full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Jacqueline Woodson: What reading slowly taught me about writing

Unscramble the Blue Letters


So as a child, I learned to imagine an invisible finger taking me from word to word, from sentence to sencntee, from ignorance to understanding.

So as thcelgnooy ctinonues to speed ahead, I continue to read slowly, knowing that I am respecting the author's work and the story's lasting power. And I read slowly to dwron out the noise and remember those who came before me, who were probably the first pleope who finally learned to control fire and circled their new power of famle and light and heat. And I read slowly to remember the sliesfh ganit, how he finally tore that wall down and let the children run free through his garden. And I read slowly to pay homage to my aeorscnts, who were not allowed to read at all. They, too, must have circled fires, speaking softly of their dreams, their hopes, their fteuurs. Each time we read, write or tell a story, we step inside their circle, and it remains unoerbkn. And the power of story lives on.

Open Cloze


So as a child, I learned to imagine an invisible finger taking me from word to word, from sentence to ________, from ignorance to understanding.

So as __________ _________ to speed ahead, I continue to read slowly, knowing that I am respecting the author's work and the story's lasting power. And I read slowly to _____ out the noise and remember those who came before me, who were probably the first ______ who finally learned to control fire and circled their new power of _____ and light and heat. And I read slowly to remember the _______ _____, how he finally tore that wall down and let the children run free through his garden. And I read slowly to pay homage to my _________, who were not allowed to read at all. They, too, must have circled fires, speaking softly of their dreams, their hopes, their _______. Each time we read, write or tell a story, we step inside their circle, and it remains ________. And the power of story lives on.

Solution


  1. people
  2. futures
  3. selfish
  4. drown
  5. unbroken
  6. sentence
  7. flame
  8. technology
  9. ancestors
  10. giant
  11. continues

Original Text


So as a child, I learned to imagine an invisible finger taking me from word to word, from sentence to sentence, from ignorance to understanding.

So as technology continues to speed ahead, I continue to read slowly, knowing that I am respecting the author's work and the story's lasting power. And I read slowly to drown out the noise and remember those who came before me, who were probably the first people who finally learned to control fire and circled their new power of flame and light and heat. And I read slowly to remember the Selfish Giant, how he finally tore that wall down and let the children run free through his garden. And I read slowly to pay homage to my ancestors, who were not allowed to read at all. They, too, must have circled fires, speaking softly of their dreams, their hopes, their futures. Each time we read, write or tell a story, we step inside their circle, and it remains unbroken. And the power of story lives on.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
read slowly 4
finger beneath 2


Important Words


  1. allowed
  2. ancestors
  3. child
  4. children
  5. circle
  6. circled
  7. continue
  8. continues
  9. control
  10. dreams
  11. drown
  12. finally
  13. finger
  14. fire
  15. fires
  16. flame
  17. free
  18. futures
  19. garden
  20. giant
  21. heat
  22. homage
  23. hopes
  24. ignorance
  25. imagine
  26. invisible
  27. knowing
  28. lasting
  29. learned
  30. light
  31. lives
  32. noise
  33. pay
  34. people
  35. power
  36. read
  37. remains
  38. remember
  39. respecting
  40. run
  41. selfish
  42. sentence
  43. slowly
  44. softly
  45. speaking
  46. speed
  47. step
  48. story
  49. technology
  50. time
  51. tore
  52. unbroken
  53. understanding
  54. wall
  55. word
  56. work
  57. write