Tech+Tool+1

[|Wordle.net] is a website that generates "word clouds," or visual representations of a given text. The clouds display texts in aesthetically pleasing colors and forms, and display words that appear more frequently with more prominence. To create a “word cloud,” you simply select the text you want to display, and copy it into the text window located under the site’s “Create” tab, and click “go.” The site will then generate a cloud using the selected text.

This tool would be useful within an English L.A. classroom, as it can be used as a tool to aid students in synthesizing a given text. Because words that appear with more prominence appear the largest, the word clouds can be used to help students identify prominent and recurring themes within a given text, which can then help them understand the author’s intention in writing the piece. This is especially useful for visual and linguistic learners. Below is a word cloud of Robert Frost's poem //The Road Not Taken//. Words such as "one," "diverged," "roads," took," and "way" appear the largest, emphasizing the fact that the speaker must make a choice between two contrasting pathways. 

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