changing perception
07 Dec 2010 5 Comments
I’ve changed my thesis a bit. Same topic, new idea!
Reading through some secondary sources, but mostly primary sources from the Massachusetts Bay Colony, pertaining specifically to Salem, I’ve decided to try to prove the transition of perception of the trials over time from acceptance and support, through criticism and disbelief, to sympathy, apology, and regret.
First I analyzed A Brief and True Narrative of Some Remarkable Passages Relating to Sundry Persons Afflicted by Witchcraft, at Salem Village which Happened from the Nineteenth of March, to the Fifth of April, 1692 written by the Reverend Deodat Lawson.
Second I analyzed the “Letter of Thomas Brattle, F. R. S., 1692″ written by Boston merchant Thomas Brattle.
Third I analyzed A Modest Enquiry into the Nature of Witchcraft by the Reverend John Hale.
My next step is to complete a color coded analysis comparing words from each text within one word cloud. I’ve been using TAPoR and AntConc for textual analysis to determine which words should be included in the cloud and are relevant to my thesis.
Thoughts, comments, questions? See everyone tonight! (It’s my last Grad class EVER, woooo)
Dec 07, 2010 @ 16:24:23
Looks great. They love ‘afflicted’ apparently.
I would use Tag Crowd or Voyeur Tools to pull out the number of times a word is used, and then make the color-coded clouds from that data. See how many times ‘afflicted’ was used in a source versus other words like ‘crime’, ‘good’, ‘Devil’, etc.
Dec 07, 2010 @ 17:02:58
I think I started doing something like you suggested this afternoon. I’ll make another post with what I have so far.
What I’ve found though is since Hale’s work is a bit longer it might be skewing the results, a little. I have some really tiny words, and some bigger words. But they do compare and contrast how each source support/criticizes/empathizes.
Any further ideas would be much appreciated! How’s yours coming along? (I suspect that once I finish this I’ll find you’ve posted, heh)
Dec 07, 2010 @ 17:04:30
Oh maybe make separate clouds of those words per source instead of one cloud so the words don’t get lost! I don’t know if that makes sense, but I just thought of it. Hmm…
Dec 07, 2010 @ 16:26:34
First, congratulations on finishing! That’s awesome. Second, I find your project really interesting (and not just because I have a soft spot for the Salem Witchtrials..) Question, though, what made you choose the texts you chose?
Dec 07, 2010 @ 16:56:09
I chose each text because they portrayed the changing in perception that I suspected. Lawson wrote a narrative that showed acceptance and support, Brattle’s letter showed criticism and disbelief, and Hale wrote more sympathetically and regretfully on the events in Salem.
There are other documents that support my thesis but I decided to keep it simple since this is a shorter paper. Also, I tried to pick documents that were similar in length. Hale’s work is longer than Brattle’s and Lawson’s, but shorter than the other options available.
And thanks