full transcript
From the Ted Talk by Amanda Bennett: We need a heroic narrative for death
Unscramble the Blue Letters
So maybe we need a narrative for awcnnliogdekg the end, and for saying gyboode, and maybe our new story will be about a hero's fight, and a hero's goodbye. Terence loved pertoy, and the Greek poet Constantine Cavafy is one of my favorite poets. So I'll give you a couple lines from him. This is a poem about Mark Antony. You know Mark Antony, the couqnienrg hero, Cleopatra's guy? Actually, one of Cleopatra's guys. And he's been a pretty good general. He's won all the fights, he's eluded all the plpoee that are out to get him, and yet this time, fnllaiy, he's come to the city of airldanexa and razeleid he's lost. The people are leaving. They're playing iuennmtrtss. They're singing. And suddenly he knows he's been defeated. And he suddenly knows he's been deserted by the gods, and it's time to let go. And the poet tells him what to do. He tells him how to say a noble goodbye, a goodbye that's fit for a hero.
Open Cloze
So maybe we need a narrative for _____________ the end, and for saying _______, and maybe our new story will be about a hero's fight, and a hero's goodbye. Terence loved ______, and the Greek poet Constantine Cavafy is one of my favorite poets. So I'll give you a couple lines from him. This is a poem about Mark Antony. You know Mark Antony, the __________ hero, Cleopatra's guy? Actually, one of Cleopatra's guys. And he's been a pretty good general. He's won all the fights, he's eluded all the ______ that are out to get him, and yet this time, _______, he's come to the city of __________ and ________ he's lost. The people are leaving. They're playing ___________. They're singing. And suddenly he knows he's been defeated. And he suddenly knows he's been deserted by the gods, and it's time to let go. And the poet tells him what to do. He tells him how to say a noble goodbye, a goodbye that's fit for a hero.
Solution
- alexandria
- finally
- conquering
- poetry
- people
- acknowledging
- goodbye
- realized
- instruments
Original Text
So maybe we need a narrative for acknowledging the end, and for saying goodbye, and maybe our new story will be about a hero's fight, and a hero's goodbye. Terence loved poetry, and the Greek poet Constantine Cavafy is one of my favorite poets. So I'll give you a couple lines from him. This is a poem about Mark Antony. You know Mark Antony, the conquering hero, Cleopatra's guy? Actually, one of Cleopatra's guys. And he's been a pretty good general. He's won all the fights, he's eluded all the people that are out to get him, and yet this time, finally, he's come to the city of Alexandria and realized he's lost. The people are leaving. They're playing instruments. They're singing. And suddenly he knows he's been defeated. And he suddenly knows he's been deserted by the gods, and it's time to let go. And the poet tells him what to do. He tells him how to say a noble goodbye, a goodbye that's fit for a hero.
Frequently Occurring Word Combinations
ngrams of length 2
collocation |
frequency |
cancer begins |
2 |
experts call |
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medical professionals |
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noble path |
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heroic narrative |
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Important Words
- acknowledging
- alexandria
- antony
- cavafy
- city
- conquering
- constantine
- couple
- defeated
- deserted
- eluded
- favorite
- fight
- fights
- finally
- fit
- general
- give
- gods
- good
- goodbye
- greek
- guy
- guys
- hero
- instruments
- leaving
- lines
- lost
- loved
- mark
- narrative
- noble
- people
- playing
- poem
- poet
- poetry
- poets
- pretty
- realized
- singing
- story
- suddenly
- tells
- terence
- time
- won