Text Complexity Analysis of the Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Text Complexity Analysis of The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien Qualitative Measures QuaQualitativentitative Measures Measures Levels of Meaning/Purpose: This book has multiple meanings and purposes. Set The Hobbit has a Lexile measure of 1000L. It also is within the text complexity band in a created world, The Hobbit focuses on the quest of Bilbo, a simple hobbit, who between the 6th-8th grades. The complex themes and length of the book would wanted to be allowed to stay that way, but is drawn into the hostile world of dwarves, indicate the higher level reading skills are needed to successfully and fully orcs, evil spiders, and many other serious dangers. The story can be taken literally, understand the material. but also as a commentary on societal issues such as abuse of power. Structure: Told from a third-person, omniscient narrator who knows all and even knows aspects of the characters’ futures, it follows the quest in a chronological order, but does go into flashbacks to give the background of dwarves and elves. Reader-Task Considerations Language Conventionality and Clarity: The narration is sometimes in more sophisticated and complex sentence structures. Tolkien uses a lot of imagery, Potential Challenges this Text Poses: The created languages can be complicated figurative language, diction, syntax, etc. There is also a lot in the created languages for some students to grasp, as well as the deeper meanings attached to the theme of of the hobbits, dwarves, and elves. abuse of power can be hard to grasp in this age group. Knowledge Demands: There are many themes in the novel such as the theme of quest that is deepened by the allusion to the search for the Holy Grail. Also, the theme of uses of power makes students contemplate personal, moral, and ethical struggles within the novel as well as the Industrial Era. Recommended Placement The quantitative measures suggest placement in the 6th-8th grade level text complexity band, the qualitative measures and reader and task considerations suggest that the novel is best placed at the 6th-8th grade complexity band. .

Copy Link

Recommended publications

The Comforts: the Image of Home in The Hobbit
Volume 14 Number 1 Article 6 Fall 10-15-1987 All the Comforts: The Image of Home in The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings Wayne G. Hammond Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore Part of the Children's and Young Adult Literature Commons Recommended Citation Hammond, Wayne G. (1987) "All the Comforts: The Image of Home in The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings," Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature: Vol. 14 : No. 1 , Article 6. Available at: https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol14/iss1/6 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Mythopoeic Society at SWOSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature by an authorized editor of SWOSU Digital Commons. An ADA compliant document is available upon request. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To join the Mythopoeic Society go to: http://www.mythsoc.org/join.htm Mythcon 51: A VIRTUAL “HALFLING” MYTHCON July 31 - August 1, 2021 (Saturday and Sunday) http://www.mythsoc.org/mythcon/mythcon-51.htm Mythcon 52: The Mythic, the Fantastic, and the Alien Albuquerque, New Mexico; July 29 - August 1, 2022 http://www.mythsoc.org/mythcon/mythcon-52.htm Abstract Examines the importance of home, especially the Shire, as metaphor in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Relates it to the importance of change vs. permanence as a recurring theme in both works.
[Show full text]
Tolkien's Creative Technique: Beowulf and The Hobbit
Volume 15 Number 3 Article 1 Spring 3-15-1989 Tolkien's Creative Technique: Beowulf and The Hobbit Bonniejean Christensen Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore Part of the Children's and Young Adult Literature Commons Recommended Citation Christensen, Bonniejean (1989) "Tolkien's Creative Technique: Beowulf and The Hobbit," Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature: Vol. 15 : No. 3 , Article 1. Available at: https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol15/iss3/1 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Mythopoeic Society at SWOSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature by an authorized editor of SWOSU Digital Commons. An ADA compliant document is available upon request. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To join the Mythopoeic Society go to: http://www.mythsoc.org/join.htm Mythcon 51: A VIRTUAL “HALFLING” MYTHCON July 31 - August 1, 2021 (Saturday and Sunday) http://www.mythsoc.org/mythcon/mythcon-51.htm Mythcon 52: The Mythic, the Fantastic, and the Alien Albuquerque, New Mexico; July 29 - August 1, 2022 http://www.mythsoc.org/mythcon/mythcon-52.htm Abstract Asserts that “The Hobbit, differing greatly in tone, is nonetheless a retelling of the incidents that comprise the plot and the digressions in both parts of Beowulf.” However, his retelling is from a Christian point of view. Additional Keywords Beowulf—Influence on The Hobbit; olkien,T J.R.R.
[Show full text]
Gandalf: One Wizard to Lead Them, One to Find Them, One to Bring Them And, Despite the Darkness, Unite Them
Mythmoot III: Ever On Proceedings of the 3rd Mythgard Institute Mythmoot BWI Marriott, Linthicum, Maryland January 10-11, 2015 Gandalf: One Wizard to lead them, one to find them, one to bring them and, despite the darkness, unite them. Alex Gunn Middle Earth is a wonderful but strangely familiar place. The Hobbits, Elves, Men and other peoples who live in caves, forests, mountain ranges and stone cities, are all combined by Tolkien to create a fantasy world which is full of wonder, beauty and magic. However, looking past these fantastical elements, we can see that Middle Earth has many similarities to the society in which we live. The different races of Middle Earth have distinct and deep differences and often keep themselves separate from one another because of mutual distrust or dislike. Due to these divisions, only one person, one who does not belong to any particular race or people, can unite them for the coming war: Gandalf the Wizard who embodies the qualities needed to be an effective leader in our world. As Sue Kim points out in her book Beyond black and White: Race and Postmodernism in Lord of the Rings, Tolkien himself declared that, “the desire to converse with other living things is one of the great allurements of fantasy” (Kim 555). Given this belief, it is no surprise that Tolkien,‘fills his imagined worlds with a plethora of intelligent non human races and exotic ethnicities, all changing over time: Elves, Dwarves, Men, Hobbits, Ents, Trolls, Orcs, Wild Men, talking beasts and embodied spirits’ (Kim 555). This plethora, as Kim puts it, makes Gandalf an important literary tool for Tolkien because to believe that such a varied mix of people, creatures, races and ethnicities live in complete harmony would feel false and perhaps too convenient.
[Show full text]
The Implied Reader and the Recovery of Childhood: a Study of J.R.R
American University in Cairo AUC Knowledge Fountain Theses and Dissertations 2-1-2019 The Implied Reader and the Recovery of Childhood: A Study of J.R.R. Tolkienâ€™s The Hobbit Georgette Talaat Rizk Follow this and additional works at: https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds Recommended Citation APA Citation Rizk, G. (2019).The Implied Reader and the Recovery of Childhood: A Study of J.R.R. Tolkienâ€™s The Hobbit [Master’s thesis, the American University in Cairo]. AUC Knowledge Fountain. https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/734 MLA Citation Rizk, Georgette Talaat. The Implied Reader and the Recovery of Childhood: A Study of J.R.R. Tolkienâ€™s The Hobbit. 2019. American University in Cairo, Master's thesis. AUC Knowledge Fountain. https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/734 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by AUC Knowledge Fountain. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of AUC Knowledge Fountain. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The American University in Cairo School of Humanities and Social Sciences The Implied Reader and the Recovery of Childhood: A Study of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit A Thesis Submitted to the Department of English and Comparative Literature In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Master of Arts Georgette Rizk Under the supervision of Dr. William Melaney October 2018 The American University in Cairo The Implied Reader and the Recovery of Childhood: A Study of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit A Thesis Submitted by Georgette Rizk To the Department of English and Comparative Literature October 2018 In partial fulfillment of the requirements for The degree of Master of Arts Has been approved by Dr.
[Show full text]
13 Reflections on Tolkien's Use of Beowulf
13 Reflections on Tolkien’s Use of Beowulf Arne Zettersten University of Copenhagen Beowulf, the famous Anglo-Saxon heroic poem, and The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, “The Author of the Century”, 1 have been thor- oughly analysed and compared by a variety of scholars.2 It seems most appropriate to discuss similar aspects of The Lord of the Rings in a Festschrift presented to Nils-Lennart Johannesson with a view to his own commentaries on the language of Tolkien’s fiction. The immediate pur- pose of this article is not to present a problem-solving essay but instead to explain how close I was to Tolkien’s own research and his activities in Oxford during the last thirteen years of his life. As the article unfolds, we realise more and more that Beowulf meant a great deal to Tolkien, cul- minating in Christopher Tolkien’s unexpected edition of the translation of Beowulf, completed by J.R.R. Tolkien as early as 1926. Beowulf has always been respected in its position as the oldest Germanic heroic poem.3 I myself accept the conclusion that the poem came into existence around 720–730 A.D. in spite of the fact that there is still considerable debate over the dating. The only preserved copy (British Library MS. Cotton Vitellius A.15) was most probably com- pleted at the beginning of the eleventh century. 1 See Shippey, J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century, 2000. 2 See Shippey, T.A., The Road to Middle-earth, 1982, Pearce, Joseph, Tolkien.
[Show full text]
Hobbits?...And What May They Be? Michael Flowers Independent Scholar, [email protected]
Journal of Tolkien Research Volume 4 | Issue 1 Article 2 Hobbits?...And what may they be? Michael Flowers Independent Scholar, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://scholar.valpo.edu/journaloftolkienresearch Part of the Literature in English, British Isles Commons Recommended Citation Flowers, Michael () "Hobbits?...And what may they be?," Journal of Tolkien Research: Vol. 4 : Iss. 1 , Article 2. Available at: http://scholar.valpo.edu/journaloftolkienresearch/vol4/iss1/2 This Peer-Reviewed Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Library Services at ValpoScholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Tolkien Research by an authorized administrator of ValpoScholar. For more information, please contact a ValpoScholar staff member at [email protected]. Hobbits?...And what may they be? Cover Page Footnote Cleaver, Harry M & H Browne, "Wireless, an Hundred Years Ago?", The Listener, 13 Sept 1933, p.396. This peer-reviewed article is available in Journal of Tolkien Research: http://scholar.valpo.edu/journaloftolkienresearch/vol4/iss1/2 Flowers: Hobbits?...And what may they be? “Will you kindly arrange….with your Tenant who has the good Potatoes, that he… should send me 12 Hobbits.” (Sir T.H. Browne, 1836) Éomer’s query in the second chapter of The Two Towers (Lord of the Rings, 434), utilised as the heading for this paper, has been asked in either those or similar words regularly in the eighty years since The Hobbit was published. A question asked almost as frequently is: ‘Where did Tolkien get the word “hobbit” from?’ Meanwhile, Sir Thomas Browne’s 1836 letter was published for the first time in 1933, later in the same year in which Tolkien is believed to have completed his children’s book (Rateliff, xx).
[Show full text]
How Bilbo Lost His Innocence: Media Audiences and the Evaluation of the Hobbit As a ‘Children’S Film’
.F-E Volume 13, Issue 2 November 2016 How Bilbo lost his innocence: Media audiences and the evaluation of The Hobbit as a ‘Children’s Film’ Lars Schmeink, Institut für Kultur- und Medienmanagement Hamburg, Germany Abstract: The Hobbit (1937) by J. R. R. Tolkien is one of Britain’s, if not one of the world’s, most beloved children’s books. It thus stands to reason that the film adaptation by Peter Jackson (2012-2014) should be similarly beloved as children’s films. Yet indeed, the largest audience study to date, the World Hobbit Project, suggests otherwise. Of all the possible ‘types of film’ that audiences could choose from they were least comfortable with ‘Children’s Story’ and in their qualitative answers described the films as not ‘suitable’ for children. The essay analyzes the historical relation between the categories of ‘Children’s Story’ and the fantasy genre, by contrasting early reviews of the novel with audience reactions from the survey. At the core of the argument are audience expectations of what makes a story appropriate or intended for children and what the genre fantasy deals with. The analysis shows how these two expectations have diverged and now seem to be at odds with each other, clearly marking a shift in the meaning-making process surrounding the genre. Keywords: The Hobbit, Fantasy, Children, Audiences, Genre When the extended version of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies was released on DVD and Blu-ray in November 2015, it was not only remarkable for its length, extending the 144-min theatrical cut by an additional 20 minutes and thus boosting the runtime of all three parts of the film to 532 minutes.
[Show full text]
The Enigma of Radagast: Revision, Melodrama, and Depth
Volume 26 Number 1 Article 8 10-15-2007 The Enigma of Radagast: Revision, Melodrama, and Depth Nicholas Birns New School, NY Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore Part of the Children's and Young Adult Literature Commons Recommended Citation Birns, Nicholas (2007) "The Enigma of Radagast: Revision, Melodrama, and Depth," Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature: Vol. 26 : No. 1 , Article 8. Available at: https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol26/iss1/8 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Mythopoeic Society at SWOSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature by an authorized editor of SWOSU Digital Commons. An ADA compliant document is available upon request. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To join the Mythopoeic Society go to: http://www.mythsoc.org/join.htm Mythcon 51: A VIRTUAL “HALFLING” MYTHCON July 31 - August 1, 2021 (Saturday and Sunday) http://www.mythsoc.org/mythcon/mythcon-51.htm Mythcon 52: The Mythic, the Fantastic, and the Alien Albuquerque, New Mexico; July 29 - August 1, 2022 http://www.mythsoc.org/mythcon/mythcon-52.htm Abstract Investigates the tangled textual history of Radagast, a much-neglected character, and what it says about Tolkien’s writing technique and care in making revisions. Investigates changes in his function between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and why and how he disappears from the later story.
[Show full text]
Death and Funerary Practices in Middle-Earth by Pat Reynolds
The Tolkien Society – Essays www.tolkiensociety.org Death and funerary practices in Middle-earth By Pat Reynolds I would like to take you with me on a perilous journey. As readers of Tolkien you will perhaps recall the two types of journey for which he is famed. The first is the hero-quest, as exemplified by Bilbo Baggins in the The Hobbit, and second is the allegorical death journey, most explicitly taken by Niggle in Leaf by Niggle. Death is one of a handful of life experiences which are irrevocable changes. Like birth, it is a one-way ticket. Unlike birth, it usually occurs when the individual has made many links with his or her community. The attitudes and beliefs of that community are reflected in the way they treat the dead: how the body is removed from the community of the living (or maintained within it), the formal opportunities for grief and the proscribed forms which grief may take, and beliefs about what happens to the dead person: does she "go on a journey", or does he "come back to haunt us?" or do they both dispense advice and comfort as revered ancestors? I want to take you on this deathly journey because I am particularly interested in the power that many readers find in Middle-earth. The tributes to Tolkien published in a recent edition of Mythlore (Mythlore 69 pp. 32-48) include No other work can bring the same kind of joy to our lives (Marianne Russell, New York, USA.), and Does any other work of fiction give the reader so overwhelming a feeling of supreme significance in a narrative? (Canon Norman Power, Birmingham, England).
[Show full text]
Fan Cartography's Engagement with Tolkien's Legendarium Stentor Danielson Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania, [email protected]
Journal of Tolkien Research Volume 6 | Issue 1 Article 4 2018 Re-reading the Map of Middle-earth: Fan Cartography's Engagement with Tolkien's Legendarium Stentor Danielson Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/journaloftolkienresearch Part of the English Language and Literature Commons, and the Geography Commons Recommended Citation Danielson, Stentor (2018) "Re-reading the Map of Middle-earth: Fan Cartography's Engagement with Tolkien's Legendarium," Journal of Tolkien Research: Vol. 6 : Iss. 1 , Article 4. Available at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/journaloftolkienresearch/vol6/iss1/4 This Peer-Reviewed Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Library Services at ValpoScholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Tolkien Research by an authorized administrator of ValpoScholar. For more information, please contact a ValpoScholar staff member at [email protected]. Danielson: Re-reading the Map of Middle-earth Introduction In Chapter 1 of The Hobbit, we learn of our protagonist Bilbo Baggins that “He loved maps, and in his hall there hung a large one of the Country Round with all his favourite walks marked on it in red ink” (Tolkien 1966, p. 32-33). Some decades later, Bilbo's distant cousin Pippin laments his failure to have fully consulted the maps available in Rivendell before the Fellowship departed on its long journey (Tolkien 1965a, p. 370). From a handful of references such as these, we know that cartography existed in Middle-earth, and indeed that it was considered a perfectly ordinary and sensible thing to look at a map to find one's way.
[Show full text]
Gollum's Blighted Repentance and What Bilbo
Mythmoot III: Ever On Proceedings of the 3rd Mythgard Institute Mythmoot BWI Marriott, Linthicum, Maryland January 10-11, 2015 Gollum’s Blighted Repentance and What Bilbo Saw Tom Hillman Gollum looked at them. A strange expression passed over his lean hungry face. The gleam faded from his eyes, and they went dim and grey, old and tired. A spasm of pain seemed to twist him and he turned away, peering back up towards the pass, shaking his head as if engaged in some interior debate. Then he came back, and slowly putting out a trembling hand, very cautiously he touched Frodo’s knee – but almost the touch was a caress. For a fleeting moment, could one of the sleepers have seen him, they would have thought that they beheld an old weary hobbit, shrunken by the years that had carried him far beyond his time, beyond friends and kin, and the fields and streams of youth, an old starved pitiable thing. But at that touch Frodo stirred and cried out softly in his sleep, and immediately Sam was wide awake. The first thing he saw was Gollum ‘pawing at master,’ as he thought. “Hey you!” he said roughly, “What are you up to?” “Nothing, nothing,” said Gollum softly. “Nice Master.” “I daresay,” said Sam. “But where have you been to – sneaking off and sneaking back, you old villain?” Gollum withdrew himself, and a green light flickered under his heavy lids. Almost spiderlike he looked now, crouched back on his bent limbs, with his protruding eyes. The fleeting moment had passed, beyond recall.
[Show full text]
The Quest for Pity and Mercy in Tolkien's Middle Earth Woody Wendling Temple University
Inklings Forever Volume 5 A Collection of Essays Presented at the Fifth Frances White Ewbank Colloquium on C.S. Lewis & Article 16 Friends 6-2006 The Quest for Pity and Mercy in Tolkien's Middle Earth Woody Wendling Temple University Follow this and additional works at: https://pillars.taylor.edu/inklings_forever Part of the English Language and Literature Commons, History Commons, Philosophy Commons, and the Religion Commons Recommended Citation Wendling, Woody (2006) "The Quest for Pity and Mercy in Tolkien's Middle Earth," Inklings Forever: Vol. 5 , Article 16. Available at: https://pillars.taylor.edu/inklings_forever/vol5/iss1/16 This Essay is brought to you for free and open access by the Center for the Study of C.S. Lewis & Friends at Pillars at Taylor University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Inklings Forever by an authorized editor of Pillars at Taylor University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INKLINGS FOREVER, Volume V A Collection of Essays Presented at the Fifth FRANCES WHITE COLLOQUIUM on C.S. LEWIS & FRIENDS Taylor University 2006 Upland, Indiana The Quest for Pity and Mercy in Tolkien’s Middle Earth Woody Wendling Wendling, Woody. “The Quest for Pity and Mercy in Tolkien’s Middle Earth.” Inklings Forever 5 (2006) www.taylor.edu/cslewis The Quest for Pity and Mercy in Tolkien’s Middle Earth Woody Wendling As a lover of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The kill Gollum, or at the very least to blind him. But then, Lord of the Rings, I would like to muse briefly on the “A sudden understanding, a pity mixed with horror, books’ theme of pity and mercy, in particular that welled up in Bilbo’s heart.” Bilbo’s pity stayed his shown by Bilbo and Frodo.
[Show full text]