Survey for Approaches to Teaching Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and Other Works
Edited by Leslie A. Donovan
This survey is designed to gather information about instructors' methods and materials for teaching The Lord of the Rings and other works by J. R. R. Tolkien, for the purpose of developing a new volume on the author in the MLA series Approaches to Teaching World Literature. Respondents are encouraged to submit a proposal for a contribution to the volume (see item 16 below) as well as to answer the questions related to their teaching. Proposals and survey responses are due by 15 December 2008, after which date the survey will no longer be available online. All respondents will be acknowledged in the published volume.
Please answer the questions on the form below and click "Submit" when you are finished. Your responses will go directly to the volume's editor. The editor welcomes supplemental materials such as course descriptions, syllabi, assignments, and bibliographies. You may upload them (see the end of the form); send them by surface mail to Leslie A. Donovan, Associate Professor, University Honors Program, MSC06 3890, 1 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131; or e-mail them to ldonovan@unm.edu. You may also forward queries or comments to the editor at those addresses. Thank you for helping in the development of this important project.
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| 1. Briefly describe the course or courses in which you teach The Lord of the Rings or other works by Tolkien, including the course title, discipline, level, format, primary subject matter, and number of students. What type of curriculum is your course intended to serve? How much of your course is devoted to works by Tolkien? |
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| 2. Which works by Tolkien do you teach in the course(s) listed above? List these works individually along with the editions you use. |
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| 3. What secondary sources do you consult in preparing to teach the course(s) listed above? |
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| 4. What secondary sources on Tolkien do you assign as part of your syllabus or recommend as optional reading for students? |
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| 5. What specific themes do you emphasize in your teaching of Tolkien's works? |
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| 6. What aspects of Tolkien's works do your students find most engaging or stimulating? |
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| 7. What aspects of Tolkien's works do your students find most difficult or challenging? What approaches do you use for addressing these challenges? |
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| 8. What other texts, if any, do you commonly teach in association with works by Tolkien? What specific connections do you emphasize between The Lord of the Rings and texts either by other authors or by Tolkien? |
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| 9. What kinds of assignments (papers, group presentations, in-class exercises, tests, creative projects, etc.) on The Lord of the Rings or Tolkien's other works have you found most successful? How do these assignments fit with the larger goals of your course? How do you evaluate these assignments? |
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| 10. What audiovisual, digital, or Web-based materials, if any, have you found useful for teaching Tolkien's works? How do you use these resources? |
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| 11. Do you use online discussion groups, e-mail discussion lists, communal blogs, wikis, or other interactive electronic forums in your teaching of Tolkien's work? If so, please explain how you use these forums. |
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| 12. Do you stress a particular critical or theoretical approach in teaching The Lord of the Rings or Tolkien's other works? If so, describe which approach you use, which texts or essays from this perspective you present to students, and how you apply such perspectives in the classroom. |
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| 13. How, if at all, has your teaching of Tolkien's works been affected by their reception in popular culture and in the academy? If you have been teaching works by Tolkien for some time, how have your pedagogical goals changed, if at all, in response to changes in the popularity of The Lord of the Rings? |
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| 14. What impact, if any, has the recent popular film franchise based on The Lord of the Rings had on your teaching of Tolkien's works? |
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| 15. What specific types of information would you like to see addressed in a volume on teaching Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and other works? What concerns or issues would you particularly like to see addressed in this volume? |
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| 16. If you would like to propose an essay for this volume, please submit an abstract in which you describe your approach or topic and explain its potential benefit for students and instructors alike. Please submit a brief curriculum vitae; you may use the "Browse" button(s) below for this purpose, as well as for forwarding any supplemental materials, such as syllabi. |
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To send supplemental materials with this form, click the button below and select a file or files from your hard drive.
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