I also have an appreciation for the subject matter of the projects. I especially appreciate the videos related to the Silmarillion that were presented on Tuesday since they're directly relevant to the material we're reading currently. As I read The Fellowship of the Ring again, I feel like I'm getting much more out of the story than I did the first time I read it. I attribute this feeling to now being familiar with the ancient characters whose names are dropped everywhere and all the "historical" references that are mentioned in The Lord of the Rings. Being more aware of the history of Middle Earth and learning the significant stories of the Elder Days, like those of Beren and Lúthien, Eärendil, and Turin Turambar, makes reading The Lord of the Rings almost easier. Being in-the-know on who or what LOTR characters are referring to makes it easier to focus on the story instead of being lost in a sea of names and places you've never heard of. Essentially, despite the challenge of this group project, I can say with certainty that the results have improved my enjoyment of Tolkien's stories.
Friday, March 6, 2020
An Appreciation Post for the Multimedia Projects
Firstly, I want to give everyone a high five for finishing their multimedia projects and successfully producing really interesting, insightful, and oftentimes funny videos. As far as group projects go, this assignment was definitely not the easiest, but I would say after watching all the finished videos, the results were pretty darn impressive.
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I agree that I have gotten more out of the Fellowship than the first time I read it. I think that is in large part because I am no longer just trying to follow along with the plot, but I can start to understand more nuanced parts of the writing better. With a more complete vision of LOTR, I can also comprehend more of the interconnectedness of his writings as well, and notice important details that were seemingly insignificant before.
ReplyDeleteI very much agree with these sentiments. Starting with getting an understanding of the creation story and then more detail on the past of Middle-Earth with the presentations was extremely interesting and helpful for all that background I always felt lost on and never really paid attention to, too much, as they were asides from the main story. The past of Middle-Earth is extremely interesting and so well written, I feel like I was listening to lectures on history rather than stories.
ReplyDeleteWhat I found even more interesting, though, were the presentations on the stories and essays that have absolutely nothing to do with the Hobbit, the Lord of the Rings, or Middle-Earth. It gave further insight into a different Tolkien than one I’d previous known. Especially with the “Smith of Wootton Major” story. This story is an incredible addition to Tolkien’s essay “On Fairy-Stories,” and I kind of wish we’d have read them together, because everything Tolkien explains in his essay seems to be expressed in this story, and the essay would have been made much clearer reading it in conjunction with the story.
The other two were also an interesting look at Tolkien’s view on language and on a different point of view of war, from being told from an unconventional viewpoint.