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The Lord Of The Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien
What an incredible imaginative mind he must have had to
invent and develop civilizations with hundreds of strong
characters whose past, present and future are intertwined.
The following extracts contain good and evil, hardship,
atmosphere, snowy weather conditions, threatening danger,
fear and relief. There is rich language for children to
investigate, which will in turn, broaden their vocabulary
and add to their writing resources.
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The Crossing Of Caradhras
I have divided this passage into two sections, but it could
be read first in its entirety so that the children have a
feel for the language and the atmosphere of the text, before
analysing it in depth. A brief introduction could be to say
that the story is about a group of companions who are on a
great quest which takes them into many situations of great
danger and there is a great conflict between forces of good
and evil.
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Part 1
The company set out again with good speed at first, but soon
their way became steep and difficult. The twisting and
climbing road had in many places almost disappeared, and was
blocked with many fallen stones. The night grew deadly dark
under great clouds. A bitter wind swirled among the rocks.
By midnight they had climbed to the knees of the great
mountains. The narrow path now wound under a sheer wall of
cliffs to the left, above which the grim flanks of the
mountain towered up invisible in the gloom. On the right was
a gulf of darkness where the land fell suddenly into a deep
ravine.
Laboriously they climbed a sharp slope and halted for a
moment at the top. Frodo felt a soft touch on his face. He
put out his arm and saw the dim white flakes of snow
settling on his sleeve.
They went on. But before long the snow was falling fast,
filling the air, and swirling into Frodo’s eyes. The dark
bent shapes of Gandalf and Aragorn only a pace or two ahead
could hardly be seen.
Gandalf halted. Snow was thick on his hood and shoulders; it
was already ankle-deep about his boots.
“This is what I feared,” he said. “What do you say now,
Aragorn?”
“That I feared it too,” Aragorn answered, “but less than
other things. I knew the risk of snow though it seldom falls
heavily so far south, save high up in the mountains. But we
are not high yet; we are still far down, where the paths are
usually open all the winter.”
“I wonder if this is a contrivance of the Enemy,” said
Boromir. “They say in my land that he can govern the storms
in the Mountains of Shadow that stand upon the borders of
Mordor. He has strange powers and many allies.”
“His arm has grown long indeed,” said Gimli, “if he can draw
snow down from the North to trouble us here three hundred
leagues away.”
“His arm has grown long,” said Gandalf.
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Sharing The Text
1. Tell the children you would like them to think about the
mood or atmosphere of the text while they listen to it being
read.
2. Read the passage aloud to the class.
3. Allow one minute for focussed discussion, asking them to
find words or phrases to support their comments about the
mood or atmosphere.
4. Give children the opportunity to offer their feelings to
the whole class. The teacher should make positive comments
in response to children’s comments, making it clear that
there is no ‘wrong’ answer in this sort of activity.
5. Raise questions related to the meanings of the following
words and the context in which they are used here: wound,
laboriously, seldom, flanks.
6. Qu. Which words in the first paragraph describe movement?
7. Qu. What do you think are the ‘knees of the great
mountain’?
8. Qu. Which words or phrases in the first paragraph give
the impression that the mountain Caradhras was not a
pleasant place to be?
9. What evidence is there that the Enemy is tremendously
powerful?
10. What do Gandalf and Gimli mean when they say of the
Enemy, “His arm has grown long”?
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Individual Spelling Activities Linked To The Text
1. Look at the prefix dis, in disappeared in the first
paragraph. Make a list of words with the same prefix, using
a dictionary to check spellings.
2. Point out the word ‘towered’ in the first paragraph. Ask
which shorter word it is derived from and point out that it
is part of a large family of er words which have ed added
when written in the past tense.
3. Look at the word ‘except’, in the fourth paragraph and
point out that some times ex can make a slightly different
sound, depending on the word it is part of. Use except and
exam as examples. Ask the children to use a dictionary to
help them make two lists of ex words, one list under except
and the other under exam.
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The Crossing Of Caradhras - Part 2
While they were halted, the wind died down, and the snow
slackened until it almost ceased. They tramped on again. But
they had not gone a furlong when the storm returned with
fresh fury. The wind whistled and the snow became a blinding
blizzard. Soon even Boromir found it hard to keep going. The
hobbits, bent nearly double, toiled along behind the taller
folk, but it was plain that they could not go much further,
if the snow continued. Frodo’s feet felt like lead. Pippin
was dragging behind. Even Gimli, as stout as any dwarf could
be, was grumbling as he trudged.
The company halted suddenly, as if they had come to an
agreement without any words being spoken. They heard eerie
noises in the darkness round them. It may have been only a
trick of the wind in the gullies of the rocky wall, but the
sounds were those of shrill cries and wild howls of
laughter. Stones began to fall from the mountainside,
whistling over their heads or crashing on the path beside
them. Every now and then they heard a dull rumble , as a
great boulder rolled down from hidden heights above.
“We cannot go further tonight,” said Boromir. “Let those
call it the wind who will, but there are evil voices on the
air and those stones are aimed at us.”
“I do call it the wind,” said Aragorn. “But that does not
make what you say untrue. There are many evil and unfriendly
things in the world that have little love for those who go
on two legs and yet are not in league with Sauron, but have
purposes of their own. “Some have been in this world longer
than he.”
“It matters little who is the enemy, if we cannot beat off
his attack,” said Gandalf. “Either we stop where we are, or
go back. It is no good going on. Only a little higher, if I
remember rightly, this path leaves the cliff and runs into a
wide shallow trough at the bottom of a long hard slope. We
should have no shelter there from snow, or stones – or
anything else.”
“And it is no good going back while the storm holds,” said
Aragorn. “We have passed no place on the way up that offered
more shelter than this cliff wall we are under now.”
“Shelter!” muttered Sam. “If this is shelter, then one wall
and no roof make a house.”
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Sharing The Text
1. Ask
the children to read the text with a partner in quiet
voices, underlining words whose meanings they are unsure of.
2.
Discuss with the whole class, words they have underlined.
3. The
teacher reads the text aloud.
4. Qu.
How are the companions feeling at this time? Give the
children a minute to discuss this, stating words or phrases
which support their comments.
5. Give
time for some children to offer their opinion to the whole
class.
6. Ask
the children to underline the sentence or phrase that they
like best and tell them to explain to a partner the reasons
for their choice.
7. Again,
allow a short time for some children to share their
preferences with the class group.
Independent Activities
1. Re-write the following
phrases in your own words, but keeping the same meanings:
i.
- and the snow slackened until it almost
ceased.
ii. The company halted suddenly, as if
they had come to an agreement without any words being
spoken.
iii.
Gimli … was grumbling as he trudged.
1. What is Sam meaning at the
end when he says, “ If this is shelter, then one wall and no
roof make a house.”?
2. In
fifteen minutes, write a summary of what has happened in the
two passages.
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The above is a short example of the work which I do - call
me for more examples |
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