Hobbit-Response+Bersch



~ Great pages! ~Mrs. Best Hobbit Question 1 March 2, 2011

Choose one conflict in The Hobbit, and explain how Tolkien uses it to move the story forward. Don't forget to cite page number when appropriate.

March 3, 2011
In the story, Bilbo and all the characters have many choices to make. What would you do in this situation? First, Tolkien, the author, starts out the story with Bilbo having the choice of whether to go or not to go on this journey. This was a very risky choice because he may never return and the outcome could be good, or it could just be death from the fire of Smaug. In chapter two, Bilbo quickly rushes out of his house to run to join the group and had not finished his second breakfast. In the whole journey so far, Bilbo seems very discouraged since he does not have his creature comforts, especially a large sum of food to eat whenever he desires. Farther into the book, in chapters three, four, and five, the author increases the pace of the story. The author challenges the dwarves with many struggles. Some struggles are the trolls and having to fight away the trolls, where they were very lucky for the trolls to turn to stone at sunrise, and the rain. The rain caused them to stray off their path and go into a cave, a short looking, but truly longer cave they found out. The goblins soon face them, first stealing their horses through the cracks, and then carrying the dwarves and hobbit into the cave where the great Goblin sits. It is there that he demands to know what they are doing. Luckily, Gandolf cleaved the great Goblin in half saving them again against the fires of death. Bilbo saves himself one more time when he slips on the ring quickly, to make him invisible, right before Gollum chases him, probably resulting in death. All of these events move the story along adding rising action (lit book) to the story and enticing you to keep reading since there are scary parts that you want to read until that part is over. These all challenge the life of the characters, which encourages the reader to read the book and keeps moving the story forward. In chapters one through five so far, this book has picked up pace significantly and Biblo, along with the dwarves, has been very lucky keeping some-what happy and hardly squeezing their way out of death. This does not answer the question for me, Peter. It sounds like a summary, and I am not looking for a summary. I want you to name ONE conflict. Tell me what kind of literary conflict it is. Describe it and explain how it makes the reader want to read on. Please adjust this answer between this comment and your next response in order to receive credit. Thanks. ~Mrs. Best

Character Against Character

I think in the hobbit, the reader kept wanting to read during the time when Gollum and Bilbo were giving each other riddles. This was a very interesting part, that kept me wanting to read because if Gollum won, he would eat Bilbo, and if Bilbo won, he would get shown out of the mountain by Gollum. I thought about each riddle and what would I have done if I was trying to go back and forth with Gollum and not getting eaten. I was very scared of whether the venture would turn bad since they might be left with only thirteen people…a bad number. I think that this was a great conflict that Tolkien put into the book and kept me wanting to read! ~This is much more to the point. Thanks for rewriting this. ~Mrs. Best

Hobbit Question 2 March 4, 2011 In your own words, describe what happens next after Bilbo and the dwarves arrive in the forest.

The dwarves and Bilbo enter the forest expecting to have a safe place to rest. They find the exact opposite; when they hear the howling of the wolves. They all scurry up into the trees when what they thought was a pack of wolves, but really Wargs come out. The Wargs cannot climb trees and the dwarves and Bilbo think they are safe. The Wargs are friends of the goblins, and quickly start to have goblins arrive at the scene. They were all meeting there to prepare for a great raid. The goblins start to light fires under the trees that the group is hiding in. Gandalf was extremely scared, gathered some pinecones, lit them with bright blue fire, and threw them at the Wargs. The Warps were on fire and were yammering because they hate fire. The Lord of the Eagles saw this commotion from up above in his nest, and went down to see what was happening. The eagles like the dwarves and Gandalf because they once did a good act for an eagle. The fire was quickly coming up the tree, but the eagles came and rescued the dwarves and Bilbo by sweeping them away to safety. The eagles fed them and helped them along their journey. The dwarves and Bilbo were lucky to have the eagles, or they would not be alive! ~So what good act did someone do for one of the eagles? This was a pretty noteworthy point that cements their friendship. ~Mrs. Best

March 20, 2011

When Gandolf first visits Bilbo, looking for someone to share in an adventure, Bilbo tells Gandalf that hobbits are

"...plain quiet folk and have no use for adventures. Nasty disturbing uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner! I can't think what anybody sees in them "(7).

The dwarves are not quite sure that Bilbo will be able to handle the adventures at all, and Bilbo himself wonders how he found himself at The Green Dragon Inn, riding a pony away from Hobbiton. But now, Bilbo has become the unspoken leader of the party. Without Bilbo, the dwarves would never have made it to Lonely Mountain.

Is an adventure something that happens to us or how we react to what happens? Often in life, adventures are not as obvious as killing giant spiders or escaping from an Elven king's dungeon. Sometimes adventures are made out of ordinary days and ordinary events, with ordinary people who become the heroes. You may not even realize you've been in an adventure until after it's over!

Think about the times you have learned a new skill, moved, changed schools, competed in sports, welcomed a new pet, discovered a new friend, performed in front of an audience, or had a terrifying fall. These events are adventures in process. Have you grown or changed from your experience with any of these situations, as Bilbo grew and changed  because of his adventure with the dwarves? Recall a time when something happened to cause you to grow and change in a positive way. Respond on your wiki page.

March 23, 2011 In my opinion, I think an adventure is how we react to what happens. If we knew what the adventure was going to be, we would not have the adventure, since we would expect it. Bilbo was chosen to go on this adventure and was basically forced to in the first chapters when Gandolf came to Bilbo and basically said that he was coming. "He felt a different person, and much fiercer and bolder in spite of an empty stomach, as he wiped his sword on the grass and put it back into its sheath"(170). In this quote, Bilbo was surprised after he thought about it and realized he had used his sword to cut the dwarves free. He felt like he had actually accomplished something and he felt that he had really just had an adventure finding out who he really was.

I have grow many time through adventures in my life. One adventure is changing schools. I used to be at Oriole Lane School, which used to be a great school when my brothers and sisters were growing up. When I went there, we had a very negative environment, and the things that they tried to use to help improve it in my opinion were a complete was of time and money. The only thing positive was my first grade teacher. The kids there were rotten, and I didn't fit in very well. I was very sad to move, but also was excited since I was not loosing much and at the time I liked anything involving me. I moved in third grade to Lumen Christi, and that has significantly changed my life. Not only do I not have to go to boring Sunday school classes, I also fit in much better. Everybody here is faith-filled and help fill the voids when people do not fit in. I now practice my faith more often, and see more positivity in going to school each day. We have a great environment to work in, and morally correct students and teachers. We practice a more challenging curriculum, that keeps us off our heels, and letting the days fly by. This relates a lot to Bilbo Baggins, since Bilbo did not seem too happy with his life at first when he started out the story, but I think that Bilbo has truly found what he enjoys doing and is much, much more happy on this adventure, rather than staying stuck to his home and food. I also think that since Bilbo did not want to go on this adventure at first, just like I did not want to change schools, we both found happiness once we accepted the change. I am very glad to be able to attend Lumen Christi School, and it was a hard adventure at first losing my few friends, but ever since the first day of sitting next to Michael Mackey, I have found my true place, the true place that God made me to be. ~ This is a wonderful reflection, and it connects very well to dear Mr. Baggins. Good job! ~Mrs. Best

=
If Thorin could have lived, do you think he would have regretted his greed? What do you think Tolkien is trying to teach us about material wealth by Thorin's death? In your response, site textual evidence to support your response. Use page numbers too. =====

I think Thorin would have regretted his greed. I think he was a good person, just got a little bit carried away on the adventure. He would of (have) realized that without the men of Lake Town, killing Smaug, he would not have anything more that he started the trip with. Just before Thorin died, in the tent, he regretted all the things that he said to Bilbo immediately when Bilbo arrived. This showed that he had a good side, not just a bad side. Tolkien says, "...Thorin son of Thrain, King under the Mountain..." (285) Thorin obviously had great wealth, and did not need everything he had. Tolkien also writes "I would give a good deal for the feel of a strong drink in my throat, and for a soft bed after a good supper!" This is what we need, we do not need everything, we only need some food, and a shelter above you head, not a large amount of goods. In my opinion, Tolkien is teaching us that we should share things, and not have greed, instead of just for you. In the long run, you cannot use everything that you have. Money is not everything, happiness over rides money. If you buy something, it’s exciting, but not for long. Tolkien is showing you only need your needs, and there is no need for excess wants. You should share your wealth with the others, and make sure that everybody around you can enjoy life just like you can. You can do little things to put smiles on faces, a much better payment than money. ~ You do not give your pages for the second citation. When Thorin is dying is when he says the most powerful things. This is when Tolkien really has a message. ~Mrs. Best