Question:
Summarize the points made in the lecture, being sure to explain how they challenge the specific theories presented in the reading passage.
In 1912 a bookseller named Wilfrid M. Voynich acquired a beautifully illustrated handwritten book (manuscript) written on vellum (vellum is a material that was used for writing before the introduction of paper). The “Voynich manuscript,” as it became known, resembles manuscripts written in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. However, it is written in a completely unknown script. To date, no one has been able to decode the script and understand the book’s content. Several theories have been proposed to explain the origin of the Voynich manuscript.
One theory is that the manuscript is a genuine work on some scientific or magical subject composed in a complex secret code. Anthony Ascham, a sixteenth-century physician and botanist, has been identified as a possible author, since many plant illustrations in the Voynich manuscript are quite similar to those in Ascham’s book on medicinal plants, A Little Herbal, published in 1550.
According to some other theories, the manuscript is really a fake and its text has no real meaning. For example, it has been proposed the manuscript was created by Edward Kelley, a sixteenth-century personality who extracted money from nobles across Europe by pretending to have magical powers. Kelley may have created the manuscript as a fake magical book to sell to a wealthy noble. He used a made-up alphabet in a completely random order. It looks like a book of magical secrets, but there is no meaningful underlying text.
Another theory is that the manuscript is actually a modern fake created by Wilfrid M. Voynich himself. As an antique book dealer, Voynich certainly had the knowledge of what old manuscripts should look like and could have created a fake one. Perhaps Voynich’s plan was to sell the fake as a mysterious old book if he received an attractive offer.
Word Count: 243
In this set of materials, the reading passage state 3 main theories about the handwritten book on vellum called Voynich manuscript. However, the professor refutes all of the theories made in the article, and his reasons are as follows.
To start with, the passage points out Anthony Ascham as a possible author who was a sixteenth-century physician and botanist since many plant illustrations in Voynich manuscript are similar to his book on medicinal plants; A Little Herbal. Nevertheless, the lecture denies this theory as the book by Anthony Ascham was derived from other well-known resources.
Secondly, the reading contends that the manuscript is really a fake and its text has no meaning by giving an example of Edward Kelley. Kelley, a sixteenth-century person who extracted money from Nobel across Europe by pretending to have magical powers. Nevertheless, the professor argues that people in that era were conscious about frauds on such matter. Since rich nobles were not easily deceived.
Last, the article states that the manuscript is a modern fake created by Wilfrid M. Voyinch himself as he was an antique book dealer and had a knowledge on what old manuscripts looks like. Conversely, the professor defends this theory because the paper and ink on which manuscript was written dated years ago. The professor questions how was he able to get those papers and ink in this time.
In sum, the professor successfully cast doubts on all the claims presented in the articles.
- Scandals are useful because they focus our attention on problems in ways that no speaker or reformer ever could. 58
- Governments should offer a free university education to any student who has been admitted to a university but who cannot afford the tuition.Write a response in which you discuss your views on the policy and explain your reasoning for the position you take 83
- It is more important to keep your old friends than to make new friends. 70
- Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?Young people today have no influence on the important decisions that determine the future of society as a whole.Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. 70
- Rembrandt is the most famous of the seventeenth-century Dutch painters. However, there are doubts whether some paintings attributed to Rembrandt were actually painted by him. One such painting is known as attributed to Rembrandt because of its style, and 80
Grammar and spelling errors:
Line 1, column 164, Rule ID: ALL_OF_THE[1]
Message: Simply use 'all the'.
Suggestion: all the
...uscript. However, the professor refutes all of the theories made in the article, and his r...
^^^^^^^^^^
Line 3, column 38, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
Message: Possible typo: you repeated a whitespace
Suggestion:
... To start with, the passage points out Anthony Ascham as a possible author who ...
^^
Line 5, column 357, Rule ID: SENTENCE_FRAGMENT[1]
Message: “Since” at the beginning of a sentence requires a 2nd clause. Maybe a comma, question or exclamation mark is missing, or the sentence is incomplete and should be joined with the following sentence.
... conscious about frauds on such matter. Since rich nobles were not easily deceived. ...
^^^^^
Line 7, column 142, Rule ID: A_UNCOUNTABLE[2]
Message: Uncountable nouns are usually not used with an indefinite article. Use simply 'knowledge'.
Suggestion: knowledge
...s he was an antique book dealer and had a knowledge on what old manuscripts looks like. Con...
^^^^^^^^^^^
Transition Words or Phrases used:
conversely, however, look, nevertheless, really, second, secondly, so, well, to start with
Attributes: Values AverageValues Percentages(Values/AverageValues)% => Comments
Performance on Part of Speech:
To be verbs : 11.0 10.4613686534 105% => OK
Auxiliary verbs: 0.0 5.04856512141 0% => OK
Conjunction : 6.0 7.30242825607 82% => OK
Relative clauses : 7.0 12.0772626932 58% => More relative clauses wanted.
Pronoun: 15.0 22.412803532 67% => OK
Preposition: 34.0 30.3222958057 112% => OK
Nominalization: 0.0 5.01324503311 0% => More nominalizations (nouns with a suffix like: tion ment ence ance) wanted.
Performance on vocabulary words:
No of characters: 1255.0 1373.03311258 91% => OK
No of words: 243.0 270.72406181 90% => More content wanted.
Chars per words: 5.1646090535 5.08290768461 102% => OK
Fourth root words length: 3.94822203886 4.04702891845 98% => OK
Word Length SD: 2.88033507885 2.5805825403 112% => OK
Unique words: 150.0 145.348785872 103% => OK
Unique words percentage: 0.617283950617 0.540411800872 114% => OK
syllable_count: 376.2 419.366225166 90% => OK
avg_syllables_per_word: 1.5 1.55342163355 97% => OK
A sentence (or a clause, phrase) starts by:
Pronoun: 0.0 3.25607064018 0% => OK
Article: 12.0 8.23620309051 146% => OK
Subordination: 1.0 1.25165562914 80% => OK
Conjunction: 1.0 1.51434878587 66% => OK
Preposition: 4.0 2.5761589404 155% => OK
Performance on sentences:
How many sentences: 13.0 13.0662251656 99% => OK
Sentence length: 18.0 21.2450331126 85% => The Avg. Sentence Length is relatively short.
Sentence length SD: 43.505015694 49.2860985944 88% => OK
Chars per sentence: 96.5384615385 110.228320801 88% => OK
Words per sentence: 18.6923076923 21.698381199 86% => OK
Discourse Markers: 6.92307692308 7.06452816374 98% => OK
Paragraphs: 5.0 4.09492273731 122% => OK
Language errors: 4.0 4.19205298013 95% => OK
Sentences with positive sentiment : 4.0 4.33554083885 92% => OK
Sentences with negative sentiment : 4.0 4.45695364238 90% => OK
Sentences with neutral sentiment: 5.0 4.27373068433 117% => OK
What are sentences with positive/Negative/neutral sentiment?
Coherence and Cohesion:
Essay topic to essay body coherence: 0.124354858548 0.272083759551 46% => OK
Sentence topic coherence: 0.0414858989091 0.0996497079465 42% => OK
Sentence topic coherence SD: 0.0375550932813 0.0662205650399 57% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence: 0.0687022483026 0.162205337803 42% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence SD: 0.0473406621824 0.0443174109184 107% => OK
Essay readability:
automated_readability_index: 12.2 13.3589403974 91% => Automated_readability_index is low.
flesch_reading_ease: 61.67 53.8541721854 115% => OK
smog_index: 3.1 5.55761589404 56% => Smog_index is low.
flesch_kincaid_grade: 9.1 11.0289183223 83% => OK
coleman_liau_index: 12.65 12.2367328918 103% => OK
dale_chall_readability_score: 9.08 8.42419426049 108% => OK
difficult_words: 70.0 63.6247240618 110% => OK
linsear_write_formula: 11.0 10.7273730684 103% => OK
gunning_fog: 9.2 10.498013245 88% => OK
text_standard: 9.0 11.2008830022 80% => OK
What are above readability scores?
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Rates: 88.3333333333 out of 100
Scores by essay e-grader: 26.5 Out of 30
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Note: the e-grader does NOT examine the meaning of words and ideas. VIP users will receive further evaluations by advanced module of e-grader and human graders.