[Luthien_ Tinuviel]

Wow, you're in eighth grade? Me too. But I'm out of school now. Yeah! I first read it in grade 5, and I loved it, but I couldn't make much sense of it, and I didn't remember much of it. When I read it again last summer, it made a lot more sense, but it's still pretty confusing at times, especially remembering what Finarifn did as opposed to Finrod and Finwe and Feanor and Fingolfin and Fingon and....
Anyway, I'm not quite sure about the themes of the Silm. You're sure us helping you wouldn't be considered cheating? [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img] [img]smilies/tongue.gif[/img] Ummmm... Christians like me might notice some (okay, a lot) of Christian values, etc. in the Silmarillion (in all of Tolkien's works, really). Maybe it's because Tolkien himself was a Christian [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img] [img]smilies/tongue.gif[/img] . Uh, let's see, as to themes or motifs (don't ask me about the difference, because I don't know), there;s true love in Beren and Luthien, there's the classic Scandinavian tale of doom, gloom, and woe (Turin and co.), of course the victory of Good and the ultimate defeat of Evil, the corruptability of Mankind, honor and glory and all of those types of things, and you might even say that elves represent the ideal Mankind, perhaps an uncorrupted Man before the Fall. There, that should at least get you started, and have fun with your book reporrt! Good luck! [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]