According to my handy Webster's Dictionary, "context" means "the parts before and after a

statement that can influence its meaning" or "the circumstances that surround a particular event,
situation, etc." Text-in-Context, then, can be thought of as the circumstances that surround a
particular text. In our last paper, we analyzed a text (one of the fables) by using information from
the text itself. In the Text-in-Context paper you will use information that is not from the text (The
Hobbit) that will help your audience to better understand that novel. This outside information will
come from you doing research on some context connected to The Hobbit. Obviously, there are
numerous circumstances that may surround any text; it is your job to decide on one of these
contexts and to explore it. Some possibilities:


Biographical Context: An author's life will always, in some way, influence his/her work. Think
about itdoesn't it make a difference in your life where you are from, who your parents are,
who you are married to/involved with, how much money you have/don't have, what your
education is, who your friends are, etc.? Knowing these things about an author can give you
additional insight into his/her work.

Historical/Social: An author from 1073 who is writing about war would almost certainly have a
different perspective than an author writing about the same subject in 1973. The period of time
in which we live has a profound influence on our writing. What was happening during the time
J .R.R. Tolkien was writing The Hobbit? We are all influenced, in one way or another, by the
social and/or political movements of our times.

Psychological: Bilbo Baggins runs out of his life-long home without so much as his
handkerchief. Thorin Oakenshield and his band of dwarves seem to have issues when it
comes to gold and gems. Gandalf seems to be a bit of a control freak. The all seem to be in
need of some psychological assistance. Looking at these characters from a psychological
perspective might help to explain what, exactly is driving their strange behavior.

Religious: One way that a context can be understood more deeply is via the lens of a religion.
It is well established that Tolkien was a very Roman Catholic man. Looking at his work via the
context of that religion can provide an interesting perspective on the book.

Others: This is a VERY short list of contexts- what else can you think of? Hintcheck the
other assignment sheets in the Students Guide and/or the student essays.





Important Stuff:

Audience: Write this paper for your classmates: educated adults who have read the text.
Remember, however, that we may not know anything about your context and/or the information
presented in it.

Research: You will, of course, use The Annotated Hobbit as your primary text, but you need to
draw on at least three other texts for this essay. No more than two of these additional texts may
be Internet resources. Doing research is absolutely crucial for this essayit is what you use to
do your contextual analysis. You cannot make unsupported assertions in your paper. For
example, you may not claim that J .R.R. Tolkien was a devoutly religious man just because that
was mentioned in class. You must use outside resources to support such ideas.

Documentation: Follow the MLA guidelines. You must (no surprise) include a Works Cited
page (needs to have at least four entries) and provide complete and accurate in-text citation.

Your Goal: To provide your reader with a richer, deeper understanding of The Hobbit.
Key Thought: Remember, this is the Text-in-Context paper. That means that your paper will
contain both Text (in the form of information from The Hobbit) and Context (collected through
research). When writing your essay you must make a connection between your context and the
text. You cannot just write half of your paper summarizing information from the text and then
another half with disconnected Contextual information.


Due Dates: Rough Draft 1: Tuesday, October 22
nd

Rough Draft 2: Thursday, October 24
th

Final Draft Thursday, October 31
st


Length: The Final Draft of your Text-in-Context paper must be at least 5 pages