full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Dalia Mogahed: What it's like to be Muslim in America

Unscramble the Blue Letters


When I was 17, I deeidcd to come out. No, not as a gay person like some of my friends, but as a Muslim, and decided to start wearing the hijab, my head covering. My feminist friends were aghast: "Why are you oppressing yourself?" The funny thing was, it was actually at that time a feminist declaration of independence from the pressure I felt as a 17-year-old, to conform to a perfect and unattainable snrtdaad of beauty. I didn't just passively accept the faith of my pantres. I wesetlrd with the Quran. I read and reflected and questioned and doubted and, ultimately, believed. My relationship with God — it was not love at first sight. It was a trust and a slow surrender that deepened with every reading of the Quran. Its rhythmic btaeuy sometimes mveos me to treas. I see myself in it. I feel that God knows me. Have you ever felt like someone sees you, completely understands you and yet loevs you anyway? That's how it feels.

Open Cloze


When I was 17, I _______ to come out. No, not as a gay person like some of my friends, but as a Muslim, and decided to start wearing the hijab, my head covering. My feminist friends were aghast: "Why are you oppressing yourself?" The funny thing was, it was actually at that time a feminist declaration of independence from the pressure I felt as a 17-year-old, to conform to a perfect and unattainable ________ of beauty. I didn't just passively accept the faith of my _______. I ________ with the Quran. I read and reflected and questioned and doubted and, ultimately, believed. My relationship with God — it was not love at first sight. It was a trust and a slow surrender that deepened with every reading of the Quran. Its rhythmic ______ sometimes _____ me to _____. I see myself in it. I feel that God knows me. Have you ever felt like someone sees you, completely understands you and yet _____ you anyway? That's how it feels.

Solution


  1. parents
  2. wrestled
  3. decided
  4. standard
  5. tears
  6. loves
  7. moves
  8. beauty

Original Text


When I was 17, I decided to come out. No, not as a gay person like some of my friends, but as a Muslim, and decided to start wearing the hijab, my head covering. My feminist friends were aghast: "Why are you oppressing yourself?" The funny thing was, it was actually at that time a feminist declaration of independence from the pressure I felt as a 17-year-old, to conform to a perfect and unattainable standard of beauty. I didn't just passively accept the faith of my parents. I wrestled with the Quran. I read and reflected and questioned and doubted and, ultimately, believed. My relationship with God — it was not love at first sight. It was a trust and a slow surrender that deepened with every reading of the Quran. Its rhythmic beauty sometimes moves me to tears. I see myself in it. I feel that God knows me. Have you ever felt like someone sees you, completely understands you and yet loves you anyway? That's how it feels.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
holy book 2
join isis 2


Important Words


  1. accept
  2. beauty
  3. believed
  4. completely
  5. conform
  6. covering
  7. decided
  8. declaration
  9. deepened
  10. doubted
  11. faith
  12. feel
  13. feels
  14. felt
  15. feminist
  16. friends
  17. funny
  18. gay
  19. god
  20. head
  21. hijab
  22. independence
  23. love
  24. loves
  25. moves
  26. muslim
  27. oppressing
  28. parents
  29. passively
  30. perfect
  31. person
  32. pressure
  33. questioned
  34. quran
  35. read
  36. reading
  37. reflected
  38. relationship
  39. rhythmic
  40. sees
  41. sight
  42. slow
  43. standard
  44. start
  45. surrender
  46. tears
  47. time
  48. trust
  49. ultimately
  50. unattainable
  51. understands
  52. wearing
  53. wrestled