full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Brian A. Pavlac: A brief history of the devil

Unscramble the Blue Letters


Milton’s take irpesind noeruums depictions of Lucifer as an aobuigmus figure, rather than a purely evil one. Milton’s Lucifer later became an iconic character for the Romantics of the 1800s, who saw him as a hero who defied higher power in pursuit of essential truths, with tragic consequences.

Meanwhile, in the German legend of Doctor Faust, which detas to the 16th cruteny, we get a look at what happens when the devil comes to Earth. Faust, a dissatisfied scholar, pledges his soul to the devil in exchange for bottomless pleasure. With the help of the devil’s messenger mehpilotesheps, Faust quickly seezis women, power, and money— only to fall into the eternal fires of hell.

Open Cloze


Milton’s take ________ ________ depictions of Lucifer as an _________ figure, rather than a purely evil one. Milton’s Lucifer later became an iconic character for the Romantics of the 1800s, who saw him as a hero who defied higher power in pursuit of essential truths, with tragic consequences.

Meanwhile, in the German legend of Doctor Faust, which _____ to the 16th _______, we get a look at what happens when the devil comes to Earth. Faust, a dissatisfied scholar, pledges his soul to the devil in exchange for bottomless pleasure. With the help of the devil’s messenger ______________, Faust quickly ______ women, power, and money— only to fall into the eternal fires of hell.

Solution


  1. numerous
  2. century
  3. seizes
  4. ambiguous
  5. inspired
  6. mephistopheles
  7. dates

Original Text


Milton’s take inspired numerous depictions of Lucifer as an ambiguous figure, rather than a purely evil one. Milton’s Lucifer later became an iconic character for the Romantics of the 1800s, who saw him as a hero who defied higher power in pursuit of essential truths, with tragic consequences.

Meanwhile, in the German legend of Doctor Faust, which dates to the 16th century, we get a look at what happens when the devil comes to Earth. Faust, a dissatisfied scholar, pledges his soul to the devil in exchange for bottomless pleasure. With the help of the devil’s messenger Mephistopheles, Faust quickly seizes women, power, and money— only to fall into the eternal fires of hell.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations




Important Words


  1. ambiguous
  2. bottomless
  3. century
  4. character
  5. consequences
  6. dates
  7. defied
  8. depictions
  9. devil
  10. dissatisfied
  11. doctor
  12. earth
  13. essential
  14. eternal
  15. evil
  16. exchange
  17. fall
  18. faust
  19. figure
  20. fires
  21. german
  22. hell
  23. hero
  24. higher
  25. iconic
  26. inspired
  27. legend
  28. lucifer
  29. mephistopheles
  30. messenger
  31. numerous
  32. pleasure
  33. pledges
  34. power
  35. purely
  36. pursuit
  37. quickly
  38. romantics
  39. scholar
  40. seizes
  41. soul
  42. tragic
  43. truths
  44. women