The Talkative Wig

Eliza Lee Cabot FollenProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.2

Word count: 63K words
Chapters: 7

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 Talkative Wig by Eliza Lee Cabot FollenAuthor: Follen, Eliza Lee Cabot, 1787-1860,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: May 1, 2003

Editor's review

The Talkative Wig is a short work by the nineteenth-century American author Eliza Lee Cabot Follen, close in style to a fable or children's story. Judging from the title and the author's background, it most likely centers on a talking wig, using an anthropomorphic voice for humor while slipping gentle advice about daily life, conduct, or relationships into an easygoing narrative. The value of such a text lies not in intricate plotting but in its brisk language and direct moral, making it suitable as extensive reading for English learners and as a glimpse of nineteenth-century American children's literature. As a public-domain ebook, it is easy to obtain and can be dipped into on a phone or e-reader. One caveat: the work bears clear marks of its era, and some of its didactic tone and value judgments feel distant to contemporary readers; read it as a literary historical document rather than a guide to behavior.

Who it's for

A good fit for

English learners who want short original English texts for extensive reading
Readers interested in nineteenth-century American children's literature and fable-style narrative
Public-domain ebook fans who need light texts to fill spare moments

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting a full-length novel with complex plotting and character arcs
Readers unaccustomed to anthropomorphic didactic voices or classical English expression

Reading tips

Read through once for the gist, then go back for unfamiliar words and old-fashioned expressions.
Read a paragraph or two aloud to feel the rhythm and voice of the anthropomorphic narration.
After finishing, consider the lesson the story means to convey and compare it with similar contemporary works.

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?

It can serve as introductory extensive reading, but the text dates from the nineteenth century and its sentence patterns and vocabulary are classical in flavor. Beginners would do best to choose an annotated edition, or read a Chinese summary first and then compare it with the original, so they are not stopped by too many unfamiliar words.

Why is a public-domain book worth reading?

Public-domain books are freely available, making it easy and cheap to encounter writing styles from different eras. The Talkative Wig is short, letting readers quickly sense the narrative manner and moral interests of nineteenth-century American children's literature, and it works well as supplementary reading for literary history.

Do I need to know the author's background to read this book?

Not necessarily. The work itself is limited in length and direct in moral, and it can be understood without knowing the author's life. For deeper reading, note the children's literature traditions of the author's time, which helps explain the source of the book's didactic tone.

Comments

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About the author

Eliza Lee Cabot Follen Author · American · 1787–1860

Eliza Lee Cabot Follen (1787–1860) was an American writer, editor, and abolitionist, born into the Cabot family of Boston. She is best known for her children's literature and editorial work. Her representative works include Little Songs, True Stories about Dogs and Cats, and Hymns, Songs, and Fables, for Young People. Her writing often takes forms easily accessible to children, such as songs, fables, and true stories, combining instruction with entertainment. She also edited the children's periodical The Child's Friend and devoted herself throughout her life to the anti-slavery movement. The library holds ten of her works, spanning poetry, stories, and fables. Public information about the details of her life is limited, yet it is enough to show her sustained commitment to writing and editing American children's literature in the nineteenth century.