Cherry Picking Tolkien (And Waking the Sandman)

[BentonGrey]

Howdy guys, I'm teaching a very cool honors seminar this semester, "Vice and Virtue in Fantasy," with a philosophy professor friend of mine.  In service thereof, we are covering The Hobbit, as well as many other texts.  I've allotted three weeks for Tolkien, and I was planning on bringing in something else for the third.  I am looking through The Silmarillion, trying to decide which chapter(s) would provide an interesting coda for The Hobbit, given the lens of a study of vice and virtue.  So far, I've considered the Fall of Gondolin, seeing as that is mentioned in the text, but I was wondering if y'all might have any suggestions.

[Randomdays]

It's been a long time since I've actually read Tolkien, but a few suggestions, both from Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales;

Gandalf first meeting Hobbits and leaning to smoke

The creation of the Silmarils and/ or creation of the Phial of Galadrial

Origin of the Wizards

Beren and Luthien, since it bears on Elrond's origin

Coming of Unguliant (Sp?) and then Shelob

The origin of the Dwarves.

The forging of the rings and the way Sauron fooled everyone.

[doctorchallenger]

Benton,

Are you familiar with this series:

https://www.recordedbooks.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=scholar.show_course&course_id=75

I thought it was very good. It might help you get some ideas if you can get a old of it. I found it in my local library.

[BentonGrey]

Thanks guys!  Gosh, this was a REALLY hard choice, since I only had one class period to dedicate to whatever I chose.  Tolkien is too freaking awesome to be done in pieces.  One of these days I'm going to teach an entire course covering the whole oeuvre. 

Anyway, I finally settled on the Third Age chapter.  That will provide the most background, and while not as exciting as Beren and Luthien, nor as mind-blowing as the creation myth and the racial origins, it should be accessible for those in the class who haven't read other works by Tolkien.  Plus, it works well for the topic, vice and virtue, since it explores the origins of evil in the Third Age, giving me lots of mileage in regards to Gollum and the Rings.

[laughing paradox]

What other Fantasy novels are you exploring in your class?

I'd give input on Tolkien but I'm not really up on his books. I've only read the Hobbit and the LotR trilogy.

[BentonGrey]

We're also doing:

• The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
• The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair
• The Dresden Files: Grave Peril
• Sandman: Vol. 1

It's an honors course, so we get lots of flexibility.  Students are writing one page responses to the readings each week, either to discussion questions we posit or their own ideas.  For their final projects, they can do any of the following:
1)   Short story (with coda): Students may compose an original short story, which must be accompanied by a one-page analysis of what it illustrates in relation to the substance of the course.
2)   Short film (with written coda) (limited numbers – 6 per group may receive grade): Students may form groups to create a video, either dramatic or didactic.  This must also be accompanied by a one-page anaylsis.
3)   Paper (1500 words): Students may write an essay in which they ruminate on vice and virtue in the context of a chosen text.  Text must be approved!
4)   Graphic Novel (with coda; just make it awesome)(3 per group):  Students may write and illustrate a short story in the form of a graphic novel, provided it is accompanied by a one-page analysis.

[Reepicheep]

Voyage of the Dawn Treader is a terrible book with no relatable characters.

[BentonGrey]

Ha!   For just a moment Reep, you had me.  I thought to myself, 'he can't be serious!'  Haha!

[BentonGrey]

So folks, I need the community's wisdom.  I'm prepping for the next section of this class, which is on Gaiman's Sandman.  Unfortunately, I messed up ordering the books, and instead of getting the volume I remembered, I got the first one, thinking it was the same.  Come next week, I've got to teach on Preludes and Nocturnes for "Vice and Virtue in Fantasy."  My question to y'all is, how should I approach this text?  It's following Tolkien and Lewis, so some of my efforts will be dedicated to showing the evolution of the genre, with Gaiman really doing something new with fantasy, but I was wondering what areas/ideas y'all might focus on if you were in my shoes.  Obviously, vice and virtue are our central themes, but I've also been doing a lot with archetypes and myth, and there is some fertile ground in this volume.

The text is also a lot more graphic than I remembered (probably because I read a later one rather than this one), so I'm considering cutting coverage from two weeks to one and only doing the first half.  Any ideas, general comments, or thoughts?