Paper #2: The Realms of Fantasy: due March 31st!

English 4653: The Worlds of Tolkien

Paper #2: The Realms of Fantasy

“Fantasy is a natural human activity. It certainly does not destroy or even insult Reason…On the contrary. The keener and the clearer is the reason, the better fantasy it will make” (Tolkien, “On Fairy Stories”).

INTRO: So far in class, we’ve read three important works of fantasy literature: The Hobbit, Beowulf, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (though many of the Anglo-Saxon works also have elements of fantasy). Each one examines characters, ideas, and problems in our own world through the lens of fantasy, and helps us more keenly understand why humans fail both themselves and the people around them…and why some people, often the ones most overlooked, are still capable of heroic deeds and accomplishments. You could argue that the better the idea, the easier it translates into the realm of fantasy, and the more we can believe in its ‘fantastic’ existence.

PROMPT: For this paper, I want you to read a modern work of ‘fantasy’ through the lens of Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. In other words, I want you to consider why this movie, book, show, etc. uses fantasy to discuss ideas, characters, and problems that make more sense through the lens of the fantastic. Use Beowulf/Gawain to consider how fantasy works: the language, allegory, metaphors, heroes, quests, monsters, tests, etc. Your work doesn’t have to mirror either poem we read in class, but it should use some of the same ideas and constructions in telling its story. The trick is to examine a story you might have seen as merely entertaining as a complex work of literature that abstracts reality through the lens of fantasy.

NOTE: Be sure to give context for your modern work: make sure we understand the basics of the story, the characters, etc., and be sure to QUOTE from it in some meaningful way so we can compare it to Beowulf and/or Sir Gawain. You DO NOT have to use both poems in your discussion, but you MUST use one, and use that poem as a theory, meaning you use ideas and passages from the poem to highlight ideas and passages in the modern work.

REQUIREMENTS:

• No page limit—up to you
• Choose a modern work to examine, at least from the past 20-30 years, if possible. Any movie, book, show, etc., will do
• Be sure to QUOTE and avoid too much summary and generalizations
• Give CONTEXT for both works, so we know what the story is about and what passages/ideas you’re using
• DUE THURSDAY, MARCH 31^st [no class that day: go to the Scissortail Creative Writing Festival instead!]

NOTE: You can interpret "fantasy" quite liberally, and in many cases, science fiction movies work just as well, since fantasy and science fiction are two sides of the same coin. Star Wars, for example, is really "space fantasy," since it's really a story about magic and adventure, just in a futuristic setting. So shows like "The Mandalorian" would work perfectly. Also superhero movies like Batman, Spiderman, The Avengers, The Eternals, etc. are fantasy in the same sense as these poems. And the list goes on...