Literary Lessons from Lord of the Rings

[Kindred Hearts]

I'd love to hear more experiences about the positives and negatives of this program from those who have used it. My dc who will be in the 9th and 7th grade are very interested in using this next year. (Note: my rising 7th grader works at a high school level).

[EKS]

I (and my son) absolutely could not stand the busywork associated with the day to day parts of LLLOTR. The unit studies were interesting. We got about halfway through and finally stopped because it would have been pure torture to go on.

 

I know that lots of people love LLLOTR though.

[pjboysmom]

My 9 grade son is just finishing this up this week. Now, he has always been a LOTR fan (started reading it in PS 2nd grade class when he was bored :D), but he has really enjoyed this course. He didn't like the comprehension questions so much, but he enjoyed the discussion content and the unit studies.

 

As an aside, this course has been a good vehicle for helping a reluctant writer progress. Getting him to spend time fine-tuning essays became much easier once he was writing about something he loved.

 

Warmly,

Michelle

[SkateLeft]

I (and my son) absolutely could not stand the busywork associated with the day to day parts of LLLOTR. The unit studies were interesting. We got about halfway through and finally stopped because it would have been pure torture to go on.

 

That was our experience too. The worksheets were focused purely on comprehension, and the literary analysis was extremely light. We were really hoping for a meaty, in-depth study and were very disappointed.

 

We ditched it in favor of using a Teaching Company literature course instead.

[Lori D.]

Loved it! An all-time high water mark for all of us in our homeschooling journey! We still refer fondly back to the year of doing LLftLotR. (But then, we have always loved Tolkien's books. :))

 

We skipped the fill-in-the-blank comprehension and vocabulary portions that Kai and Michelle mentioned in their above posts, and dove straight into the meat of the program, which is the wonderful chapter notes and the discussion questions at the end of each set of chapter notes, as well as the rich, enjoyable, and informational 12 additional units of tangential material.

 

Below are links to specific pages at the publisher's website to help you "see" the program. Also below are some past threads with more reviews/experiences with LLftLotR, as well as more specifics on how the program is set up. Hope that will help you get a clear picture of the program and if it is a match for your family or not. Warmest regards, Lori D.

 

 

Curriculum Description

Course Objectives

Literary Terms Covered

Table of Contents

Samples

 

 

Lit Lessons from LotR: have you used this?

 

Literary Lessons from the Lord of the Rings: opinions please

 

Literary Lessons from the Lord of the Rings: could someone please explain how this is set up?

 

LotR literary study?

 

Okay, tell me what you DON'T like about Literary Lessons from LotR

Edited May 6, 2010 by Lori D.

[elegantlion]

To add more to your decision, a 2nd edition has just been listed on the publisher's website. Here's a thread that discusses the difference between 1st and 2nd edition.

[Kindred Hearts]

Thanks for all the quick feedback!

 

My ds (14.5) has loved LOTR for years (he began listening to the books on audio when he was 9 yo). He is the less eager LA student of my 2 dc and I'm hopeful that the subject matter will spark enthusiasm for writing and literary analysis. My dd (12.5) surprised me by wanting to be included in the study because while she's an avid reader, she has not shown any interest in LOTR. In fact Anne was begging to do the One Year Adventure Novel next year; now they've decided that they want to do LLOLOTR together next year and the OYAN the following!

Edited May 6, 2010 by Kindred Hearts
added a thought

[Stacy in NJ]

or books 1 & 2. He'll finish the year with the unit studies at the end of book 2. We use the schedule recommended for younger students written by the publisher. http://www.homescholar.org/Middle%20School%20Lesson%20PLans.htm We do it pretty much as written, although we don't do the writing assignments.

 

We've really enjoyed it. Much of it is independent work for ds. We read the notes together and answer the comp questions aloud. We have used the vocab quizes, unit quizes, and end of book tests.

 

ETA: We'll continue on with this program into 8th grade.

Edited May 6, 2010 by Stacy in NJ

[Lori D.]

Thanks for all the quick feedback!

 

My ds (14.5) has loved LOTR for years (he began listening to the books on audio when he was 9 yo). He is the less eager LA student of my 2 dc and I'm hopeful that the subject matter will spark enthusiasm for writing and literary analysis. My dd (12.5) surprised me by wanting to be included in the study because while she's an avid reader, she has not shown any interest in LOTR. In fact Anne was begging to do the One Year Adventure Novel next year; now they've decided that they want to do LLOLOTR together next year and the OYAN the following!

 

 

Just to let you know: LLftLotR is NOT a complete English credit, despite the descriptions as such. There is NO grammar, and there is no writing instruction (about every other week or so there is a writing assignment idea). So you may still be able to do One Year Adventure Novel simultaneously for your writing...

 

However, it is a gentle, enjoyable and informative way to get into literary analysis, and having 2 DC doing it together should spark some great discussion! Warmest regards, Lori D.

[ereks mom]

...the comprehension questions. I would have appreciated it SO much more if it included writing instruction and literary analysis. I did REALLY like the unit studies.

[Kindred Hearts]

Just to let you know: LLftLotR is NOT a complete English credit, despite the descriptions as such. There is NO grammar, and there is no writing instruction (about every other week or so there is a writing assignment idea). So you may still be able to do One Year Adventure Novel simultaneously for your writing...

 

However, it is a gentle, enjoyable and informative way to get into literary analysis, and having 2 DC doing it together should spark some great discussion! Warmest regards, Lori D.

 

Thanks for the information!

[Kindred Hearts]

Are there any companion books that we'll need (other than LOTR)?

[Lori D.]

Are there any companion books that we'll need (other than LOTR)?

 

 

Required books = no. Books you may want = possibly.

 

 

Works partially covered and analyzed in some detail in 3 of the 12 additional units of LLftLotR:

- Beowulf

- Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

 

 

Works described in several pages each, and how they influenced Tolkien:

- The Iliad

- Arthurian romances

- and discussed in less detail than the above 2 works, The Odyssey

 

 

Works mentioned in passing, or suggested as possible interesting extra outside reading:

- Macbeth

- Midsummer Night's Dream

 

 

If you wanted additional books, the ones that would most go with LLftLotR would be Beowulf, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, The Iliad, and possibly a work on King Arthur.

 

Two of the 12 units on additional/tangential material analyze Beowulf, so you can either just enjoy the parts analyzed when you do that unit, or you can purchase and read Beowulf. I highly recommend the Seamus Heaney translation -- very alliterative yet very readable. Also, Beowulf is pretty short; even reading it aloud together didn't take us more than 2 weeks.

 

One of the 12 units analyzes parts of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Again, like the analysis of Beowulf, the unit does a good job of summarizing the parts in between what is analyzed, so you can either just do the unit, or read the entire work. While Tolkien himself published a translation.

 

Yet another of the additional units discusses the 11 conventions of (the typical elements in) an epic, and then devotes several pages of background to Homer, author of 2 ancient Greek epics of The Iliad and The Odyssey, and especially with the Iliad gives an extended synopsis of the epic, and a less detailed synopsis of The Odyssey.

 

 

Other interesting extras not at all covered by LLftLotR which you might enjoy:

- The Hobbit (Tolkien) = "pre-quil" to the LotR trilogy

- Tree and Leaf = an essay by JRR Tolkien on the importance of the realm of faery in literature (Tolkien's trilogy would certainly fall into this category of writing and literature)

 

 

Also check these interesting ideas from JennW in SoCal for extras from a past thread on the topic of books to go along with LLftLotR.

 

 

Enjoy your journey into Middle Earth! Warmest regards, Lori D.

[Murphy101]

thanks Lori!

 

I have mine and we plan to start in a few months!

[Kindred Hearts]

Thanks so much Lori! You've been a great help.

[Farmgirl70]

I am very pleased with this. We did use it as a complete English program. I just had my son do the writing assignments and I pulled some occasional writing instruction from other resources we had as needed. He was a reluctant writer but a huge LOTR fan. So, my goal was just to get him writing! He even enjoyed the fill in the blanks, though I told him they were optional. We did use the discussion questions. Perhaps my favorite part was the unit studies. Having my 14 year old ask me if he could take school time to read the Odyssey and listen to it on audio (as if he was requesting a special favor) has been priceless. He is now reading the Iliad. (He likes the Robert Fagles translation. He reads while listening on CD). It has also sparked an interest in Beowulf and he was excited to get a copy by Seamus Heaney that had the Anglo Saxon on one side and the modern English on the other side of the page. It seems to have plenty of meat to me and anything that could turn my math/science loving son on to language arts is great to me! I say let them jump all the way in and enjoy this one!

[elizabeth]

thanks Lori!

 

I have mine and we plan to start in a few months!

If you have not read it I think you would love the book, The Letters of JRR Tolkien as it is revelatory of the very Catholic nature of much of the tale. Here is a link to the article on EWTN that pointed this out to me. The letters to his son about the Eucharist are touching http://www.ewtn.com/library/HOMELIBR/TOLKIEN.HTM. Peter Kreeft's book is also a wonderful read.

http://www.ignatiusinsight.com/features2005/pkreeft_christlotr_nov05.asp

Edited May 15, 2010 by elizabeth
typo

[Murphy101]

I'll go add that to my amazon list.

[Sunshine State Sue]

One of the 12 units analyzes parts of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Again, like the analysis of Beowulf, the unit does a good job of summarizing the parts in between what is analyzed, so you can either just do the unit, or read the entire work. While Tolkien himself published a translation.

Lori, thanks so much for taking the time to be so very specific about the additional literature.

 

Do you have a particular version of Sir Gawain that you recommend?

[Lori D.]

Do you have a particular version of Sir Gawain that you recommend?

 

 

Actually, when we did LLftLotR, we just did the excerpts in the additional unit on Sir Gawain. We will be tackling the full work this coming year as part of our British Lit. I own the Tolkien translation, plus a translation by Marie Boroff in my old college "The Norton Anthology of English Literature." Both translations maintain the alliterative meter, as well as the "bob and wheel" 5-line rhyming groups of the original work.

 

I have not yet previewed the 2 to see if either will work for us. Others on this board have said Tolkien's translation was difficult to get through, and much preferred the Simon Armitage translation. Below are two helpful past threads, one on "recommended" translations for various classic works, the other on things to look for in Sir Gawain to enhance enjoyment of the work.

 

And, Sue, in response to your high school planning hysteria emoticon -- "Don't Panic!" You're going to do a super job, and high school will be great! Hugs, Lori D.

 

 

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight -- need input please

Which translations should I get?