Oxonmoot 2024

One of the most important aspects of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit is how easy it is to in-troduce to high school and college writing students. Tolkien’s work is relevant to their world and helps them process their own experiences in positive ways.

While J.R.R. Tolkien was writing The Lord of the Rings, an American contemporary, Jo-seph Campbell, was writing The Power of Myth and The Hero’s Journey. Campbell dis-covered that many cultures around the world wrote similar hero narratives. Typically the hero sets off on a journey, learns lessons with a mentor, overcomes obstacles, and gains wisdom to be shared back home.

In this talk I will trace Bilbo’s journey as it relates to Campbell’s theories and offer multi-ple ways to use the writers’ works to construct useful writing prompts for students. By understanding their own experiences as a hero’s journey, students recognize their strengths, embrace challenges, and appreciate their own worlds.