Can we test whether lines ascribed to William Shakespeare were actually written by someone else? Science and linguistics join forces in this fantastic TED-Ed video to help us investigate the theory of whether history's greatest writer composed his own plays.

Concepts

william shakespeare, author's style, writing styles, linguistics, statistics

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Additional Tags

english language arts

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Instructional Ideas

• Have learners conduct additional research on the field of linguistics and practice of stylometry to supplement what they learn from this video
• Refer to this video when discussing an author's unique voice and writing style, as well as the inherent structure that exists within poetry and other various forms of writing

Pros

• Animation engages learners and helps to illustrate content
• Customize the discussion prompts and additional resources provided on the TED-Ed website

Cons

• None

Common Core

RL.7.5 RL.8.5 SL.9-10.5 SL.11-12.5