full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Matthew Winkler: What makes a hero?

Unscramble the Blue Letters


Many popular books and movies flloow this ainnect formula pertty closely. But let's see how well "The Hunger Games" fits the hero's journey template. When does Katniss Everdeen hear her call to adventure that gets the sorty moving? When her sister's name is called from the lottery. How about asitsncsae? Is anyone going to help her on her adventure? Haymitch. What about departure? Does she leave her oanrrdiy world? She gets on a train to the capital. OK, so you get the idea.

What do you have in common with Harry Potter, Katniss Everdeen, and Frodo? Well, you're human, just like them. The Hero's jeunroy myth eixtss in all human cultures and keeps getting updated, because we humans reflect on our world through symbolic stories of our own lives. You leave your cfrmoot zone, have an experience that transforms you, and then you recover and do it again. You don't literally slay dragons or fight Voldemort, but you face prmboles just as scary. jspoeh Campbell said, "In the cave you fear to enter lies the treasure you seek." What is the symbolic cave you fear to enter? atdinious for the school play? Baseball tryouts? Love?

Open Cloze


Many popular books and movies ______ this _______ formula ______ closely. But let's see how well "The Hunger Games" fits the hero's journey template. When does Katniss Everdeen hear her call to adventure that gets the _____ moving? When her sister's name is called from the lottery. How about __________? Is anyone going to help her on her adventure? Haymitch. What about departure? Does she leave her ________ world? She gets on a train to the capital. OK, so you get the idea.

What do you have in common with Harry Potter, Katniss Everdeen, and Frodo? Well, you're human, just like them. The Hero's _______ myth ______ in all human cultures and keeps getting updated, because we humans reflect on our world through symbolic stories of our own lives. You leave your _______ zone, have an experience that transforms you, and then you recover and do it again. You don't literally slay dragons or fight Voldemort, but you face ________ just as scary. ______ Campbell said, "In the cave you fear to enter lies the treasure you seek." What is the symbolic cave you fear to enter? _________ for the school play? Baseball tryouts? Love?

Solution


  1. ancient
  2. follow
  3. problems
  4. auditions
  5. comfort
  6. journey
  7. pretty
  8. ordinary
  9. exists
  10. assistance
  11. joseph
  12. story

Original Text


Many popular books and movies follow this ancient formula pretty closely. But let's see how well "The Hunger Games" fits the hero's journey template. When does Katniss Everdeen hear her call to adventure that gets the story moving? When her sister's name is called from the lottery. How about assistance? Is anyone going to help her on her adventure? Haymitch. What about departure? Does she leave her ordinary world? She gets on a train to the capital. OK, so you get the idea.

What do you have in common with Harry Potter, Katniss Everdeen, and Frodo? Well, you're human, just like them. The Hero's Journey myth exists in all human cultures and keeps getting updated, because we humans reflect on our world through symbolic stories of our own lives. You leave your comfort zone, have an experience that transforms you, and then you recover and do it again. You don't literally slay dragons or fight Voldemort, but you face problems just as scary. Joseph Campbell said, "In the cave you fear to enter lies the treasure you seek." What is the symbolic cave you fear to enter? Auditions for the school play? Baseball tryouts? Love?

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
joseph campbell 2
special world 2


Important Words


  1. adventure
  2. ancient
  3. assistance
  4. auditions
  5. baseball
  6. books
  7. call
  8. called
  9. campbell
  10. capital
  11. cave
  12. closely
  13. comfort
  14. common
  15. cultures
  16. departure
  17. dragons
  18. enter
  19. everdeen
  20. exists
  21. experience
  22. face
  23. fear
  24. fight
  25. fits
  26. follow
  27. formula
  28. frodo
  29. harry
  30. haymitch
  31. hear
  32. human
  33. humans
  34. hunger
  35. idea
  36. joseph
  37. journey
  38. katniss
  39. leave
  40. lies
  41. literally
  42. lives
  43. lottery
  44. love
  45. movies
  46. moving
  47. myth
  48. ordinary
  49. play
  50. popular
  51. potter
  52. pretty
  53. problems
  54. recover
  55. reflect
  56. scary
  57. school
  58. seek
  59. slay
  60. stories
  61. story
  62. symbolic
  63. template
  64. train
  65. transforms
  66. treasure
  67. tryouts
  68. updated
  69. voldemort
  70. world
  71. zone