A Research Essay
CONTEXT
Michael Toolan is a linguist of high repute who has an MA, GDL, and Doctors of Philosophy in this area. He started his undergraduate course at Edinburgh University, where a four-year course gave his first MA in English Language and Literature. Continuing on this path of education led him to the prestigious award of a Doctor in Philosophy. For six years, he taught abroad at the University of Singapore, followed by nine years of tenure in Seattle at the University of Washington. He has worked as faculty staff at the University of Birmingham in the Department of English Language as an accredited professor. His research publications on discourse analysis, narratives, and stylistics form the bane of his teaching as well as scholarly references. His interest in language started in his schooling days at St. John’s College, Oxford, where he studied this particular style typical to writers like William Faulkner.
In 1996, he ventured on to the University of Birmingham, attracted by his fellows of researchers living in the community. At this vibrant commune, an interest in law was developed, and he started a secondary course to feed his research on linguistic development in the legal courts. He completed a graduate diploma in legal studies by the year 2000, which acquainted him with his future roles in semantics. He also has experience in the editing world were in 2002; he took up the job of an editor of the Journal of Literary Semantics. This journal is essential in bridging the gap between literature and linguistics. Established in 1972 by Trevor Eaton, one of its primary purposes is to direct text as a direct measure of linguistics in any context. Apart from this work, international academic associations like the Poetics and Linguistics Association (PALA) have benefitted from his leadership. In a position as the chairman from 2016-2018, he served as the Professor of English on its board. PALA compares easily to The Journal of Literary Semantics as it aims to promote activities towards the advancement of linguistics. Integrating it into the school system in different capacities aligns the goals of PALA to Dr. Toolan.
The published research done by the good Dr. Toolan is equivalent to his wealth of experience as a scholar, lecturer, and editing work. Some of his work is related to socio-economic issues in the United Kingdom, while others lean more on a corpus stylistic study on the English language. When you take the former part of his research, there are provisions of articles like the complacency of the UK media when it comes to the plight of the unequal wealth distribution in the region. The level to which the silence of the media is in socio-economic matters is explained in his paper. His professional linguistic analysis sometimes focuses on short narratives, much like William Faulkner, his doctoral thesis. An analysis of the thought-provoking new romance novel Passions by Alice Munro informs one of his papers. This analysis is one of his few publications that are still in print but promises to offer a refreshing perspective from a corpus analysis professor.
More of his work is geared towards the choice of his profession: deciphering narratives and their manner of writing. Such papers include Narrative and Narrative Structure published in 2015 by Routledge. In others, he studies a universal language, that of music; In Musical Narrativity, his views form chapter eight. The cognitive immersion of an audience into a musical performance is the listening of a story the composer or musician wants to make. The story behind the music is often so associated with culture, with many people forgetting that music a narration. If a Beethoven string quartet were brief, the audience would not register it in their mind as it was just a passing fancy. Toolan notates that a prolonged version of good or bad music sends an appropriate register to the people hearing it, and they can appreciate the writer’s inspiration (Toolan, 2016). Taking an interest in this music analogy shows the diverse tastes of Dr. Toolan as an individual. An investment in other matters apart from what one studies for is generally the mark of a well-rounded person. Far more is the one who relates their field of interest to others, much like the doctor does. According to his analysis, what most narratives seem to have in common is an anachronism. At this point, he makes the difference between music and all other creative forms like storytelling.
Following his choice of profession, many studies are made in the line of linguistics and its semantics. The Professor is also known to dabble a bit in the field of poetry. An example is in a book by Rodney H. Jones, The Routledge Book of Language and Creativity, written in 2016. Professor Jones is a social linguist and is known for his experience in discourse analysis. In association with his learned associates, Professor Toolan has also worked on a disposition on narratives. This collaboration was done with Professor Emeritus Keith Allan, who gained the title after a successful tenure at the Monash University. Similar unions were made by Professors internationally, with their publications corresponding to a lot of the branches of linguistics. Professor Toolan has made many reviews and critiques on other works written in the same genre as his.
An example would be a review of Vyvyan Evans, The Crucible of Language: How Language and Mind Create Meaning. Professor Vyvyan Evans happens to be an authority in the field, having branched into the less known cognitive linguistics. Out of all the subdivisions on this subject, this section gains an equal measure of criticism and praise. Many known scholars in this field take this ‘’recently discovered’’ area with a pinch of salt but not so for Professor Toolan.
To continue on the review of Professor Evans, Toolan makes a comment speaking to the division between science and language. He continues to debunk the myths surrounding the downgrading of linguistics as an inappropriate tool for studying cognitive skills. Throughout his analysis of the work done by an associate, he displays an in-depth knowledge of matters ‘’beyond’’ his scope. He makes quite the intelligent remark on paleontology, psychology with regards to a figure made a century ago by the Danish Psychologist, Edgar Rubin. Plagiarism or lack of giving due credit to work done by a predecessor is common in certain circles; academia is not left behind. While it is true that a perception one may bear significant similarity to another, giving credit to where it is due does not take away a person’s credentials. This point, Professor Toolan makes clear in his analysis of the work done (Toolan, 2015). Ethics is an essential value in parts of life, especially to run the risk of copyright infringement is one that nobody should take lightly. Stress on the need for researchers to put out fresh material, devoid of repetition, is a matter the Professor takes close to his heart. In the review, he chastises the notion of an idée fixe, the death by thinking of many intellectuals, particularly those who have had many years of experience in one field. He encourages the need for open-mindedness in any aspect of life and for a person to keenly discern a matter before dismissing it or making unsubstantiated claims.
In this report, the analysis of one particular work stands out. One of the publications written by the Professor is Narrative: A Critical Linguistic Introduction in 2012. The reason why this was one of his significant achievements is the critical analysis it makes in its theme subject. It is a step by step know-how on what a narrative is and the terrain a linguistic approach takes with it. From its start, it poses rhetorical questions to the reader, particularly one interested in the English language (Toolan, 2012). His first subsection is teller, tale, and addressee, a bridge between the gap by the producer, their storyline, and the intended audience. Sometimes, the focus is more on the tale, and less on the person giving it, and a person could personalize or distance them. Being absorbed in the unfolding of a narrative could separate the addressee from the author. Take, for example carrying out a conversation by a friend who forgets social cues as they are held captive by what they are saying. To effectively put a point across, there is a link to be made between the characters involved joining them to the audio or literary version disposable (Toolan, 2012). A self-generated absorption is all too common even in daily life in case one chooses a layman example. In the book, an example is made of a Millais painting, The boyhood of Raleigh. In the picture, an older adult is telling a story to two boys who seem enraptured more by him than the scenery he is trying to show them. It is a classic method of the subjectivity of the older adult, rather than objectivity of the sea, the nature under study.
One of the distinctions Professor Toolan places in his work is the emphasis language plays tell about a person. In his book, he uses examples from media forms that many of his readers can relate within artistic forms like canvas paintings or literature in magazines or newspapers. Using simple language to communicate the concepts in question endears this book as the primary focus of the research essay. Questioning the misrepresentation of facts is a matter of gaining traction in and out of the editorial sections. Misleading the narrative is quite different from the expression of personal opinion, as a person’s view may alter depending on how the situation at hand is viewed. Needing a definite path of the approach taken by any form of communication tool is essential. Personally, meeting a person who can patiently go through a senseless piece is rare. In this regard, Professor Toolan is the exception in the work as he frequently draws us to the foundation of linguistics in construction.
Professor Toolan shows profound experience in how he projects his points. Frequently giving interjections, he avoids the state of idée fixe many writers show. Giving thorough examples to put across his ideas makes him a remarkable author, proficient in his department. Communication is critical, especially if a timeless piece is on review, and he achieves this aspect successfully. Carefully rephrasing the words of Tzvetan Todorov quoted in his chapter, the summation of facts given in succession does not define a narrative (Toolan, 2012). What matters is the alignment the words have to each other, and the connectedness one can perceive. In summary, Professor Toolan proves his marksmanship on all the articles with his influence on them.
References
Toolan, M. (2016). “Musical narrativity.” Narrative Sequence in Contemporary Narratology:130-150.
Toolan, M. (2015). Evans, Vyvyan. 2014. The Language Myth: Why language is not an instinct. Language and Dialogue, 5(3), 471-484.
Toolan, M. (2012). Narrative: A critical linguistic introduction. Routledge.