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ENGL 3060 Short paper 1: Tolkien and Fairy Stories Due: Friday 3 February 2012 Worth: 10% of final

mark You must complete either this paper OR short paper 2 Prompt In Aspects of Fantasy, Michael Moorcock writes, Generally speaking, fantasy stories can fall into two broad categories. There is the kind that permanently disturbs and the kind that comforts. Part of the purpose of the childs fairy story is to describe the horror and then, by means of an easily identifiable hero, destroy it, thus laying the ghost. The child is full of fears and fancies. Therefore one of the differences between fairy stories and the major proportion of adult fantasy stories is that an adult story rarely produces a happy comforting end. Whether the hero wins through or not, the reader is left with the suspicion of knowledge that all is not quiet on the supernatural front. In another essay, entitled Epic Pooh, Moorcock makes clear that he considers Tolkien a writer of childs stories. Robert Howard is, by contrast, an early example of what Moorcock here calls adult fantasy stories. Discuss Moorcocks statement with regard to Tolkien. Is Tolkien simply a writer of fairy stories? What evidence can you present for your argument? Discuss The Fellowship of the King in the context of this passage and make an argument about the degree to which Tolkien fits into one or both of Moorcocks categories.. You may draw upon Howard as well, if you wish, to support your claims. Requirements Papers should be a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 4 pages long. Papers should be printed out in a normal typeface (preferably Times New Roman and NOT Courier). 12 pt font. Normal (MS Word standard) margins. They should be double-spaced. They should be stapled or paperclipped. I will not accept papers that are not bound in some mechanical fashion. Origami does not count. Please indicate on your paper whether you are turning in your first, second, or third response. Do not consult any outside works. Do not quote the entire passage from the prompt. Do not draw your entire paper from class discussions. Discuss a different aspect of the texts, address a different scene. Include a title. The title should not be Title, Response paper, or Crash. You must provide textual evidence from the text(s) you discuss. You should briefly quote relevant passages and explain those quotes. Keep summary to a minimum. You do not need to include a works cited page or parenthetical citations so long as it's clear from the context what text you are citing. Edit. Proofread. These are not the same things. You should also spellcheck, which is a third task. You should also, of course, practice good writing, best usage, etc. As with anything having to do with this class: if you don't know, ask

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