Date 

Due Today 

Goal For Today 

reading: return of the king

 - all

Study guide: return of the king

bk 6 

English Lab - MLA citations and your project

- a note: each group will have an account for MY website.

Follow my instructions (in class) carefully for submitting

your powerpoint onto my site. 

MLA citations and your project

Sign up: final project presentations

Essay prompt: In what way is Frodo the hero

of Lord of the Rings, based on Tolkien's message?

  - as you consider this question, remember: his role

in "the scouring of the shire" is especially telling.  Tolkien

sees his acts as the MOST heroic of all! 

OR:

who is the hero, based on the events of the scouring of the 

shire?  Merry, Pippen, Frodo, or Sam?

This essay will be due at 1.40 on Wednesday.  You will 

have time to write this tomorrow if you choose to use it.

 - a note: this WILL be a standard 5-paragraph essay.  This

means I want a thesis, I want cited pages and specific

details supporting your reasons, and I want a conclusion.

you are WELCOME to work together in preparing for this

essay, but you will each be writing your own. 

Viewing

work time: essay

 - this essay is due tomorrow 

Lab time (as needed) - project completion

Test: Book 6 

presentation 1 - humans

Viewing

presentations 2-3

Viewing  - orcs, humans

Presentations 4-5

Viewing - hobbits, dwarves

writing prompt: what role did you play in your final

project? 

Date 

Due Today 

Goal For Today 

Discussion: book 5 (return of the king)

Hw: ch 1-2 (tower of cirith ungol/land of shadow) 

Viewing

Engl Lab: final project 

Hw: ch. 3 (Mount Doom)

Viewing

Engl Lab: final project 

HW: ch. 4-5 (Fields of Cormallen/Steward and the King)

Viewing

Engl Lab: final project 

HW: ch. 6 (Many Partings)

Viewing 

When you return you will have FINISHED the novel.  This means that

your homework will be chapters 7-9 - "Homeward Bound", "The 

Scouring of the Shire", and "The Gray Havens"

Note: You will be presenting your projects when you come back, on

Tuesday-Friday

Date 

Due Today 

Goal For Today 

discussion: intro of return of the king

engl lab - sff final 

- your top priority: initial research.  you don't need to worry about

making proper, pretty citations yet.  but get a handle on the information

available - make sure to bookmark any pages you find, and get an idea on

what your fifth presentation topic might be.

HW: ch. 3 the muster of rohan - 791-805

discussion - what is "human"; the viewings so far and what they might mean 

viewing: lord of the rings

HW: ch. 4 the siege of gondor - 806-829

engl lab - sff final 

HW:  (ch 5 - the ride of the rohirrem 830-838)

viewing: lord of the rings 

HW: ch. 6 - battle of pelennor fields - 839-849

 mac lab - sff final

HW: ch. 7-10 - pyre of denethor, the houses of healing, the last debate,

and the black gate opens

  - pps. 850-893 

Date 

Due Today 

Goal For Today 

book 4 discussion

Group Essay: Smeagol

   - is Smeagol damned from the start, or was he pushed

there?  Focus on the three primary characters he interacts with -

Frodo, Samwise, and Faramir - and tell me: was he ever going to

REALLY help them, or was he biding his time?

     - this will, again, be a full 5 part essay, and is due TOMORROW

at 1.40.

HW: chapter 7 (journey to the cross-roads, pps 694-702) 

cross-roads reading

 - 694-702 

in-class read: the stairs of cirith ungol (ch. 8, pps. 703-716)

HW: chapter 9 - shelob's lair - pps. 717-727

shelob's lair

 - 717-727 

Viewing: Two Towers

HW: the choices of master samwise (ch. 10; pps. 728-742) 

ch. 10 - 728-742 

Book 4 study guide

QUIZ - the two towers 

Handout - Return of the king (book 5) study guide

Alternative life forms viewing

HW: Minas Tirith/Passing of the Grey

Company (ch. 1-2, bk. 5; pps. 747-790)

  - a note - minas tirith is a chunkier read.  as a result, we're putting

that off, and chapters 1-2 are your homework for MONDAY 

Finish Alt. Life Forms viewing

Mac Lab - Final Project 

Date 

Due Today 

Goal For Today 

reading: book 3 through

chapter 9 (flotsam and jetsam) 

DISCUSSION: cyborgs and alternative life forms;

the scouring of isengard, the men of rohan.

Begin viewing: The Two Towers

HW: chapters 10-11 (book 3) pps. 576-600

   - tomorrow will be a quiz on book 3. 

ch. 10-11 (bk 3) 

bk. 3 study guide

Quiz - book 3

Discussion: the palantir

Begin reading, book 4 (the taming of smeagol) 

 - hand out study guide: book 4

HW: chapter 2 (the passage of the marshes - pps.

620-635)

HW: chapters 3-6 (pps 636-694)

 - Monday will revolve around the character of Faramir,

the characterization of Smeagol, as well as the introduction

to alternate realities 

Date 

Due Today 

Goal For Today 

Reading: Two towers (Bk 3)

chapters 1-2 

Ring Essays

Finish Fellowship

Viewing: Cyborgs (part 2)

Discussion: the role of BAD robots so far

                 : the death of Boromir and the

introduction to Rohan

HW: ch 3  

In Class Read: Treebeard (ch4)

 - a contemplation of how wonderful it is to be

boring.

   - in all seriousness - treebeard is a wonderful character.

while we read, we're going to examine who he is, how tolkien

portrays him, and how treebeard goes from being purely

"boring" to something we actually ENJOY!  We'll be examining

elements of direct/indirect characterization as well as the

(continuing) symbolism of nature. 

HW - I expect you to be on chapter 5 tomorrow!

Discussion: the return of Gandalf (The White Rider)

 - religious imagery/symbolism

Viewing: Cyborgs (part 3)

HW: ch 6 (the king of the golden  hall) 

HW: ch 7-9 (helms deep, the road to isengard, flotsam and

jetsam) 

a note: Monday night's read will be to finish book 3 - this 

will be chapters 10-11, pps. 576-600.  Tuesday will have

a quiz on Book 3.

Date 

Due Today 

Goal For Today 

Reading: Book 2 through

chapter 5

 - you SHOULD be on pg.

332. 

Discussion: Bill the Pony; Gandalf's failing power (?);

the introduction of the full fellowship; the nature of

sacrifice; symbolism within staff-breaking (331); 

changes in atmosphere.

Update on notes: qualities of the races... 

Beginning: the next step in science fiction...

 - we've covered alien races and the ideas of space

combat.  As we continue into our viewings, it's

time to look at the ideas and fears presented

throughout science-fiction.

  - Introduction: androids, robots, and cyborgs. 

HW: Reading: ch. 6 - pps. 333-352

  - tomorrow we will examine the underlying conflict

between dwarves/elves, and what they represent

in real life. 

Continue: Androids, robots, cyborgs 

Discussion: elves and dwarves; the danger of the 

ring; the nature of Boromir...

HW: Reading: ch. 7-8 - pps. 353-379 

Catch-up - the study guides, questions/answers

on plot events.

Continue: Androids, robots, cyborgs 

HW: Reading: ch. 9 - pps. 380-394

Reading: chapter 10 (pps. 395-407)

Viewing: Fellowship of the Ring

  - discussion based upon

the end of the fellowship, rising action and going

deeper into the dark realms, and the introduction

to your "who are you?" essay. 

HW: Chapter 1 (The Two Towers) - pps. 413-420

Work Time: "Who Are You?"

 - Assignment: "Your Ring"

Viewing: Fellowship of the Ring 

HW: chapter 2

   - pps. 421-443

      - a note: chapter 2 is the introduction to Rohan,

a chapter filled with a lot of great information, but

it's also a bit dense, filled with exposition.  Read

carefully! 

LOTR - Reading through

chapter  9

Discussion:  LOTR through chapter 9 (the introduction

of nature, bombadil, leading into Aragorn); discussion on

space combat - thematic interpretations of "star trek"

This discussion will focus on: Humans in Fantasy; the

continuing role of nature; the real power of the ring (novel

vs. film); the naivete of hobbits

  - how does strider ensure success, and what does tolkien

intend him to SYMBOLIZE? 

HW - 163-175 (ch 10) 

SSR - chapters 11-12

 - there will be a discussion/quiz tomorrow on book 1 of

Lord of the Rings, as well as the introduction to our first

essay. 

Quiz - Fellowship Book 1

 - Intro: Ring Essay

 - In class group essay - characters and traits

     - Pippen

     - Merry

     - Frodo

     - Samwise

     - Strider/Aragorn

     - Gandalf

HW - Book 2, chapter1 - 219-238 

HW - ch 2 - 239-271 

ch 3-5 - pgs. 272-332

 - Monday's discussion is going to focus heavily on the loss

of gandalf, hints of corruption, and differences between novel

and film 

Discussion: characterization and Hobbit traits 

   - this will be our first real guided discussion.  Students

are expected to bring a few pieces to the table on this, and you

WILL be graded on it.

HW - chapter 3: "three is company" (pps. 65-85)

HW - chapters 4-5 (pps. 86-108) 

Discussion: The beginnings of a journey, characterizations

of Merry/Pippen - the growing threat

   - comparisons between book/film (begin viewing Fellowship

of the Ring)

Introduction: the origins of science fiction

     - mythology as a starting point, moving towards

technology, aliens, space travel, etc.

HW - chapter 6 (109-122) 

Guided Viewing: Science Fiction's beginnings

Discussion: conspiracies and character motivations

HW - chapters 7 (123-134) 

Discussion: 

   - we'll be discussing our guided viewing as well as the growing

role of nature through lord of the rings, a prelude to the intro

of Tom Bombadil. 

Bombadil and Nature

  - Flaws in storytelling

Viewing: Fellowship of the Ring

HW: chapters 8-10 (135-175)

introductions - class expectations

 - primer - the role of fantasy, origins of science fiction

Begin: The Hobbit (chapter 1) 

 - active note-taking

Discussion: Riddles, songs, and elements of story 

structure

the ties between myth and fiction

Reading: parallel myths, pg. 3-11

The Hero's Journey, the monomyth, and Tolkien

-  The Hobbit, chapter 2

- Lord of the Rings, Prologue 

Tolkien - who was he?  How did he create this story?

How does it fit into these ideas, and where does it deviate?

 - power

 - responsibility

 - corruption

 - the archetypes of the races within the lord of the rings

Reading: Riddles in the Dark - 68-90 

 - What is Gollum? 

HW - chapters 1-2 (LOTR)

 - how to craft a discussion question

syllabus

plagiarism form 

Viewing - The Hobbit

HW - chapters 3-4

 - this is due Monday, along with 2 discussion questions/chapter