Creative Writing and Translation Skills

Introduction

Dear student! The importance of being wordy and creative is a big deal for your academic life. Especially when you are an international ESL student, it is hard to keep up with the level of the native speaker's writing skills. That's why I want you to complete this enjoyable and constructive task.

The main objective of this webquest is to compel you to come up up with your own style of writing and improve your translation skills as well.

* This webquest is for adult advanced learners of English in Turkey.

Task

J.R.R. TOLKIEN ZINE

In one weeks' time you are expected to create a J.R.R. Tolkien zine via Microsoft Publisher by focusing on the target language (Turkish) and the source language (English). You will create a literary magazine. For the first section of your zine, you will need to translate a chapter from the Hobbit. Then, you will translate an interview of the author with a BBC Radio host. After that, you will need to prepare a translation critique of the book The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring by comparing it to its Turkish translation. Lastly, you will come up with a terminology work which will include the unknown words or the technical terms related to Tolkien's works. Please do not forget to insert a references section at the end.

Your Zine Must Include:

1. Editor's Letter

2. Main Translation

3. Human vs. Computer Translation

4. Translation Critique

5. Expressive or Visual Elements

6. Terminology

7. References

Process

*Resources section is below.

You need to go through six stages to complete this task each of which are identifed and listed below:

Stage 1: Editor's Letter: As you are the editor of your own zine, you need to write an introductory letter to your readers. Mention the context of your zine, what the readers will find in each chapter and what they should expect from that chapter. Use a friendly and funny way of introducing the topics, if possible. You can find an example editor’s letter in the link below:

http://www.sparrowmagazine.com/issue01/?page_id=397

2. Main Translation: For this section of the zine, you are expected to translate a 4-5 pages long chapter from the Hobbit from Turkish to English. Try to use sophisticated words and avoid using very simple words; you should make use of a thesaurus and find the synonyms of the words which are not advanced level.

3. Human vs Computer: You will translate the transcript of an interview between Tolkien and a BBC Radio host. Try to make the sentences of him sound like a daily, sincere conversation. Do not establish very formal sentences; that is, try to find, maybe, slang words that we use in daily life. After you translate the text, put the whole interview into Google Translate and let the readers guess which is done by whom. (Just for fun! :))

4. Translation Critique: Probably the most challenging part of the zine will be this one as you need to write a critique of the two books by providing examples from each of them: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring- J.R.R. TOLKIEN and Yüzüklerin Efendisi: Yüzük Kardeşliği –Çiğdem Erkal İpek and Bülent Somay. There are certain questions that you have to answer to complete this part. The translation critique template is in the Resources section below.

5. Expressive and Visual Elements: You should add some visuals to your zine, for sure. Try to find some images, paintings, fan arts related to the texts you are translating to make your content richer and more attractive.

6. Terminology: Check out the articles in the Resources section below and come up with unknown terms about the works of Tolkien and find out their meanings and add them at the end of your zine.

That is all you have to do for this task. I am sure you will submit a great work. Good

Luck! :)

Resources

http://muse.jhu.edu/login?auth=0&type=summary&url=/journals/tolkien_stu…

1. Fitting Sense to Sound:Linguistic Aesthetics and Phonosemantics in the Work of J.R.R. Tolkien - ROSS SMITH

2. Anthropology according to Tolkien’s mythology - Wojciech J. Cynarski

ilet.gazi.edu.tr/posts/download?id=13838

3. Büyüklere Masallar: Fantastik Filmler ve Gündelik Yaşamda Büyünün Yeniden Keşfi – Elif Şeşen

turkishstudies.net/DergiPdfDetay.aspx?ID=2587

4. Geceye Söylenen Masallar: Fantastik Anlatılarda Gerçeküstünün İşlevi – Ebru Burcu Yılmaz

5. Translation Critique Template

Evaluation

J.R.R. TOLKIEN Magazine Rubric

	12.5 Points	10 Points	8 Points	5 points
Appearance	Our magazine is neat, attractive and organized so people can easily find what they are looking for. Our pictures have a clear focus.	Our magazine is neat and organized. Our pictures are clear.	Our magazine is a little bit confusing, and some of our pictures are not clear.	Our magazine is confusing and our pictures are not clear and do not seem to have a purpose.
Features	We have an interesting name for our magazine that goes along with what is inside it. We also have bylines that tell who wrote the articles and an accurate table of contents page.	We have a name for our magazine and titles for our articles. We have bylines that show who wrote them and an accurate table of contents.	We have some titles, bylines, and features. We have a table of contents, but it may have some mistakes or be confusing.	We may have a title for our magazine, but many of our articles are missing titles and bylines. Our table of contents is missing or inaccurate.
Extras	We have some extra features in our magazine, such as letters to the editor, advertisements, advice columns, and extra articles, that go along with the name of the magazine.	We have some extra features in our magazine, and most of them go along with the name of the magazine.	We have a few extra features, but most of them don’t really go along with the name of the magazine.	We do not have any extra features in our magazine.
Conventions	There are no errors in spelling, punctuation, capitalization, or sentences.	There are no errors in spelling, punctuation, capitalization, or sentences that detract from meaning.	There are some errors in spelling, punctuation, capitalization, or sentences that detract from meaning.	There are many errors in spelling, punctuation, capitalization, or sentences that detract from meaning.

Conclusion

Congratulations! Now you are a real editor. By completing the task you have improved your vocabulary and translation skills. You will have a better understanding of the meaning behind Tolkien's words now, hopefully.

Hope you enjoyed the webquest!