• Exercise to Explore Themes within a Text

• A List Words tool such as the TAPoR List Words Tool

• A Concordance tool such as the TAPoR Find Words - Concordance Tool
• A Collocation tool such as the TAPoR Find Collocates Tool

1. Create a concordance for your word list using TAPoR Find Words - Concordance Tool;
2. Explore different usages of the same word using Find Collocates Tool to determine usage patterns ;

1. Take an electronic text which is rich in known themes or obtain an appopriate text from a source such as Project Gutenberg ;

Explore Themes within a Text

• Exercise to Explore Themes within a Text

1. Repeat the above step for all words in the list.

• Information about the TAPoR Concordance Tool
• Information about the TAPoR Collocation Tool
• Information about the TAPoR List Words Tool

• Exercise 2 Explore Themes within a Text

• A List Words tool such as the TAPoR List Words Tool

• A Concordance tool such as the TAPoR Find Words - Concordance Tool
• A Collocation tool such as the TAPoR Find Collocates Tool

1. Create a concordance for your word list using TAPoR Find Words - Concordance Tool;
2. Explore different usages of the same word using Find Collocates Tool to determine usage patterns ;

1. Generate a list of words related to the theme you are interest in using a tool such as WordNet ;
2. Determine the Sense(s) of the words that are related to that theme ;
3. Use those words to Build a word list with synonyms, antonyms, and cognates using a tool such as WordNet ;

1. Explore different usages of the same word using Find Collocates Tool to determine usage patterns ;

• List of All Recipes
• Exercise 2 Explore Themes within a Text
• Help with Particular Tools
• Background on Text Analysis

• An electronic text to explore
• A Theme of exploratory interest
• A List Words tool such as the TAPoR List Words Tool
• A Synonym Finding Tool such as Eva at POETS
• A Concordance tool such as the TAPoR Find Words - Concordance Tool
• A Collocation tool such as the TAPoR Find Collocates Tool

1. Take an electronic text from a source such as Project Gutenberg or your own text which is rich in known themes;
2. Generate a list of words related to the theme you are interest in using a tool such as WordNet ;
3. Determine the Sense(s) of the words that are related to that theme ;
4. Use those words to Build a word list with synonyms, antonyms, and cognates using a tool such as WordNet ;

1. Explore different usages of the same word using Find Collocates Tool to determine usage patterns ;

1. Help with Particular Tools

1. A List Words tool such as the TAPoR List Words Tool

1. A Concordance tool such as the TAPoR Find Words - Concordance Tool
2. A Collocation tool such as the TAPoR Find Collocates Tool

1. Create a concordance for your word list using TAPoR Find Words - Concordance Tool;
2. Explore different usages of the same word using Find Collocates Tool to determine usage patterns >>glossary;

1. Take an electronic text from a source such as Project Gutenberg >>discussion or your own text which is rich in known themes;
2. Generate a list of words related to the theme you are interest in using a tool such as WordNet >>discussion;

Collocation

Collocation refers to the occurrence of words adjacently more often than would be expected by chance.

A Complete Glossary

This is a recipe to explore simple themes within a text

1. A Theme of exploratory interest

1. A Synonym Finding Tool such as Eva at POETS

1. Generate a list of words related to the theme you are interest in;

1. Use those words to Build a word list with synonyms, antonyms, and cognates using a tool such as WordNet >>discussion;

WordNet Service

Glossary

Collocation

Collocation

Collocation refers to the occurrence of words adjacently more often than would be expected by chance.
For more information...

Concordance

Concordance

A Concordance is a gathering of passages that "concord" or agree. Usually it is a gathering of passages with a sought for word.
For more information...

Databench

Databench

The Databench is a temporary workspace where you can store your text analysis results in the TAPoR for further use.
For more information...

Googlizer

Googlizer

The Googlizer queries the Google search engine using a word or phrase you provide and returns the results of the Google search.
For more information...

KWIC (Key Word in Context)

KWIC

A Key Word In Context (or KWIC) is a display of results in which the word searched for, the keyword, is in the centre surrounded by one line of context. This is how concordances are usually displayed. Here is an example that shows the occurrences of the word "dream" in A Midsummer Night's Dream in TACTweb:

I.1/577.1        | Four nights will quickly dream away the time; | And
I.1/578.2   Swift as a shadow, short as any dream; | Brief as the
II.2/585.1        | Ay me, for pity! what a dream was here! | Lysander,
III.2/591.1    this derision | Shall seem a dream and fruitless vision, |
IV.1/593.1      as the fierce vexation of a dream. | But first I will
IV.1/594.2    to me | That yet we sleep, we dream. Do not you think | The
IV.1/594.2      rare | vision. I have had a dream, past the wit of man to
IV.1/594.2     the wit of man to | say what dream it was: man is but an
IV.1/594.2    he go | about to expound this dream. Methought I was--there
IV.1/594.2     his heart to report, what my dream | was. I will get Peter
IV.1/594.2      to write a ballad of | this dream: it shall be called
IV.1/594.2      it shall be called Bottom's dream, | because it hath no
V.1/599.1       | Following darkness like a dream, | Now are frolic: not a
V.1/599.2   theme, | No more yielding but a dream, | Gentles, do not

MyTexts

MyTexts

This is an area of the TAPoR in which you collect your private texts for analysis. It is also a portal to access publicly available texts which have been added by other users. In this area you can view the catalogue of texts available to you or add, edit, tag, and view the contents of specific texts.
For more information...

MyTools

MyTools

This is an area within the TAPoR in which you can collect and experimwnt with text analalysis tools for your use.
For more information...

Workbench

Workbench

This is the analysis area of the TAPoR in which you apply text analysis tools to texts.
For more information...

Panels

Panel

The TAPoR Portal organizes information in panels (sometimes called portlets or coplets.) These can me minimized, maximized and closed using the three buttons in the upper left-hand corner of the panel.
For more information...

StopList

Stop List

A Stop list is a series of words that you may choose to exclude from a particular operation because you deem them to be irrelevant or obstructive to your analysis task. If you are searching for descriptive terms for example, you may choose to exclude function words normally occuring as part of everyday speech. Your interest may lie only in extraordinary words.
For more information...

TAPoRize

TAPoRize

One of the features of the TAPoR portal is that it gives you a bookmark with which to acquire texts into your myTexts Library quickly. You will find the TAPoRize bookmark on the myTexts page of your account under the Help link. Just drag it to your Bookmarks Bar or Favorities Bar. From then on you can acquire a text (add it to your myTexts) by clicking on the Bookmark when you are looking at the text.
For more information...

Text Encoding

Text Encoding

One of the most important aspects of the text input process is the encoding of the text which you are working with. It must be encoded as either UTF8 or Latin-1, which provides proper mapping of accented and other extended characters. See the links below for more background information on encoding processes. For example, when propoerly encoded the charcter 'e' is differentiated from the character 'é' and 'é' is not seen as the character 'e' + some symbol.
For more information...

UTF8

UTF-8 (8-bit Unicode Character Encoding)

Unicode character encoding is an evolution of the ASCII set to permit support of a greater number of alphanumeric characters including those with diacritical marks such as accents. More information on UTF-8 is available at:Wikipedia

For more information...

WordCloud

Word Cloud

A visual presentation of keywords drawn from a text, visually differentiated based on their position and frequency of use in that text.
For more information...

1. Take an electronic text from a source such as Project Gutenberg >>discussion;

1. Explore different usages of the same word using Find Collocates Tool to determine usage patterns >>glossary;

1. Determine the Sense(s) of the words that are related to that theme >>discussion;
2. Use those words to Build a word list with synonyms, antonyms, and cognates using a tool such as WordNet >>discussion;

1. Repeat the above step for all words in the list;
2. Explore themes using Find Collocates Tool to determine usage patterns >>glossary;

The Sense of a Word

Word Finder Service

Glossary

Collocation

Further approaches

1. A List Words tool such as the TAPoR List Words Tool
2. A Synonym Finding Tool such as WordNet
3. A Concordance tool such as the TAPoR Find Words - Concordance Tool
4. A Collocation tool such as the TAPoR Find Collocates Tool

1. Get electronic text from a source such as Project Gutenberg >>discussion;
2. Prepare text by removing any added infrastructure >>discussion;

Recipe 2 : Explore Themes within a Text

This is a recipe to identify simple themes within a sample text

Ingredients

1. An electronic text to explore
2. A List Words tool
3. A Concordance tool
4. A Collocation tool

Steps

1. Get electronic text from a source such as Project Gutenberg discussion;
2. Prepare text by removing any added infrastructure discussion;
3. Identify a theme to explore;
4. Generate a list of words related to that theme;
5. Build the word list with synonyms, antonyms, etc... using services such as WordNet;
6. Create a concordance for your word list using Find Words - Concordance Tool;
7. Explore themes using Find Collocates Tool to determine usage patterns;

Discussion

#discussionOne

S.

#discussionTwo

T.

Further approaches

• Find words that avoid the theme
• Cluster analysis on themes
• Distribution of theme
• Comparison

Next Steps/Further Information

1. List of All Recipes
2. Exercise 2 Explore Themes within a Text
3. Recipe 3 Compare Texts for Style
4. Help with Particular Tools
5. Background on Text Analysis

-- ShawnDay - 06 Feb 2006