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 acnioekwlgdng 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 ptorey, and the Greek poet ctntasinnoe Cavafy is one of my favorite petos. So I'll give you a couple lenis 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 edelud 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 lianevg. 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 tlles him what to do. He tells him how to say a noble goodbye, a gdobyoe that's fit for a hero.

Open Cloze

So maybe we need a narrative for _____________ 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 ______, and the Greek poet ___________ Cavafy is one of my favorite _____. So I'll give you a couple _____ 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 ______ 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 _______. 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 _____ him what to do. He tells him how to say a noble goodbye, a _______ that's fit for a hero.

Solution

  1. eluded
  2. constantine
  3. poetry
  4. lines
  5. tells
  6. acknowledging
  7. leaving
  8. goodbye
  9. poets

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 2
medical professionals 2
noble path 2
heroic narrative 2

Important Words

  1. acknowledging
  2. alexandria
  3. antony
  4. cavafy
  5. city
  6. conquering
  7. constantine
  8. couple
  9. defeated
  10. deserted
  11. eluded
  12. favorite
  13. fight
  14. fights
  15. finally
  16. fit
  17. general
  18. give
  19. gods
  20. good
  21. goodbye
  22. greek
  23. guy
  24. guys
  25. hero
  26. instruments
  27. leaving
  28. lines
  29. lost
  30. loved
  31. mark
  32. narrative
  33. noble
  34. people
  35. playing
  36. poem
  37. poet
  38. poetry
  39. poets
  40. pretty
  41. realized
  42. singing
  43. story
  44. suddenly
  45. tells
  46. terence
  47. time
  48. won