full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Dan Kwartler: Why should you read "Dune" by Frank Herbert?

Unscramble the Blue Letters


But arakris is not silmpy an endless sea of sand. Herbert was an avid environmentalist, who spent over five years creating Dune’s complex eocssytem. The planet is checkered with camltie belts and wind tunnels that have shaped its rocky topography. Different temperate zones pucrdoe varying desert flora. And almost every element of Dune’s ecosystem wrkos together to produce the planet’s essential export.

Herbert’s world bdliuing also includes a rich web of philosophy and religion. Paul’s mohetr jecissa, is a member of the Bene Gesserit, an ancient cult of spice-assisted psychics. Sometimes called “witches” for their mysterious powers, the Bene Gesserit have operated as a shadow government for millennia in an effort to guide society towards enlightenment. Similarly ancient are the Mentats— hmaun computers capable of processing incredible amounts of data. While the Mentats are btasoins of logic and reason, their rseltus are not mere calculations, but rather, streams of cnltaontsy shifting possibilities. However, no group is more central to "Dune" than the Fremen. Natives of Arrakis, they are the keepers of the planet’s many secrets. Paul’s journey tkeas him deep into the Fremen’s exclusive brotherhood, where he must prove himself trustworthy in a series of increasingly deadly challenges.

Open Cloze


But _______ is not ______ an endless sea of sand. Herbert was an avid environmentalist, who spent over five years creating Dune’s complex _________. The planet is checkered with _______ belts and wind tunnels that have shaped its rocky topography. Different temperate zones _______ varying desert flora. And almost every element of Dune’s ecosystem _____ together to produce the planet’s essential export.

Herbert’s world ________ also includes a rich web of philosophy and religion. Paul’s ______ _______, is a member of the Bene Gesserit, an ancient cult of spice-assisted psychics. Sometimes called “witches” for their mysterious powers, the Bene Gesserit have operated as a shadow government for millennia in an effort to guide society towards enlightenment. Similarly ancient are the Mentats— _____ computers capable of processing incredible amounts of data. While the Mentats are ________ of logic and reason, their _______ are not mere calculations, but rather, streams of __________ shifting possibilities. However, no group is more central to "Dune" than the Fremen. Natives of Arrakis, they are the keepers of the planet’s many secrets. Paul’s journey _____ him deep into the Fremen’s exclusive brotherhood, where he must prove himself trustworthy in a series of increasingly deadly challenges.

Solution


  1. works
  2. ecosystem
  3. human
  4. simply
  5. mother
  6. results
  7. constantly
  8. building
  9. produce
  10. jessica
  11. bastions
  12. arrakis
  13. takes
  14. climate

Original Text


But Arrakis is not simply an endless sea of sand. Herbert was an avid environmentalist, who spent over five years creating Dune’s complex ecosystem. The planet is checkered with climate belts and wind tunnels that have shaped its rocky topography. Different temperate zones produce varying desert flora. And almost every element of Dune’s ecosystem works together to produce the planet’s essential export.

Herbert’s world building also includes a rich web of philosophy and religion. Paul’s mother Jessica, is a member of the Bene Gesserit, an ancient cult of spice-assisted psychics. Sometimes called “witches” for their mysterious powers, the Bene Gesserit have operated as a shadow government for millennia in an effort to guide society towards enlightenment. Similarly ancient are the Mentats— human computers capable of processing incredible amounts of data. While the Mentats are bastions of logic and reason, their results are not mere calculations, but rather, streams of constantly shifting possibilities. However, no group is more central to "Dune" than the Fremen. Natives of Arrakis, they are the keepers of the planet’s many secrets. Paul’s journey takes him deep into the Fremen’s exclusive brotherhood, where he must prove himself trustworthy in a series of increasingly deadly challenges.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations




Important Words


  1. amounts
  2. ancient
  3. arrakis
  4. avid
  5. bastions
  6. belts
  7. bene
  8. brotherhood
  9. building
  10. calculations
  11. called
  12. capable
  13. central
  14. challenges
  15. checkered
  16. climate
  17. complex
  18. computers
  19. constantly
  20. creating
  21. cult
  22. data
  23. deadly
  24. deep
  25. desert
  26. ecosystem
  27. effort
  28. element
  29. endless
  30. enlightenment
  31. environmentalist
  32. essential
  33. exclusive
  34. export
  35. flora
  36. fremen
  37. gesserit
  38. government
  39. group
  40. guide
  41. herbert
  42. human
  43. includes
  44. increasingly
  45. incredible
  46. jessica
  47. journey
  48. keepers
  49. logic
  50. member
  51. mentats
  52. mere
  53. millennia
  54. mother
  55. mysterious
  56. natives
  57. operated
  58. philosophy
  59. planet
  60. possibilities
  61. powers
  62. processing
  63. produce
  64. prove
  65. psychics
  66. reason
  67. religion
  68. results
  69. rich
  70. rocky
  71. sand
  72. sea
  73. secrets
  74. series
  75. shadow
  76. shaped
  77. shifting
  78. similarly
  79. simply
  80. society
  81. spent
  82. streams
  83. takes
  84. temperate
  85. topography
  86. trustworthy
  87. tunnels
  88. varying
  89. web
  90. wind
  91. works
  92. world
  93. years
  94. zones