Posted on 09/07/2002 12:54:11 PM PDT by Overtaxed
Title: The Lord of the Rings Course Type: Online Instructor-led Course Estimated Completion Time: 24 hour(s) Session Length: 4 week(s)
Take this course for FREE
Upcoming Sessions September 11, 2002 - OPEN
Prerequisites Have read or have a desire to read The Hobbit and the trilogy, The Lord of the Rings
Description This course provides an overview of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien. We'll look first at Tolkien's biography, his writing life, the origins of the stories, and their publication history. We'll continue with lessons on each book, concentrating on Tolkien's construction of a mythological world and its peoples and languages, his characters and their development, and his thematic concerns. Finally, we'll look at Tolkien's lasting influence on 20th-century fantasy literature, as well as on cultural movements such as neo-paganism and environmentalism.
Objectives Read J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy and follow the adventures of Bilbo, Frodo, and their friends in a war against evil See how Tolkien's background as a professor of languages at Oxford influenced his construction of a complete mythology of Middle Earth Explore Tolkien's influence, not only on 20th-century fantasy literature, but also on the development of neo-pagan religions and environmental activism.
Course Materials The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings Boxed Set
Course Creator(s) Leslie Ellen Jones Leslie Ellen Jones earned a Ph.D. in Folklore and Mythology Studies at UCLA, and has taught at UCLA and Harvard. She is the author of Druid Shaman Priest: Metaphors of Celtic Paganism, and currently works in academic publishing.
Most of the business comes with rehearsals for the Christmas show. Cast lists will be posted this Wednesday and we'll start rehearsals right after that.
Re this and your other post soliciting input on the Green Dragon thread, I'm in, no matter the format, even if I don't post much. No preference on dates ... the only suggestion I have touches on what you wrote, above. If a format works to constrict conversation, I see no problem with broadening the subject matter, to go backwards, forwards, or stay on target. If folks hate spoilers, then posting Spoiler Alerts would be important, but I can tell you that not being able to range throughout the books has been difficult for me.
Hair, you've done a great job and I wouldn't want to try to substitute for you!
GretchenEE
Thanks for the run-through from The Class. Now that my big weekend event is past, I can get back to life on the Internet a bit more.
I would echo Scott's comments at #58 about not being able to check in sometimes for long periods of time, but that's OK as far as I'm concerned. With all of the news, etc. there are lots of distractions. But when the movie comes out, watch out! Then this thread will be the hopping one...
I actually find the LOTR threads to be a wonderful respite from all the sound and fury elsewhere on FR. A place to take off the armor, put down the weapons, and have nice uplifting discussions about the wonderful world of Middle Earth.... Thanks to you for all you do to make this possible.....
In short, lots of ideal speculation about stuff that is not mentioned.
Whew, enough!
Lin
Maybe I should just read the assignments and leave the discussion to the weirdos.
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