Hobbit+MAW

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March 29, 2011 Question 4: 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 fighting in a war over objects that only last in your life on earth. I think he would have felt that sharing his wealth would have been better than losing the one chance he got at life and the one chance he got to make friends that last a life time on earth and in heaven. Greed and objects should never come over friends or safety, but in Thorin's case it did. Greed is a temptation in everyone's lives, but we need to control it. In Thorin's situation he did everything he could to keep his treasure safe. I think that Tolkien is trying to teach us that friends and family should always come first. Wealth is just a necessity in life that leaves as soon as you leave this world. Another way to think of it is, as girl i wear dresses, and i wear a neckless with the dresses, but eventually I will grow out of that dress and get a new one. That is like life, the neckless is like friends and family. It may seem small but it will always be there like family and friends on earth and in heaven. The dress is like wealth it may seem important but as soon as you grow out of it you move on. With wealth, it may seem important on earth but it does not matter in heaven. Wealth cannot give you advice if you need it. I see this at the end when Thorin gave his last words before death to Bilbo. To Bilbo he (Thorin) said: "This treasure is as much yours as it is mine; though old agreements cannot stand, since so many have a claim in its winning and defence. Yet even though you were willing to lay aside all your claim, I should wish that the words of Thorin, of which he repeated, should no prove true: that we should give you a little. I would reward you most rich of all. (pg. 293) I think that this really shows that his greed has gone down, that he realized what he had caused, and he was not going to get any of the wealth. It tells us that Thorin was willing to forgive Bilbo because he did a brave thing to give up his portion of the fortune to stop the violence. Thorin's first reaction to Bilbo giving away the Arkenstone was that Bilbo had betrayed them, but really Bilbo was trying to help them. If Thorin could relive his last few days of life i think that he would have made some different decisions. ~ What did Thorin say when he was dying too? That was very indicative of his change of heart. Mrs. Best

March 20, 2011 Question 3: 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.

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!

An adventure that has grown and changed my life is when we got my puppy Bunker. For the first year that we had Bunker everything went great things could not have been better, but things went down hill from there. First, we found out Bunker had elbow dysplasia and had to have surgery. After his surgery he had to wear a cone on his neck and one of my parents shirts so he would not scratch his stitches. He looked like a bent over man. After a long winter he did not have to wear the shirt or the cone anymore. Then that summer he bit my cousin Harry when we were on vacation in New York. But about six months after that he tried to bit my mom, and thats when the vet said it was not safe to keep him in our house anymore. A women at the vet who we knew very well took Bunker into her care, but not for very long. Within the first three hours Bunker was at her house he bit her. Then the vet told us he was not a safe dog and that he had to be put down. It was the saddest I had been in many years. Plus my parents did not tell us that Bunker was dead until three days later. I did not realize that I had been through such an adventure until I looked back at everything I had done and been through. The adventure made me more thankful for the things I had and made me realize that you should not live your life in the future or the past. Life is best if you live in the present. I also learned that you can say what if about everything or you can just go along with things. I think Bilbo has learned the same kind of message through his adventure. The day I got a dog was like the day Gandalf and all the dwarves showed up at Bilbos house. Bilbo's life was totally normal until they showed up. Bilbo had to get past many obstacles in the way just like we did with Bunker. For example when we found out Bunker had elbow dysplasia that was like when Bilbo found out how dangerous his adventure was when he and the dwarves crossed paths with the trolls in the forest. Another obstacle in my adventure was when Bunker bit my cousin. That is like when the dwarves hid in the cave that was connected to the goblins realm. Bilbo went through very hard times and some easy times, just like I did. Adventures are there to give us experiences that we will never forget and teach us important life lessons. During the part of the story when the spiders tried to kill Bilbo and the dwarves Bilbo could have thought what if when i try to save them the spiders kill me. I am free why should I help them? My point of bring this up is because you can not get through an adventure on your own. You will need help from others along the way. The vet tried to help us and Gandalf helped Bilbo and the dwarves. This book may be all about a fairy tale with little men with hairy feet, but if you look between the lines you will see how it connects to your life. ~You made great connections! That is so tough that your puppy had those problems. It was wise to do what you did, but I am sure it really made you grow and change. ~Mrs. Best

Question #2: In your own words, describe what happens next to Bilbo and the dwarves in the forest. Bilbo, Gandalf, and the dwarves were traveling as fast as they could away from the goblins. When the heard the faint sound of howling in the distance. The howling got closer and closer. The dwarves, Bilbo, and Gandalf were in the middle of a clearing, so they scrambled to the closest tree and climbed up it. Bilbo was to short to reach even the shortest branch, but none of the dwarves wanted to risk having the wolves come right as they climbed down to get Bilbo. After a lot of yammering about who would or would not get Bilbo, Dori climbed down and had Bilbo climb onto his back. He did it just in time because right as Dori swung up into the tree a wolf snapped at his ankles. Fortunately, for Dori, and everyone else in the trees wolves cannot climb so once they were up in the trees they were safe, or so they thought. Soon after the wolves arrived and stood guard, Gandalf had some fun by setting the wolves coats on fire in all different colors and watching them run around yelping on the clearing floor. After a little fun the goblins showed up in the clearing and they were not afraid of fire at all. They started to control the flames from Gandalf into a bonfire. They then put fuel at the bottom of the trees the dwarves were "nesting" in and sang songs of hate. While at the same time the Noble Lord of the Eagles circled overhead. They swopped down and picked at the goblins causing them to retreat and the wolves followed. Meanwhile, the fire rose higher and higher on the trees almost burning everyone. But then the eagles came down and saved them all. Bilbo was almost left behind again but he grabbed onto Dori's leg at the last second. ~ This was the part I meant. Great summary! ~Mrs. Best

Later, after a few stops, the Eagles carried the dwarves, Gandalf, and Bilbo to a large rock called Carrock. There the eagles and the travels parted. Gandalf told his crew that they were going to go to meet a "friend", but that they had to be careful because his friend, Beorn, was quick tempered, a skin-changer, and very strong. Gandalf and Bilbo went up to his house first. Gandalf told the dwarves to wait until he whistled before they came. He also told them to come in groups of two five minutes apart. Beorn decided to let Gandalf and Bilbo in to tell about the adventure they had been on so far. Gandalf was smart and made it sound like their were only two or three of them, so Beorn wanted to meet them. Gandalf whistled and the first to came. It was Thorin and Dori. Then Gandalf continued on with his story, an five minutes later Nori and Ori showed up. This continued as Gandalf told his story. Before Beorn knew it there were fifteen more creatures in his house. It had been a long time since that many people had been in his house, but Beorn shared dinner with all of them, prepared by the animals of course, while they talked, ate, and sang songs. Gandalf and his group stayed for two days before they moved on, but before they left Beorn gave them some supplies to help them on their venture into the woods. He provided ponies for each of them and a horse for Gandalf, but he told them once they reached the gate of the forest they needed to send his horse and ponies back. He gave them food that would last them weeks with care also nicely packaged so it was easy to carry. He also gave them skins to carry water in. Finally, just in case he gave them bows and arrows. He did not only give them things to help them on their venture, but he also gave them some advice on how and where to travel, and also what to look out for. Then Gandalf, Bilbo and the dwarves packed up, thanked Beorn, and said their good byes.

March 2, 2011 Question #1: 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. Pages 96-99

 In chapter 6 the dwarves, Gandalf, and Bilbo faced a Character against Nature Conflict. When they all had escaped the goblins realm Gandalf called everyone to their senses. "We must be getting on at once, now we are a little rested," he said. "They will be out after us in hundreds when night comes on; and already shadows are lengthening. They can smell our footsteps for hours and hours after we have passed. We must be miles on before dusk. There will be a bit of moon, if it keeps fine, and that is lucky. Not that they mind the moon much, but it will give us a little light to steer by."(pg. 96) These words are what led them to the character against nature conflict. The dwarves, Bilbo, and Gandalf were moving quickly away from the goblins, but that is when they caused a landslide. They were walking when the rough path started fading away until it disappeared. They found themselves on a steep slope of small pebbles and large bits of split stone. Soon they found that the rocks were slipping from under their feet. Before long they felt like the whole slope above them and below them was moving. They all started to slip and slide down the slope of stones. If there had not been any trees at the bottom they all would have died. Some caught a hold of the tree trunks and swung themselves into lower branches, some like Bilbo got behind a tree to shelter from the rocks. Soon all the sliding was done and they heard the last of the rocks landing in the bracken and pine-roots far below. I think this helps move the story along because the story had started to calm down after everyone got out of the realm but then this problem or situation pulls you back in and starts the story intensity all over again. ~This is just the kind of response I was hoping for. ~Mrs. Best

That was an amazing detailed response.  You were extremely thorough and I felt like your conflict really spoke to me. ~Then you should say what it said to you if it spoke to you. This is way too general. ~Mrs. Best That was an AWESOME response. Your grammar and usage is fantastic! Great Job Maddie!! Allie Beckers. <span style="color: #ff00ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">RDING HR 5 <span style="color: #ff00ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">March 4, 201