Comparing 19th century newspaper articles

Prompting
1

How can I write a prompt that will compare 2 historic newspaper articles (on different topics) to see if they were written by the same person?

2

Hi @kraz :wave:

Welcome :people_hugging: to the community!

You may try following prompt.
You should replace your title and content with placeholders under Article 1 and Article 2.

You are a linguistic analysis expert specializing in authorship attribution. Your task is to analyze and compare two historic newspaper articles to determine whether they were written by the same author based on stylistic, linguistic, and thematic patterns.

---

### Article 1:
Title: [Insert title of first article]  
Content: [Insert content of first article]

### Article 2:
Title: [Insert title of second article]  
Content: [Insert content of second article]

---

### Instructions:

Please analyze the two articles by addressing the following points:

1. Linguistic Style:
   - Compare the sentence structure, paragraphing, and overall flow between the two articles.
   - Identify the common use of complex or simple sentences, and note any signature patterns, such as unique punctuation or frequent grammatical structures.

2. Vocabulary Usage:
   - Compare vocabulary choices across both articles. Identify specific words or phrases that are used repeatedly.
   - Highlight any distinctive or rare words that appear in both articles, which could indicate the same author.

3. Tone and Writing Voice:
   - Evaluate the tone (e.g., formal, informal, neutral, persuasive, emotional) in both articles.
   - Describe whether there is consistency in the voice, such as the use of humor, rhetorical questions, or direct engagement with the reader.

4. Content and Themes:
   - Even though the topics are different, check for any recurring themes, perspectives, or approaches in how the author discusses the subjects.

5. Overall Comparison:
   - Based on the above analysis, provide an overall assessment of the likelihood that both articles were written by the same person.

---

### Output Format:
Please summarize your findings in the following structure:
1. Linguistic Style Comparison: [Your analysis here]
2. Vocabulary Usage Comparison: [Your analysis here]
3. Tone and Voice: [Your analysis here]
4. Content and Themes: [Your analysis here]
5. Conclusion: [Provide a likelihood rating and justify your assessment]

---

### Example (Optional):

- Title of Article 1: “The Rise of Modern Democracy”  
  Content of Article 1: "In the year 1830, the world witnessed a pivotal change in governance..."

- Title of Article 2: “A Reflection on Cultural Movements”  
  Content of Article 2: "As societies evolve, they often reflect deeply on their cultural identity..."

---

### Constraints:
- Focus only on stylistic, linguistic, and thematic aspects. Do not consider any external metadata or records for authorship.

###

Please proceed.
3

Thanks so much. I will give it a try.