An Example of Text Coding

Mr. Dawursk – English

The Words of the War

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C

RALEIGH, North Carolina (Achieve3000, May 12, 2011).

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!

Back in the 1860s, when the U.S. Civil War broke out, there was no Internet, which meant that people relied on newspapers, letters, and diaries to record events of the day. Now, 150 years after the Civil War began, one historian is using a modern form of technology to recount many of the reactions to the conflict.

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@

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North Carolina historian LeRae Umfleet is bringing the home front of the war to modern-day audiences by utilizing a service called Twitter, a free application that allows people to post short messages called "tweets," which are then available to be read by anyone who signs up to follow a Twitter account. Both celebrities and ordinary people can have Twitter accounts in which they record their thoughts and actions, and news organizations often use Twitter to post reactions to events shortly after they happen. Umfleet is using her account (called @CivilianWartime) to post quotes verbatim from letters, diaries, and autobiographies dating back to the Civil War. The quotes aren't from soldiers or leaders; they're from people who were not directly involved in the war but whose lives were affected. They are records of what people thought of the conflict as it unfolded.

1.  C = I connected to this section because I learned about the Civil War in 8^th grade.

    * = Newspapers, letters, and diaries were the primary form of communication during the Civil War.

    ! = I think it is cool that someone is using technology to show the reactions back then to the Civil War.

2.  * = Twitter uses messages called “tweets” to send notes, or posts, to other people.

    @ = I am confused.  Aren’t the people giving the reactions “dead?”

    ? = What does “verbatim” mean?

    ? = How were their lives affected? Why?