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Angrist
06-24-2002, 04:52 PM
THE HOBBIT

by JRR Tolkien



Bookreport

made by Stephan Moed AKA Angrist


If a fellow student wants to read this book and asks you what it is about, how would you outline its contents?

'The Hobbit' is about a group Dwarfs, a Wizard and a Hobbit. A Hobbit is a creature, like a human, it's just a bit smaller, about 3 foot high. They live in a world with Humans, Elves, Dwarfs, Hobbits, Trolls, goblins, Dragons and other creatures. Bilbo, a Hobbit, lives in a village named Hobbiton a quiet life in his hobbit-hole. One day Gandalf, a Wizard, arrives at Bilbo's home. With him come thirteen Dwarfs. Gandalf wants Bilbo to go with them to regain the gold that the Dwarfs once lost to a Dragon. Much adventures will befall Bilbo, who wishes more than once that he was just at home in his nice hole by the fire.

What did the writer mean by this book?

The writer didn't write the book to teach us something, but to entertain us. He created his own world and tells one of the most important stories of it. You can learn much about the lives of hobbits, dwarfs, elves and men who live in Middle-Earth, which is helpful when you're going to read another one of his books.


Was there a character with whom you could identify? Who and why?

Bilbo was the one with whom I could best identify. That's because Bilbo starts the book in his own house, just like us, and the whole world is mostly new to him. On one hand Bilbo loves the adventures, on the other hand he is very glad when he is eventually back home again in one piece.


Was the world in the book entirely new and strange for you or was it familiar?

The world was mostly new to me, because I've never read a book of Tolkien before. I didn't know what Hobbits, Elves and Wizards were and all the cities and other places don't exist in reality. But otherwise, I knew what Orcs and some of the other creatures were because I've played a computer game with such creatures, so I knew something about it.


Select a passage that you particularly like and copy it. Explain your choice.

Pages 86 and 87. I like this part because I was very curious what would happen, Gollum is a strange creature, so it was a little bit exciting and a bit scary too, because Bilbo is alone with just that creature in a dark cave.


Which parts in the book did you find difficult to read? Is there anything you didn't understand? Explain your choice.

The prelude was the most difficult part, but even that wasn't too hard. This is the hardest part because it hasn't got a story, it's all a little bit abstract, so it is harder to guess what a word means. I can't really remember parts which I didn't understand at all. It is actually written as a childbook, so it's lots easier to read than for example "The Lord Of The Rings".

Find some of the emotional moments in the book. Select two such moments and explain what you felt.

Chapter 17 is all an emotional moment, it's the moment of The War Of Five Armies. It is very delightful to see that some characters come to help to kill goblins and Wargs, for example Beorn and the Eagles. Like I said, I felt delight.

The chapter after it, you'll read that Fili and Kili have died, and Thorin dies in that chapter too. They are three of the main Dwarfs. I felt pity and anger.

Angrist
06-24-2002, 04:52 PM
Find relevant information about the book and the writer.

J.R.R. Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, Orange Free State (South Africa) capital, on January 3rd in 1892. Three years later, his mother moved with him to Birmingham, city where his family lived. Tolkien was a great linguist, skill which showed up at an immature age (since when he was eight years old) time when he entertained himself creating new languages. He graduated in Oxford in 1915, he collaborated in the New English Dictionary right away, "the most important lexicon-graphical task ever made". Professor at University, he got his professorship at Leeds, philologist and lecturer, Tolkien's professional life was a continuous succession of titles, honours and important posts: Doctor Honoris Causa at some universities (Ireland National University, Oxford University), vice president at the Philological Society, member of the Royal Society of Literature... But popularly, all this seems to become of less importance due to his brilliant creations: The Hobbit, The Silmarillion, The Lord of the Rings, The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, Leaf by Niggle, Farmer Giles of Ham, Smith of Wootton Major, The Father Chrismas Letters, The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth. Tolkien died on September 2nd in 1973, when the Silmarillion hadn't been published yet, the first book he wrote, fact which didn't turn out not to make him universally renown.

"The Hobbit" is written by the famous British author J.R.R. Tolkien. Tolkien has written many novels and short-stories, but "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" are his most well known books. Few can deny that Tolkien is the "father" of modern fantasy literature. "The Hobbit" has sold over 35 million and "The Lord of the Rings" over 20 million copies.
"In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit" is the opening phrase in the book. The Hobbit is an action-packed adventure tale which takes place in the Middle Earth, a fantasy land greatly resembling our Earth during the Middle Ages. The tale is told in third person limited view. Tolkien gives insight into the thoughts and feelings of Bilbo Baggins, the hobbit.
Bilbo Baggins is the main character of this novel. He is most of the time backed by a crew of dwarves and the wizard Gandalf. He is short and fat, as most hobbits are. All hobbits are very hairy and usually walk barefoot to their many social gatherings. Gandalf is an extremely powerful white wizard who accompanies Bilbo through most of their quest. Gandalf is extremely random and unpredictable, making him very human-like. Thirteen dwarves also accompany Bilbo on his quest. The group picks up many friends on its journey. Among these are the Great Eagles, the humans, and the powerful Beorn.
Smaug, the dragon, is the main evil character in The Hobbit. Smaug is a very greedy and strong dragon who stole the dwarves' treasures while killing many of the ancient dwarves. Smaug lives upon his pile of gold and silver in the heart of the Lonely Mountain, and regards himself as being invincible.
The dwarves have to reach the Lonely Mountain, and then kill Smaug, to win back their gold, Almost immediately after starting their journey, the group runs into a small group of dangerous trolls. The trolls manage to capture all of the dwarves and Bilbo, but Gandalf's magic allows them to escape.
The groups’ trip to the Lonely Mountain is very dangerous. While sleeping in a cave one night, they are attacked by a band of goblins who lead them into the depths of the Misty Mountains. The dwarves manage to escape. Bilbo, through the funny but evil Gollum, gets hold of a ring that can turn its wearer invisible. With this ring he escapes, and later meets up with his group.
After even more dangers Gandalf, Bilbo and the dwarves reach Mirkwood. A thin path winds its way through the scary forest. Mirkwood in itself is a very dangerous place where deadly, huge spiders and many other creatures roam freely. The spiders are very irritable and not very smart. The spiders capture all of the dwarves, but Bilbo manages to escape by using the magic ring. Then Bilbo kills many spiders before freeing his friends. When approaching the eastern edge of Mirkwood, the dwarves are captured again, this time by the woodland elves. Bilbo, with the help of his ring, once more frees the dwarves and sends them floating down the Forest River in large barrels to the small human lake-town of Esgaroth. From Esgaroth there’s still a long way to the Lonely Mountain, and the treasure.
The Hobbit is an adventure book that suits mature readers. Children can of course read it, but you have to be older to fully appreciate the book. I found "The Hobbit" entertaining and exciting. Tolkien is a great writer who describes the environment and the characters in an interesting, amusing and credible way. If you want to know the whole story I will recommend reading the book. If you haven’t already read it, you can look forward to getting acquainted with the great world of Bilbo Baggins.

Have an interview with one of the main characters of the book. You must discuss information from the book in your interview.

R:Reporter
B: Bible

R: Good morning, Bilbo. How are you? I guess you're glad to be home at last ?
B: Yes of course, my dear sir. And how are you?
R: Eh, good, but that doesn't matter now. I'd like to talk about you and your adventure with the Dwarfs and old Gandalf. How long have you been away?
B: More than a year.
R: And I suppose you were very glad when you heard the Dragon was slain?
B: Sure, wouldn't you? Don't you have any intelligent questions?
R: Hmm, well, were there any moment when you almost faced you're dead?
B: Of course, with those close encounters with goblins and Trolls, it was often very dangerous.
R: I heard you gained some money too, didn't you?
B: Yes, quite a lot, but most of it I gave to the men of Lake Town, so they could rebuild their city which was mostly destroyed by Smaug.
R: Oh, ehr, who was Smaug again?
B: Next time do your homework. Smaug was the Dragon. How long exactly have you been doing this work?
R: Ehr, almost a year, I think.
B: And do you like your work?
R: Yes, but some say I'm not very good at it.
B: I wonder why, don't you?
R: Ehh, sure. But who exactly is asking the questions here?
B: Doesn't matter either, I must go now.
R: Oh, well thank you for this interview.



Find one of more poems which match the story. Motivate your choice.

Three rings for the Elven-kings under the sky
Seven for the dwarf-lords in their halls of stone.
Nine for the mortal men doomed to die.
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the land of Mordor where the shadows lie.
One ring to rule them all. One ring to find them.
One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.
In the land of Mordor where the shadows lie.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.


source: 'The Lord Of The Rings'

I chose this poems because they are two of the most important poems from the world Bilbo is living in. The first one is about the magic Rings of which Bilbo has one. The second one is about the sword inherited by Aragorn, who ********** ****** ****.

GameKinG
06-24-2002, 05:17 PM
I read that book last year.

Angrist
06-24-2002, 05:30 PM
It's great! :D

Hey, I can get my custom rank!!! :D:D

Shadow_Link
06-26-2002, 01:42 PM
I think you head over to the Treasure Trove to get your custom rank :D.

Revival
06-26-2002, 04:18 PM
Yes, go over to the Treasure Trove forum.

Oh yeah, almost forgot: :D

Angrist
06-27-2002, 08:56 AM
I did I did! But it seems that Neo is extremely lazy... :)

BlueFire
06-27-2002, 11:19 AM
Yeah, I also had to do a book report on The Hobbit for Literature in 8th grade. I got 100 for it but I don't think it's that good. :unsure: