IRB 2

The Professor and the Madman: Part 2

Summary:

The plot of the book is comprised of several different story lines: the establishment of the idea that an official Enlish dictionary is necessary, the politics and influential individuals involved with who would lead the organization, and the story of how William Minor became involved. Then are each broken into sections within the book. First, we are told of how William Minor comes to reside in a house arrest/mental asylum. Then a short history lesson is given about the previous attempts at an all-encompassing English dictionary, and finally how the new project that would take 70 years “almost to the day” came to be at Oxford University Press with Dr. James Murray at its head.

Analysis

The way the author weaves in the different perspectives is artful, but his background as a journalist is clearly evident in his writing. His style is less like storytelling and more like an informational history on the events he is describing. It is clear that the research he did before writing the book was unbelievably thorough (ethos) as he uses ample exemplification, quoting from countless primary sources that make it fascinating read. I feel that for some genres and even some other nonfiction books this could become dull, but this use of sources in the novel make it really come to life.

Also, Winchester made use of very formal vocabulary throughout the writing, especially as he was explaining the importance of having a dictionary to refer to. It was genius, because the further I got the more I found myself looking words up. As I was doing that, I read the paragraph that reminded me that this resource wasn’t available to authors or readers previously. It helped me gain a better understanding of how critical it is to have that option available.  For example: sesquipedalian, contiguate, bulbulcitate

OPTIC

Throughout the 1800’s, those of the higher literary society began to realize that it was critical to have dictionary, both to “fix” or preserve that language and to catalog it. Many who tried previously had some level of success, but could not handle the task alone. Finally, nearly 50 years after the idea was introduced, James Murray became the editor of the large scale production of the all-encompassing dictionary at Oxford University. However, his greatest contributor comes in the form of a retired American general William Minor who was retained in a mental asylum. Titled “Gathering Earth’s Daughters” the section introduces the key players of the Oxford English Dictionary. Although their tales are told separately, at the end of the section the author foreshadows that they will have some sort of interdependence. Murray depends on Minor’s vast knowledge to help create the dictionary, and Minor needs may only escape his prison by finding a purpose: using his skills and studies to accomplish something. Similar in disposition and worldly knowledge, the two men from different sides of the world will help change the history of the English Language.