Warm up:
Fragment Practice
Movie
FYI: Essay due Wednesday, August 30.
Here are four of the seven prompts:
Music: Discuss the role that music plays in the development of musical beings. Compare the
songs sung by the dwarves (pp. 14-15), the elves (pp. 48-49), and goblins (pp. 60-61). How do
the songs differ in tone, content and structure? What do the tone, content and structure of the
songs reveal about the creatures who sing them?
Technology: What is Tolkien suggesting by linking his fantasy world to the reader’s modern
world? What commentary is he making about the use of technology? Consider the following
quote: “It is not unlikely that they [goblins] invented some of the machines that have since
troubled the world, especially the ingenious devices for killing large numbers of people at once”
(62).
Fancy Weapons: Why is it significant for Tolkien to have given the elves named swords? What
message do you think is conveyed by the names given to the swords and the hands they fall
into?
Adventure Sensitive: What do you think Tolkien is trying to say about the purpose of trials and
tribulations in a person’s life? Consider that from the very beginning, Bilbo has assumed that
the climax of the adventure would be the recovery of the treasure. Then he realizes that Smaug
must also be dealt with. Now he finds that even Smaug’s death does not end the adventure.
Bilbo never would have agreed to the adventure, knowing what it lead him to. What is Tolkien
saying about adventure and trials?
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