This module is part of the Academic Mastery program. Please apply to the AM program before enrolling in this course

This module is part of the The Hobbit in context cluster.

In this module, we will look first at the literary precursors to The Hobbit, works that helped establish the genre in which Tolkien was writing, or which influenced Tolkien’s own thinking. We will examine the themes and ideas of nineteenth-century children’s fantasy that may have inspired Tolkien, and consider how we may see them at work within the text of The Hobbit. Tolkien’s essay ‘On Fairy-stories’ will provide the essential context to the whole module, as it is here that Tolkien lays out his full concept of what constitutes ‘fantasy’.

This five-week module is designed for students who already have some experience in scholarly writing, preferably in the humanities, who understand how to read a literary text analytically, and who wish to challenge themselves to produce an extended piece of writing. Students are expected to have writing and grammatical fluency in English. The module may be repeated as many times as desired. Students watch recorded lectures by Dr. Corey Olsen, participate in weekly discussions with a member of our graduate faculty, and complete a final writing project..

Note: This module draws extensively upon lectures originally recorded for The Story of The Hobbit. Students in the MA program who have taken (or plan to take) that course may find significant overlap in the core materials.

Format: 4 weeks discussion; 1 week assessment (9 hours video; 8 hours discussion

Assessments: summative (final project)

Goals and Skills:

This course is graduate level in intensity.

Fee: 2 Signum Tokens