Genre
Biography
Setting and Context
Set in 1998, in Bloemfontein farm in Africa.
Narrator and Point of View
Third-person narrative
Tone and Mood
Enlightening and optimistic
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonist is J.R.R. Tolkien
Major Conflict
There is a conflict between Ronald and his nurse. Ronald does not want to be attended to by the nurse, but she has to do her role of taking care of him.
Climax
The climax comes when the spider bites Ronald making him surrender to his nurse. The nurse had been chasing him for hours before he decided to stop.
Foreshadowing
A tarantula bite on Ronald foreshadows Mabel Tolkien’s hatred for African playgrounds.
Understatement
The nurse underestimated the ability of a three-year-old boy to run faster than she did. However, Ronald managed to run at a higher speed than the nurse did.
Allusions
N/A
Imagery
The opening paragraph depicts the sense of sight to readers. The author writes, "The tall grass of the desert farm in Bloemfontein, Africa, almost hid him from view. His nurse screamed his name, her voice cashing him, but he kept running from her – a pale three-year-old child in a white blouse and shorts." The imagery is significant because it sets the biography's pace and describes Ronald's appearance and tendencies with her nurse.
Paradox
The main paradox is that a three-year-old boy runs faster than a nurse, a full-grown adult.
Parallelism
N/A
Metonymy and Synecdoche
N/A
Personification
N/A
