The Idea of an Essay, Volume 2

49 “The Desolation of The Hobbit ” by William Keating Instructor’s Notes For this essay, William Keating needed to write an example of textual analysis. William chose to analyze a classic novel. What do you think about the assertions he makes about Tolkien’s classical text? Does he provide sufficient support for his assertions? How does he structure his essay so he can both analyze and evaluate as opposed to just summarizing and describing? Writer’s Biography William Keating is a chemistry major from Missouri who plans to graduate in 2016. He enjoys playing basketball and watching the Cardinals play baseball. William also loves reading Tolkien’s works set in Middle Earth. The Desolation of The Hobbit “If An Unexpected Journey was a galumphing orc, smashing its way through the plot, The Desolation of Smaug is a fleet-footed elf, leaping through the trees,” says Chris Barsanti in his article “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” (par. 8). In his article he suggests that Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is an improvement from the first movie of Jackson’s trilogy of movies being produced to depict J.R.R. Tolkien’s famous novel, The Hobbit. Barsanti suggests the improvement is due to the liberties Jackson took that left out much of Tolkien’s descriptive scenes and to the many new characters that Jackson brings from the book and from his own embellishment of The Hobbit (pars. 3-6). Barsanti is not the only one who commends Jackson’s second hobbit movie; many are claiming The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug outshines its predecessor. Todd McCarthy’s article “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” agrees with Barsanti and the majority of reviewers that Jackson’s second movie was exceptional because of its addition of characters, and he adds that the fast pace increases