full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Iseult Gillespie: Why should you read Sylvia Plath?

Unscramble the Blue Letters


Shortly after the publication of "The Bell Jar," pltah died by suicide at age 30. Two years later, the collection of poems she wotre in a burst of caetvrie erngey during the months before her death was peulshibd under the title "Ariel." Widely coiesnedrd her masterpiece, Ariel exemplifies the honesty and imagination Plath harnessed to capture her pain.

In one of "Ariel's" most forceful poems, "Lady Lazarus," she explores her attempts to take her own life through Lazarus, the biblical figure who rose from the dead. She writes, “and I a smiling woman/ I am only thirty/ And like the cat I have nine times to die.” But the poem is also a testament to survival: “I rise with my red hair/ And I eat men like air.” This unflinching language has made Plath an important totcosnhue for cntesouls other readers and writers who sought to break the silence surrounding issues of trauma, frustration, and sexuality.

Open Cloze


Shortly after the publication of "The Bell Jar," _____ died by suicide at age 30. Two years later, the collection of poems she _____ in a burst of ________ ______ during the months before her death was _________ under the title "Ariel." Widely __________ her masterpiece, Ariel exemplifies the honesty and imagination Plath harnessed to capture her pain.

In one of "Ariel's" most forceful poems, "Lady Lazarus," she explores her attempts to take her own life through Lazarus, the biblical figure who rose from the dead. She writes, “and I a smiling woman/ I am only thirty/ And like the cat I have nine times to die.” But the poem is also a testament to survival: “I rise with my red hair/ And I eat men like air.” This unflinching language has made Plath an important __________ for _________ other readers and writers who sought to break the silence surrounding issues of trauma, frustration, and sexuality.

Solution


  1. published
  2. plath
  3. touchstone
  4. countless
  5. energy
  6. creative
  7. considered
  8. wrote

Original Text


Shortly after the publication of "The Bell Jar," Plath died by suicide at age 30. Two years later, the collection of poems she wrote in a burst of creative energy during the months before her death was published under the title "Ariel." Widely considered her masterpiece, Ariel exemplifies the honesty and imagination Plath harnessed to capture her pain.

In one of "Ariel's" most forceful poems, "Lady Lazarus," she explores her attempts to take her own life through Lazarus, the biblical figure who rose from the dead. She writes, “and I a smiling woman/ I am only thirty/ And like the cat I have nine times to die.” But the poem is also a testament to survival: “I rise with my red hair/ And I eat men like air.” This unflinching language has made Plath an important touchstone for countless other readers and writers who sought to break the silence surrounding issues of trauma, frustration, and sexuality.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations




Important Words


  1. age
  2. air
  3. ariel
  4. attempts
  5. bell
  6. biblical
  7. break
  8. burst
  9. capture
  10. cat
  11. collection
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  15. dead
  16. death
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  18. died
  19. eat
  20. energy
  21. exemplifies
  22. explores
  23. figure
  24. forceful
  25. frustration
  26. harnessed
  27. honesty
  28. imagination
  29. important
  30. issues
  31. jar
  32. language
  33. lazarus
  34. life
  35. masterpiece
  36. men
  37. months
  38. pain
  39. plath
  40. poem
  41. poems
  42. publication
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  44. readers
  45. red
  46. rise
  47. rose
  48. sexuality
  49. shortly
  50. silence
  51. smiling
  52. sought
  53. suicide
  54. surrounding
  55. testament
  56. times
  57. title
  58. touchstone
  59. trauma
  60. unflinching
  61. widely
  62. writers
  63. writes
  64. wrote
  65. years