As the new school-year's rose fingers touch the sky I have the luxury of indulging my latest students with a myriad of approaches. Today, a student wearing a necklace dangling a large alligator's tooth shared not only this decoration with me, but also that he or she had been told that this tooth could be considered a weapon. Upon being asked by this young student if this was true I immediately launched into a Harry Potter explanation, an explanation that hopefully answered itself.
"Such a tooth can be considered a weapon, particularly if this tooth has been infused with the blood of a basilisk and you are attempting to destroy a diary written by Tom Riddle, or any other Horcrux. Other than that, I do not perceive this lone gator tooth as dangerous or threatening in any way. Thank you for asking."
Please advise me if I have led this student astray. A representative from the orthodontic lobby is pestering me as I write!
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Monday, August 1, 2011
Butterbeer: Fact or Fiction?
Is butterbeer simply a delicious invention of the imagination of Ms. Rowling, or is it a beverage to be found in history? It so happens that currently I am reading "Imbibe!" - a history of the cocktail in America during the 19th century. Lo and behold! Here is what I discovered quite accidentally in the section for Hot Spiced or Buttered Rum:
"The addition of butter to hot drinks goes back at least to the days of Henry VIII, when we find one Andrew Boorde recommending buttered beer or ale as a remedy for hoarseness. By Samuel Pepys's day, buttered ale, with sugar and cinnamon, had made the transition from medicinal drink to recreational one." (page 163)
I have never had a warm, let alone a hot, beer, and I don't intend to soon, but I must admit that the possibility is somewhat intriguing with the addition of such sweetness and spice. Also, having never had a Butterbeer from Harry Potter World (which is not a hot drink, nor alcoholic), I cannot compare this current interpretation with the imagined flavors on my mind's palate. I suppose I will eventually persuade some fellow adult Potter Heads to make this leap with me at some future gathering that involves lowered standards and unchained judgement. I will certainly let you know!
"The addition of butter to hot drinks goes back at least to the days of Henry VIII, when we find one Andrew Boorde recommending buttered beer or ale as a remedy for hoarseness. By Samuel Pepys's day, buttered ale, with sugar and cinnamon, had made the transition from medicinal drink to recreational one." (page 163)
I have never had a warm, let alone a hot, beer, and I don't intend to soon, but I must admit that the possibility is somewhat intriguing with the addition of such sweetness and spice. Also, having never had a Butterbeer from Harry Potter World (which is not a hot drink, nor alcoholic), I cannot compare this current interpretation with the imagined flavors on my mind's palate. I suppose I will eventually persuade some fellow adult Potter Heads to make this leap with me at some future gathering that involves lowered standards and unchained judgement. I will certainly let you know!
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Humor Within Harry Potter
Humor abounds in the Potter series. It is one of the aspects of the series that I found most endearing. Rowling oftens ends a section or chapter with a funny line. Ron is particularly proficient at the section-ending humor with his ironic quips. One of my favorites, though, is by the narrator. It is a litotes, rhetorically speaking, and this understatement puts a heart-warming smile on any decent reader's face. This comment concludes the scene when Ron and Harry rescue Hermione from a troll:
"But from that moment on, Hermione Granger became their friend. There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them." - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, page 179.
There are so many hilarious moments in the series. What are some of yours? Please share in the comments section. Thanks!
"But from that moment on, Hermione Granger became their friend. There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them." - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, page 179.
There are so many hilarious moments in the series. What are some of yours? Please share in the comments section. Thanks!
A Confederacy of Dursleys
The comical description of Vernon Dursley on the opening page of book one is humorous, no doubt. It reminded me of the opening paragraph of A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole, one of the funniest books I have had the pleasure to peruse. Not only are the two characters, Vernon Dursley and Ignatius Reilly, similar in appearance, they both have a critical eye when it comes to surveying their fellow humans. First, the description of Mr. Dursley:
"Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills. He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large mustache." - Harry Potter and the Sorcercer's Stone, page one.
While these two sentences are briefer than the quote below, and certainly not as detail-oriented, we also pick up some clues as to the shallowness of Mr. and Mrs. Dursley in the opening.
Here is the first paragraph of A Confederacy of Dunces:
"A green hunting cap squeezed the top of the fleshy balloon of a head. The green earflaps, full of large ears and uncut hair and the fine bristles that grow in the ears themselves, stuck out on either side like turn signals indicating two directions at once. Full, pursed lips protruded beneath the bushy black moustache and, at their corners, sank into little folds filled with disapproval and potato chip crumbs. In the shadow under the green visor of the cap Ignatius J. Reilly's supercilious blue and yellow eyes looked down upon the other people waiting under the clock at the D. H. Holmes department store, studying the crowd of people for signs of bad taste in dress. Several of the outfits, Ignatius noticed, were new enough and expensive enough to be properly considered offenses against taste and decency. Possession of anything new or expensive only reflected a person's lack of theology and geometry; it could even cast doubts upon one's soul."
"Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills. He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large mustache." - Harry Potter and the Sorcercer's Stone, page one.
While these two sentences are briefer than the quote below, and certainly not as detail-oriented, we also pick up some clues as to the shallowness of Mr. and Mrs. Dursley in the opening.
Here is the first paragraph of A Confederacy of Dunces:
"A green hunting cap squeezed the top of the fleshy balloon of a head. The green earflaps, full of large ears and uncut hair and the fine bristles that grow in the ears themselves, stuck out on either side like turn signals indicating two directions at once. Full, pursed lips protruded beneath the bushy black moustache and, at their corners, sank into little folds filled with disapproval and potato chip crumbs. In the shadow under the green visor of the cap Ignatius J. Reilly's supercilious blue and yellow eyes looked down upon the other people waiting under the clock at the D. H. Holmes department store, studying the crowd of people for signs of bad taste in dress. Several of the outfits, Ignatius noticed, were new enough and expensive enough to be properly considered offenses against taste and decency. Possession of anything new or expensive only reflected a person's lack of theology and geometry; it could even cast doubts upon one's soul."
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Exciting this Reader - Last Paragraph, Chap. One
Continuing with our examination of chapter one of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, we should savor the final paragraph of this "prologue" to the series. I love rhetorical devices and constantly study their uses. In the quote below we have an anaphora. An anaphora is the name for a rhetorical devices that simply repeats the first word or words at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, sentences, or paragraphs. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s I Have a Dream speech is a famous example. The author, in the paragraph cited below, does such an incredible job of exciting the reader about what is to come. In my copy, I have many notes surrounding this paragraph, some in ALL-CAPS, like the word "FORESHADOW." Rhetorical devices, and in this instance Ms. Rowling repeats the words "not knowing" three times within one sentence, should be used sparingly and strategically for a powerful effect. Ms. Rowling wowed me and excited me with this concluding paragraph to chapter one. I could not wait to turn the page!
I need to to give a shout out to the word choice of "inky sky." "Inky" - all that will happen next will happen beneath the sky of the world that Ms. Rowling has inked!
"A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky. The very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen. Harry Potter rolled over inside his blankets without waking up. One small hand closed on the letter beside him and he slept on, not knowing he was special, not knowing he was famous, not knowing he would be woken in a few hours' time by Mrs. Dursley's scream as she opened the front door to put out the milk bottle, nor that he would spend the next few weeks being prodded and pinched by his cousin Dudley. . . . He couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: "To Harry Potter -- the boy who lived!" ( page 17 - emphases mine)
I need to to give a shout out to the word choice of "inky sky." "Inky" - all that will happen next will happen beneath the sky of the world that Ms. Rowling has inked!
"A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky. The very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen. Harry Potter rolled over inside his blankets without waking up. One small hand closed on the letter beside him and he slept on, not knowing he was special, not knowing he was famous, not knowing he would be woken in a few hours' time by Mrs. Dursley's scream as she opened the front door to put out the milk bottle, nor that he would spend the next few weeks being prodded and pinched by his cousin Dudley. . . . He couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: "To Harry Potter -- the boy who lived!" ( page 17 - emphases mine)
Harry Potter Series and the Politics of Power
For those of us who find the Harry Potter series to be more than a coming-of-age tale set in the world of magic, there is a recent article in The Atlantic that discusses J. K. Rowling's treatment of politics, human rights, and the abuse of power. Many of the opinions which I have developed this past year while reading, re-reading, and re-reading this story yet again, appear in this article. So instead of of re-inventing the wheel, I am providing the link it. I recommend it highly.
http://m.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/07/the-political-parable-of-harry-potter/241946
http://m.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/07/the-political-parable-of-harry-potter/241946
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Who is Your Favorite Character in Harry Potter?
Is it Dumbledore? Is it Harry? Is it Hermione or Ron? Can Hagrid have stolen the cup, or is Snape on the rise? Who? Who? Who?
MTV.com has been hosting a best character Harry Potter contest, which Snape won:
www.mtv.com/news/articles/1667081/harry-potter-world-cup-severus-snape-wins.jhtml
Who is you favorite character? Please provide personal justification because no nominees will be eliminated.
I will step out, as such a delcaration is not easy, and claim Neville as my favorite character.
Time to name your favorite character! Do so in the comment section!
MTV.com has been hosting a best character Harry Potter contest, which Snape won:
www.mtv.com/news/articles/1667081/harry-potter-world-cup-severus-snape-wins.jhtml
Who is you favorite character? Please provide personal justification because no nominees will be eliminated.
I will step out, as such a delcaration is not easy, and claim Neville as my favorite character.
Time to name your favorite character! Do so in the comment section!
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