On the subject of teaching Tolkien, my school does. We have a biannual Trilogy class, that gets switched up with Creative Writing on the off-years. In respect to the time-frame needed to get a good grasp of what you're reading... we begin in September, finish in June, and usually don't manage to read the Appendices, although we do finish the book proper. Requirements for the class are to be serious about examining literature, and you've got to be a fantasy fan (what's the point, otherwise?). It's also happily looked upon if you've already read the books (or I suppose seen the films), thus leaving you with the gist if the stories, before you go detail scouting. Newbies are in no way, shape, or form turned away, and intentional spoilers by the class 'wizards' are received by an immediate and astounding drop in your G.P.A.. The class is fun, the discussions enlightening, and it tends to be an all-around good time, what with the hard-core fans correcting the teacher on small points of little interest (not that I'D happen to be one of those fans...
). Tril. is an elective. On the subject of incorporating the Lord of the Rings into the syllabus of a required English class? I don't like the idea.
As was said before, required reading tends to be looked at negatively by the masses. Just look at the number of you with
Macbeth horror stories. My own required reading nightmares included
East of Eden,
Flowers for Algernon,
Of Mice and Men,
The Red Pony, and one that I can't remember the title of, that dealt with a slightly mental kid being extremely jealous of his best friend, the plot culminating in said best friend dying because of actions of said mental kid. Those are just a few examples of what I hated, simply because I had no choice in reading them. If I'd read it on my own, I probably would have enjoyed
East of Eden at least, if not the others, but if I'd been forced to read LotR? Out of sheer spite and perversity of nature, I'd have no doubt forced myself to find all the flaws available to the scrutinous eyes of an above-average highschool student.
In short... I agree that everybody should read LotR, probably because I'm prejudiced in its favor... but I don't think they should be forced to, regardless of the sixty bijillion awesome qualities that the books possess.
Fea