Summary

A summary of a story recounts it in a succinct way and includes only the most important information, ideas, or details. It may include supporting details to the main idea as well as the sequence of the story (e.g. beginning, middle, end or chronological order).

Anne’s Impressions of Sunday School

Anne Shirley is a young orphan who has gone to live with the Cuthberts, Marilla and Matthew, on their farm called Green Gables. Anne has a great imagination which has helped her through her hard life. Matthew and Marilla are brother and sister, and they are new to the experience…

America’s First Laboratory in Space

Skylab was America’s first space station. The 169,950-pound station orbited Earth from 1973 to 1979. Astronauts lived aboard the station and conducted scientific experiments. They also studied the Sun using the station’s solar observatory. Skylab proved that it was possible for astronauts to spend extended periods in space. On May…

Before the Battle

In Stephen Crane’s novel, The Red Badge of Courage, Henry Fleming is a young Union soldier in the Civil War. Before he enlisted, Henry had a romantic view of war. This passage takes place before Henry’s first battle as a soldier. —————————– However, he perceived now that it did not…

Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address

President Abraham Lincoln gave his most famous speech, the Gettysburg Address, on November 19, 1863. At that time, the U.S. was in the middle of the Civil War. Lincoln gave the speech at the dedication of a cemetery for the soldiers who had died during the Battle of Gettysburg. ————————…

The Little House

The book Peter Pan is about the magical flying boy Peter Pan who lives in an amazing place called Neverland. It is to Neverland that he has brought his new friends: Wendy, Michael, and John. Once there, Wendy becomes a pretend mother to the other children there, called the Lost…

The Winged Monkeys

L. Frank Baum wrote The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in 1900. It tells of the adventures of Dorothy, a Kansas farm girl. She is swept up by a cyclone to the magical land of Oz. In order to go home, the Wizard of Oz has told her she must kill…

Icarus

In this version of a Greek myth, Daedalus is a great builder employed by King Minos. He became famous for designing and building the Labyrinth of Crete which held the Minotaur, a great monster. —————————————– Daedalus was guilty of a deed which angered the king very greatly; and had not…

Sculptor Anne Seymour Damer Meets Napoleon

On May, 1, 1815, English sculptor Anne Seymour Damer stood in a room at the Palais Elysée in Paris. His Imperial Majesty Napoleon I had commanded her presence. Her appointment was at 10 a.m. She had been waiting two hours. Finally, a servant approached her. “Madam, please follow me.” The…

Pig and Pepper

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll is the story of a little girl who goes to a strange world after following a rabbit down a hole. In this passage, Alice meets the Cheshire Cat, a disappearing cat with a huge smile. —————————————– The Cat only grinned when it saw…

Her Story: Sojourner Truth

Sojourner Truth was born into slavery in New York around 1797. Her birth name was Isabella Baumfree. She changed it to Sojourner Truth in 1843. She suffered under several owners before she finally escaped to freedom in 1825. She became a widely admired abolitionist and feminist. Below is a passage…