Harry Potter as Lit

[Chris in PA]

Hi all,

Has anyone tried to do a high school level course doing literary analysis on the Harry Potter series? My dd and ds are facinated by these books. I really would love to teach literary analysis on something they enjoy and understand instead of trying to have them write about books they have a difficult time with understanding. I am sure we could write plenty of papers about imagery ans symbolism. But what else could we do with them? I have been searching on the internet and found some ideas but was hoping for a few more. I would love to see them gain confidence in literary analysis this way and then we can move on to meatier stuff. Any thoughts?

 

Thanks

[Kim in Appalachia]

was to read books that inspired Rowling, starting with the Arthur tales and including anything and everything you could find. Every writer borrows ideas from somewhere, but Rowlings is rich. I saw traces of Dickens and Bronte, and of course Lewis and Tokein. There are more that I think she acknowledged, and even a few that she didn't (that tried to sue her)

 

Anyway, the point is there is a lot to read and seek out, including different genres, to help flush out the Potter series. ( I have a son, who is only 11, who has obsessed on these books, so I have thought about this for him when he is older).

[Julie in MN]

When I first brought my challenging dd home to school (10th grader, 2002), this was the only series she said she was interested in reading, so we read it - together so we could discuss it. I think there were only 2-3 in the series then.

 

There were guides out then. I think this is one we used?

http://www.amazon.com/Beachams-Sourcebook-Teaching-Young-Fiction/dp/0933833571/ref=sr_1_33?ie=UTF8&qid=1289589605&sr=8-33

 

I might still have it on the shelves around here, if you have any particular questions. I doubt it covers more than 2-3 of the books. I don't remember it all that well any more. But I think I found it helpful. How's that for vague :)

 

Julie

[amtmcm]

How about this book?

 

Harry Potter's Bookshelf: The Great Books Behind the Hogwarts Adventures explores the literary landscape of themes and genres J.K. Rowling artfully wove throughout her novels-and the influential authors and stories that inspired her. From Jane Austen's Emma and Charles Dickens's class struggles, through the gothic romances of Dracula and Frankenstein and the detective mysteries of Dorothy L. Sayers, to the dramatic alchemy of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and William Shakespeare, Rowling cast a powerful spell with the great books of English literature that transformed the story of a young wizard into a worldwide pop culture phenomenon.

 

What a great way to incorporate reading classic literature.

[swimmermom3]

You can also have them play with the names and see how the roots of the names tie to individual character's traits. There are numerous mythological connections and rabbit trails for the student to follow.

[mcconnellboys]

Even though she is remarkably like Tolkien, I believe she said in early interviews that she had not read him prior to beginning to write her series. She does, however, pull from a very rich tradition of classical folk lore, including ancient Greek and Roman, as well as various northern (Scandinavian and Germanic) mythologies....

 

Here's an amazing commencement speech she gave to Harvard a couple of years ago (after the opening remarks):

 

http://www.ted.com/talks/jk_rowling_the_fringe_benefits_of_failure.html

 

...about the value of imagination. She studied classics at school, by the way....

[mcconnellboys]

And here's a teaching guide:

 

http://www.gilberte-schnur.de/harry/harryindex.htm

[Kareni]

Harry Potter's Bookshelf: The Great Books Behind the Hogwarts Adventures

 

This sounds like a great resource. I couldn't help but notice the author's name -- John Granger. A relative of Hermione, one wonders?

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Chris in PA]

Thanks for all the great ideas! So far I have three books on my list:

 

HP and Philosophy: If Aristotle Ran Hogwarts

HP's Bookshelf

The Psychology of HP

 

Plus re-reading all the books. I would like to teach her how to read a book using these as she loves them.

 

Thanks for all your help!

[Tammyla]

What a great idea Chris. I'm trying to secretly squeeze this in here too without taking the joy out of their pleasure readings. We're all reading the series and discussing them. I am attempting to use a little WEM questions and http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/index_author_r.html

 

I'm going to check out a few of the recommendations and browse my library's catalog on-line.

 

 

 

Hi all,

Has anyone tried to do a high school level course doing literary analysis on the Harry Potter series? My dd and ds are facinated by these books. I really would love to teach literary analysis on something they enjoy and understand instead of trying to have them write about books they have a difficult time with understanding. I am sure we could write plenty of papers about imagery ans symbolism. But what else could we do with them? I have been searching on the internet and found some ideas but was hoping for a few more. I would love to see them gain confidence in literary analysis this way and then we can move on to meatier stuff. Any thoughts?

 

Thanks

Edited November 14, 2010 by Tammyla

[lavender]

We are also using the HP series as Lit, but with a TWIST :D

I'm having dc read the books in English, discussing the literary aspects, etc., then afterwards we will be rereading the series in Spanish as part of our Foreign Language. All the books are available in Spanish and now are also available in Latin! (specifically, the first 2 books as of yet...)

 

My 2 cents on HP.

 

lavender

[JennW in SoCal]

Another idea would be to think about how the books were adapted into movies. We all usually hate the outcome, but the process is fascinating as a screenwrite has to distill the story -- plot, characters, motiffs, EVERYTHING, into a 2 hour package.

 

You could start with this interview with Steve Kloves who wrote the screen plays for all the movies except #5.

 

The threads are probably long buried, but I remember some wonderful threads on Mugglenet where all these young female English majors dissected Order of the Phoenix as they made conjectures about what would be in the next book. Everyone was nominating their favorite character to be the Half Blood Prince and were quoting passages in support of their theories.

[redsquirrel]

There is also some interesting discussions to be had about werewolfism (?..lycanthropy?) as an allegory for HIV. Good way to talk about prejudice and illness, ethics and responsibility. Actually, good intro for discussing allegory, if it a new concept.

[ChristinaGammon]

Isn't any book good to use for teaching? I mean you can analyze any book right?