Can children appreciate The Lord of the Rings?

[Rosie Posie Burrows]

I don't like it either when we analyse literature too much in school- especially when we're reading it for the first time. Shakespeare's the worst. I'm just trying to enjoy the play and see the deeper meaning of it at the same time, but we're made to analyse every little phrase, underline words we don't know the exact meaning of, blah blah blah. What does it matter, as long as we get the basic gist of the sentence? That's not seeing a deeper meaning, that's picking it apart bit by bit until the enjoyment is lost.
Depends which English teacher really… the one I've got at the moment only does it occasionally so she's alright.
Actually what I really find annoying is poetry work. Being asked to find the meaning of the symbolism in such and such line. I rarely have a clue! Why can't poets just tell it like it is, instead of giving us all this hard work? [img]smilies/frown.gif[/img]