Using School as an Excuse to Study Tolkien

[Brinniel]

The topic says it all. Maybe your teachers haven't taught you Tolkien specifically, but have you ever worked around that to learn more about him and his works? For example, have you ever used one of Tolkien's books for a book report? A research project?

Back in my sophmore year, my Accelerated English teacher had my class pick a book of choice to read and then do a major project on it. Basically the project involved creating our own cliff notes. My obvious choice was a Tolkien book: The Return of the King. It was a lengthy project that included:

1) A brief analysis of all the characters (there's 51 in RotK, btw)

2) A summary of every chapter

3) A biography of the author

4) An essay on characters or places from the book (I chose to write about the Southrons and Easterlings)

5) A list and description of ten recommended websites (I included the BD of course)

6) A list of fifteen discussion questions with answers

Though the project took a lot of time and effort, it was definitely one of the most enjoyable projects for school I have ever done. Not only did I get to research an area of my interest, but I also learned much more about Tolkien and his writing. Not to mention, I got a high A on the project, so according to my teacher (who is also a LotR fan), I really do know my Tolkien.

So my question for all you current and former students is, have you ever used school as an excuse to research and learn more about Tolkien and his books?