A small portion of a paper I am writing on the influence of Harry Potter on society. The assignment restricts page length, so the paper I’m turning in tomorrow will only discuss the novels’ influence on children and their literature. That portion of the essay should be up by Friday. Additional sections discussing different aspects of Potter’s impact will be released weekly until the premiere the Deathly Hallows movies.
(Note that, being a paper, there are extra flourishes such as citations).
Enjoy!
It’s like magic – the spell Harry Potter places on children. During the end of the 20th century, there was a severe lack of children who were “reading for fun”, or reading in general, for that matter. The blame cannot rightly be put on the increase in technology gaming, but more-so on the lack of a good children’s book. At the time, children “still tended to be regarded as mere adults in the making” (Duriez) and therefore did not need their own category of novel.
Then, in 1997, JK Rowling introduced a book that captured a child audience more successfully than any book since The Chronicles of Narnia, and “taught a generation of children about the power of fiction”, says reporter Sharon Sandrom. Justin Chandra, associate editor of Simon & Schuster’s Books for Young Read, explained the phenomenon. “Kids, including those who didn’t think of themselves as readers, were encouraged to read by all the excitement and attention that Potter created”. The result was astronomical. In a survey of 500 students, ages 5-17, and parents nationwide, more than half the kids said they did not read books for fun before the Harry Potter series. Aside from just getting children reading again, though, the novels did wonders for literacy; in the same survey, 76% of parents say their children performed better in school – and 65% of children agree. But it isn’t just the hype and publicity that makes the Potter novels so appealing to children.The story of Harry Potter offers something that few other children’s novels have: characters and circumstances that are easily identifiable. The characters go through average schooldays, have average problems, and deal with average parents. “From the point of view of an imaginative child, the world is full [of] people who don’t understand you, make stupid rules, and want nothing to do with the unexpected or unseen,” writes Alsion Lurie, author of Boys and Girls Forever. “Harry’s story embodies the common childhood fantasy that the dreary adults and siblings you live with are not your real family; that you have more exciting parents and are somehow special and gifted.” The fantasy turns even more spectacular when children realize that magical world that Rowling created exists in the midst of our real world. “JK Rowling’s invented world of wizardry constantly interconnects with and interpenetrates the world we know. In fact, it is the same world but it is hidden from us” (Duriez). It is this imaginative reality that keeps children coming back for more – and more.
Look out for the rest of my essay on Friday! (or sooner!)
References:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07196/801868-44.stm
http://blog.cleveland.com/top_entertainment/2007/07/how_the_harry_potter_phenomeno.html
Field Guide to Harry Potter, Colin Duriez
Boys and Girls Forever, Alison Lurie
ooooh, sounds interesting
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