Abstract for Final Paper Assignment (due next Tuesday, the 19th in-class)

English 4653: Abstract for Final Project (due next Tuesday in-class!)

I ain't tellin' no lie
Mine's a tale that can't be told
My freedom I hold dear
How years ago in days of old
When magic filled the air
'T was in the darkest depths of Mordor
I met a girl so fair
But Gollum, and the evil one
Crept up and slipped away with her
Her, her, yeah
Ain't nothing I can do, no
--Led Zepplin, “Ramble On” (1969)

 For your final project in the Worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien class, I want you to design your own project that develops one of the following themes (below) based on important elements of The Hobbit & The Fellowship of the Ring. In doing so, you may tackle this in a number of ways: as a traditional paper, as a presentation, as a video, or even as a creative piece (a work of art, a story, a poem, etc). Your ABSTRACT should explain which theme you plan to develop, what works you will use, and why your approach will reveal something new or significant about his work. In other words, you can’t just write a poem because you like writing poetry; what can you help us ‘see’ through a poem about Tolkien’s world, etc.?

ALSO: In your abstract, you must incorporate aspects of both Tolkien works we read in class, and at least one outside ‘text’ which could be Beowulf, or another book, or a film, or a work of art, or a piece of music. This outside work should complement what you’re trying to say about Tolkien and your project should have a ‘conversation’ with it in some way. For example, a work of art might incorporate images maps from The Fellowship, or a poem could reference both lines of Tolkien’s work and the lyrics of a song (like Led Zeppelin, above), or a paper could show how Tolkien’s world developed from British Pre-Raphaelite art (The Abduction of Merlin, etc) or how it relates to a film like War Horse, 1917,  etc.

THE THEMES:

• Tolkien and Myth: why the myths and legends matter, why we need to hear about Beren and Luthien, etc., and why Tolkien isn’t just writing a novel
• Tolkien and Poetry: why the poetry matters, who else has been influenced by it, what it seems to say/express beyond the actual novel, how it tells the story (another story?)
• Tolkien and Language: why the languages matter, why we can actually learn a little Elvish, Dwarfish, etc., how they relate to old languages such as Anglo-Saxon, etc.  
• Tolkien and Travel/Maps: why the locations matter, why he allows us to see the landscape, the descriptions, the history of places
• Tolkien and Art: why the art and the descriptions matter, why Tolkien’s language is very visual, and why he insisted on creating his own art for his stories (esp. The Hobbit), how the art complements and expands the story (much the way the poetry does)
• Tolkien and History: why the times Tolkien wrote in matter, how WWI and WWII bled into his works, how allegory is actually a key feature of the story—esp. in The Fellowship