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Summer Reading List for Summer 2010
By JRR Tolkien
By Agatha Christie
Study Guide for The Hobbit
The Hobbit Bilbo Baggins the Hobbit was just minding his own business when his occasional visitor Gandalf the Wizard drops in one night. One by one, a group of dwarves drops in, and before he knows it, Bilbo has joined their quest to reclaim their kingdom, taken from them by an evil dragon named Smaug. The only problem is that Gandalf has told the dwarves that Bilbo is an expert burglar, but he isn't....
The Hero's Journey in The Hobbit The monomyth (often referred to as the Hero's Journey) is the journey undertaken by the standard mythological hero, as described by Joseph Campbell in his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1948). The idea of the monomyth is: A hero ventures forth from the world he knows into a region of marvels and wonder. While there, he comes in contact with "fabulous forces” and wins a victory over them. The hero comes back from his mysterious adventure with new powers.
This basic story, which Joseph Campbell claimed literally every hero story uses, can be found in contemporary mythology as well. The pattern was followed by George Lucas in the original Star Wars trilogy (and followed more loosely in the prequel trilogy.) Other examples of the monomyth cycle are Disney's The Lion King in 1994 and the Wachowski brothers' The Matrix in the 2000s. The Harry Potter series uses a monomyth structure for each installment, and many contemporary Hollywood superhero films more or less take on the general form.
The Hero’s Journey has three main parts: Departure, Initiation, and Return.
1. Departure The Hero in the story starts out as a “regular guy” who receives “The Call to Adventure” which – in most stories – he tries to NOT answer, refusing to begin the quest. Usually the hero has a guide (often a magical helper).
He or she then begins the journey (the stage is called “The Crossing of the First Threshold”). This is the point where the person leaves the known limits of his or her world and ventures into a danger zone where everything is new and unknown.
2. Inititation Along the way, the Hero undergoes a series of tests, tasks, or ordeals which he or she must experience to begin the transformation. Often the person fails one or more of these tests, which often occur in threes. As the journey continues, usually at the climax of the book, the hero experiences “Apotheosis.” This is a Greek word which means to be lifted up and to become god-like. Whatever form this takes, he or she has completed the transformation from “regular guy” to a true hero. Soon the hero is able to use the new hero status to achieve the goal of the quest.
3. Return So why, when all has been achieved, come back to normal life with all its cares and woes? Because, once he or she gets home, the Hero can live in both the regular world and the world of the adventure.
Exercise: Think about the Greek and Roman or African or Norse or Native American myths you know (like Hercules, The Trojan War, etc.) as well as books, films, comics, video games. Make a list of the similarities to the Hero’s Journey in at least FIVE different stories. Think about what elements of The Hobbit follow the Hero’s Journey. Is starting High School like the “Departure” stage of the Monomyth?
Study Guide for The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd The facts are simple, on the surface: Mrs. Ferrars, a wealthy widow living in the village of King's Abbot, was found dead in her bed on a Thursday night, the victim of an overdose of veronal. There are rumors that she murdered her first husband and was being blackmailed. The following evening Roger Ackroyd, a widower who everyone thought would marry Mrs. Ferrars, was murdered in the study of his home, Fernly Glen. The two deaths are related, and thereby hangs the tale.
First-person Narration in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd In The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Agatha Christie uses “First-person Narration.” First-person Narrative is a literary technique in which the story is told (narrated) by one of the characters, who refers to him or herself in the first person, that is, "I."
The narrator is somehow involved in the story being told. A strength of first-person narrative is that the character may also express feelings, thoughts, and experiences, and may reveal him or herself; therefore, the reader usually gains keen insight into the life of the narrator. First-person point of view can also be used to withhold information from the reader, particularly information not available to the narrator or that he or she wishes to keep hidden. As you read The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, notice what you learn about Dr. James Sheppard, the narrator of the novel, from what he tells the reader about himself, what he does and says, and what others say about him.
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