This thesis names the Oxford School of children’s fantasy literature as arising from the educational milieu of the University of Oxford’s English School during the mid-twentieth century. It argues that J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis lay the foundations for the children’s fantasy genre by introducing an English curriculum at Oxford in 1931 (first examined 1933) that required extensive study in medieval literature, and by modelling the use of medieval source material in their own popular children’s fantasy works. The Oxford School’s creative use of its sources produces medieval ‘afterlives,’ lending the Middle Ages new relevance in popular culture. This research directly compares medieval literature to children’s fantasy works by Tolkien, Lewis, and four other Oxford-educated children’s fantasy authors in order to reveal the genre’s debt to actual medieval texts and to the Oxford English syllabus in particular. The four authors are Susan Cooper, Kevin Crossley-Holland, Diana Wynne Jones, and Philip Pullman. This thesis situates the tendencies of medievalised children’s fantasy in relation to Lewis and Tolkien’s personal and scholarly convictions about the patriotic, moral, and aesthetic qualities of medieval literature and folklore. Building on the theories of Michel de Certeau, this thesis demonstrates how Oxford School fantasy produces new mythologies for England and argues that, as children’s literature, these works have an implicit didactic function that echoes that of the English School curriculum. This thesis traces the attempts of some Oxford School authors to navigate or explode generic conventions by drawing upon new source material, and contends that the structures and hierarchies that underpin the genre reassert themselves even in texts that set out to refute them. It suggests that such returns to the norm can produce pleasure and invite diverse reading, growing out of the intertextual associations of each new rewriting.

In an attempt to better understand writing as process, this thesis blends textual genetics with observations from the holograph manuscripts of J.R.R. Tolkien’s first chapter of The Lord of the Rings. Tracking his revisions demonstrates complex revision techniques that can inform composition theory—especially revision studies. Discussed are revision terms and their applications, several of Tolkien’s revisions and their significance, and textual genetics as a lens to better understand an author’s motivations and influences. Some largely uncharted territory for composition studies is explored through examining Tolkien’s unique and multifaceted use of visual images to aid his writing process. In addition, Tolkien’s novels were part of an ecosystem which influenced his view of the fantasy genre and vice versa. All of these observations have profound implications for understanding the development of a text and for teaching writing.

The purpose of this thesis is to introduce the so far ignored topic of fictional languages in literature. In the first part it focuses mainly on the function of the fictional languages in the literary works, and analyses the basic options of the fictional languages classification, based on whether they can be labeled as an independent work of art, as an autonomous part of a work, or as an instrument of the aesthetic function in the work. Furthermore, it divides the fictional languages in accordance to the way in which they take effect, either through the expression-form, through the expression- substance, through the content-form, or through the content-substance, taking the terminology from the Louis Hjelmslev's sign model. The second part consists of the analysis of the cases of fictional language usage in prose; these usages are grouped into three divisions. Languages, which help to create an invented world (and eventually add up to its authenticity), are represented by J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional languages. The dystopian languages include Newspeak from the novel Nineteen Eighty Four by George Orwell, ptydepe and chorukor from the play The Memorandum by V. Havel, and "Moon Czech" from the prose The True Excursion of Mr. Brouček to the Moon by S. Čech. Fictional languages related to philosophy are...

The thesis deals with the issue of non-native language instruction of content subjects in a Czech secondary education environment. This topic is viewed upon through the prism of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL). The theoretical part discusses the learners' competences as defined by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, Krashen's Monitor Model theory, Interactive Hypothesis, Constructivism and Participatory Learning Theory and finally Vygotsky's theoretical concepts. The question is raised whether or not such an approach is feasible to be used in ordinary educational settings; which is addressed in the analytical part, which examines a CLIL project that was run. While discussing World War One, it combined the instruction of English and History. Consequently, the evaluation part of this thesis argues that CLIL is feasible, as it promotes the learners' competences and the whole set of their intelligences.

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Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T19:20:24Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Diego Genu Klautau.pdf: 2090633 bytes, checksum: 3a7221f8ba6f9313a117c14e58237be2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-10-31 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This thesis is a systematic exposition of the theory of the education existent in the production of J.R.R Tolkien, that we call of Mythopoetic Paideia. From a phenomenological hermeneutics of its works of philological medieval poem analysis, of its theoretical assay on literature, its mythopoetics novels and its personal letters, we systemize a theory of the composed education of clear concepts of subject, object and method. In this theory, there is an anthropology that dialogues with the philosophical tradition Greek, the patristic and the scholastic, and that it is harmonic with the phenomenology of century XX; in the same way, the basic object is the sacred, understood as category of sciences of the religion, in historical and noetic key, that if express through the sacred narratives, either in the forms of the alive myth, either in the forms of the mythical reminiscences of the epic poetry or the modern romances of fancy. The method is the myth manufacture as form of meditation of the reading of texts of religious traditions, as well as the dialogic sharing with a group, that culminates in the publication of the manufactured workmanship. Thus, the subject that is open to the experience of the totality of the Being through the hierofania through poetical or literary narrative, through a method that integrates tradition, communion, creativity and work, makes acquaintance with the founding object of the conscience and the culture: the sacred / Esta tese é uma exposição sistemática da teoria da educação presente na produção de J.R.R. Tolkien, que denominamos de Paideia Mitopoética. A partir de uma hermenêutica fenomenológica de seus trabalhos de análise filológica de poemas medievais, de seu ensaio teórico sobre literatura, de seus romances mitopoéticos e de suas cartas pessoais, sistematizamos uma teoria da educação composta de conceitos claros de sujeito, objeto e método. Nessa teoria, existe uma antropologia que dialoga com a tradição filosófica grega, com a patrística e com a escolástica, e que é harmônica com a fenomenologia do século XX; da mesma forma, o objeto fundamental é o sagrado, entendido como categoria das ciências da religião, em chave histórica e noética, que se expressa através das narrativas sagradas, seja nas formas do mito vivo, seja nas formas das reminiscências míticas da poesia épica ou dos romances de fantasia modernos. O método é a fabricação de mitos como forma de meditação da leitura de textos de tradições religiosas, assim como o compartilhamento dialógico com um grupo, que culmina na publicação da obra fabricada. Assim, o sujeito aberto à experiência da totalidade do Ser através da hierofania via narrativa poética ou literária, através de um método que integra tradição, comunhão, criatividade e trabalho, se relaciona com o objeto fundador da consciência e da cultura: o sagrado

The thesis focuses on the comparative analysis of Tolkien's novel The Hobbit, or There and Back Again (1937) and two works which significantly influenced him: George MacDonald's Princess and the Goblin (1872) and Edith Nesbit's Enchanted Castle (1907). The first part of the thesis chronologically describes the development of English children's fantasy literature. The above-mentioned authors are characterized from the perspective of their life and work. The second and the main part focuses on the comparison of the discussed works, especially on the comparison of fantastic elements such as fairy-tale characters, a journey to the unknown, a fight against evil, magical objects and magic space (the castle, the forest, the abandoned landscape). This interpretation is based on Tolkien's concept of fairy tales and fantasy and Propp's analysis of fairy tales.

abstract: The study of genre literature in general, and fantasy or fairy tale literature in particular, by its very nature, falls outside the normal course of literary theory. This paper evaluates various approaches taken to create a framework within which scholarly research and evaluation of these types of genre literature might occur. This is done applying Secondary World theory to better-established literary foci, such as psychological analysis and monster theory while still respecting the premises posited in traditional literary inquiry. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis English 2019

Most critics of The Lord of the Rings correlate Tolkien's work to ancient texts, like Beowulf, the Elder Edda, and medieval romances. While the connection between these traditional materials and Tolkien is valid, it neglects a key feature of Tolkien's work and one of the author's desires, which was to fashion a sort of history that felt as real as any other old story. Moreover, it glosses over the rather obvious point that Tolkien is writing a novel, or at any rate a long work of prose fiction that owes a good deal to the novel tradition. Therefore, through careful attention to the formal textures of Tolkien's work, melding together both genre criticism and formal analysis (and with a sound understanding of literary history), I argue that Tolkien's work follows a more modern vein and aligns with the nineteenth-century historical novel, the genre pioneered by Sir Walter Scott. The projects of Tolkien and Scott parallel one another in many respects that deserve critical attention. This essay begins the discussion by addressing just one, somewhat surprising, point of comparison: the writers' use of poetry. I observe that Tolkien and Scott utilized poetry in similar ways, and I parse the poems into three distinct categories: low culture poems, high culture poems, and poems which straddle the divide between the two. All of this demonstrates how each piece of poetry, written in an antique style, saturates the texts with historic atmosphere and depth. This lends a sense of authenticity and realism to Scott's works, and later it buttresses Tolkien's attempts to foster "the dust of history" and create an illusion of authenticity and realism for Middle Earth's (imaginary) past.

This thesis argues for the power of story and, in particular, the story of The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien to help build optimism and hope. The Hobbit is under-used in primary schools and this thesis demonstrates that it is eminently suitable for children. Without imagination children are vulnerable to sadness and despair. The positive development of imagination through heroic tales is likely to benefit children emotionally and psychologically. The story of The Hobbit can be utilised to develop the concept of the Hero's Journey, a persistent trope in oral and recorded literature and an archetype for virtually all human experience. In addition, the thesis shows that critical thinking skills and multiple intelligences can be developed through the use of The Hobbit. Depression in young people is now recognised as a serious public health problem in Australia. Research supports the view that children need optimism. This thesis discusses statistics regarding the increased prevalence of childhood depression and aggression as well as alarming youth suicide reports. The inquiry by the Victorian Parliament into the effects of television violence on children is examined and the scholarly works of Neil Postman, inter alia, are discussed to establish the overall pattern of positive association between television violence and aggression in children. Furthermore, the contention that many contemporary realistic texts do little to promote hopefulness in the young is supported with the opinions of scholars who are respected in the field of children’s literature. Tolkien was a devout Catholic but, even more importantly, he was able to restate traditional values through his imaginative works of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. This has relevance for Catholic educators who strive to relate Gospel values to popular culture. Christian education must extend imagination beyond morality to help young people to find meaning and purpose in their lives. Through the use of The Hobbit and other books of this kind, children can begin to learn not to fear change, failure or setbacks but to see them as important challenges and opportunities for personal growth. This thesis argues for the likely value of a continuum of this type of learning that begins in early childhood, in order to provide a