Course Vision
In this course we will develop critical approaches in writing and discussion to modern fantasy literature as exemplified by J.R.R, Tolkien and his British literary circle the Inklings including especially C.S. Lewis, including also the writings of a popular "next generation" American fantasy writer, Madeline L'Engle, who was influenced by the Inklings. The medievalist and Tolkienologist Tom Shippey of St. Louis Universiity has called fantasy literature the prime genre of twentieth-century English literature. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings has been estimated to be the best-selling work in the twentieth century after the Bible, and it was declared the best book of the century in British readers' polls at the turn of our millennium. In the process we will strive to understand psychological, spiritual and/or therapeutic functions of fantasy for human beings.Course Mission and Goals
To develop authorial, social, and reader-reception contexts for Tolkien's pioneering and definitive working out of the fantasy genre in The Lord of the Rings, including our own personal reception of them, and to develop an understanding of them in relation to his medieval sources and modernistic concerns, as well as his Christian faith and philosophies of language, imagination and narrative. To conduct professional scholarship (through research, writing and discussion) into his fantasy narratives, and those of his writing and drinking buddy C.S. Lewis as well as Madeline L'Engle as a "next generation" successful woman fantasy writer. To hone writing craftsmanship in terms of formulating analytical theses, shaping cohesive essay structures linking thesis and topic sentences with the conclusion, clarifying writing style and developing publishable works based on original research.