That Scholarship Boy

Emma LeslieProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.5

Word count: 147K 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.That Scholarship Boy by Emma LeslieAuthor: Leslie, Emma,Language: English, Class: PZ: Language and Literatures: Juvenile belles lettres, Release Date: Jul 22, 2008

Editor's review

That Scholarship Boy is a work of juvenile literature by Emma Leslie, a public-domain English title in the Project Gutenberg collection. The story centers on a boy who wins a scholarship, with its core tension lying in the interplay between educational opportunity, family circumstances, and personal character; it carries the moral-growth themes common to nineteenth-century English juvenile fiction. Leslie's style is plain and her narrative clear, the character relationships uncomplicated, making the book suitable as graded reading material for English learners and for readers interested in Victorian children's literature who wish to understand the educational ideas and values of the period. The book is short, of moderate language difficulty, with few obscure words, so it reads lightly. While reading, one may focus on the protagonist's choices when faced with opportunity and on the attitudes of those around him, which helps in grasping the character-education message the work intends to convey. As a public-domain electronic text, it has no modern annotations; readers are advised to infer word meanings from context and keep the reading fluent.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Learners with intermediate English who want to build reading volume through a whole book
Readers interested in nineteenth-century English juvenile literature and educational themes
English teachers or reading-group organizers who need supplementary classroom material
Readers who enjoy coming-of-age and character themes and prefer plain narration

Not a good fit for

Beginners with weak English who need extensive vocabulary annotations
Readers seeking complex plots, strong dramatic conflict, or modern narrative techniques
Researchers who want detailed historical background or scholarly analysis

Reading tips

Read a chapter through once without looking up words to grasp the gist, then go back to key unfamiliar words that affect understanding.
After finishing, write a paragraph on the protagonist's main choices and their outcomes to check comprehension.
Read it alongside other coming-of-age works to compare how values are expressed.
If used in class, design discussion questions around scholarship and family responsibility.

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

What English level is this book suitable for?

Roughly intermediate: readers who can understand common narrative sentences and everyday vocabulary. There are not many obscure words, but the expression follows nineteenth-century English habits. Beginners may need a dictionary, while upper-intermediate and advanced readers can read through fairly smoothly.

Is this a children's book, or can adults read it too?

It is juvenile literature, with themes of schooling and growing up, and the language is not obscure. Adults interested in Victorian children's literature or educational ideas can read it as well, though they should not expect a complex plot structure or adult-level psychological depth.

Does the electronic edition have illustrations or annotations?

Project Gutenberg public-domain electronic texts are generally text-based; whether illustrations are included depends on the specific edition, and modern annotations and introductions are usually absent. Readers are advised to keep a dictionary at hand and consult period background materials for cultural questions.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Emma Leslie Author · English · 1838–1909

Emma Leslie (1838–1909) was a British writer of children's literature and historical fiction. Born Emma Boultwood and later known by her married name, Emma Dixon, she wrote under the pen name Emma Leslie. She was born in Greenwich in 1838 and died in Pembroke, Wales, in 1909. Over her lifetime she produced more than a hundred works, most of them religious and historical reading for young people. Her representative books include Hayslope Grange, A Sailor's Lass, and Kate's Ordeal. Her output was considerable, and her writing centred on faith-based education and historical narrative for young readers. Because public information is limited, details of her life and writing career cannot be described in depth; the available material mainly concerns her pen name, birthplace and death place, and her works.