Approaches to Teaching Tolkien's 'The Lord of the Rings' and Other Works by Leslie A. Donovan

Abstract

Reviewed by: Approaches to Teaching Tolkien's 'The Lord of the Rings' and Other Works by Leslie A. Donovan Jennifer E. Nicholson Donovan, Leslie A., ed., Approaches to Teaching Tolkien's 'The Lord of the Rings' and Other Works (Approaches to Teaching World Literature), New York, MLA, 2015; paperback; pp. xiv, 284; R.R.P. US $24.00; ISBN 9781603292061. Leslie A. Donovan's collection is refreshing for both those familiar with and new to medievalist and philologist J. R. R. Tolkien. Her detailed consideration of Tolkien's background in Part 1 of this collection notably frames how the contributors discuss both his fiction and non-fiction. Donovan sets up a clear framework for the reader in her preface, and then in her outlines of Tolkien's context and publication history, followed by an extensive collection of teaching resources available for instructing students. Part 2 begins with a brief essay from Donovan, followed by twenty-nine chapters from other contributors, outlining a myriad of ways that Tolkien's work is built into their teaching both within and beyond literary studies. Many of the teaching resources outlined in the first part of the collection are referred to in Part 2, and so are a helpful foundation for the reader. Part 2 is also divided into subsections, on textual controversy, context, the past, the contemporary, interdisciplinary study, and teaching strategies, responding to surveys of Tolkien educators. Overall this volume's material allows for varied approaches to teaching his œuvre, and proposes within an admirable scope to present Tolkien's work as a contender for strong tertiary instruction within and beyond literary studies. Part 2 guides the prospective Tolkien instructor through different ideas. Craig Franson and James NcNelis both consider how the cultural appeal of The Lord of the Rings affects their teaching, and examine its critical reception and literary afterlives in their instruction. Franson's often-varied classroom dynamic of students who know or do not know Tolkien's work well allows him to guide students in 'turning a critical lens on reading conflicts […] [to] prompt illuminating discussion' (p. 42). McNelis comments that students' responses to 'professional scholarly criticism' strengthens and develops their argumentative foundation skills(p. 49). This idea of scholarship to support particularly junior students in their argumentative style extends throughout the next subsection. Verlyn Flieger teaches her students to grapple with both sides of Tolkien's narrative resolutions through the idea of eucatastrophe, and emphasizes that 'studying Tolkien results not in right or wrong answers but in understanding how he expressed his [views]' (p. 55). Yvette Kisor's chapter notably includes detailed tabulation of possible relationships between Tolkien's major and minor works, and the use of this information in setting student assignments (pp. 78–81). Later on, Melissa Ridley Elmes describes prompting her students by the end of the course to decide [End Page 163] and argue whether Rings can be counted as an epic, with due deference to both Tolkien's own aversion to seeing his work as allegory, and to the similarities and differences available between figures like Achilles and Aragorn. Many chapters throughout focus on students' grasp of argumentation, particularly because several of them discuss classes aimed at early college years. This can make some of the overviews seem less detailed, but many contributors also acknowledge ways in which their course can be altered for honours or graduate students too. Thomas L. Martin, for example, notes how the final 'surprise' in his course is to make use of the previous assessment tasks to write annotated bibliographies, abstracts, and even papers for graduate conferences or publications(p. 143). In addition to rhetoric, many of the contributors draw on the medieval texts and English historical records that influenced Tolkien's fictional and non-fictional work. As such, many chapters are still firmly in the realm of literary studies. Some also discuss aspects of Tolkien's mythology in detail, including those by Jane Chance, Leslie Stratyner, and Philip Irving Mitchell. The final two subsections successfully shift the collection's focus to beyond the humanities. Notable chapters from the subsection focused on interdisciplinary Tolkien studies are science-based examples by Kristine Larsen and Justin Edward Everett. However, some chapters...