Be sure to read "A Knife in the Dark," "A Flight to the Ford," and "Many Meetings" for Thursday's class. But of course, you can read as much as you want...this is just the bare minimum of what we'll cover on Thursday.
Some ideas to consider:
* As always, consider the changes from book to film: why were these things changed, do you think? This is specifically important considering how the hobbits leave Bree in the book vs. the film
* Despite the Black Riders' terrifying power, how do they generally act in Bree, the Shire, and elsewhere? How might this be similar to the guises Strider and Tom Bombadil adopt with the hobbits?
* What do the hobbits learn in Bree that helps them realize the true peril of their quest? In other words, what is Strider aware of that is becoming increasingly obvious, even to them?
* Related to this, why might the hobbits ignorance and refusal to think of the world in anything but hobbit terms also a hidden virtue? How does it often save them in a certain sense?
* Why does Strider often discourage them from saying certain words out loud? What power does merely naming something have? Why are words just as powerful as deeds in this world?
* How do we begin to see that Sam is not exactly "half-wise" at all, but the most important member of the party? What does he know that the other hobbits don't?
* Why can't anyone truly own the Ring except Sauron? Why were Bilbo and Gollum, despite their long history with the Ring, merely Ring-Bearers?
* What is problematic about Aragorn's past which makes him a wild-card in this mission? Why don't other people, esp. Boromir, completely trust him? Related to this, why does Gandalf trust him completely?
* What realities of Middle Earth politics do we learn about in Rivendell? Why is it no easy task to organize a group to destroy the Ring?
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