The Doers

Hopkins, William John, 1863-1926Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.9

Word count: 140K words
Chapters: 15

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.The Doers by William John HopkinsAuthor: Hopkins, William John, 1863-1926,Language: English, Class: PZ: Language and Literatures: Juvenile belles lettres, Release Date: Dec 29, 2008

Editor's review

The Doers is a work of juvenile literature by William John Hopkins, classified under Project Gutenberg as juvenile belles lettres. Its appeal lies in its narrative portrayal of doers rather than talkers, making it a useful supplement to English-language juvenile reading. The text is a public-domain electronic edition, written in early twentieth-century English, with a length and pace suited to reading in sections. For researchers, it offers a sample of the themes and language habits of juvenile literature of the period; for general readers, it works best as light English extensive reading for building narrative vocabulary and sentence patterns, rather than as a source of complex modern plotting.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Upper-secondary students seeking English-language juvenile literature for extensive reading
Enthusiasts and researchers studying early twentieth-century juvenile literary themes
English learners who want to practise reading a public-domain English novel in sections

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer fast-paced contemporary plots and strong narrative conflict
Beginners with limited English who need bilingual annotations
Parents seeking a systematic discussion of educational theory for growing up

Reading tips

Read chapter by chapter, and after each chapter retell the main plot in two or three English sentences.
When encountering early English usage, guess from context first and check later in one go, avoiding frequent pauses.
Compare with other juvenile novels of the same period to see how the image of the “doer” is written differently.

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 children to read directly?

It depends on the child's English level. It is juvenile literature, but written in early twentieth-century English, with sentence patterns and vocabulary different from modern children's books. Upper-secondary students with stronger English reading skills can try it; younger children are better off reading selected passages with adult support or using adapted versions.

Does the Project Gutenberg edition include illustrations or an introduction?

Project Gutenberg mainly provides free electronic texts, prioritizing retention of the original text with plain formatting; it usually does not include a modern editorial introduction, and illustrations depend on the specific electronic edition. Readers who want background information should consult separate materials on the author and the work.

What are its strengths and weaknesses as English learning material?

Its strengths are coherent narrative text and clear chapters, suitable for practising extensive reading and plot retelling; its weaknesses are that early English usage is distant from modern English, and unfamiliar words and old-fashioned expressions may cause interference. It is advisable to focus on understanding the general meaning rather than checking every word, and to review high-frequency expressions afterwards.

Comments

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About the author

Hopkins, William John, 1863-1926 Author

William John Hopkins (1863–1926) is an English-language author about whose life little public information survives; his exact nationality and educational background remain to be verified. Judging from the six works held in the collection, his subjects are quite varied: narrative works for younger readers such as The Clammer and the Submarine, The Doers, The Sandman: His Sea Stories and The Sandman: His Farm Stories; seafaring and whaling tales such as She Blows! And Sparm at That!; and a character- and situation-centred novel, Concerning Sally. Overall his prose tends toward plain, fluent storytelling, blending life at sea, rural experience and children's adventure, with the flavour of popular reading from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century. These works are now mostly read and studied as period literature.