The School Four

Albertus True DudleyProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.3

Word count: 332K words
Chapters: 34

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 School Four by Albertus T. DudleyAuthor: Dudley, Albertus T. (Albertus True), 1866-,Language: English, Class: PZ: Language and Literatures: Juvenile belles lettres, Release Date: Dec 21, 2017

Editor's review

The School Four is a boys' school story by Albertus T. Dudley, available in Project Gutenberg's free ebook library. A work of juvenile literature, it centers on school life and a boy's coming of age, and is written in English. For readers who want to experience early twentieth-century American school fiction in the original, it offers an accessible entry point: moderate length, a plot built around school friendship, competition, and character formation, and a low reading threshold. The Project Gutenberg edition is free and easy to obtain on electronic devices, making it suitable as introductory practice material for reading English novels in the original, and also suitable for readers interested in early juvenile literature as background browsing. Note that the book was written long ago, and its narrative pace and values bear the marks of its time; today's readers would do well to view its school norms and character portrayals with a historical eye.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Student readers who want lightweight English original books for reading practice
Literature enthusiasts interested in early twentieth-century American school fiction
English learners in need of free ebook resources
Researchers collecting material on early juvenile literature

Not a good fit for

Adult fiction readers expecting complex plots and strong dramatic conflict
Beginners with weak English who need sentence-by-sentence annotation
Readers sensitive to the school values of an older era

Reading tips

Read one chapter first to gauge the language difficulty, then decide between intensive and extensive reading.
When you meet unfamiliar school expressions, skip them for now and review after finishing the paragraph.
You can consult the Project Gutenberg page for information on the edition's source and inclusion.
After reading, summarize the main storyline in a few sentences to check your comprehension.

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 practicing English reading?

It is suitable as lightweight original reading material. It is a boys' school story with relatively direct sentence structure and modest length, making it easy to read in sections. But because the book is old, some expressions and school customs differ from contemporary English. Extensive reading is recommended; do not look up every word—first grasp the plot and character relationships.

Where can I get the electronic edition, and is it free?

The book is published by Project Gutenberg as a free ebook resource and can be found on its platform by title or author. The formats available depend on what the platform page shows. Before downloading, check the edition notes and file formats and choose the version suited to your device.

Do I need to understand the historical background before reading?

No special preparation is necessary, but it helps to know that this is an early boys' school novel. The school norms, teacher-student relations, and values in the book bear the marks of their time. Viewing them with a historical eye can reduce barriers to understanding and make it easier to appreciate the work's period character.

Comments

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About the author

Albertus True Dudley Author · American · 1866–1955

Albertus True Dudley (1866–1955) was an American author. Born in New York State on January 19, 1866, and deceased on February 11, 1955, he graduated from Harvard University and went on to teach for many years at schools including Phillips Exeter Academy. Alongside his teaching, he wrote juvenile fiction centered on school sports, usually set against school life and built around baseball, football, and similar athletics; the stories are brisk in pace and uplifting in tone. His representative works include The Yale Cup, Making the Nine, With Mask and Mitt, and The School Four. His "Phillips Exeter series" found a fairly wide readership among young readers of the time, and five of his works are held in the collection. Public information about him is limited, so this note focuses on his subject matter, style, and influence.