Mystery and Suspense In the Harry Potter Novels.
Samantha Singer 27.10.02 MYSTERY AND SUSPENSE IN THE HARRY POTTER NOVELS Mystery and suspense play a large part in the Harry Potter novels by J. K. Rowling. The word mystery is defined as "something that is not or cannot be known, understood or explained." Words that come to mind when the word mystery is heard are: strange or unexpected, confusing, conspiracy, suspense, unbelievable and twist. All the words can be used in describing the Harry Potter novels. A mystery is like a puzzle with a piece missing or a crime unsolved. The mystery builds up using suspense, and discovering clues. It reaches its climax. Then begins to unravel and finally reaches a solution. Mystery works well with completely bizarre and weird things or characters, but works just as well, maybe even better, when humans are used. When you compile both of these ideas you are left with Harry Potter. Harry Potter is set in real places in England. Descriptions of the area resurrect the real area from the past. Areas such as Diagon Ally, Knockturn Ally and the streets of London are described. Mystery works well when so many things are familiar, such as these areas and the idea of kids buying ice creams and practical jokes while the adults went for a drink in a pub. Rowling gives guidelines in her descriptions but still allows for the reader's imagination to take over and create their own pictures.
J.K. Rowling: The clat of a great achievement.
J.K. Rowling: The éclat of a great achievement Vishal Mehta Mrs. Mahoney English Honors 10 East Islip High School January 25, 2007 Joanne Kathleen Rowling is an English fiction author who has turned a generation of youth onto reading. Rowling is renowned for the creation of the Harry Potter fantasy series, which has caught the attention of both children and adults worldwide. Furthermore, the fantasy series has won Rowling multiple awards and has sold well "over 375 million copies worldwide" (Wikipedia par.1). Though there remains one more book until the celebrated series is complete, Rowling has still accumulated quite a fortune; estimated to be over one billion USD (United States Dollars) (Wikipedia par.1). Rowling's "rags to riches" story has and remains a source of great inspiration for both struggling and established authors. Her novels are a source of entertainment, often substituting for television, movies, and video games in many households across the world. J.K. Rowling's novels consist of an array of characters and various settings, some based off of Greek Mythology, others created purely by imagination and several relating to her own life. However, beneath the light humor and suspense of each book lies a moral lesson. Her stories aim not only to entertain but alert readers to the ills of society, flaws such as prejudice and egoism. Joanne Kathleen Rowling was
To what extent does children's literature reflect messages from the wider culture? How are these messages transmitted?
Q. To what extent does children's literature reflect messages from the wider culture? How are these messages transmitted? It may seem daft, at first, to even discuss the idea that children's literature could possibly reflect messages from the wider culture or indeed have any bearing on the child that reads them. Surely such literature be it fairytale, poem or suchlike are merely for entertainment's sake or possibly in many cases for the parent's sake to keep the child occupied. Perhaps in the distant past many would have sided with Hemingway in saying that "messages are for Western Union and not for books"1, but it is now not so. An increasing amount of analysts from Morison2 to Tatar3 suggest that there is more to children's literature than simply entertainment and occupation. Many different theories exist as to what the literature can actually show us, some believe it is merely didactic and creates a moral landscape for the child, others believe that it is capable of being interpreted to give an understanding of the wider society in which it was created and that the themes within it can prepare the child for what is to come. It is in discussing these broad theories of Socialization, Literary Criticism and Psychoanalysis we will see to what extent and how messages from the wider culture are reflected in children's literature. It is necessary first to try to briefly unearth
How Successful Was the Marketing Campaign of Harry Potter and the Philosphers Stone?
VICKI THOMAS -1520 HOW SUCCESSFUL WAS THE MARKETING CAMPAIGN OF HARRY POTTER AND THE PHILOSPHERS STONE? The Harry Potter franchise is one of the most profitable franchises of all time and the film is the second highest grosser after Titanic. The marketing campaign has helped the franchise to develop. This essay will examine the success of the marketing campaign throughout the media. JK Rowling's first book "Harry Potter and the philosophers stone" was published in 1993. The plot focuses on Harry Potter who lives in a cupboard underneath the stairs at his Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon's house after the death of his parents in a car crash. Harry is then rescued into a world where nothing is as it seems and he discovers his true heritage at Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft. The first teaser was the release of the picture of Harry's beloved owl Hedwig. And then nothing for a while, until photos of the train at Platform 93/4, which takes the young wizards to Hogwarts School. The first trailer soon followed, giving a taste of how Rowling's words translated onto the big screen. But having started with such a measured marketing campaign, the floodgates were then opened. Subsequent trailers revealed the flying broomsticks, moving stairs and even the magical Golden Snitch. Every newspaper published "exclusive" supplements of new photos from the film. Then there
One of the primary reasons why children should not read Harry Potter books is the fact that the Christian denominations do not accept any relations dealing with witchcraft or wizardry.
Hocus pocus, abracadabra! Frog's legs, two fried crocodile eyeballs, the heart of a chicken, and three drops of a cobra's venom! The arousal of any of these words would most likely create the image of witchcraft and wizardry in one's mind. The religion of witchcraft, Wicca, recognized as a religion by the government, dates back to a time when women were burned at the stake if they were believed to have supernatural powers. While many women were burned alive during the Salem Witch Trials, society had a good reason to fear the unorthodox practice of witchcraft. The world of the supernatural, requiring interaction with evil, is one thing with which humans should not meddle. Even though many people recognize the destruction and dangers of witchcraft and wizardry, they continue to be fascinated by its enthralling spells and magic. Society encourages this kind of behavior through movies, television shows, magazine ads, business slogans, material products, and books. Moreover, the media portrays witchcraft as being heroic and fun. One of the biggest influences that has lured almost the entire world into the witchcraft religion is the spellbinding world of the famous and most admired wizard ever, Harry Potter. According to Christian beliefs, the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling demonstrates pagan and occult principles that are not suitable reading materials for children because of
BLUE REMEMBERED HILLS
BLUE REMEMBERED HILLS The play 'Blue Remembered Hills' is set in an almost idyllic locality with the fields of long luscious grass and the surreal forest of Dean nearby. The backdrop to the action is World War Two and there is an undercurrent of violence, the adults in this rural community are focusing on war, so they don't have complete control of their children. It is almost as if conflict and brutality have become an accepted part of everyday life. Ironically the children are engaged in a war of their own and certainly the afternoon degenerates into violence and cruelty. The children's microcosm is almost a mirror of the adult macrocosm, but in their world their morality is not strong enough to guide them, so they lose their innocence, on this tragic day in 1943. Potter has used adults to enhance the parts of children because his dramatic plot requires intense feeling and he does not believe that such young actors would be able to give enough depth and emotion into the play, under the stress of the cameras. Another reason for the adult actors is so that Potter can exaggerate and magnify the mistakes and to reflect the immature behaviour of children. The actors are not allowed reflection or eloquence on their mistakes, it helps the audience to accept and appreciate the true meanings of the play. This climatic piece of writing clearly shows us that not all children are as
'Will the real Harry Potter please stand up...'
'Will the real Harry Potter please stand up...' A quote made by the famous creator of Harry Potter said, "The idea that we could have a child who escapes from the confines of the adult world and goes somewhere where he has power, both literally and metaphorically, really appealed to me." However, is this the way that millions of people have come to think of Harry Potter? What do you picture when you think of Harry Potter? Harry is Real Magic There is something magical about Harry. This magic has very little to do with the fictional magic that Scottish author J.K. Rowling has woven into her four books to date. For the last couple of decades or so, parents have been scratching their heads in concern and sometimes-real fear while their offspring gave hour upon hour first to television, then video and computer games and, more recently, the Internet. Hours that added up to weeks and, over time, to years of slack-jawed passive entertainment while technological marvels shovelled up activities that required little creative input from the growing young mind in question. J.K. Rowling had - seemingly with very little effort - managed to do what a cotillion of concerned coalitions collectively could not: she had gotten the children of the world reading, and, reading passionately and with abandon. Shut your eyes and picture Harry Potter. What do you see? I would put money on it
Consider the representation of gender roles in Rowling's text. Harry Potter is the hero of children's literature across the world.
Ben Ireson 03411958 Children's Literature. 'Harry's fictional realm of magic and wizardry perfectly mirrors the conventional assumption that men do and should run the world. From the beginning of the first Potter book, it is boys and men, wizards and sorcerers, who catch our attention by dominating the scenes and determining the action. Harry, of course, plays the lead [...] Girls, when they are not downright silly or unlikable, are helpers, enablers and instruments. No girl is brilliantly heroic the way Harry is, no woman experienced and wise like professor Dumbledore. In fact, the range of female personalities is so limited that neither women nor girls play on the side of evil' (Christine Schoefer). Do you agree? Consider the representation of gender roles in Rowling's text. Harry Potter is the hero of children's literature across the world. Just one mention of his name and there is not a child, parent or grandparent who has not heard of the excitement, thrill and fantasy that is Harry's world. JK Rowling's books have been translated into many different languages throughout the world where children across the planet are reading these fascinating novels of the Potter series not to mention the billion pound movies that have made Harry and indeed Rowling an international household name. This series of children's books has reignited kids' desire to read and while doing
Generalizations about Children's Books & Children's Reading.
Submission 2 Julie Krenzler Paper 1 Wed. May 19th, 2004 Generalizations about Children's Books & Children's Reading I had, in my mind, some of the prescribed generalizations that people have about children's books, but I thought that I would conduct a small-scale poll of my own. I had printed out a hard copy of the assignment and had brought it to my boyfriend's house so that I could generate ideas while he watched a basketball game (he's a die-hard Pistons fan). During one of the intermissions, he leaned over and read the assignment sheet and asked me the golden question, "Generalization about children's books? What does that mean?". Ah, my research had begun. I asked him to imagine a children's book in his hand and to tell me what was inside. He had pictured a Doctor Seuss' book and recounted generalizations such as, a large font, silly, uncomplicated words, colourful pictures, elementary plot, short, simple sentence structure and rhyming words. I felt my boyfriend had succinctly narrowed into the public's general thoughts about children's literature far more than I could have, probably because I have studied children's literature and know differently, or do I? In this world there are generalizations that are absolutely false. They are tales and legends made up by people who witness one or two occurrences, and then decide that it is an
Children's books
When people talked about the children's books or readings, they always have certain stereotype images, such as big fonts with colorful pictures, fairy tales with all imaginations, or these books are not suitable for adults to read. People also think that all of children's stories have happy endings, and create a positive image on everything. But actually there was no such thing called "children's books "in the past. From my parent's generation or even my grandparents' era, they don't have too many choices on the children's literatures. All they had are some fairy tales or old stories which orally passed by generations through generations. There is no one confoundedly to write for children. Until the middle of the 20th century, people started to concentrate and focus to write the books for children. That's why we can have so many choices and so many varieties of books for the children. Some authors even categorized themselves as the "children's book writers" to separate with other writers. For the younger readers, such as kids are not even go to preschool. They don't know many words or any alphabets at all. Their readings must be accomplished with older adults. Reading is a kind of game or activity to these kids. They enjoy the time to spend with their parents. For them, their readings must attract their attention with multicolored images and even audio sounds. Winners never