When the U.K. newspaper the Sunday Times outed J.K. Rowling as the author of detective novel The Cuckoo's Calling earlier this year, computer scientists were among the first people called in. Although the novel was published under the pen name Robert Galbraith, two computational scholars––including Duquesne University's Patrick Juola––were tasked with confirming or denying whether the novel belonged to the Harry Potter author, or one of three other possible writers. That Juola succeeded (his conclusions were later confirmed by Rowling herself) speaks volume about the the potential that algorithms and computer science can have, even with application to a field as notoriously subjective as literature. Which raises an interesting question: Can we use software to help us think about literature? Reverse Engineering J.K. Rowling To explore that question, we should first look at how the Juola cracked Rowling's writing style. To begin the process, Juola loaded 1,000–word samples of The Cuckoo's Calling in to his self–designed Java Graphical Authorship Attribution Program (JGAAP), along with several other texts, including The Casual Vacancy, Rowling's first post–Harry Potter novel. A freely available Java–based, modular program for textual analysis, categorization, and authorship attribution, JGAAP analyzed the texts on four different variables: word–length distribution, the use of common words like "the" and "of," recurring–word pairings, and the distribution of "character... Continue reading at 'Fast Company'
[ Fast Company | 2013-09-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Schools and libraries have been closed for months, but some kids aren’t going to get away with playing video games all summer. Kelly Passek -- a middle school librarian in Montgomery County, Virginia -- is sending out summer reading via drones. After... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2020-06-12 18:18:26 UTC ]
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The sadness, exhaustion, anger and frustration that have been expressed by Black people across social media this week have, of course, been felt for centuries.But, by living so much through our screens right now, observing video footage, scrolling through reposted statements and infographics,... Continue reading at British Council global
[ British Council global | 2020-06-05 16:46:27 UTC ]
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A teacher created a reading list for young children to start to understand why there are global protests fighting for racial justice. Who: Brittany Smith, a New Jersey-based pre-kindergarten teacher.Read Full Story Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2020-06-05 10:35:13 UTC ]
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How many times have you heard someone say, ‘I don’t read poetry. I just don’t get it.’ Or perhaps, ‘Why can’t poets just come out and say what they want to say? Why say something in such a way?’ For many people, poetry is ‘difficult’. But whilst it’s true that […] The post 10 of the Most... Continue reading at Interesting Literature
[ Interesting Literature | 2020-05-30 14:00:36 UTC ]
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It kept happening. On Twitter, on Facebook, in your WhatsApp chats. The bookish people you know, the introverts, declaring that lockdown would give them more time to read. Or the people who know you, and know that you might be bookish, declaring that you’d got a head start on them in terms of... Continue reading at British Council global
[ British Council global | 2020-05-29 15:15:00 UTC ]
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Everyone peaked too early. You remember. The beginning of lockdown, when suddenly half of your friends were FaceTiming you about Tiger King, or downloading a language app, and so many people ordered yoga mats online that they took an estimated six weeks to be delivered. Now the yoga mat... Continue reading at British Council global
[ British Council global | 2020-05-22 15:30:00 UTC ]
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Irish language author Áine Ní Ghlinn has been made the sixth Laureate na nÓg, Ireland’s Children’s Literature Laureate. She is the first author who writes exclusively in Irish to be awarded the title. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-18 11:28:56 UTC ]
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It’s a long-standing joke in lockdown now – among those of us quarantined, self-isolating, or lucky enough to keep working from home – that we don’t know which day it is. Or even which week. And did I shower this morning, or was it yesterday? Our immediate surroundings have been so similar for... Continue reading at British Council global
[ British Council global | 2020-05-15 14:46:20 UTC ]
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THREE MUSLIM GIRLS — two sisters and their cousin — stood in the sunshine on the grounds of the Diggi Palace Hotel in Jaipur, where the world’s largest literary festival took place over five days in late January. All around them, young people streamed into the sprawling compound, before a... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books
[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2020-05-14 17:00:42 UTC ]
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News and Events WLT Top row (left to right): Laurie Halse Anderson, Eric Gansworth, Meg Medina. Middle row: Linda Sue Park, Mitali Perkins, Jason Reynolds. Bottom row: Cynthia Leitich Smith, Laurel Snyder, Alex Wheatle Finalists for the 2021 NSK... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2020-05-14 16:39:10 UTC ]
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Barrington Stoke has published a free digital pack of advice, information and resources to support dyslexic children learning from home. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-05 18:41:27 UTC ]
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Like moons, Ancient Greece and adolescence, spring has given writers inspiration for centuries. “To what purpose, April, do you return again?” asks Edna St Vincent Millay, noting the “redness / of little leaves” and “the spikes of the crocus”. To Shakespeare, this time of year puts “the spirit... Continue reading at British Council global
[ British Council global | 2020-05-01 14:56:50 UTC ]
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At a Google Hangouts Meet this week a question was asked by one of the participants. ‘Can objects be made sentient through this technology?’ Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-04-29 15:54:59 UTC ]
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When we think of poems, these days most people probably automatically think of lyric poems: usually quite short poems which describe the poet’s (or an imagined speaker’s) thoughts and feelings. But from the epic poems of Homer to the Border Ballads of the Middle Ages to notable contemporary... Continue reading at Interesting Literature
[ Interesting Literature | 2020-04-29 14:00:40 UTC ]
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Many lives are radically different right now. But birthdays, anniversaries, and public holidays come and go as before. The pink supermoon would have appeared whether we’d watched it from our windows or outdoors among a crowd of strangers. This week, Earth Day, Shakespeare’s birthday, and World... Continue reading at British Council global
[ British Council global | 2020-04-24 14:34:13 UTC ]
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Hodder Education is offering students nearly £1m worth of online learning resources, following the closure of schools owing to coronavirus. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-04-24 09:40:04 UTC ]
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As quarantine continues, we’re all noticing that we respond to lockdown differently. While many spend each day providing care, food and other necessities, those of us privileged enough to be 'stuck at home' are seeing our friends’ and family members’ behaviour change under the new... Continue reading at British Council global
[ British Council global | 2020-04-17 15:42:05 UTC ]
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News and Events Top Row (left to right): Jonathan Auxier, Monica Brown, Tanita S. Davis. Middle row: Adib Khorram, Sonia Patel, Randy Ribay. Bottom row: Cynthia Weill, Tanaya Winder, Janet Wong. World Literature Today, the University of Oklahoma’s... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2020-04-14 19:33:34 UTC ]
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Cambridge University Press is providing free access to books, research and learning materials for teachers, students and researchers impacted by the coronavirus. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-04-09 06:39:31 UTC ]
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Bradford Literature Festival, originally scheduled for 26th June-5th July, has been cancelled amid the coronavirus pandemic. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-04-08 15:04:29 UTC ]
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