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Thought about posting this under Learn English... but as we were talking about the book here... I figured I keep it here....
As I mentioned, older daughter (8th grade/13) had to read "The Hobbit" for English Class. For her final Semester Essay, she had to select a quote from several the teacher provided and then use that quote in the essay and then answer the question "What wisdom does Bilbo discover?" In a well-developed essay, explain his journey to discovery and what he learns about himself as a result. She received a perfect mark of 50 points.
Rubric
5 for Ideas and development- the paper is clear, focuses, and insightful. Relevcant examples and details effectively support the main idea.
5 for Organization - The organization enhances the main idea. The order, structure, and presentation of information effectively move the reader through the text.
10 for Explicitly identified the purpose of your essay
10 previewed the introducory paragraph
10 clearly explained the idea you inteneded to prove
10 avoided using "I" or "MY"
She did have footnotes in the paper for all of the quotes, however they do not come over when I copy and paste here.
Bilbo’s Journey
“The road of life twists and turns and no two directions are ever the same. Yet our lessons come from the journey, not the destination,” claimed Don Williams Jr., and that is ever so true for an unsuspecting well-to-do hobbit, by the name of Bilbo Baggins. During Bilbo’s expedition, Bilbo grows very much as a person (hobbit) from being a shy, timed hobbit to a confident and brave leader. And in the end while he still go back to being a hobbit, giving up most of his gold and getting back to his normal life, he is truly is a different hobbit who came back from his journey.
In the beginning of Bilbo’s story we see him as a kind, mannerly, fat old hobbit who would rather eat (as they have dinner twice a day when they can get it) and blow smoke-rings than go 10 feet from his house. Then one day and old wizard friend named Gandalf comes along and the next thing Bilbo knows, contrary to all his normal homebody ways, he is out on an adventure to find gold guarded by a dragon. Bilbo is not your everyday hobbit as this particular hobbit does have a very interesting bloodline. He is a member of the Took-clan and every so often this clan did in fact go out and have adventures, “They discreetly disappeared, and the family hushed it up.” Bilbo himself had a strong bit of Took in him waiting to wake up and Gandalf knew this as he had had adventures with Old Took, the head of the hobbits. While Bilbo himself professed to Gandalf that he did not want anything to do with adventures, “We are plain quiet folk and have no use for adventures. Nasty disturbing uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner! I can’t think what anybody sees in them.” Somewhere deep inside of him he really must have wanted to go on the adventure because he had been thinking about it in the morning, “Don’t be a fool, Bilbo Baggins!” And, it did not take much for Gandalf to convince Bilbo to leave his warm comfortable home without even finishing his breakfast and set out on his quest,
“That leaves you just ten minutes. You will have to run,” said Gandalf.
“But--,” said Bilbo.
“No time for that wither! Off you go!”
“To the end of his days Bilbo could never remember how he found himself outside, without a hat, a walking-stick or any money, or anything that he usually took when he when out; leaving his second breakfast half-finished…”
Once Bilbo is on his adventure he begins to change as well as his attitude towards the adventure begins to change. It is no longer this fun and amazing sounding trip that he had heard stories about as a young hobbit, “Anything from climbing trees to visiting elves – or sailing in ships, sailing to other shores!” Bilbo had been captured by trolls and they threatened to skin and eat him, “And can yer cook ‘em? said Tom.
“Yer can try,” said Bert, picking up a skewer.
“He wouldn’t make above a mouthful,” said William, who had already had a fine supper, “not when he was skinned and boned.”
The Bilbo of just a short time ago if having survived this peril would have run quickly back to the Shire and never left his lovely home again. Yet our Bilbo was changing and instead of running away like he would have if he was his normal hobbit self, he helped his companions who had now been captured, he actually stayed and fought the trolls! “Bilbo did his best. He caught hold of Tom’s leg – as well as he could, it was thick as a young tree-trunk- but he was sent spinning up into the top of some bushes.” Bilbo also proved that he was growing less selfish and more willing to give up his possessions to his team members, “I found it on the ground where the trolls had their fight,” he told his companions as he offered them the key he had found. And yet, just as he takes a few steps forward toward growing, he still wants to cling to his old life, “He was thinking once again of his comfortable chair before the fire in his favorite sitting-room in his hobbit-hole, and of the kettle singing.” But then, he would be adventurous again and try things like riding a pony and sleeping in caves. Unfortunately by the end of this time period Bilbo has not completely learned to trust, and give up everything for his companions. For example Bilbo would not give up the ring he found, in fear that his companions would start a fight over it, and he would not be able to keep it, also Bilbo likes the power the ring gives him, “He wanted it because it was a ring of power, and if you slip it on your finger, you were invisible;”
Towards the end of the adventure Bilbo has changed dramatically from the Bilbo we meet at the start of this tale. In the beginning of his adventure Bilbo goes for the promise of enormous wealth, but when he returns home he gives most of his money away because he has now learned that having a peaceful, quiet afternoon and a warm-cooked meal is worth 10 times more than any amount of gold Bilbo could have, “Not far from the rode they found the gold of the trolls, which they had buried, still hidden and untouched. “I have enough to last me my time,” said Bilbo, when they had dug it up “You had better take this, Gandalf. I daresay you can find a use for it.” Also, Bilbo who was just come along for the ride, is now a great leader of the expedition. No longer a shy hobbit but in-charge and strong, “I am Mr. Bilbo Baggins,”…
“Indeed!” said they, “and what would be your business?”
“Whatever it is, it’s my own, my good elves.”…"you will take me along quick to a fire, where I can dry- and then you will let me speak to your chiefs as quick as may be. I have only an hour or two to spare.”
Bilbo Baggins, our homebody little hobbit, experienced a life changing adventure which turned him into a confident leader and a better person. From starting out as not even wanting to leave his cozy little house, to learning how to be a leader, and then to actually become a leader, Bilbo matures all along the way. Bilbo also learns two very important lessons at the end of his journey, that sometimes what you have is already worth more than what you will receive and that anything is possible, even for a little hobbit, “Gandalf looked at him. “My dear Bilbo!” he said. “Something is the matter with you! You are not the hobbit that you were”
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I now have it in English and I've also got a radio production of it - with music, actors and everything. It's great! And I have to say, rockzmom, your daughter is lucky. I don't know whether it's the teacher or your school system in general but there's no way Russian children could read something like this at age 13 in school - it would be considered too childish or something. Poor guys have to read some really boring stuff. Well, not all of it is boring, but some things could be exchanged for something more interesting. We studied "Crime and Punishment" in the 9th grade, at 14 years old. I did get it, actually, it's not that difficult for that age. 
Well, maybe not so huge, actually. 
Originally Posted by starrysky 
"The Hobbit" is a bit easier, of course. I like the fact that it's not only American lit but that French, English and German titles are in the mix. In Russian schools it's almost all about Russian literature, which is way too exclusive. I mean, of course, we had "Romeo and Juliette" and some other foreign things but they seemed very rare. Mind you, I'm talking only of my own experience here, perhaps things have changed now. The problem with literature lessons today is that kids don't want to read. I do think it would help to solve the problem if there were more choice, freedom and creativity in our schools and if the best titles of the world literature were included. It's just too boring and ineffective to have to read about characters and events that you don't necessarily care about and relate to, and then have to write a composition about the stuff that you have no thoughts about. The fact that we'll never agree about what stuff should be read at school only shows that the teenager or at least the teacher should be able to choose for themselves.
However, just recently my younger one FINALLY found an author she loves! James Patterson. He usually writes adult books and he switched over to young adult just for this reason. He wanted to get more kids to read. His series of books called 
)
