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jumpinjohnson
04-23-2003, 12:51 PM
Tolkien Book Connection Thesis!!!
Hey everyone! I need to write this thesis research paper for a class and need help! We read 6 books throughout the year and now we have to find a connection between them and center the paper around it. I chose to read all tolkien books, the ones i read were:
- The LOTR Trilogy
- The Hobbit
- The Silmarillion
- Roverandom

Does anyone know any good connections (smiliarities in occurences, etc.) between them that would help me, other than the obivous that Tolkien has written them all? I would really appreciate any help!! Thanks!

--jumpinjohnson--
:confused:

congressmn
04-23-2003, 12:58 PM
don't you think this is cheating?

IronParrot
04-23-2003, 04:26 PM
Well I wouldn't call it cheating, except for the fact that LOTR is one book, not a "trilogy". I do find, however, that comparison papers work best when the works being studied are completely different, because you have to analyse a little deeper and look for things that aren't so obvious. But I guess it's a bit late for that now.

What does the assignment mean by "connection"? Just in terms of comparison? If it's not just limited to that, I think you could put together a good paper about how Tolkien blended some very different linguistic registers and narrative modes together... The Hobbit is very earthly, distinctly countryside English in nature and even includes references to golf. The Silmarillion, on the other hand, is written in what one might call "high English" and looks at things on an otherworldly, mythical scope. The Lord of the Rings bridges the two. Roverandom is the odd one out, not being in Middle-Earth, but its incorporation of myth into a "children's" book is something you could recognize, similar to The Hobbit as mentioned above.

But this is just one idea for a connection: you'd still need to build a thesis around it.

jumpinjohnson
04-24-2003, 12:45 PM
Thankyou iron parrot, my teacher is having us write this paper with connection meaning comparison. We just need to find different things that are used in all of the books. For example, if i was doing another author, by say joe bimbo, and have read all of his books, i could say that all books written by joe bimbo contain a strong character in education. that's only one example, you could say all the mystery books you read all have false climaxes, etc. Then you would have to bring in examples from the books to prove your thesis. But i only need some ideas to get me started on a strong point for Tolkien. Thanks for all your help!!

-jumpinjohnson

BerislavLopac
04-25-2003, 02:47 AM
Here are some ideas you might start with:


Christianity. Tolkien was a practicing Catholic, and his works hide many Catholic tenets beneath the surface.
Naturalism. Tolkien was in love with nature, and hated the industrialization which was at its height when he was young. Many of his evil characters use "industry" to achieve their goals, which ends in pollution of the environment.


Berislav

Wayfarer
04-25-2003, 03:28 AM
Um... The Hobbit, the LOTR, and the Sil are in the smae world.