Tolkien in the Classroom

Hi everyone,

I was wondering, is Tolkien ever taught in the classroom? If not now was it ever (that is a question for older members) and usually if it is what grade level? I am asking because Tolkien's works are such a classic and if it wasn't for an online friend I never would have been exposed to them. I never heard about Tolkien in school and I am sure that the majority of my class (a 12th grade AP English class) if not all has never heard of Tolkien and I just think it is really ashame that such a wonderful author is going unnoticed. I also noticed that there is a generation gap, I can ask my friend if she has heard of tolkien and she will say no, but if I ask my aunt she will say how much she loved those books. What do you all think about this? Also I am hoping the movie will start a whole new generation of Tolkien readers, I am definetly planning on exposing my 6 year old brother to Tolkien (I am thinking of starting with the Hobbit, I haven't read that yet still on LOTR but it seems that many here started that book at a young age.)


Luv Always,
Gat

I heard that The Hobbit used to be in the Seventh Grade Honors curriculum at my school, but that it was pulled because it was "too difficult to read." I find this highly pathetic, especially considering I read Hobbit at age 7 or so. When I was in fifth grade I tried to get my friends to read Hobbit and LotR. Very few of them got through the books. Greg got through only half of The Hobbit and Jae got to page 17 In hindsight, it might have been better to expose them to the books at an older age, but I don't know why they couldn't get through them at that age. Now, at the end of eighth grade, Jae claims he wants to read Hobbit and LotR this summer! But as far as I know, the books aren't in the curriculum. If the movie does well and can appeal to the general audience, I'm sure it will give LotR's popularity a boost.

Anyone in high school who hasn't heard of Tolkien is someone to frown upon.

Hell, anyone who hasn't heard of Tolkien period is someone to frown upon.

Bmilder Thanks for your reply . I am not sure what level LOTR or the Hobbit are at, though I don't think they are children books and you were probably just reading above your reading level at the time. . Still I think that schools should teach the Hobbit or maybe Silmarillion to students, I wouldn't suggest teaching LOTR only because its hard to teach a trilogy in school. However, by exposing students to Tolkien's other works, the schools would be exposing students to Tolkien and perhaps they would start reading LOTR on their own. Regardless I am glad my friend made me aware of these books, I love to read and LOTR is a excellent read.


IronParrot I don't think you can really blame the students for not knowing who Tolkien is, you have to blame the educational system these days. It is the educational system's job to expose the students to the different pieces of literature. Throughout my years at Highschool I really think I read alot of junk. I definetly could have been reading books by Tolkien instead of some of the stuff that I read. Now that is not to say I read no good books in school, I have, I just think if we had taken out some of the nonsense books and also spent less time on a particular book and went on to a new ones quicker, more classics such as Tolkien could have been exposed to the students. Well thank goodness I don't just depend on school and I read on my own, sadly many students don't.


Luv Always,
Gat

I agree with what you say, gatito. I was, quite fortunately, privileged enough to be pulled out of the corrupt regular curriculum and placed into a special programme in fourth grade, led by a teacher who was extremely well-read and recommended good literature above curriculum literature. It was her who introduced me to Cooper's The Dark Is Rising, Adams' The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Horwood's Duncton Wood and of course, The Hobbit (which later led me to read LOTR, which many of my fellow students in the said special programme had gone ahead to before me). She also taught me that trying to read War and Peace at age nine, when I couldn't be expected to understand it one bit (and I didn't), wasn't going to impress anybody.

This year in school is my first year without placement in a separate extended-curricula programme at school (it was only offered up to ninth grade) - and being immersed into the regular environment again has been a very horrifying experience: horrifying in the sense that I am shocked at how low the reading level of the common student my age is. It has to do with how they are taught at school. But even before that - it has to do with how they are raised by their parents before they ever even go to school.

I entered the gifted programme because I was in the upper percentile of intelligence - particularly in terms of reading level. And I must say, I would not have been able to attain that level if my parents had not taught me from birth to love literature. Other kids? They didn't care about reading; always wanted to play hockey in the street instead. Look what's become of them.

I'd almost go as far as to reinforce the general statement that "intelligence" is almost best defined by one's reading level...

Hey, my last post (above) was #1000 in LOTR books! Yay, the Big Metal Bird hits a milestone again!

Okay, back on topic

Why is it that ppl assume that if you didn't finish a book it is because it is beyond their reading level? Maybe they just didn't like the material......My mother never finished The Hobbit, but it wasn't because she didn't understand it. Because of that, she never attempted LOTR. Some ppl just don't go in for fantasy.

Speaking of fantasy, the simple fact that LOTR is fantasy may be why it is has never been taught in school that much. Fantasy is an underrated genre of literature and I wouldn't be surprised if school administrators believe it to be frivolous.

In Sweden Tolkien is not taught by teachers in grade school. The reason is quite simple, the focus lies on Swedish literature. Though there were at least some students who wanted to study Tolkien. ( LOTR was quite popular in my class ).

In high school I had to hold a short lecture the first year and I chosed to talk about Tolkien. Another one did the same thing two years later. That´s the occasions Tolkien was discussed in my class. So it looks like the situation in Sweden is similar to the U.S. I think the problem is that a lot of books are considered classics and therefore they are taught because it´s tradition. It´s sad because it becomes so uninspired and students are not encouraged to search for new books to read.

Last, I agree with IP´s point about reading. It´s a good way to learn how to think and reflect on what one learns. It is also the cheapest way to travel, IMO .

Agreed, the reading level for most students is pathetically low. I'm in an honors english class, but even there, many people don't even read the books that are assigned and cheat on the quizzes. It's sad, but it just means I do a lot better than them on stuff like the S.A.T. I'm in eighth grade and I got a 700 on the verbal part of the S.A.T.

Fantasy and science fiction are not generally taught.

Why?

Well, maybe it's because those genres have a reputation of being escapist works without a whole lot of meaning and substance, as opposed to say, To Kill A Mockingbird. And the thing is, for the most part that's true. But then you have authors like Tolkien... and because of the genre of his writing, the curriculum skips over him entirely.

And about the S.A.T. - I haven't taken it yet, although I've taken some trial runs and I'm scoring around a 1400/1600 all the time. I'm not taking it until I've buffed up my vocab... I thought I had a good vocab until I saw the words list... I only know about two thirds of it!

Iron Parrot I think you were very lucky you were exposed to literature as a child, I plan to expose my brother and sister. Of course I don't think there is anything wrong with hockey (though I am not into sports ) I just think there needs to be time for both things. I have also found that when I am taught a book in school instead of going over the themes/characterization, importance of the settings, we are given tests that ask about little unimportant details. Maybe in that sense it is better Tolkien wasn't taught in school, I can just imagine how it would have been taught. And as for War and Peace that is definetly on my I want to read that lists.


Anduin At a certain point there isn't really a reading level, I pretty much think that by the time I entered HS I could read almost anything and if I stop reading a book it is because the book doesn't hold my interest. However for younger children I can see why, for most, Tolkien's works might be a little difficult, I am wondering if it was to be taught in school what would be a good age for it. And I agree with you about fantasy and sci-Fi books I can't recall reaing any in class, but then again the same goes for Best seller books. I think Tolkien should be an exception because it is considered a classic.


Bmilder Hello again. Like I said above I am pretty sure I could read almost anything now (though there might be some things I still find a little difficult) and yes sadly many HS students aren't reading, I am not sure if it is because they can't or more because they don't care. I know that cliff notes are very popular. I admit I have used the Cliff notes for books, though I always read the book, and use the cliff notes more as a study guide. Many students use cliff notes in replace of the book, and this might happen with Tolkien's work.


emilsson I am curious what exactly were your papers on. I am hoping when I start college this September I will have the opportunity to discuss many of the authors/books I enjoy, that includes Tolkien.


oh and Iron Parrot To Kill a MockingBird is a great book.

Luv Always,
gatito

The classics are what the kids despise most. I'll admit, I found getting through Great Expectations fairly difficult, although I did in fact read it, unlike most of the rest of the class. I tend to find the "classics" dull, although sci-fi and fantasy classics are from boring

I studied Tolkien´s life and what had inspired him while writing LOTR. I recall mentioning his interest in languages, his time in WWI and so on. The same goes for that other lecture. We were supposed to tell a little bit about the authors´lives, show what works had inspired them and how author related to his time.

Ben, if you didn't have to read Great Expectations for class would you have finished it? Remember, you don't like Dickens......

I would never have picked it up!

Ben, you don't like Dickens? We shall never talk to each other again

Boy, this thread would have been started by me today if it wasn't already here!!! I've been running into the utter (dare I say it) stoopidity of my classmates a lot lately. They don't read!!! None of them have heard of Tolkien!!! Of course they play video games inspired by his works, but read a book? Never!!! I'm disgusted.

Yeah, no kidding.

And regarding Dickens... I happened to really like Oliver Twist...

Tale of Two Cities (If you can get through the first part :lol: ) by Charles Dickins is a wonderful book and I reccomend it.

Darth Tater I was so happy I asked a good friend of mine if she heard of Tolkien and she did, now I just have to get her to read LOTR, right after she finishes my GWTW book. .


Emilsson Well since I just started LOTR I don't know much about Tolkien's life, I will have to look into it.


Luv Always,
Gat

I last tried Tale of Two Cities before I was ready for it - back when I was nine.

I couldn't make it through the first part. Funny, seeing how I could make it through Dafoe's Robinson Crusoe with ease back then, and the two are similar in length and difficulty...