Literature: The Hobbit Banquet
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien became a hero of mine approximately
twenty pages into the first book of Lord of the Rings, a trilogy. As engaging
a book as any I have ever read, I contemplated writing something of a similar
nature many times, only to realize that Tolkien is Tolkien and everyone
since an imitator. In 1969, my cousin, Andrew, and I stopped outside Tolkien's
home in Oxford on a warm August evening, ready to pay fealty to the master
but, alas!, he was not home. Given my love for hobbits and elves and fear
of the Nazgul, perhaps it was inevitable that I introduced these wonders
of fantasy to my own students.
The genre of fantasy, which essentially begins with Lord
of the Rings, is a goldmine for book publishers and any bookstore worth
its weight in literature these days has a large section of books which
fall into this category; indeed, it is not unusual to see fantasy titles
in the top five of the NY Times bestseller list. There are numerous authors
and titles which can be introduced to students at the same time as The
Hobbit; in particular, The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. Lewis was
a contemporary of Tolkien's and they were both members of the Inkwells,
a literary group which met regularly in an Oxford pub.
Lord of the Rings begins with a farewell banquet that
Bilbo Baggins, star of Tolkien's earlier novel, The Hobbit, holds in honour
of himself. He is, in fact, on his way to Rivendell to spend his remaining
days with the elves, eating and drinking and telling stories and songs
to his heart's content. Although I have actually used the full trilogy
as a year long literary journey with an advanced grade six level class,
this lesson plan is geared toward The Hobbit, a much shorter book and one
which Tolkien intended from the outset to be for children. The book meets
or satisfies all criteria which you would expect in an elementary setting
and is primarily aimed at students in grades 6 and 7, although grade 8's
can easily get into the spirit as well. The idea of the banquet is moved
for our purposes into our study of The Hobbit.
There are numerous tasks in this lesson plan which involve
the teacher, students, and parents. Tasks can be omitted or redefined in
terms of their expected outcomes. For maximum value, plan on three months
for the complete plan.
Sources:
- The Hobbit - paperback text - student copies
- The Hobbit - illustrated text - library copy
- The Hobbit - animated video - rental or library copy
- The Hobbit - spoken word tapes - purchase or library
copy.
Tasks:
Reading
- reading the novel chapter-by-chapter utilizing the sources
to fulfill needs in oral reading, listening skills, multimedia presentation,
and close reading.
Visual Arts
- students illustrate Bilbo Baggin's journey on a large
map.
- student create their own illustrations of characters
and settings.
- students complete short research assignments on: elves/dwarves
and other characters in folklore and cultural mythologies; dragons.
- students examine qualities in the characters: bravery,
foolhardiness, honesty.
- students discover the nature of a Quest and discover
examples of modern and historical equivalents in fiction and non-fiction.
- students explore the connection between song and folklore.
- students explore the connection between cognomens in
the novel and Icelandic lore. (Note: Tolkien was a philologist who worked
on the Oxford Dictionary and was particuarly conversant with Icelandic,
wherein he devolved many of his names of characters and places in his work).
Projects
- students record on audio tape their own favourite scenes.
- students become characters in the novel and go on a "chat"
show.
- student record stop action or "claymation"
video of a scene.
- students design the clothing/fashions of the characters.
The Hobbit Banquet
Essentially, everything has been leading to this. The
banquet entails all students selecting the name of a character out of a
hat and then preparing: (a) their character's costume; (b) reviewing their
character's speech patterns and actions during the course of the novel;
(c) creating their contribution to the banquet, ie. a foodstuff related
to the novel. (Note: our banquet was conceived in light of Lord of the
Rings and took advantage of numerous foods mentioned; for example, lembas.
Teachers familiar with Lord of the Rings could make their students aware
of these items.)
The Banquet should be conducted completely in character,
so it's a good idea to have nametags for all. In addition, each character
should prepare a short poem or speech by way of introduction of themselves
at the beginning of the banquet. Other characters might respond with "Your
presence is welcomed" at the end of each introduction. Bilbo, of course,
would act as the host. At the conclusion of the banquet, each character
is allowed to propose a toast to the assembly, stating what he or she has
learned from the experience. It's a good idea to have lots of Orc's Blood
(red Kool-Aid) on hand for these toasts!) Parental assistance (in costume,
of course!) is a welcome addition to the proceedings! Enjoy!
Written by:
David Boyd
