Tolkien: Making Middle-Earth (elective)

Tolkien: Making Middle-Earth (elective)

$725.00

Class Description:  Who was the mind behind all the beloved heroes and abhorred villains of Middle-earth? What other tales did J.R.R. Tolkien craft to bring us to the events of the Third Age, which are marvelously told in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings? This course is designed to provide the student with an understanding of and appreciation for Tolkien’s life and his development of Middle-earth. It will help students analyze a text and develop lateral thinking between works through the intricate network of stories Tolkien wove for his world-building of Middle-earth.

Course Objectives:  At the end of this course, the student will be able to...

  1. Identify key moments in Tolkien’s life

  2. Trace the “chronology” of the stories within and related to The Silmarillion

  3. Articulate theological concepts present within Tolkien’s works

  4. Deliver a presentation on one of the lesser-known works read during the course

  5. Write an Encomium on one of the characters from the First Age

  6. Develop a persuasive paper about Tolkien’s life & work, integrating multiple texts

         

        Credits: 1 (Elective), Non-honors

        Pre-requisites: This course is for high school students only.

        Mtg. Days:  2 days each week

        Required Materials:  

        • Any modern English translation (not a paraphrase) of the Bible.
        • Fonstad, Karen Wynn. Atlas of Middle-Earth. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1991. ISBN: 0618126996
        • Horne, Mark. J. R. R. Tolkien: The Mind Behind the Rings. Thomas Nelson, 2022. ISBN: 9780785296461
        • Loconte, Joseph. A Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and a Great War: How J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis Rediscovered Faith, Friendship, and Heroism in the Cataclysm of 1914-1918. Thomas Nelson, 2017. ISBN: 9780718091453
        • Tolkien, J.R.R. Beren and Luthien. Mariner Books, 2018. ISBN: 9781328915337
        • —. The Fall of Gondolin. William Morrow, 2018. ISBN: 9780358131458
        • —. The Fall of Numenor: And Other Tales from the Second Age of Middle-earth. William Morrow, 2022. ISBN: 9780063280687
        • —. The Silmarillion. William Morrow, 2001. ISBN: 9780544338012
        • —. Tales from the Perilous Realm. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2008. ISBN: 9780358652960
        • PDF documents provided by the instructor.

        This  COURSE AVAILABILITY SPREADSHEET 2026-2027 shows who teaches this course and at what time. It also shows all available seats (it is updated daily).