The Lord of the Rings: A Journey Through Middle-earth, 199Y Seminar Information

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General Course Information

HUM 199H1S, Section L0331

Welcome!

On this page, you will find general information about The Lord of the Rings: A Journey Through Middle-earth, a Humanities first-year seminar half-course which will be offered beginning in January 2010. The Overview of the course (immediately below) is followed by a list of Frequently Asked Questions about various aspects of the course.

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Overview

Course Description

"The Road goes ever on"... Our journey through Middle-earth begins with a series of discussions about the characters and events in J.R.R. Tolkien's novel The Lord of the Rings. The journey continues with student-led presentations about the history of Middle-earth, the peoples who live there and the languages they speak, and how their alliances and enmities shaped The War of the Ring. We will try to discover what inspired Tolkien to write the trilogy and the sources from which he drew. During these presentations, we will look at broader themes such as the nature of good and evil, the idea of "free peoples", and the role of "higher powers" in Middle-earth.

Course Time
Tuesday, 3-5 pm (T 3-5)

Location
Room 123, Woodsworth College.

Course Instructor
Professor John W. Browne

Frequently Asked Questions

What will we do in the course?

In the first part of the course, we will read and discuss in detail each of the six books of The Lord of the Rings, or the "Tale of the War of the Ring" as it was known by the loremasters of the Fourth Age.

In Part Two of the course, you will become loremasters yourselves: each student group will make a presentation on major events in the History of Middle-earth and explain how those events are related to the War of the Ring. As part of the presentations, we will deal with questions such as What is the nature of good and evil in Middle-earth? What is the difference between authority, power, and control? How do fate, chance, and choice work in Middle-earth?

What should I think about when I consider enroling in the course?

You will do a lot of reading in the course, particularly when you work with your group to prepare the in-class presentation, so you should be able to find, read, and summarize written and web-based material quickly and accurately.

Since this course is run as a seminar (no more than 24 students will be in each section), you should be comfortable speaking and presenting your views in front of other students; you should also be comfortable listening to and hearing other viewpoints expressed.

The course will make extensive use of group work, so you should be able to work with others, both face-to-face and virtually, i.e., by using e-mail, discussion boards, and other electronic tools for communicating your ideas.

The course will use websites, both as resources for the course and to distribute course materials, so you should understand how to access and search the Internet. You should be familiar with using e-mail and with standard word-processing programs (e.g., Word).

If you are not familiar with using the Internet, e-mail, or standard word-processing programs, the University of Toronto Library offers courses on Library and Internet Skills to assist you. Your College has computer facilities if you do not normally have easy access to a computer; public computer facilities are also located on the ground floor of the Robarts Library.

What books will I need?

The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Silmarillion, by J.R.R Tolkien, ed. Christopher Tolkien
The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, ed. Humphrey Carpenter, assisted by Christopher Tolkien

Note: The LOTR has been published in many formats; three volumes is the most common, but one volume versions exist. You may use either the one-volume or the three-volume format, but the one you choose must be published after 1966 (major revisions were made to the text in 1965) and must contain all the Appendices (A-F). The University of Toronto Bookstore will stock inexpensive paperback versions of the LOTR (three volumes) and of The Silmarillion (one volume). The Bookstore will also have copies of The Letters.

What kind of work will I have to complete as part of the course?

During the course, you will do different types of work and complete several assignments.

You will complete four short written responses which will outline your views about Books 2-5 of The Lord of the Rings. The responses will be based on a set of questions about the books; not all responses will answer each question. These reponses will be worth 25% of your final grade.

You will write two essays: the first, due on February 23 (the first session after Reading Week) will be 1000 words long; the second, due at the end of the course, will be 1500 words long. These essays will be based on research which you will do as part of the course and will be in the standard form for university work: they will clearly communicate, analyze and summarize an idea, contain supporting evidence, and deal with potential objections. Footnotes and references will be required; grammar and spelling will count. The essay component of the course will count for 25% of your final grade.

You will be assigned to a small working group for the duration of the course. Each group will be responsible for collectively developing one presentation; each student in the group will be responsible for researching or leading one element of the presentation. Each group will be responsible for starting off the discussion period which follows another group's presentation. Presentation work will count for 30% of your final grade.

Since this is a seminar course -- a course in which a group of interested persons actively explores and engages with the course themes and topics -- all students are expected to attend the seminars, and to join in the class and in the on-line discussions. Participation will count for 20% of your final grade.

How can I enrol in the course?

General Information about the First Year Seminars and how to enrol in them can be found in the First Year Seminar Handbook and in the course enrolment instructions sent to you by the Faculty of Arts and Science as part of your admission information.

Important Note: Because this course has been designated as a "Woodsworth" first-year seminar, students from Woodsworth College will be given the first opportunity to enrol in it, i.e., they will have priority during the initial round of course enrolment. During the second round of enrolment, first-year students from other Colleges are welcome to enrol in the course.

If you have questions about how to enrol in your courses or about which courses you should consider taking, you should consult your College Registrar.

Where can I find more detailed information about the course?

During the first class session, you will be directed to a website where you will find a detailed course outline, fuller information about the assignments and the grading scheme, and a list of library and web-based resources for the course. The site will also provide a means for posting messages to the entire class, for postings between students in the same group, and for postings to the course instructor.

What should I do before the first class?

If you successfully enrol in the course, you should activate your UTORid and open a UTORMail account before the course begins. You will need to ensure that you have access to a web-browser so that you can use the course website and access materials on other websites. You should get copies of the books required for the course by the beginning of the first week of classes. Since we will spend the first part of the course discussing each book of the LOTR, you need not read (or re-read!) the entire trilogy before the course starts unless you wish to do so. We will consult The Silmarillion and The Letters in the second part of the course; you do not need to read them before the course begins.

Additional Questions

If you have questions which have not been covered in this FAQ list, you can post them to Course Instructor, Lord of the Rings. You should receive a reply within two days.

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