HP Blog Post 1

I think JK Rowling certainly is using the Bildungsroman type of genre to tell the story of Harry. Focusing on the first two books Harry, Ron, and Hermione all have to push themselves to their limits in order to defeat Voldemort in the end. They are tested in strength, intelligence, and by their faiths especially loyalty to their friendships. We will follow these three primarily through the years and I think part of the charm of these stories. What I really enjoyed was how Rowling set the books up. One thing I really admire was her ability to link seemingly pointless items together but then later has it be very important in the end. My prime example was the “Mirror of Erised” at first we wonder why Harry finds this, and why does he keep talking about it. Later it turns out that this was crucial Harry finds this mirror because this is how he will find the Sorcerer’s Stone. While reading these books again I have noticed other things that will become important later in the book. It is amazing how well she planned this all out for 7 whole books. 

In addition I like how Rowling always has the underdogs succeed but she makes it realistic. Horrible things happen to Harry. His life isn’t easy by any means nor could one say he has a happy life. I think this realistic aspect is important when writing this coming of age genre.  Why would we care if Harry did not have to overcome so many obstacles in life besides Voldemort? We are always seeing Harry morph from his childhood and on in each book and I think this is what keeps the reader engaged. We see he is truly a good person when he as all the reasons not to be.

Ashley Davis

Blog #1-- Austin Gage

Realism & Fantasy: A Perfect Pair

The best magic that these books cast is the spell of generic hybridity. “Harry Potter & The Sorcerer’s Stone” and “Harry Potter & The Chamber of Secrets” effectively gain a vast audience by incorporating various categories of literature such as Myth, Epic, Horror, Fairy Tale, School Story, Mystery, Gothic, and the list is endless. I want to highlight two that appealed to me—Realism and Fantasy, such a contrast or maybe not…

The two genres are antithesis, but there’s crossover. The Conventions are intertwined. For example, the allusion of a baby boy being left at the doorstep, a fairy tale-like example and real-life one, is equivalent to abandonment of a child, and the vulnerable, innocent baby is unfortunately common in contemporary society. This emotional agony, wretchedness is reality. We’ve seen the example of an “orphan” whose parents are absent… I reacted strongly to the first couple chapters of “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” because Harry’s life is presented as a tragedy, and my heart hurts for his situation.  Such a lonely life for “Harry had no one” (pg.30). He’s unacknowledged by his guardians, Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon…“The room held no sign at all that another boy lived in the house,too” (pg.18). He’s unloved “The Dursleys often spoke about Harry like this, as though he wasn’t there—or rather, as though he was something very nasty that couldn’t understand them, like a slug” (pg.22). Rowling’s twist, though, is Harry’s a wizard, a famous one, in fact! The Fantasy element is established in the realism set up of the main character and exposition of the story. It makes it more tragic that Harry grows up unaware of his purpose, fame, and status. Not being able to control what’s in him, and being despised for what, who he is—a wizard, which the Uncle and Aunt know, but try to keep from him. Uncle Vernon angrily says, “I’m not having one in the house, Petunia! Didn’t we swear when we took him in we’d stamp out that dangerous nonsense?” (pg.36).

            I’m one of the biggest fans of Fantasy; it’s freeing and exhilarating, and of utmost expression of interior distress or contentment. Realism makes the Fantasy world so much more spectacular—a mirror that shows you your inmost desire, Mirror of Erised. Again, the realism comes backs in because Harry sees his parents in the mirror, and the hard truth is, they’re gone forever. Rowling writes, “Harry was so close to the mirror now that his nose was nearly touching that of his reflection”  (pg. 208). Fantasy stops at some point because that mirror isn’t his family, and will never be. It’s a rollercoaster of half joy, [and] half terrible sadness”(209). The tragedy is not being able to truly touch what you can see.

                  In the Second book, a house elf (fantastical) becomes a friend (reality).   A basic car (reality) is enchanted to be a flying car (fantastical).  Sports (reality) turned into Quidditch (fantastical), Tom Riddle’s diary (reality) turns into Tom Riddle’s existence in the Chamber and lively words advising Ginny (fantastical).  The coexistence of Realism and Fantasy create this sense of imagination and wonderful escape into another world.

Blog Post #1 - Katelyn Corich

When I was younger I was more apprehensive to read the Harry Potter books because I was never big on the fantasy genre. However, I have always loved mystery novels, thus I became completely enthralled by the mysterious world Harry Potter had been thrown into at 11 years old. As time went on, though, I grew to love the fantasy aspect of the books as well. As I first read The Sorceror's Stone, I became wrapped up in the mystery of the castle and the Sorceror's Stone, and of who seemed obvious to be trying to steal it, Professor Snape in particular. 

Rowling depicts Snape as a mysterious sort of bad guy, as seen in the eyes of Harry. It is clear from the start that Snape is not too fond of Harry but it is not clear why. He is certainly not the most friendly professor at Hogwarts but he most definitely is the surliest, which brings about suspicion among Harry, Ron and Hermione as the school year progresses. As peculiar instances start occurring in The Sorceror's Stone, such as a troll being let into the castle to cause a diversion for the stone to potentially be stolen, Rowling throws small details into the chapter foreshadowing who the real culprit (Quirrell) is. Blinded by Quirrell's jumpy, stammering nature, he is overlooked as a potential threat thus leading readers, and Harry, to believe the culprit is that of the mean, bad tempered, Professor Snape. In the end Rowling does a fantastic job of throwing readers off by revealing the man with two faces, Professor Quirrell, as Voldemort's aid in capturing the power of the Sorceror's Stone. 

As one mystery is solved, Rowling crops up another one in book two as a dangerous, mythical Chamber of Secrets is opened and a monster is released to attack students. In this book as well, I immediately was enchanted by wanting to solve who was behind the opening of the chamber. As in the first book, Rowling indeed hides clues for readers, leading them, and Harry, to put everything together in the end. By doing so, a brilliant "ah ha!" moment is achieved when Harry and Ron finally discover where the chamber is and what monster lies in it; that Harry is able to hear this mysterious voice no one else can but is unable to find it, because he can speak Parseltongue and the monster is a snake traveling through the pipes in the castle. 

Because I have read the books before, rereading them again from a more literary aspect has made me appreciate them more. Rowling does a spectacular job of keeping readers on the edge of their seats wanting to solve whatever mysterious is at hand for Harry. While these books may be set in a fantasy world, the aura of mystery is indeed prominent throughout Harry's years at Hogwarts. 

Blog Post 1 | Portal Quest and Mystery

My response to the first two books of the Harry Potter series was absolutely influenced by Rowling’s use of blended generic conventions. I believe this is one of the main strengths of her writing - because she doesn’t stay exclusively with any one genre, her stories seem to offer a fresh perspective. When I started reading these books, I was immediately drawn in by the fantastic elements, the modern and edgy satire, the suspense and mystery, and the glimpses into the wizarding world that are present from chapter one.

Although I consider all of the genres Rowling chose to incorporate important, if I chose two genres that I found most significant to my reading of the first two books, they would probably be the portal quest and mystery. (However, if I take into account the rest of the stories I would probably revise my answer to portal quest and bildungsroman because of Harry’s character growth throughout the series).

I think the portal quest aspect of the first two books is important because Rowling is so successful at creating an entire magical world that exists side-by-side with the muggle world. As a reader, it’s exciting to experience things like Diagon Alley and Hogwarts from Harry’s perspective. Everything is new to him too, so I felt like I was in the same boat. It’s also interesting to see how Harry acclimates to his new surroundings, which are different not only because of the fantastic elements, but also due to the way people treat him and the dramatic change in his social status. Harry enters a world where magic is the norm and he is a celebrity for something he doesn’t even remember, but he still finds the difference in the way people treat him even more surprising. As Rowling writes about Harry’s experience visiting Ron at the burrow in the second book - “What Harry found most unusual about life at Ron’s, however, wasn’t the talking mirror or the clanking ghoul: It was the fact that everybody there seemed to like him.”  I believe the first and second books are particularly successful as a  portal quest because Harry is being immersed in a world that is different from his previous life in almost every conceivable way, not just because of the magical elements.

The mystery and suspense of the first two books are another reason I enjoyed reading them so much.  In both the first and second books, I had no idea what was going to happen and was surprised in both instances by the ending of the book. I think Rowling is excellent at these dramatic closing revelations (such as when Harry finds Quirrell in front of the mirror or Erised or when Tom Riddle tells Harry that he is actually Lord Voldemort). Not only that, Rowling’s use of foreshadowing is very effective. The clues she provides give glimpses about what is to come without giving too much away. It was only at the end, after the villain had been unmasked, that I was able to look back and wonder how I didn’t see it coming. 

Blog #1 - Correlation

In the Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling has multiple genres incorporated together and she has revised, at least, two generic conventions of fantasy - as Rachel Stieger-Meister titled as a Portal Quest - and mythology. There are more genres she has connected and revised within the Harry Potter series, but Portal Quest, which is a type of fantasy that goes through a portal or threshold into another world, and mythology are two good genres to focus on.

With mythology aspect, what I found interesting in the Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was Hagrid’s three-headed dog named Fluffy, which from Greek and Roman mythology is Cerberus who guards the underworld; when Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville were running and hiding away from Filch, they went into the forbidden room and there was “a monstrous dog, a dog that filled the whole space between ceiling and floor. It had three heads. Three pairs of rolling, mad eyes; three noses, twitching and quivering in their directions” (Sorcerer’s Stone, 160-161). J.K. Rowling uses mythology genre to correlate with Portal Quest genre; Cerberus is known for guarding the Underworld and Fluffy is guarding the entrance to the Sorcerer’s Stone, and each creature is protecting a portal from outsiders and not allowing insiders to escape from the portal. Therefore, the audience sees correlation between these two genres of Portal Quest and mythology, which really fantasy is related with mythology. It’s just interesting that when I read this book the first time, I overlooked it. I noticed and wrote it down how it was “ironic” that Fluffy was similar with Cerberus, but I didn’t dwell on the fact that J.K. Rowling was inspired and revised Cerberus as Fluffy and genre of the Portal Quest; Fluffy being the guardian and first obstacle within the Portal Quest to protect the Sorcerer’s Stone.

Another association with mythology and Portal Quest was in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, when Harry and Ron found out what creature is behind the Petrified people with Hermione’s help, there was a paper that said “Of the many fearsome beasts and monsters that roam our land, there is none more curious or more deadly than the Basilisk, known also as the King of the Serpents. … Its methods of killing are most wondrous, for aside from its deadly and venomous fangs, the Basilisk has a murderous stare, and all who are fixed with the beam of its eye shall suffer instant death” (Chamber of Secrets, 290). This might be a stretch but perhaps J.K. Rowling revised the myth of Medusa; the woman who was cursed with snakes as her hair and anyone who met her gaze got turned into stone. Perhaps, J.K. Rowling separated the idea of Medusa, the woman, who was murdered by the Basilisk (or the curse) - Moaning Myrtle, and the snake. Again this is a stretch, but I believe there are some similarities and she used her revised mythology genre and Portal Quest together. I didn’t really notice these similarities until I started to investigate and I could be wrong about the idea of Medusa, but I thought it was an interesting notation to bring up. Then, we see the Portal Quest happening when Harry and Ron find the Chamber of Secrets, Harry speaks Parseltongue and opens it, which is another portal into different world; however, this portal is different from others because within this portal, something wants to come out. These two genres very alike are correlated together to create a new revised genre within the wonderful world of Harry Potter.

Blog Post 1

As I reread the first two books in the Harry Potter series, I forced myself to slow down and look at all of the small, possibly insignificant details within Harry’s world. In doing this, I was able to absorb J.K. Rowling’s writing style and not flatter myself with the common, although mesmerizing, aspects of the Wizarding World, such as Quidditch, two-foot long parchment assignments, and Professor Snape’s hawk-like nose.

After discussing numerous genres that were veiled in Rowling’s Harry Potter books, one and two, during the first few classes, I chose to focus on the generic convention of Rowling’s tendency to write mystery stories. In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s (Philosopher’s) Stone, book one, Harry (with the help of his best friends, Ron and Hermione) finds himself battling You-Know-Who, the Dark Lord, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, Lord Voldemort. Leading up to this epic reunion with Voldemort, Harry, Ron and Hermione find themselves trying to discover what Fluffy, the three-headed dog, was guarding. Rowling did a fantastic job of hiding clues and answers to this mystery between the pages of this book. For example, in chapter six when Harry buys a little of everything on the trolley cart full of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans, Drooble’s Best Blowing gum, Chocolate Frogs, Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, Licorice Wands, Harry discovers the card within the Chocolate Frog wrapper. The card, which will show a famous witch or wizard (to Harry’s astonishment), displayed Albus Dumbledore, as well as a description about his life. This is when we discover a very important clue to the mystery of the Sorcerer’s Stone, and Harry and Ron didn’t even realize it, “…for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon’s blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel.” Harry, Ron, and Hermione are confronted with obstacle after obstacle, but eventually remember what the Chocolate Frog card said, and in doing so, quickly put the clues together to help keep the Sorcerer’s Stone safe.

I vividly remember reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s (Philosopher’s) Stone for the first time, and was just as baffled as Harry, Ron, and Hermione as the plot thickened and we all had to put the facts together and figure out why Snape (Quirrel) wanted the stone. Rowling is definitely a genius mystery writer, even if she doesn’t acknowledge that herself. 

HP Blog #1 - Nelle Sanderson

Nelle Sanderson

January 27, 2015

Harry Potter/ Heller

Blog Post #1

            While the Harry Potter series may be labeled as a lot of different genres, for instance, romance, adventure, or epic, the best argument may lie in the idea that the books are rooted in fantasy.  In only 309 pages of The Sorcerers Stone, Rowling creates a world of its own. And perhaps her magical world may be filled with familiar magical and mystical creatures, but it has its own laws, conventions and norms.  Fantasy is rooted in the idea of creating a world other than our own, but completing it so thoroughly that we may believe it could exist.  Rowling establishes this world by creating institutions that we would have paralleled in a non magical world and also by creating a new language so to speak.  The reader is introduced to the title of Muggle, given to “nonmagic folk”(53) by Hagrid.  As Hagrid guides Harry into the magical world, he is also guiding the reader into the magical world.  This magic world is even further separated from the Muggle world by Rowling’s creation of magical institutions that mimic our own.  If the magical world has its own infrastructure, it can become a much more tangible place.  This is evident in the existence of Hogwarts as well as the Ministry of Magic, which is responsible for keeping “it from the Muggles that there’s still witches an’ wizards up an’ down the country”(65).  The Sorcerer’s Stone introduces the reader to a new world, which is a convention of fantasy.

            The book may also find its likeness to a bildungsroman responsible for its popularity amongst children.  Harry Potter is living a coming of age story.  The power of the Harry Potter series is not just how it is a coming of age story for Harry, but also a coming of age story for Ron, Hermione, and others as well.  It is relatable for many children.  The story takes issues or problems that a non-magical child may face and inserts those scenarios into a magical world.  For instance, in The Chamber of Secrets, it is not unheard of for kids to get into trouble for taking their parents car when they are not supposed to (69-70).  And perhaps it would not be unusual for a Muggle kid to know the glory of coming up big in his first school sporting event as Harry does in the Gryffindor game (191). Harry Potter is a great example of a bildungsroman.

Blog Assignment 1

We spoke in class of how the Harry Potter series melds various well-known genres to produce stories that are at once familiar and unfamiliar.  In other words, we recognize certain generic conventions, but also can appreciate how Rowling is putting her own spin on them.  For this first blog post, we’d like you to analyze your own response to books 1 and 2 of the series, and how that response is shaped by Rowling’s use and revision of generic conventions.  What particularly appeals to you about books 1 and 2,  and how is this appeal related to Rowling’s use of generic conventions? An example:  you could speak of how your response to books 1 and 2 is influenced by Rowling’s integration into the story of both the mystery and fantasy genres.

Note that you should limit your discussion of genre to one or two specific types; don’t try to tackle every genre you can find alluded to in the books.  Instead, choose the one or two most important to shaping your response to books 1 and 2.  You can review the handout “The Genres of Harry Potter” under “Course Documents” if this helps refresh your memory of our discussion on days 1 and 2. 

A last instruction (don’t worry; our blog prompts won’t typically be this long!):  be as specific as possible in citing examples from books 1 and 2 to illustrate your points.  Quote and/or cite specific details—and specif references to your response to the books. Oh, and please no spoilers in your post beyond the first two books.

 

Your entries should be at least 200 words and ideally between 250-350 words.  You can boost your overall blog grade by responding in your post,or in separate shorter posts, to the comments of other students in your house.