive reading practice
Readers interested in children's books from the late nineteenth to early twentieth century

Not a good fit for

Complete beginners unable to read the English original
Readers expecting complex plots and contemporary narrative techniques
Readers who strongly dislike period moralizing

Reading tips

Read through once for the plot, then look up unfamiliar words on the second pass to avoid frequent pauses that disrupt reading rhythm.
After each chapter, note in two or three sentences Dorothy's situation and choices to trace the thread of her growth.
Consult material on children's education and family values in the late nineteenth-century West to understand the story's historical context.
If using the book for English study, choose dialogue-heavy passages to read aloud and get a feel for the spoken expression of the time.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book suitable for English beginners to read directly?

Not very suitable for complete beginners. This is the original English edition, and its sentence patterns and vocabulary bear the marks of its era. Readers with high school-level English reading ability or above are advised to try it, or to read a Chinese translation first to grasp the plot and then compare it with the original.

What kind of work is this book?

It is a coming-of-age novel for young readers featuring a girl, Dorothy, as the protagonist. The plot revolves around her experiences and transformation, in a style characteristic of early twentieth-century juvenile fiction that emphasizes character and perseverance.

What should readers pay attention to while reading?

The book contains clear period values, such as its statements about female roles and moral norms. Readers are advised to understand them from a historical perspective rather than judging them simply by contemporary standards, and also to note typographical differences in public-domain ebooks.

Is this book long? How long does it take to finish?

The material does not specify a word count, but juvenile novels of this kind are usually of moderate length. At half an hour of English reading a day, it can generally be finished in one to two weeks, making it suitable as extensive reading material.

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About the author

Raymond, Evelyn, 1843-1910 Author

Evelyn Raymond (1843–1910) was an English-language children's author active in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Public information about her life is limited, and her nationality and educational background are not reliably documented. The collection here holds 17 of her works, mainly coming-of-age and family stories set in contexts such as mill work, forest settlement and Western ranches. Representative titles include Reels and Spindles: A Story of Mill Life, A Daughter of the Forest, Jessica Trent: Her Life on a Ranch and The Sun Maid: A Story of Fort Dearborn. Her narratives typically follow young protagonists who achieve self-reliance and moral growth amid hardship, in a bright tone grounded in everyday labor and rural settings, and are suited to young readers.