Walking to Wisdom Literature Guide Series: The Fellowship of the Ring – Teacher’s Edition

For grades 7-12

From the Publisher: “Stories give us an experience of certain knowledge, which is why how we feel about the book is part of what the book is teaching us. We have kept these things in heart and mind while making The Inklings Collection of literature guides, to be used in conjunction with the work of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Dorothy Sayers. We named them “Walking to Wisdom” because acquiring wisdom happens at the pace of a walk and with a mentor. We have sought to guide students through these marvelous books as well as in the skill of reading these particular texts.

“Tolkien, Sayers, and Lewis all expressed their ideas in both fiction and nonfiction. The fiction includes dramatic literature, short fiction, long fiction, epistolary satire, and allegory. To shed light on their fiction, we have incorporated some nonfiction essays of Lewis and Sayers in the guides that cover their works. We strongly encourage students to take a full year and use all eight guides as a twentieth-century British literature course, though working through even one guide will be beneficial. Each literature guide both stands on its own and interacts with the others, with sidebar comments and thematic continuity. These books will change students’ lives and, in the meantime, teach them how to read with delight, depth, and skill, as well as prepare them to write well.”

These substantial literature guides thoughtfully instruct students with the following habits:

• taking notes in their books
• answering reading questions
• creating their own questions
• reading sample student writing
• keeping notes book-wide on themes and motifs
• answering discussion questions about thematic material
• memorizing important quotations
• preparing, while reading, to write
• participating in creative enrichment activities related to the books

A note on the teacher’s edition: This essential companion to the student guide includes sample essays as well as answers and instructions for teachers. Students learn by comparing their own answers to the answers provided in the teacher’s edition. The material provided in this edition is substantial, the product of a feeling intellect that has lived with these books a long time and with great depth.

Context Essay Information (PDF)

C.S. Lewis, “Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings” (from On Stories: And Other Essays on Literature) (MP3) Excerpt from C.S. Lewis: Essay Collection and Other Short Pieces. Edited by Lesley Walmsley, read by Ralph Cosham, published by Blackstone Audio.