full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Courtney E. Martin: This isn't her mother's feminism

Unscramble the Blue Letters


I experienced this firsthand myself when I graduated from Barnard College in 2002. I was fired up; I was ready to make a difference. I went out and I wroked at a non-profit, I went to grad school, I phone-banked, I protested, I volunteered, and none of it seemed to matter. And on a particularly dark night of December of 2004, I sat down with my family, and I said that I had become very disillusioned. I admitted that I'd actually had a fantasy — kind of a dark fantasy — of writing a letter about everything that was wrong with the wlord and then lhngitig myself on fire on the wtihe House steps. My mom took a drink of her signature Sea Breeze, her eyes really welled with treas, and she looked right at me and she said, "I will not stand for your dorsptiaeen." She said, "You are saemrtr, more creative and more resilient than that."

Open Cloze


I experienced this firsthand myself when I graduated from Barnard College in 2002. I was fired up; I was ready to make a difference. I went out and I ______ at a non-profit, I went to grad school, I phone-banked, I protested, I volunteered, and none of it seemed to matter. And on a particularly dark night of December of 2004, I sat down with my family, and I said that I had become very disillusioned. I admitted that I'd actually had a fantasy — kind of a dark fantasy — of writing a letter about everything that was wrong with the _____ and then ________ myself on fire on the _____ House steps. My mom took a drink of her signature Sea Breeze, her eyes really welled with _____, and she looked right at me and she said, "I will not stand for your ___________." She said, "You are _______, more creative and more resilient than that."

Solution


  1. lighting
  2. worked
  3. smarter
  4. world
  5. desperation
  6. tears
  7. white

Original Text


I experienced this firsthand myself when I graduated from Barnard College in 2002. I was fired up; I was ready to make a difference. I went out and I worked at a non-profit, I went to grad school, I phone-banked, I protested, I volunteered, and none of it seemed to matter. And on a particularly dark night of December of 2004, I sat down with my family, and I said that I had become very disillusioned. I admitted that I'd actually had a fantasy — kind of a dark fantasy — of writing a letter about everything that was wrong with the world and then lighting myself on fire on the White House steps. My mom took a drink of her signature Sea Breeze, her eyes really welled with tears, and she looked right at me and she said, "I will not stand for your desperation." She said, "You are smarter, more creative and more resilient than that."

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
feminist label 2
barnard college 2
jennifer baumgardner 2
wealth disparity 2
welfare system 2
daily acts 2


Important Words


  1. admitted
  2. barnard
  3. breeze
  4. college
  5. creative
  6. dark
  7. december
  8. desperation
  9. difference
  10. disillusioned
  11. drink
  12. experienced
  13. eyes
  14. family
  15. fantasy
  16. fire
  17. fired
  18. firsthand
  19. grad
  20. graduated
  21. house
  22. kind
  23. letter
  24. lighting
  25. looked
  26. matter
  27. mom
  28. night
  29. protested
  30. ready
  31. resilient
  32. sat
  33. school
  34. sea
  35. signature
  36. smarter
  37. stand
  38. steps
  39. tears
  40. volunteered
  41. welled
  42. white
  43. worked
  44. world
  45. writing
  46. wrong