Harry Potter
A young, scrawny boy who wears horn-rimmed glasses and has a scar on his forehead has catapulted into the hearts of millions of readers, young and old alike. This same boy has generated nationwide controversy over censorship versus freedom of speech. In particular, the community of Zeeland, Michigan has banned reading aloud from Harry Potter and required written parental permission to check the book out from the school library. Although the Zeeland community as well as other segments of the population claim that the Harry Potter books should be censored because they believe wizardry is a dark and malignant reality, Harry Potter should be made available to all children because he reinforces a sense of good
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China, not known for its liberal policy on literature, has allowed 600,000 boxed sets of the first three books in the series to be printed. This is the largest amount of any fiction ever released by the People's Literature Publishing House since the Communist party came into power in 1949 (Gray 116). Clearly, Harry Potter is a universal phenomenon.
Despite this unprecedented wave of popularity, the Harry Potter books have topped the list of the most challenged books for the second year in a row, according to the American Library Association and the Office of Intellectual Freedom ("ALA" 2). Parents are fearful of the alleged occult or satanic theme and the emphasis on witchcraft. The Holy Family Catholic School in Rockford, Illinois banned Harry Potter because of the positive light in which witchcraft is portrayed, as did the Rockford Christian School, which is Protestant ("Censorship Watch" 17). These adults believe that witchcraft is a real and dangerous menace, much as the misguided people of Salem did. These people provide proof for their belief in witchcraft in part because anyone interested in witchcraft may evidently log on to the internet and make an inquiry of AskJeeves.com (Komschlies 113). It is questionable, however, that the ability to learn about witchcraft on the internet validates the reality of brewing potions or flying on broomsticks, which is a part of the Hogwart's
Once upon a time, in a world not far from here, there are students who are forced to miss their annual train ride to Hogwarts, lock the wardrobe to the magical land of Narnia, and walk through the English countryside themselves instead of upon the back of Black Beauty. Why are these students deprived of those occurrences? They live in America, the land of the free- except when it comes to the books they can read. In fact, many schools across America exercise the practice of banning books. Since 1982, libraries, parents, and schools have attempted to ban 11,300 novels, according to the American Library Association. The essentially innoxious books are challenged for an assortment of reasons, including use of malapropos language, graphic or explicit
Many books, movies, and TV shows depict a character as the hero. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone isn’t any different from the stories that came from the Babylons. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is the first book in the Harry Potter series that was written by the author J. K. Rowling. These books take the readers through Harry’s adventures. Heroes tend to have a different upbringing than those that are not heroes.
What would you do if you awoke one morning to find that you were a living legend. That for the past twenty years your family has been known to all, as one of the most prominent wizarding families in the wizarding world. What would YOU do if you were regarded as ... a modern HERO. The only wizard ever to survive a powerful curse cast by Voldemort, the most powerful dark wizard; Harry was just a baby when he was attacked by the evil wizard. But he escaped the curse and had somehow managed to reverse it and take away Voldemort's power. This story was told for 11 years past only making the story of Harry Potter grow to become an even greater living legend.
Before we can observe how the Harry Potter phenomenon correlates to the Gladwell’s notion of the tipping point, we must first define what the tipping point is. The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, by Malcolm Gladwell examines how something unique becomes common. He asserts that there are three rules that must be followed for a tipping point to occur.
When people grow up a certain way, thinking in a certain way it’ll inevitably come to affect them later on in life. This is especially true in the cases of personal philosophy, religion or any moral code of ethics. But sometimes, one’s religion starts negatively impacting the education of one’s child and the education of the nation's youth as a whole. In Nancy Flanagan Knapp's article,“In Defense of Harry Potter”, she makes the argument that although the Harry Potter series has come under flak, and even been banned in places, it’s still a very useful tool in furthering the education of young people. Knapp analyzes this point using a plethora of well thought out, well researched, and exceedingly well worded rhetorical strategies, and in the end she uses ethos, logos, and pathos to effectively convey her arguments.
The practice of the censorship of books in schools has been prevalent due to the explicit content of them. Parents have been complaining to schools about books that count as required reading because they disapprove with the points made in the book. If a book consists of offensive or sexually explicit material, then parents would challenge the schools about them in order to prevent their children from reading them. Censorship in general has been an intensely debated issue because it is considered an infringement to the First Amendment of the United States Constitution while others argue it is used to conceal inappropriate things (Aliprandini and Sprague). The banning of books in school curriculum has also been debated since parents see
My book report is on the book 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone' by J.K.
Harry potter and the prisoner of Azkaban is an excellent book. Out of ten stars I would rate this one an eight because it was to short. Once you get into it and finish it. It seems so short, because it is so interesting. Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban starts out with a bang. In the beginning Sirius black a Man accused of thirteen murders in one night escapes from Azkaban.( A wizard prison guarded to the tee by dementors, deadly spirits that feast on anything happy. Basically they suck the life out of you slowly until you go mad and lose sanity). Harry runs away on the same night and crosses the man without realizing it. Since Sirius is an ananamugus he is able to turn into a giant black
Anyone who has worked with children will agree that they are very impressionable. Even young adults are influenced by the media, literature, peers, money, and paradigms which is why parents and guardians would also agree that any impressionable source their children come in contact with should include desirable, good-natured content, such as life lessons and morals. In the past two decades, Harry Potter, a famous work of J.K. Rowling, has become increasingly popular and well known, but sensations also come with reproaches from strong willed adults that claim simple fictional details are consuming and corrupting their children. Parents and guardians believe that Harry Potter should be banned from use in schools and libraries, but they don’t
The question of censoring the Harry Potter books is a great debate among parents, children, teachers, and librarians. Parents always have the final decision of whether or not their own children will read the books, but when parents try to censor the books from all children, as in taking action to get it banned from a library or school, they step over the line and infringe upon the rights of other children and their parents. A mother and father know their own child best; they should be able to predict how their child will react to the contents of the story. They need to make sure that their children are at an age where they can handle all that is contained in the tale. This is how it should be with all literature. If parents do not want to have their own children read the book, then censoring the book is what they should attempt to do. However, they do not have the right to censor it for anyone else’s children. In addition to the parents’ decision, children should also be able to have some say in what they read. If they wish to read the books against the will of their parents, then that is an issue they need to work out with their parents. Parents can only guide a child so far, and eventually at some point they will have to learn to trust their children’s decisions.
J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series has become one of the most popular children’s series in the world over the past decade. Through these books children and young adults alike have delved into a fantastical world in which they explored the problems that their protagonist, Harry Potter, has faced. In Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, the sixth book of the Harry Potter series, Harry dealt with the challenge of proving to his peers and professors that Draco Malfoy and Severus Snape were no longer trustworthy. Even so, Harry failed to realize that the author of the notes in his Advanced Potion-Making book was corrupt. In this book, J.K. Rowling uses point of view, style, and irony to demonstrate the need for people to be more analytical
In the book and movie series Harry Potter, the famous boy wizard goes through his many years of schooling at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, making new friends like his best friends, Ron and Hermione, as well as creating enemies like Draco Malfoy. Along with his friends Ron and Hermione, Harry continuously puts an end to the many different forms of the evil Lord Voldemort that tries to attack Harry each year. It is later on in the series when the interactions with Lord Voldemort become more frequent and more deadly. This is when Albus Dumbledore, the famous Headmaster of Hogwarts, teaches, instructs, and guides Harry to his ultimate goal of defeating Lord Voldemort, finally bringing peace to their world once again. In relation to the Jungian Literary Archetypes, Harry Potter represents the Hero, Albus Dumbledore represents the Wise Old Man, and Lord Voldemort represents the Witch or Sorceress.
Opponents believe that Christian viewpoints are challenged as Rowling introduces wizards and their powers, witchcraft in their eyes. As Gish states in her article, Hunting Down Harry Potter, “Deuteronomy specifically states that witches and wizards are an abomination unto the Lord that will be driven out.” She goes on to discuss that if the belief system is so strong, they do not want to read Harry Potter where this wizard is portrayed in such a positive light. Harry uses his powers for good, and some are concerned that the wizard who uses those powers for good may make their child want to dig deeper into the world of wizards. In their eyes that interest could be seen as an abomination to God. Gish also compared some of the censorship of Harry Potter to that of an oncoming truck. What parent would not rush out to save their child if they were standing in the way of an oncoming truck? To critics, Harry Potter is the oncoming truck and they are just doing what they feel is right for their child. To the critics it is important to realize while most will know this story to be a fantasy, knowing the characters and events are not real, some believe this to be a reality. There are some that truly believe wizardry is occurring and they do not want their child to be lured in to reading a book that they think promotes such black magic. Glanzer argued that
In the past couple years, there has been a growing phenomenon in the world of children's literature, this phenomenon is Harry Potter. J.K. Rowlings series of novels about a young wizard and his years at "Hogwarts School of Wizarding and Witchcraft," has become one of the most successful children's book series of all time. Before reading any of the now four novels, one may find it hard to believe that a children's novel may be so entertaining. But once one starts reading any of the four books, it is plain to see why these books are so popular.
The generation of people being raised right now is obsessed with pop culture. Music, television, celebrities, fashion, movies, and books all have a significant impact on this generation. This generation’s morals and personalities are being shaped by the pop culture that surrounds us. Years from now, people will still be a product of two very popular book and movie series that have greatly effected our pop culture: Harry Potter and Twilight. Both have brought new fashion and trends to the world and it is not uncommon for you to hear references to the books on a day-to-day basis, but more importantly, both series have brought extremely different examples of love to this generation. Even though the Harry