full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Yen Pham: Why should you read Toni Morrison's "Beloved"?

Unscramble the Blue Letters


Morrison also blends perspectives and tiieelmns, to convey how the trauma of slavery ripples across various characters and time periods. As she dleevs into the psyche of townspeople, enslavers, and previously enslaved people, she exposes conflicting viewpoints on reality. This tenosin shwos the limitations of our own perspectives, and the ways in which some characters are actively avoiding the reality of their actions. But in other instances, the characters’ shifting memories align perfectly; capturing the collective trauma that haunts the sroty.

Though "Beloved" touches on dark suejcbts, the book is also filled with beautiful prose, highlighting its characters’ capacity for love and vulnerability. In a stream-of-consciousness sucqeene written from Sethe’s perspective, Morrison unspools memories of sajibutougn alongside moments of tenderness; like a baby reaching for her mother’s earrings, spring corlos, and freshly painted stairs. Sethe’s mother-in-law had them ptniead white, she rallces, “so you could see your way to the top… where lamplight didn’t reach."

Open Cloze


Morrison also blends perspectives and _________, to convey how the trauma of slavery ripples across various characters and time periods. As she ______ into the psyche of townspeople, enslavers, and previously enslaved people, she exposes conflicting viewpoints on reality. This _______ _____ the limitations of our own perspectives, and the ways in which some characters are actively avoiding the reality of their actions. But in other instances, the characters’ shifting memories align perfectly; capturing the collective trauma that haunts the _____.

Though "Beloved" touches on dark ________, the book is also filled with beautiful prose, highlighting its characters’ capacity for love and vulnerability. In a stream-of-consciousness ________ written from Sethe’s perspective, Morrison unspools memories of ___________ alongside moments of tenderness; like a baby reaching for her mother’s earrings, spring ______, and freshly painted stairs. Sethe’s mother-in-law had them _______ white, she _______, “so you could see your way to the top… where lamplight didn’t reach."

Solution


  1. painted
  2. shows
  3. timelines
  4. subjugation
  5. recalls
  6. colors
  7. delves
  8. tension
  9. subjects
  10. sequence
  11. story

Original Text


Morrison also blends perspectives and timelines, to convey how the trauma of slavery ripples across various characters and time periods. As she delves into the psyche of townspeople, enslavers, and previously enslaved people, she exposes conflicting viewpoints on reality. This tension shows the limitations of our own perspectives, and the ways in which some characters are actively avoiding the reality of their actions. But in other instances, the characters’ shifting memories align perfectly; capturing the collective trauma that haunts the story.

Though "Beloved" touches on dark subjects, the book is also filled with beautiful prose, highlighting its characters’ capacity for love and vulnerability. In a stream-of-consciousness sequence written from Sethe’s perspective, Morrison unspools memories of subjugation alongside moments of tenderness; like a baby reaching for her mother’s earrings, spring colors, and freshly painted stairs. Sethe’s mother-in-law had them painted white, she recalls, “so you could see your way to the top… where lamplight didn’t reach."

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
enslaved people 2


Important Words


  1. actions
  2. actively
  3. align
  4. avoiding
  5. baby
  6. beautiful
  7. blends
  8. book
  9. capacity
  10. capturing
  11. characters
  12. collective
  13. colors
  14. conflicting
  15. convey
  16. dark
  17. delves
  18. earrings
  19. enslaved
  20. enslavers
  21. exposes
  22. filled
  23. freshly
  24. haunts
  25. highlighting
  26. instances
  27. lamplight
  28. limitations
  29. love
  30. memories
  31. moments
  32. morrison
  33. painted
  34. people
  35. periods
  36. perspective
  37. perspectives
  38. previously
  39. prose
  40. psyche
  41. reach
  42. reaching
  43. reality
  44. recalls
  45. ripples
  46. sequence
  47. shifting
  48. shows
  49. slavery
  50. spring
  51. stairs
  52. story
  53. subjects
  54. subjugation
  55. tension
  56. time
  57. timelines
  58. touches
  59. townspeople
  60. trauma
  61. unspools
  62. viewpoints
  63. vulnerability
  64. ways
  65. white
  66. written