Fri 3 Dec (Tolkien)

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After reading chapters 1-2 of The Hobbit chose something that is unexpected and explain the effect on the reader.

-- Anonymous, December 01, 2004

Answers

The randomness of having Gandalf want red wine. I don't know what it is about that, but it really caught me off guard. It's like, "Alcohol! In a fairy tale! ...Okay!" It fits Gandalf's personality too, when you get to know him better--but at that point, where all you've got is Bilbo's perspective, it leads you to understand WEIRD things are going to be happening in this story.

-- Anonymous, December 01, 2004

Bilbo, who was up to this point in the chapter terrified of the dwarves' idea of an adventure ("struck by lightning! struck by lightning!") takes interest again when Gandalf breaks out the map. Consider Bilbo's map of the Shire mentioned in the chapter; it seems that the Took blood in Bilbo wants to get out, but the only adventure Bilbo's inhibitions will allow it are walks in the country and fantasies about faraway places - hence the maps.

Angie and I are motivated...Too motivated.

-- Anonymous, December 01, 2004


I think that, all in all, Gandalf is quite surprising. He comes to Bilbo's house and immediately criticizes Bilbo's greeting ("Good Morning"). Gandalf, after some discussion, puts a mark on Bilbo's newly painted door, thus inviting himself and thirteen dwarves over to spend the night. Gandalf is also suprising by choosing Bilbo to take part in the dwarves' adventure. All of this presents Gandalf as a character who is wise and acts in mysterious ways. Gandalf's character, which is rather out-of-place in the Shire, also hints at the strange and wondrous world outside the Shire.

-- Anonymous, December 02, 2004

For me the unexpected thing was when the dwarves appear. This adds a sense of fantasy to the novel because dwarves do not normally ring people's doorbells(At least in our world), for that matter there is no race of dwarves in our world. I think this a good introduction into the many unusual being and creatures we encounter in this story.

-- Anonymous, December 02, 2004

I think that the way the dwarves all get captured by the trolls so early in the story is unexpected. I mean, you expect them to all go along merrily and nothing bad happen this early. But it appears for a moment that their entire quest could be stopped then. Not typical story stucture usually.

-- Anonymous, December 02, 2004


What I really found to be unexpected was a talking troll purse. Since when do inanimate objects speak?! I think it was supposed to make the reader worry about Bilbo. "Oh no, they won't think he's a good burglar!" "Oh no, he's caught!" And so on,

-ror

-- Anonymous, December 02, 2004


I find it rather random and altogether unexpected when Bilbo runs all the way to meet the dwarves and is upset that he does not have a "pocket-handkerchief." Also, Gandalf somehow realizes this, and while he does not bring any money or a hat for Bilbo, he does bring pocket-handkerchiefs. This is yet another small oddity in a series of them which foreshadow the adventure to come. Personally, I would stop worrying about pocket-hankerchiefs and start worrying about the letter that says, "funeral expenses to be defrayed by us or our representatives, if occasion rises and the matter is not otherwise arranged for."

-- Anonymous, December 02, 2004

This sounds more sarcastic than I'd like it to, but I found it surprising that the dwarves can improvise not only a song, but the lyrics to a song AND they sing in the lyrics in unison. It's almost as if they all have one mind. Also, after meeting Gandalf the first time it is unexpected that he would return again to Bilbo's house. He was essentially just thrown out.

-- Anonymous, December 03, 2004

I think just having Gandalf standing at the door with a HUGE pipe is unexpected enough. Though we've seen him before doing that, how might you feel if some old tall guy came to your door with a big old pipe in his mouth? Scary, yes?

-- Anonymous, December 03, 2004

Personally, I didn't expect the dwarves to leave Bilbo behind when he slept in, and then I didn't expect Bilbo, after finding the note, to go running off. The way the previous night went down, I would've expected the dwarves to wake him up, and take him (kicking and screaming quite probably) immediately on the quest. Finding himself free from this push, I would've then expected Bilbo to stay at home quite contentedly. Having Bilbo rush after the dwarves made it more of his own choice to go, rather than the prodding he had received from Gandalf, and it enforced his identity - as John so aptly put it - as a "closet adventurer."

-- Anonymous, December 03, 2004


I thought it was funny how Biblo's adventurous side is more like a genetic disease inherited from his mother than a personal interest in travel. Bilbo has "little fits" of adventureness. It shows how out of place Bilbo is becoming; his personality is changing "fit" by "fit".

-- Anonymous, December 03, 2004

That strange troll pouch really got my attention, since it seemed inconsistent with the world of middle earth. It might have been a plot device but more likely it was just something vaguely witty that he threw in as its phrasing seems appealing to children.

-- Anonymous, December 03, 2004

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