Posted: April 27, 2000 at 15:12:15: by Finduilas
: : I was reading The messages posted on when/how/why Tolkien's works should/should not be put into the Literary Canon, and as I was reading these numerous posts a few things came to mind.: : Is it really beneficial to have work put into a Canon so that it is taught all over the world in Schools and tertiary institutions? It may not be, because it takes the "love" out of reading a work, and forces people to read it for the grades. I've seen hundreds of people (and some here, apparantly) who hate the works of such authors as Shakespeare, Milton, Donne, Chaucer etc. because they were forced into reading them at school/university and so, as a consequence, never got the full meaning/potential out of their great works. : : Sure, a work being put into a Canon will ensure that it survives and is taught years (and even centuries) down the line, but is it worth it? I dread the day when I hear a school kid saying: "I hate Tolkien; It's so boring, and that teacher that teaches it...she's such a retard!" : : That's about it from me, any thoughts? : IMHO, the danger is not from an academic study of the works, but from instructors being unable to choose their own curricula and consequently doing an uninspired job on a work that they do not appreciate. On the other hand, when an instructor can select what he teaches, he is more likely to inspire greater understanding in his students. I was introduced to Tolkien at the age of 11, when "The Hobbit" was a required text selected by one of my teachers. She obviously loved the book, and that enthusiasm carried over to her students. Likewise, I took an excellent course on Tolkien in college. I can see the point of this worry, as my cousin had to read the Hobbit for school a couple of years ago. She didn't care for it one bit, and won't go near the better stuff in the LOTR or Silm. Whatever teacher was teaching when she read the Hobbit must have done a really abysmal job since all she remembers of the book is "something about the characters living in trees".
She insists it wasn't the LOTR they read either. Still, a good teacher could do amazing things with it (especially if they did something like the Bard on the Beach group around here (Shakespeare group)
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