OXFORD TUTORIALS  
J.R.R. TOLKIEN ATRIUM 
                              
 

A Famous Friendship: The Fellowship of the King
The Origins of Middle-earth: Inklings of the Truth
How to Read Tolkien: Enjoyment, Escape or Edification?
Favorite Passage Assignment Questionnaire

Tolkien & Lewis: Oxford Inklings

Course Description

An English literature class which will investigate the friendship of two famous writers and their writing fellowship, the Inklings, and will examine some of their best works of fiction.  The focus will be on Tolkien for the 1^st semester: The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and Return of the King.  The focus will shift to Lewis for the 2^nd semester: Till We Have Faces and The Space Trilogy: Out of the Silent Planet; That Hideous Strength; and Perelandra.  Reading assignments will emphasize enjoyment and comprehension Writing assignments will include one formal essay on the moral development of a favorite character.  Class sessions will include some lecture, discussion, quizzes, and reading favorite passages out loud.  The class will also include a vocabulary component as an aid for SAT prep, with weekly vocabulary quizzes on the reading covered that week.  Average preparation time is estimated at about four hours/week.

Course Schedule

     Click here for the Master Calendar (with Holidays, etc.)
         
FIRST SEM.
Week 1.  INTRODUCTION     
          2.    The Hobbit, Chaps. 1-6   
          3.   The Hobbit, Chaps. 7-10   
          4.    The Hobbit, Chaps. 11-19    
          5.    Fellowship, Bk. I, Chaps.1-6
          6.    Fellowship, Bk. I, Chaps. 7-12
          7.    Fellowship, Bk. II, Chaps. 1-5
          8.    Fellowship, Bk. II, Chaps. 6-10
          9.    2 Towers, Bk. III, Chaps. 1-5
        10.   2 Towers, Bk. III, Chaps. 6-11
        11.   2 Towers, Bk. IV, Chaps. 1-5               
       12.    2 Towers, Bk. IV, Chaps. 6-10
       13.    Return, Bk. V, Chaps. 1-4
       14.    Return, Bk. V, Chaps. 5-10
       15.   Return, Bk. VI, Chaps.1-4
       16.   Return, Bk. VI, Chaps. 5-9

SECOND SEM.
         1.   Out of the Silent Planet (Chap. 1-9)
         2.   Out of the Silent Planet (Chap. 10-16)
         3.   Out of the Silent Planet (Chap. 17-22)
         4.   Perelandra (Chap. 1-5)  
              MID-WINTER BREAK--NO CLASSES
         5.   Perelandra (Chap. 6-11) 
         6.   Perelandra (Chap. 12-17) 
         7.   That Hideous Strength (Chap. 1-4) 
         8.   That Hideous Strength (Chap. 5-8) 
         9.   That Hideous Strength (Chap. 9-12) 
       10.   That Hideous Strength (Chap. 13-17) 
              HOLY WEEK/EASTER BREAK--NO CLASSES
       11.   Till We Have Faces, Pt. I (Chap. 1-6)
       12    Till We Have Faces, Pt. I (Chap. 7-11)
       13.   Till We Have Faces, Pt. I (Chap. 12-16)
       14.   Till We Have Faces, Pt. I (Chap.17-21)
       15.   Till We Have Faces, Pt. II (Chap. 1-4)

                                    Required Textbooks

First semester:  J.R.R. Tolkien: The Hobbit; and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King. 

Second semester:  C.S. Lewis: Till We Have Faces and The Space Trilogy: Out of the Silent Planet; That Hideous Strength; Perelandra.  (These books may be examined and/or purchased  online for a discount of 20-30%.  Simply click on the blue title above for a direct link to Amazon.com.) 

                                                     Course Requirements

Students are responsible to keep up with the weekly reading assignments and to take a reading comprehension and vocabulary quiz at the beginning of each class.  In addition to the weekly reading assignments and quizzes there will be two other assignments each semester, as follows:

1^st Assignment:  Write a book review on the Hobbit  (250-400 words; one or two type-written pages).  See the note “Guidelines for Writing a Book Review on Fiction” (below).

2^nd Assignment:  Select a favorite passage: either in The Fellowship of the Ring or in The Two Towers.  Then fill out the ‘Favorite Passage’ form provided (click here: Favorite Passage Assignment) and explain why the passage is important to you.  Mention at least two different reasons.  (Short Answer: one paragraph.)
 
3^rd Assignment:  Write an expository essay on The Return of the King (250-400 words; one or two type-written pages) on the topic of your favorite character.  Your goal is explain to someone who is unfamiliar with the story who this character is, how he/she fits into the story, and why he/she is your favorite character.  Mention at least one moral challenge or struggle which they go through.  See the note: “Guidelines for Writing an Expository Essay” (below). 

4^th Assignment:  Select a favorite passage in Till We Have Faces.  Then fill out the ‘Favorite Passage’ form (below) and explain why the passage is important to you.   Mention at least two different reasons.   (Short Answer: one paragraph.)
 
Grading Criteria: Reading Quizzes- 25%; Vocabulary Quizzes- 25%; Written Assignments- 50%:

                                            Guidelines for Writing a Book Review:

A book report is completely factual. It includes information on the author, title, place and year of publication as well as a summary of the content of the book. A book review, on the other hand, is much more personal. It is really an expression of the reader's opinion of the work, or of specific aspects of the work.   Here are some guidelines.  You have read your book. Your next step will be to organize what you are going to say about it in your report. Writing the main points in an outline will help you to organize your thoughts.  What will you include in the outline?  Start with a description of the book. The description should include such elements as:

1. The setting--where does the story take place? Is it a real place or an imaginary one? If the author does not tell you exactly where the story is set, what can you tell about it from the way it is described?

2. The time period--is the story set in the present day or in an earlier time period? Perhaps it is even set in the future! Let your reader know.

3. The main character(s)--who is the story mostly about? Give a brief description. Often, one character can be singled out as the main character, but some books will have more than one.  When there are several main characters, you are free to focus on one which is of particular interest to you. 

4. The plot--what happens to the main character? WARNING: Be careful here. Do not fall into the boring trap of reporting every single thing that happens in the story. Pick only the most important events. Here are some hints on how to do that. First, explain the situation of the main character as the story opens. Next, identify the basic plot element of the story--is the main character trying to achieve something or overcome a particular problem? Thirdly, describe a few of the more important things that happen to the main character as he/she works toward that goal or solution. Finally, you might hint at the story's conclusion without completely giving away the ending.