full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Brian A. Pavlac: Ugly History Witch Hunts

Unscramble the Blue Letters


In the greman town of nörnelgdin in 1593, an innkeeper named Maria Höll found herself auccesd of witchcraft. She was arrested for qstninioueg, and denied the cerhags. She continued to insist she wasn’t a witch through 62 rounds of torture before her accusers finally released her.

Rebekka Lemp, accused a few years eealrir in the same town, faced a worse fate. She wrote to her husband from jail worrying that she would confess under torture, even though she was iencnnot. After giving a false confession, she was burned at the stake in front of her family.

Höll and Lemp were both victims of the witch hntus that occurred in Europe and the American colonies from the late 15th century until the early 18th century. These witch hunts were not a ufinied initiative by a single authority, but rather a phenomenon that ocerrucd sporadically and followed a similar prtaten each time. The term “witch” has taken on many meanings, but in these hunts, a witch was someone who allegedly gained magical powers by obeying saatn rather than God.

Open Cloze


In the ______ town of __________ in 1593, an innkeeper named Maria Höll found herself _______ of witchcraft. She was arrested for ___________, and denied the _______. She continued to insist she wasn’t a witch through 62 rounds of torture before her accusers finally released her.

Rebekka Lemp, accused a few years _______ in the same town, faced a worse fate. She wrote to her husband from jail worrying that she would confess under torture, even though she was ________. After giving a false confession, she was burned at the stake in front of her family.

Höll and Lemp were both victims of the witch _____ that occurred in Europe and the American colonies from the late 15th century until the early 18th century. These witch hunts were not a _______ initiative by a single authority, but rather a phenomenon that ________ sporadically and followed a similar _______ each time. The term “witch” has taken on many meanings, but in these hunts, a witch was someone who allegedly gained magical powers by obeying _____ rather than God.

Solution


  1. questioning
  2. innocent
  3. satan
  4. hunts
  5. charges
  6. earlier
  7. unified
  8. accused
  9. german
  10. nördlingen
  11. occurred
  12. pattern

Original Text


In the German town of Nördlingen in 1593, an innkeeper named Maria Höll found herself accused of witchcraft. She was arrested for questioning, and denied the charges. She continued to insist she wasn’t a witch through 62 rounds of torture before her accusers finally released her.

Rebekka Lemp, accused a few years earlier in the same town, faced a worse fate. She wrote to her husband from jail worrying that she would confess under torture, even though she was innocent. After giving a false confession, she was burned at the stake in front of her family.

Höll and Lemp were both victims of the witch hunts that occurred in Europe and the American colonies from the late 15th century until the early 18th century. These witch hunts were not a unified initiative by a single authority, but rather a phenomenon that occurred sporadically and followed a similar pattern each time. The term “witch” has taken on many meanings, but in these hunts, a witch was someone who allegedly gained magical powers by obeying Satan rather than God.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
witch hunts 3
occurred sporadically 2


Important Words


  1. accused
  2. accusers
  3. allegedly
  4. american
  5. arrested
  6. authority
  7. burned
  8. century
  9. charges
  10. colonies
  11. confess
  12. confession
  13. continued
  14. denied
  15. earlier
  16. early
  17. europe
  18. faced
  19. false
  20. family
  21. fate
  22. finally
  23. front
  24. gained
  25. german
  26. giving
  27. god
  28. hunts
  29. husband
  30. höll
  31. initiative
  32. innkeeper
  33. innocent
  34. insist
  35. jail
  36. late
  37. lemp
  38. magical
  39. maria
  40. meanings
  41. named
  42. nördlingen
  43. obeying
  44. occurred
  45. pattern
  46. phenomenon
  47. powers
  48. questioning
  49. rebekka
  50. released
  51. rounds
  52. satan
  53. similar
  54. single
  55. sporadically
  56. stake
  57. term
  58. time
  59. torture
  60. town
  61. unified
  62. victims
  63. witch
  64. witchcraft
  65. worrying
  66. worse
  67. wrote
  68. years