Hello Everyone!This will my last blog post on "The Professor and the Madman", my ISU novel. In this post I will talk about my novel in the feminist criticism perspective, and how it applies to our society. Thesis:In the novel “The Professor and the Madman”, Simon Winchester undervalues the roles of the women in the real life story, for Winchester gives essentially little to no detail to their characters, including the characters Ada Murray and Eliza Merrett. Ada Murray and Her Contributions to the OED (1845-1936)
Real life story of Women's Contributions Being Sabotaged:
“When I told the rest of the team they assumed it was human interference, or I’d wired up the equipment wrong.”
“When the Press found out I was a woman, we were bombarded with inquiries, my male supervisor was asked the astrophysical questions while I was the human interest. Photographers asked me to unbutton my blouse lower, whilst journalists wanted to know my vital statistics and whether I was taller than Princess Margaret.”
What I Learned from this ResearchWhat I learned through my research is that many women have gotten their titles sabotaged, but those are only the ones we know about. What if there are more women who were not lucky enough to finally get recognition? Even after their death? However, I believe that as we learn through mistakes, we as a society will be able to help more women be more acknowledged for their efforts! Why I Chose to do a BlogI chose to do a blog as one of my medias because I can freely write with no restrictions. Blogs also allow me to share links, pictures, videos, and other media which give opportunity for my readers to have a deeper understanding of my topic. My readers can also comment, allow me to communicate with my audience, which is not possible in almost all other media types. Citation:Works Cited
“6 Women Scientists Who Were Snubbed Due to Sexism.” National Geographic, National Geographic Society, 19 May 2013, news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/13/130519-women-scientists-overlooked-dna-history-science/. “Jocelyn Bell Burnell.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 27 Feb. 2018, www.biography.com/people/jocelyn-bell-burnell-9206018. Loughlin, Eoin. “My Battle with Sexism, by Scientist Jocelyn Bell Burnell Who Helped Unlock the Secrets of the Universe.” BelfastTelegraph.co.uk, BelfastTelegraph.co.uk, 20 July 2015, www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/my-battle-with-sexism-by-scientist-jocelyn-bell-burnell-who-helped-unlock-the-secrets-of-the-universe-31388068.html.
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When examining the novel “The Professor and the Madman” by Simon Winchester in a feminist criticism perspective, it becomes clear that the roles of the women in the story are very undervalued compared to the men. With already little mention of women in the first place, there are only two major characters, Ada Murray and Eliza Merrett. To begin, the author is negligent towards most of the female characters in the story, giving little to no detail. For example, when describing Minor’s ancestor Thomas Minor, the founder of New England in Connecticut, Winchester gives no detail about Thomas’s daughters, yet depicts the lives of his sons. He says, “Of nine children born to Thomas and his wife, Grace, six were boys, all of whom went on to spread the family name throughout New England, and be counted among the devout and high-principled founding fathers of the state of Connecticut in the late seventeenth century” (Chapter 3, Winchester, 1998). It is evident that Winchester did not acknowledge Thomas’s daughters as they were not able to spread the family name. However, in the feminist criticism perspective, it is discriminatory to only deliver the life story of the sons, regardless of the females not being able to spread the name. Another example of the author’s negligence is when he lists lexicographers who were the stepping stones in the making of the final creation of the Oxford English Dictionary. Here, he lists only men contributors, and no mention of women (Chapter 5, Winchester 1998). Similarly, when Winchester lists the many members of the Philological Society, he does not list any women (Chapter 2, Winchester 1998). This may be due to the fact that women were not often offered education during the late 1800s, and therefore had no opportunity to do great work as the men were able to. However, this does not mean there were no women in the making of the OED, as rare as it was, there were successful female lexicographers. For example, Edith and Elizabeth P. Thompson, who worked with Murray by proofreading continually until the publication of the complete dictionary. Next, the vital characters of Ada Murray and Eliza Merrett were extremely downgraded. Ada Murray, James Murray’s wife, was known to be very intelligent, yet she did not have an independent identity. Ada was first introduced in chapter two as “Ada Ruthven, whose father worked for the Great Indian Peninsular Railway and was an admirer of Alexander von Humbolt”. Here, Winchester uses a fact about her Father to introduce Ada, instead of a fascinating fact of her own. Despite this, she is later described in the same chapter as “a woman who was far more his [James Murray] social and intellectual equal”. Yet, this intelligence is never displayed, for she was always by her husband’s side, instead of being an independent character. In general, through a feminist criticism perspective, a scholar such as Ada Murray deserves more acknowledgement rather than just being James Murray’s wife. Furthermore, regardless of being Dr. Minor’s friend before Murray, Eliza Merrett did not have a backstory of her own, other than, again, being the wife of George Merrett. She also did not have much role in the novel to begin with, despite her beginning contributions to Minor’s health. In brief, the novel “The Professor and the Madman” by Simon Winchester undervalues the roles of the women in the real life story, as Winchester gives essentially little to no detail to their characters, including the characters Ada Murray and Eliza Merrett. Works Cited
Ozwords, ozwords.org/?p=21. Winchester, Simon. The Professor and the Madman: a Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary. Harper Perennial, 2016. (I used an E-Book so I could not cite the exact pages, only the chapters)
The novel "The Professor and the Madman" written by Simon Winchester tells the real life story of Dr. William C. Minor and Dr. James Murray and their journey to create the first Oxford Dictionary. What made the story fascinating was the fact that Dr. Minor was held in an insane asylum in Crowthrone all the while being one of the biggest contributors of the making of the dictionary. This was due to a murder he had committed, the murder of George Merett - an "ordinary, innocent working-class farmer's son from Wiltshire" (Postscript, Winchester 1998). After a trial in London, he was declared insane, for he had thought Merett was a burglar who had run away, even though there was no invader in the first place. Though there is no known reason for his insanity, a major theory is related to his involvement in the Civil War where he was an American army surgeon. One of the most traumatic events during this job was when he was given the task to brand an Irish deserter in the face, and as a result, Dr. Minor believed that all Irish people are out to get him. After examining his story, it becomes clear that the story "The Professor and the Madman" follows the situational archetype the "Unhealable Wound". This situational archetype occurs when a main character goes through a traumatic experience which results in an either a physical or emotional wound that does not heal fully throughout the story, and in some cases, establishes the plot. In this case, Dr. WC Minor is put through many frightening scenes while working as an army surgeon, especially during the "Battle of Wilderness". Additionally, as mentioned above, the branding of the desrter had also scarred him for the rest of his life. It was after his work as an army surgeon that he became overwhelmed with paranoia, that he went to Lambeth, London, where he ultimately became a controversial murderer. When he was an inmate at the Broadmoor asylum, he and Merett's wife had become friends, as she had forgiven him, knowing he never meant harm. She would often bring bundle of books to Minor, which he would read meticulously. In one bundle, he saw a notice from the editor, James Murray, who was looking for volunteers to help create the great Oxford English Dictionary. Minor, who had a great deal of time on his hand, used this time to find interesting words and phrases from his large collections of books at the asylum. It is clear here that if he were not to be in this exact position, the story of one of the most bizarre friendships would not have happened at all. In other words, if he were not emotionally wounded by the war, if he were still his lucid self, there would have not been a story. This is one of the characteristics of the "Unhealable Wound" archetype, where the character is wounded emotionally which advances the plot. In the postscript, Winchester thinks to himself, "And why this book is offered as a small testament to the late George Merett of Wiltshire and Lambeth, without whose untimely death these events would never have unfolded, and this tale could never have been told"(Postscript, Winchester 1998). In the end, Minor's insanity does not dissapear, and takes its final a toll on him on March 26, 1920. It is evident that like the "Unhealable Wound" archetype, Minor was never his lucid self again. When examining the novel "The Professor and the Madman" by Simon Winchester, it becomes clear to me that the author's intended audience is someone who is fascinated by the English language. When I first read the synopsis of this novel, I expected to learn more about the murder that was committed by Dr. William C. Minor, rather than the creation of the first proper English dictionary.
As someone who already struggle with the English language - due to it being not only my second, but rather my third language - I had difficulty understanding the complex use of language in the book. In addition, its lengthy sections of each chapter dedicated to the beginnings of the establishment of the first English dictionary, was something I did not have much interest in, or even understand much in general. This was mostly because of what I had expected of the book. I had first chosen this book due to its general story - the story of how a murderer made himself to be one of the biggest contributors in the making of the Oxford dictionary. So far in the story, the book mainly discusses the history of the dictionary, including the histories of words. For example, in Chapter 4, "Gathering Earth's Daughters", Winchester goes on to explain to the reader about the importance of the dictionary. He uses the word "Elephant" as an example, and how Shakespeare had used this word with such little knowledge due to the absence of a dictionary during that period. He explains that during this crucial time, where writers were beginning to explore their work, they were not able to fully explain what they were really writing about because of this. He later adds on the one of the first English definition of the word "Elephant" by Samuel Johnson, a very detailed, long definition compared to the Oxford dictionary. (Chapter 4, Winchester 1998). Overall, there seemed to be more information about dictionaries than what had occurred (at least in the first few chapters), and I was slightly disappointed by this, as I was excited to read more about the murders, the trials, and Dr. Minor's experience at the mental asylum. This made me realise that this novel was not only targeted to crime story lovers, like me, but to people who are also genuinely interested in the English language. Although I found some of the information about the creation of the Oxford dictionary interesting, I enjoyed reading more about Dr. Minor's experience with the army and how he became the lunatic he is, and hearing more about the characters of Dr. Minor and Dr. Murray. This lead me to believe that someone who is not very interested in the development of the English language, or the English language in general, may not be the best audience for a story with great details on that topic. In brief, I believe "The Professor and the Madman" was targeted to people who truly enjoy learning about the evolution and the development of the English language. From the first few episode of the podcast "Serial" hosted by Sarah Koenig, I was able to learn the general information of the murder of Hae Min Lee and the case against Adnan Syed. With this information, I personally believe that he is innocent, and that he was wrongfully charged. Firstly, there was no physical evidence that proves his guilt. In fact, this whole case was based on one story, a story told by Adnan's friend, Jay Wilds. In his interrogation, Jay claims that Adnan has planned the murder of his ex-girlfriend, and Jay was an accomplice who helped him transport, and eventually bury her. Sarah Koenig, in her podcast, explains, "Jay's story wasn't just the foundation of the state's case against Adnan. It was the state's case against Adnan." In other words, the opposition took only one person's explanation, and created a case without any physical evidence. There are more people who believe he was innocent than not, yet this one person has the ability to ruin Adnan's life with just his words, or even, with a possible lie. Furthermore, the attorney for Adnan, Cristina Gutierrez, was a known scammer. The letters sent out by Asia McClain was crucial evidence that proved his innocence, as it gave him an alibi. However, although the letters were given to Gutierrez, she did not mention this at all. Sarah later asks a few attorneys about why she might have done this, who explains that a single witness, Asia, may be tricky, and even backfire. However, Asia says that no one tried to contact her, meaning Gutierrez did not even try to investigate this evidence, to check whether it could be useful or not in the first place. Sarah says, "But what is inconceivable, they all said, is to not ever contact Asia McClain, to never make the call, never check it out, never find out if her story helps or hurts your case. That makes no sense whatsoever. That is not a strategy. That is a screw-up." Here, I completely agree with her. I believe that if they had a better attorney, things may have been better for Adnan. Lastly, I want to talk about Adnan's post-conviction relief. This was after Asia's letters were finally brought into light, and it was decided that this case should be looked into once again, properly. The problem, however, is the writer of these letters. Asia did not come to the trial, in fact, she made her fiance tell the private investigator, who went to search for her, that she does not want to involved in this case anymore. What's worse is that she (In my opinion,) lied, she called the prosecutor and told them that she was forced to write those letters by Rabia's family. Rabia says to Sarah, "I don't know why. The affidavit was written voluntarily. I'm an attorney. I'm a licensed attorney. I work on homeland security. I have no reason to make something like this up. I didn't even know she existed until after the conviction." In the end, she still goes on to tell Sarah that what she wrote on those letters were true, but she does not address the phone call. Therefore, you can clearly see that there is a witness, but even after the post-conviction relief, it was not properly evaluated. In brief, I believe that Adnan Syed was wrongfully accused of Hae Min Lee's murder, due to the lack of evidence, and the poor research of Asia McClain's letters proving Adnan's innocence by attorney Cristina Gutierrez. Why I Used a Blog Post as My MediumI used a blog post as my medium because unlike podcasts, vlogs, and other recorded mediums, I was able to carefully think and construct my messages with more precision, as writing allows me to choose my words carefully. In a blog post, I can also insert pictures of the discussed people in the trial, which I cannot do in podcasts. Personally, it helps me to imagine the situation better when I can physically look at the evidence and the people involved. For example, in the "Serial" podcast, Sarah describes Adnan's big brown eyes that made her feel like she knew he was innocent. This made me curious, and I wanted to see it for myself, however, the chosen medium does not allow that. Therefore, for these reasons, I used a blog post as my medium.
Hello! I just listened to the “Serial” podcast about the case of Adnan Syed, and I found it very interesting. I am surprised to see that I was able to focus on the story throughout the 53 minutes, but the story really captured my attention, which made me want to listen more. It was fascinating to listen to the actual audios of her interviews, and even the interrogation of Jay. I think presenting investigative journalism in this format is unique and much more entertaining than just reading a news article, and people who are interested in crime stories will probably find themselves captivated by the audio clips of interviews, like I was. I believe that through this podcast, Syed’s family are able to share their thoughts and what struggles they are facing, and it will help them to bring attention to a possibly mistaken trial to the world. In other words, I think they are quite happy about the attention that it is getting (I hope!). I usually lose my focus while reading, so I found it very helpful to listen to a podcast rather than reading about it. Also, I believe being able to hear the evidence is much more compelling than reading a quote on paper, but the best method, for me personally, is hearing AND seeing the evidence.
Most of my friends know me for my terrible memory and inattention to detail, so while listening to Syed - how he feels like he can’t do anything to help his trial, because he's not able to remember much - kind of made me feel afraid of my future. I could imagine myself going through the same troubles as him, and I was scared the same sort of thing could happen to me and my terrible memory would not improve that situation. When I first listened to Sarah interviewing some teenagers about what they did on a specific day (And when they weren't able to fully recall all their activities), I realized it’s very common to not remember everything. At first, I didn’t understand how this was related to a murder case, but as I kept hearing the details of the case, it made a lot of sense. I think that was a really good way to catch the attention of the audience, and help them understand the case better, and help them empathize with Syed. In general, I thought the podcast was really well put together, and I will probably listen to the next episodes in my free time. This is my cat Goochie. I've known him all his life, as he was born in my house! He really likes running tap water (a little too much) for some reason, and he is very shy of other people. This was my elementary school, Honjigaoka Shougakkou, in Nagoya. Most of my childhood was spent there. I had hard time fitting in, as there were not many international students at my school, but I was able to become friends with amazing people who I still talk to today Since last year, I’ve been working at Cultures in Stone Road Mall. Most people don’t know about it, but Cultures is a restaurant that sells sandwiches, wraps, smoothies, salads, rice bowls, etc. It is usually not busy, but there are many dedicated customers who come everyday I am going into grade 12 next year, so I am beginning to think about my future. Right now, I am trying to decide between a biology path and a technology path. I always wanted to be a veterinarian, but computer programming has recently spiked my interest. I think I am leaning towards a programming path, but I am still not sure
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AuthorHello! Welcome to my summer school blog! I’m Masfia, I’m from Bangladesh but grew up in Japan, and now I live in Guelph and go to Centennial CVI. Good luck to everyone who took this course! |