Tolkien in school?

[Bill Ferny]

“Being forced to read a book…” I have permanent knots on my forehead from this common complaint. You will thank your teachers for forcing you to read those books once you hit your sophomore year of college. Of course, there are those who never accept being challenged as their cup of tea. More is the pity.

In generall I don´t like it when we are reading a book in class and have to answer many questions of our teacher that only lead us to his opinions about the issues in the book. I often tend to think, when we talk about a book in class that we haven´t read completly, that it will be less fun reading the book after our teacher talked about it with us.

Maybe what your teacher is fishing for is some informed opinions from his class. There were days when I would have danced a jig if just one of my students would have stood up and called me an idiot and then explained why I was an idiot.

Elanor brings up two important points to keep in mind.

First, length does play an important role in placing a work of literature on a required reading list, especially at HS level. Poetry and short stories are the fodder of HS literature classes for exactly this reason. As far as assigning a novel (and I would only assign one novel per HS literature class), I would be more inclined toward Bram Stoker’s Dracula, or something similar, rather than LotR, mainly because the length allows for more detailed in class criticism of the work. I would be hesitant about assigning The Hobbit in opposition to other novels that more clearly portray English culture (such as Jane Austin or Charles Dickens); the study of literature isn’t just about the English language, but is also a study in culture, both by place and time. Below the surface of Tolkien’s imaginary world there is much about English culture, but just the thought of digging that out from under the surface in a HS literature class gives me a headache.

Second, administrative approval is every teacher’s ball and chain. Most of the time for good, and some of the time for bad, the school administration approves each teacher’s syllabus. I find it hard to believe that any HS administrator would approve a class singularly devoted to Tolkien or Middle Earth, and for good reason. Like it or not HS is still intended for learning basic academic skills. On the college or graduate level, however, such a class or seminar course may prove fruitful, and such a thing is not unheard of. Introducing the elven languages in a HS language class would likewise be impossible. My students had a hard enough time learning Latin. I can imagine the increase of woe if I had introduced a completely different language into the mix. Origin of languages or etymology courses are best left at the college and graduate level, anyway (unless you are an exceptional linguist, in which case you have my jealous admiration). It’s best to learn your primary and secondary grammar thoroughly at the HS level.

HS curriculums are already lacking in what I would consider essentials, such as emphasis on secondary language skills (a problem rampant in US schools), an introduction to philosophy, trig and calculus, and cultural anthropology. The introduction of Tolkien to the curriculum would fall way down on my list of priorities.