full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Ayana Jamieson and Moya Bailey: Why should you read sci-fi superstar Octavia E. Butler?

Unscramble the Blue Letters

One of her most beloved nvleos, the "Parable of the seowr," follows this pattern. It tells the story of Lauren Oya Olamina as she makes her way through a near-future clfirnoaia, riuend by catprrooe greed, inequality, and environmental destruction. As she struggles with hyperempathy, or a condition in the novel that causes her to feel others’ pain, and less often, their pleasure. Lauren embarks on a qsuet with a group of refugees to find a place to thrive. There, they seek to live in accordance with Lauren’s found religion, Earthseed, which is based on the principle that humans must adapt to an ever-changing world.

Open Cloze

One of her most beloved ______, the "Parable of the _____," follows this pattern. It tells the story of Lauren Oya Olamina as she makes her way through a near-future __________, ______ by _________ greed, inequality, and environmental destruction. As she struggles with hyperempathy, or a condition in the novel that causes her to feel others’ pain, and less often, their pleasure. Lauren embarks on a _____ with a group of refugees to find a place to thrive. There, they seek to live in accordance with Lauren’s found religion, Earthseed, which is based on the principle that humans must adapt to an ever-changing world.

Solution

  1. corporate
  2. ruined
  3. quest
  4. california
  5. novels
  6. sower

Original Text

One of her most beloved novels, the "Parable of the Sower," follows this pattern. It tells the story of Lauren Oya Olamina as she makes her way through a near-future California, ruined by corporate greed, inequality, and environmental destruction. As she struggles with hyperempathy, or a condition in the novel that causes her to feel others’ pain, and less often, their pleasure. Lauren embarks on a quest with a group of refugees to find a place to thrive. There, they seek to live in accordance with Lauren’s found religion, Earthseed, which is based on the principle that humans must adapt to an ever-changing world.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
science fiction 2

Important Words

  1. accordance
  2. adapt
  3. based
  4. beloved
  5. california
  6. condition
  7. corporate
  8. destruction
  9. earthseed
  10. embarks
  11. environmental
  12. feel
  13. find
  14. greed
  15. group
  16. humans
  17. hyperempathy
  18. inequality
  19. lauren
  20. live
  21. novels
  22. olamina
  23. oya
  24. pain
  25. pattern
  26. place
  27. pleasure
  28. principle
  29. quest
  30. refugees
  31. religion
  32. ruined
  33. seek
  34. sower
  35. story
  36. struggles
  37. tells
  38. thrive
  39. world