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HNRS 30001001: HOW

TO

READ HARRY POTTER LIKE

PROFESSOR

Dr. Heath A. Diehl Bowling Green State University, Spring 2012

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Discussion Questions Foster, Chapter 2: Nice to Eat with You: Acts of Communion 1. Think of one scene in SS, COS, or POA during which characters engage in an act of communion (eating and/or drinking together). Which characters are communing? Which characters are not communing? What does this scene of communion tell you about the characters who are participating? About relationships among characters (even ones not included in the act of communion)? The narrative arc that is being developed around these characters in that particular book? The larger themes that J. K. Rowling is developing within that book and across the series? 2. In his book, Foster suggests that [t]he act of taking food into our bodies is so personal that we really only want to do it with people were very comfortable with (8). Can you think of an instance in SS, COS, or POA when characters commune with other characters with which they are not comfortable? (Later think Slug Club.) Under what conditions (and/or for what purposes) do these acts of communion happen? What are the consequences/results of these acts of communion? And what do these consequences/results suggests about character? Themes? 3. Why do you think that J. K. Rowling chooses to set the Sorting Ceremony against the backdrop of the first Feast of the year in the Great Hall? What significance (if any) is there in the fact that every year begins and ends with an all-House feast? Why (other than obvious plot-related reasons) do you think J. K. Rowling chooses to exclude Harry and Ron from the first Feast of the year in COS? 4. What significance (if any) is there in the fact that the announcement of a Troll on the loose happens during the Halloween feast in SS? What significance (if any) is there in the fact that this event (which is set against the Halloween feast) is the turning point in the friendship among Harry, Hermione, and Ron? 5. What do you make of the fact that in COS, the Polyjuice Potion must be imbibed and it is done (sort of) in communion with others (at least they are in the same bathroom, albeit in different stalls)? 6. What kinds of acts of communion take place at Number Four Privet Drive? How do those acts of communion compare and contrast with other acts of communion that take place in and around the wizarding world (e.g., at the Burrow, at Hogwarts, etc.)? And what do those acts of communion suggest about characters and their relationship to one another? About larger themes that J. K. Rowling is developing within a particular book and across the series? Think specifically about... 6a. the first time we meet Harry (cooking for Dudleys birthday in SS) 6b. the cottage that Vernon Dursley rents to escape the barrage of Hogwarts letters and Hagrids arrival 6c. the sales pitch dinner at the opening of COS and Dobbys gesture of dinner interruptus 6d. the meal with Aunt Marge at the opening of POA and Harrys blow up

6e. Hagrids ineptness at cooking Chapter 11: ...More Than Its Gonna Hurt You: Concerning Violence 7. In his book, Foster writes, Violence is one of the most personal and even intimate acts between human beings, but it can also be cultural and societal in its implications. It can be symbolic, thematic, biblical, Shakespearean, Romantic, allegorical, transcendent (88). The Harry Potter series is predicated on the idea of violenceit begins in murder, its narrative is driven by the desire/need to kill, its plot is peppered with violence and killing and all sorts of havoc, and it concludes with a wizarding war and a final, dramatic death. 7a. What do you make of the fact that violence figures so prominently in this series? What kinds of themes does J. K. Rowling develop around the subject of violence (and even death and/or murder)? 7b. What are the implications of violence in this series? In what ways is violence cast as symbolic? Thematic? Biblical? Shakespearean? Romantic? Allegorical? Transcendent? 8. Writers (usually) invest much time, thought, and care into their characters, and therefore they invest equally in their decisions to kill off (or even just injure seriously) certain characters. Consider... 8a. LILY AND JAMES POTTER: significance of their murders? Why Harry might need to be an orphansignificance in how they are killed? In when they are killed (October 31, 1981)? In where they are killed? [Sidebar: Why do so many events of significance happen on Halloween???] 8b. FRANK AND ALICE LONGBOTTOM: significance of their fatesnot killed, but put out of commission by the Cruciatus Curse? Implications (plot, theme, character) of the violence enacted on them? 8c. AUNT MARGE: significance of the blow up with Harry to character? Theme? 8d. DOBBYS BEWITCHED BLUDGER: again, significance to characters and character relationships? Plot? Theme? Implications? 8e. THE DEMISE OF PROF. GILDEROY LOCKHART: and again, significance to characters and character relationships? Plot? Theme? Implications? 8f. Other....? 9. Violence is not just physical but often can be emotional in nature as well (the Dursleys to Harry, Snape to Harry, and later Harry to Ron and Hermione). What do you think J. K. Rowling is saying about (and through) these (and other) instances of emotional violence? 10. Toward the end of his chapter on violence, Foster poses the question: [W]hat does misfortune tell us? How would you answer this question with regard to the Harry Potter series? (Note: You probably will come up with a variety of answers, depending on the specific scenes/characters/situations about which you choose to think and about the specific definition of misfortune you choose to consider.) For Future Reading: Foster insists that deaths in literature are not really accidents . . . Theyre accidents only on the inside of the novelon the outside theyre planned, plotted, and executed by somebody (95). As you continue rereading the series, consider the deaths that you inevitably will encounter. Why are

certain characters killed off? Why are others spared? What does each of these deaths mean?

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