Blog Post #1

When Harry Potter came out I was not too interested. My older cousin would read the book aloud to me and my attention span was nothing impressive. But the year went on and they had turned Harry Potter into a motion picture. I want to see the movie, but my parents being advocators of literacy told me that I couldn't see the movie until I read the book. So I started to read. I was hooked. The story swept me in and i couldn't stop reading. Rowling gave me a taste for adventure. Looking deeper into the novels now, it is very impressive how many things are so connected in the novels. I feel as though she put great thought into every detail of the novel.

Blog Post #1 Response: What I expected

When I first heard the first Harry Potter book it was read to my 5th grade class by our over excited teacher. She was the kind of teacher that went well beyond any required texts and made you really enjoy learning things. She couldn't at the time I guess convince the higher ups at the private Lutheran school that a book about magic school was appropriate. But even though she read the books at the end of the day after class there was always a large crowd listening to her making all the voices with accents and feeling and asking students what they thought would happen next and of course why. It was a fun experience and after watching half the class frantically jot down numbers to figure out which house had one the cup before Rowling stated... and for those of you keeping track... it was clear to me that this author was now well inside the heads of all of us. Just as we'd all return to school the next year we'd also have to return to Harry Potter and continue that learning experience as well. We may not have had the same abuse or magic as Harry but there was a shared experience that made us all expect him to do the right thing and overcome whatever he faced.

Blog Post #1 Response: Perceptions and Expectations

Personal experience and perception have a profound impact upon both the reader as well as the author of a story. The author’s personal experiences and perspective interact, conflict, and meld with the reader’s own experiences and perspective creating a dynamic perspective that changes from reader to reader. The closer the reader and the author’s perspectives and experiences the more “occupied” the reader will be with the author’s thoughts. However, this similarity of though is not simply one dimensional and unidirectional – and not knowing Rowling’s personal experience – it flows both ways and it can be inferred by the similarity of thought that author and reader have had similar experiences or great empathy with them.

Consequently, it is this likeness of thought and shared experience as well as the shifting expectations that lead me to conclude that Rowling see herself as Dumbledore. Always guessing, sometimes believing, and perhaps even knowing the outcome of events while never fully sharing the extent of what she knows or believes to be true. In the same manner that Dumbledore fails time and again to fully explain things as he know them, Rowling continually creates façades of truth, supporting arguments, and convincing evidence only to shatter the whole structure in one fell swoop. As Dumbledore gave Harry only what he needed to know in order to build his character and personal strength, Rowling gives the reader just enough evidence and a dash of foreshadowing to build a myriad of possibilities.

Blog Post #1 Response: Expect the Unexpected

The wizarding world is full expectations. There are expectations about people, expectations about experience, expectations about behaviors, all kinds of expectations. It is true, that if expectations were always fulfilled in stories, then there wouldn’t really be much of an exciting story to tell. In the first book, the Dursley’s expected that if they kept Harry away from news of the wizarding world and never told him about his parents, his past, or where he came from, that the magic would be “squashed out of him.” If that expectation had been fulfilled and Harry never found out he was a wizard, there wouldn’t be a story to tell, especially one spanning 7 books! After leaving the Dursley’s and coming to the wizarding world, there are all kinds of expectations. At Hogwarts, there are expectations that students behave and follow the rules, because that’s what keeps the school orderly. As we all know, Harry has some kind of disregard for the rules, creating another failed expectation. There are so many failed expectations that follow, including Harry and Ron’s expectation that flying the car to Hogwarts would be a good idea, which it wasn’t. There are several expectations Harry, Ron, and Hermione have towards Snape, in particular, that inevitably turn into failed expectations. They thought that Snape was trying to curse Harry to make him fall off his broom during quidditch, and then they were sure Snape was after the Sorcerer’s Stone, and both of those expectations were failed. Of course, there couldn’t be a story without some expectations that are met. It was expected that Harry was going to be a great quidditch player after the remembrall incident, and he was a great player. Ollivander had an expectation of Harry from the moment that Harry bought his wand, that Harry was going to be a great wizard, and he seems to be so far in the series. Hermione is expected to be the best in her year, and she seems to be throughout the first two books, without doubt. Expectations that are actually met in a literary sense create a basis for a story, while the expectations that are failed drive the story to be interesting and action-packed. It is important to have a balance of failed and met expectations, for without both, the story wouldn’t really be very interesting or exciting, it would just be a plain story about somebody’s life.

Prompt #1: Skewed Ideas

People are constantly attempting to interpret the underlying or sometimes subconscious meaning behind an authors writing. To me, this is similar to dream interpretation. What is symbolic to one may just be a simple location or inanimate object to another. Without knowing or speaking to the author, it is not 100% possible to know why he/she wrote specific things or if there is even a “hidden” meaning. Amy Tan read an analysis of her book and it had been interpreted as a way to translate her growing up as a 1^st generation Chinese American and how all of these things must have been meant to show her feelings of blah, blah, blah. She is quoted as saying how she was so surprised to find out she had accidentally written about this. What is read will always be different to every individual because no two experience a single activity in the exact same manner.

The expectation of Harry to become a truly spectacular wizard arises at the start of the first novel. As the books progress, Harry can kind of be a ninny. He is not exactly brilliant and he seems to get by on sheer dumb luck. With out his friends or “fate”, Harry would have died in the Chamber of Secrets assuming he would not have died by the hands of the troll on Halloween. This theme exists through all of the books. He only survives in the Goblet of Fire because of a glitch in the wands. This fails to fill the need to a powerful hero.

Expecting the acceptional exceptions of expectations

Having spent the past 30 min trying to figure out how to post this, I feel I must express two things: first, blogging? I'm confused. Second, inherent in the human/wizard mind is the drive to expect and predict what will happen then (referring to some point in the future), so it is not surprising that J.K. Rowling centered much of the plot on the expectations of (from) Harry and his triadic troupe that, more often than not, fall into the heart of what will be known as the second coming of the Dark Lord. Many of the characters fall under expectational roles (Dumbledore = mentor; Snape = antagonist)  while maintaining a facade that masks many dark secrets that Harry slowly brings to light as he becomes acclimated to a world of magic. This being the second time I have read the books I was thoroughly pleased to, once again, frolic from fantastical fantasy for fun (school).

Major Themes in The First and Second Harry Potter Novels

As a first time reader of the Harry Potter series, I'm pleasantly surprised at the vast amount of themes and the tightly woven plot within both a single novel and also throughout the series. With so many themes, characters and plots, I find it difficult to pinpoint any certain theme as the most prominent. Certainly the ones standing out in my mind are the issues of class, death, trust and how the past and present relate, all which are interwoven within one another. In terms of class, their are parallels between how the muggle world and the wizard world function. the Dursley's, a middle class, suburban family keeping up with tho Jones' mirror the Malfoy's in the wizard world, and both families are not much liked (because they are mean, horrible people). They have histories and reputations they would like to uphold within their societies. Harry cannot fit in to either of their worlds; he's too much of a "freak" for the Dursley's and too nondiscriminatory to fit in with people like the Malfoy's. Most of the reader's understanding of class discrepancies in the wizard world comes from Harry's enemy and arguably his foil, Draco. He's the wizard racist it would seem in his world. "Mudbloods" as he calls Hermione are less than wizards, in fact he thinks they are a disgrace to the community and shouldn't be allowed to learn at Hogwarts. Naturally, Draco has picked up these ideas from his father just as Dudley learns to be a real man in the muggle world which constitutes apparently being fat, a bully, dominance, and going to Smelting in a ridiculous uniform. And once again going to the right school is all a part of how class works.
Death is obviously a major theme because it surrounds the entire life of Harry. If it wasn't for the death of his parents, we wouldn't have the same stories. Death is this all encompassing things within the stories, especially at Hogwarts as dangerous as it is and with all the ghosts floating around constantly to remind you. What is very interesting about Harry's relationship with his own death is he seems not to fear it as much as a child normally would, but he certainly isn't praying for an early demise as one might living with the Dursley's for ten years. Death reveals the strong resilience within Harry and also his courage. Death is an imporant theme to keep in mind when understanding how trust and the past and present work. As we've discussed in class before, knowing who to trust is important because it can either save you or get you killed in the wizard world. For instance the present works as such, Harry trusts Ron and Hermione (characters in a certain class system, underdogs) but not Draco Malfoy. The past reveals people trusting Tom Riddle, the once nice, good student at Hogwart's instead of Hagrid. Unfortunately, enough people join Tom Riddle becoming Voldemort and they basically kill a bunch of people. Trust is more prominent in Prisoner of Azkaban so I won't go further into it despite everyone having read it already. But certainly death and trust issues follow on the time line leading up to Harry and his friends who are forced to deal with the issues as they keep peeling back the past further and further. Perhaps forced to deal with isn't the right term considering Harry does go looking for the answers. The driving force for him is most definitely his search to understand himself through his past, the past of his parents, and the past of the wizard world in which he's been plunged.

Harry Potter Books 1 and 2

In my opinion, the thing that I most noticed about the first two books was how traumatic of a life Harry Potter had.  For only being a pre-teen Harry had gone through some pretty rough circumstances.  His parents were murdered and then he was placed in a home where abuse was a common practice. For me I believe that the Dursely’s were the muggles version of torture in Harry’s life.  They locked him in a cupboard, threw pots and pans at him, and also malnourished him.  For anyone to have to go through this and still have an outlook on life that was almost happy it was hard for me to grasp.  Harry seemed to be okay with what was happening at the Dursley’s.  When Harry did find out that he was a wizard and got to go to Hogwarts it was like he was being rewarded for sticking with the Dursely’s for so long. I think that Hogwarts was Harry’s “Knight in Shining Armor.” At Hogwarts though he was still bullied, by Draco.  Harry also had to deal with Voldermort.  I think that a theme throughout the books is to keep your head up.  Harry for having many things go wrong he was always ready to keep fighting.  I think as an example for young children who may get bullied, Harry is a good example for them.  Overall, I feel like the first two books were a good way to show how to keep hanging on when things don’t always work out.  I also think that they are a good example for young children.  

Blog Post #1 Harry Potter Expectations

In the first two Harry Potter books, some of the readers expectations are fulfilled and others are not. In these books, the readers often have expectations about what is going to happen or what should happen. There is usually a twist at the end that dismisses what we thought we knew about the characters. Throughout the first book, Professor Snape seemed like one of the main enemies because he seemed very suspicious. I was surprised to find out that it was Quirrel who was the enemy. I was also not expecting Voldermort and Harry to meet so soon in the series. After finding out he was going to be the main enemy, I thought he wouldn't show up until closer to the end of the series.  An expectation that was fulfilled in the first two books was that Harry would defeat his enemies. Since the very beginning Harry has been the protagonist in the story. The readers see how horrible his life with the Durslys is and they want to see him do well and defeat his enemies. I think most readers expected him to do this because that is what happens in most books. The main character usually ends up looking like the hero. When reading the first book, I expected Hermione was eventually going to become good friends with Ron and Harry even though they really didn't like her in the first few chapters. Since she was brought up so many times I figured there was going to be more to that character and after Ron and Harry saved her, they did become good friends.

Blog Post #1-The power of stories

Stories have for a very long time been a part of all cultures, often used to preserve some piece of history in an individual's life, to prove a point, or to share some life lesson. Many read for informational purposes or for pleasure. The power of a well written story to transport the reader into another world is enticing. J.K Rowling's ability to capture our interest with mystery and quirky detailed characters keeps one reading till the very end of the series. She skillfully withholds information and divulges other bits while allowing us to see depth within the main character's lives. Someone who has experienced a certain amount of trauma or lack of love in their lives might strongly identify with Harry's misfortunes. Though he has experienced much trauma in his life, the reader may form a special bond with Harry's character and rejoice in his triumphs and empathize all the more with his failures. I have not experienced a lot of trauma in my life so I cannot relate to this depth of hardship in Harry's life. I can however relate to Ron who, though very poor and often overlooked, has grown up in a loving home and has not experienced anything near what Harry has gone through in his childhood.

Blog post one- the magic of reading

There are many reasons people choose to read- for information, for education, for communication. Many things we read simply on impulse, or because we are expected to regurgitate the information out into a test. However, it is obvious that when we read for these reasons, we are not really accepting the tale or seeking to understand it through personal investment. When we read for enjoyment, we are honestly taking the story into ourselves and treating it with our own perceptions. It is only then that the author's goal is truly realized. Within those moments, they have complete power over the reader's thoughts, opinions, and biases. They hold our emotions in the palm of their hands, force us to care about the characters as if they were real people. Indeed, by the end of the series, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley and every other one of J.K. Rowling's brainchildren have become living, breathing human beings, wholly apart from mere words on the paper. Even by the end of the first book, this reader/character connection has become apparent because we have been on a trip within the characters' minds. Harry is not just a silly boy who gets lucky and escapes death once or twice- instead, he is forced to face terrors much greater than his own childlike goodness can at first comprehend, again and again and again. Because of this, he has morphed into a symbol we can all understand and relate to. The series of Harry Potter has become an effective force of its own because it perfectly embodies the ability of an author to momentarily overtake the reader's sense of reality. This is the true magic of J.K. Rowling- reading one can get lost in.

Blog Post #1 - Expectations

I like this particular quote from Wolfgang Iser. It's true; the more you read, the more you think. To me, the more you think, the more possibilities there are for what may happen. Truly reading a book is to get involved and lose yourself in the text. By putting yourself in the main characters' shoes, you start to see a whole realm of possibilities. When I first read Harry Potter, I didn't know it was part of a series. I had no expectations of furthering the story I was reading. The first book doesn't set you up to need sequencing books either, in my opinion. There are an extreme amount of foreshadowing clues, but if you don't know where to look for them they're easily overlooked. The first book took awhile to get started, explaining all the background history of magic and their world. However, the best part about it was we weren't immersed into the world at first. Instead, we were introduced to it at the same time as Harry, making the experience less dramatic. JK Rowling makes the magic world seem so everyday, as if it could possibly exist in the actual world, and you let yourself believe it. The second book continues on the same story path, and nobody denies wanting to know what's going to happen. Voldemort was introduced, and you're stuck craving for more at the end of The Sorcerer's Stone. She raised an expectation of this monsterous being vs rookie wizard in a lifelong duel. Who would win? Not only did she raise the bar for herself in the upcoming novels, but she also promised the readers it would be worth reading 6 more books & thousands of pages. At the end of the second book, you learn a little more about the wizarding world and Voldemort. Her books sequentially unravel more about the mysteries she lured you in with. My expectations were met with not only the 2 first books, but the rest of the series as well. It's important to note that an open mind is needed throughout the journey of these 7 books. Yeah, it's weird people love this made up world so much. But to me, it's the brilliance of JK Rowlings writing that brought me in. This is something I'll have to wait to write about til after the entire series is read though, not to give anything away! All in all, an expectation was raised from the first chapter of the first book. Starting out with an ordinary boy with a less than average life, promising something extraordinary is going to happen to him if you just keep reading.

Blog Post #1- Expectations within Chamber of Secrets and Sorcerer's Stone

Within the first two Harry Potter novels, J.K. Rowling sets the scene of a new wonderful world of magic that this so-called "normal" boy discovers and begins to explore what this new world has to offer. Throughout these first two novels, Ms. Rowling teases readers by introducing several characters who have yet to make a second appearance, this raising expectations to some extent of the readers. Ms. Rowling further contributes to readers' expectations by introducing a world of mystery. Who really is Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived? As we delve further into the series, we see more of his home life and just wonder in awe how this child can have the heart that he does, despite a poor childhood. Furthermore, once in the magical world, this child is forced to grow up fast when his childish adventures turn into a struggle of life and death.

While I have read the entire series numerous times, I continuously have different expectations from the novels. Since I have read them so many times, I sometimes wonder what if such-and-such event took place at a different time in the series? What was J.K.Rowling's meaning behind such-and-such an event? No matter how many times you read the series, you always learn something new each time because Ms. Rowling's world is so complete and so mysterious. As a reader, I place myself in the shoes of the characters and wonder myself how I would react. (I would probably be more like Neville so far in the series) but it is quite interesting to see the characters grow, even in the first two novels. It makes readers wonder how they will progress. It was great to read the novels growing up with the series because it allowed especially my generation to feel a deeper connection with the characters since we shared a similar age to them. Some of our expectations as readers, however will never be met...sadly, I still have not gotten my Hogwarts letter....

Expectations in the first two Harry Potter novels.

J.K. Rowling does a great job with creating expectations in the reader, and also in choosing which of these expectation get fulfilled and which do not. We expect Harry and his friends to succeed and we expect them to get what they want. An author, however, cannot fulfill every expectation of readers, or else the novel would be too predictable and therefore boring. For example in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Rowling spends much of the book eluding to Professor Snape being the enemy and the main antagonist of the story. The way he treats Harry and how Harry and his friends respond to this, and the suspicions that they have all lead us as readers expecting Snape to end up being the one trying to steal the stone. This, of course ends up not being fulfilled, instead, the last person we would have expected, Quirell, turns out to be the enemy. An example from Harry Potter and the Chambers of Secrets is seen with Professor Lockart. Throughout the book he tells many stories and claims to have done many great things in the wizarding world, which have gained him much fame. He is seen as arrogant as well as humorous. Readers may have expected him to have exaggerated some of his stories, but we did not expect him to turn out as sinister as he did. He actually had never done any of those things, instead erasing the memories of the people who actually had. Both of these examples of expectations not being filled makes the books much more exciting. If everything always turned out the way we expected, or the way we wanted the books would not be anywhere near as entertaining as they are.

Blog prompot #1 - Expectations within the first two Harry Potter novels

The first two Harry Potter novels give the reader many hopes and desired expectations throughout the chapters. Beginning with the first novel, Harry is described as a "beaten", under appreciated child who has been delt an unfair hand at life. As a reader, one would expect Harry to somehow defeat his enemies and triumph over those who have done him wrong. Although Harry does not literally defeat his foes, a twist within the plot enables him to escape to another world and chose his own destiny. As you read on within the Harry Potter series, various key points of information are leaked out. This has a profound effect on the readers expectations, continuously changing what the reader expects. An example of this would be the reveal that although Harry "defeated" Voltamort in the first book, he will be reappearing in forms unrecognizable to Harry in the second book. This takes the reader off guard and changes the possible outcomes the reader may have fabricated. As the author sets the stage within the books, she raises expectations for the reader and tends to "fail" to fulfill them. This may be to make the reader think about the "leaked" information given previously within the chapters and set up an alternative solution to the problems. Another reason may be that the expectation is not fulfilled now, but throughout the series, the plot will increase in complexity and the expectation will be fulfilled later within the series.

Blog post # 1 - Perception of Perspective

Everything in existence is susceptible to the perception of perspective, and perspective is entirely unique. I am highly into philosophy, and actually write some fiction myself. That is a truism throughout my own writing. When reading a narrative, the events that take place will always ultimately be your own mental image of the words you read though there are many influences on a reader as to the portrayal of an authors writing; some coming from the way an author writes to begin with. I am sometimes perturbed by how much watching the Harry Potter movies influence my mental imagery while reading the books. When reading fiction, it’s the ability to remove yourself from reality and become a mental artist of words on a page either through one of the characters or a third party perspective. When reading the first two harry potter books, I mostly imagine myself as a third party viewer and think things like “how would I feel if I were actually there?” Much like Harry falls into Tom Riddle’s Diary, I walk with the words of the narrative, envisioning everything the characters might be experiencing, and letting my own imagination run as wild as it can within the context of the novel. I like to think of myself as just an average student at Hogwarts, bearing witness to all of these events through the senses of a character that doesn’t exist, receiving anecdotes and sometimes actually witnessing the events that take place throughout the novel from other characters that may or may not exist in the books. But that influence may also come from the way Rowling writes, because from my perspective, she writes as though she is a character that does not exist in the novel but is still there bearing witness to all of these events, telling the story as if she were speaking to a friend. I suppose I fail to identify with any characters in the book, choosing to view Rowling’s world through a third party lens. I can see how people with more similarities to some of the characters would more readily put themselves in those characters shoes because they can relate to those characters past and what he or she might be thinking as that character witnesses the events that take place. Our mental image of someone else’s words ultimately comes from our own experiences, memories, and active imagination. Rowling is just letting us in to a world she created in her mind that is a reflection of her own experiences, memories, and active imagination. As I begin to write my own fiction, I am quite amazed by how much of it is directly related to my own experiences and emotions throughout certain memories and projections of myself into a fictional world where I have complete control of what happens.

Blog Post 1- Expectations

I think this series is a great example of the author fulfilling our expectations because JK Rowling continuing throughout the series gives the audience what they want. We as the audience want to see Harry and the gang succeed, and you see this in ever book we have read. In the chamber of secrets when I found out Ginny was taken and could die Harry saves the day and that is what I wanted to happen as the reader. Ginny was so young and innocent and you tend to just have some love for the Weasley's so you're expectations are that Harry is going to take care of her and by defeating Tom Riddle and rescuing Ginny and Hogwarts my expectations as a reader were fulfilled. I find myself also having expectations for the characters I don't like such as Malfoy, every time he pops up and makes a smart remark to Harry, Ron or Hermione I want something bad to happen to him, or for them to get even with him. Although my expectations are not always fulfilled right away they usually are at somepoint in the book, or later on in that specific chapter. That is something I really like about these books, although you're expectations might not always be fulfilled right away eventually I feel like they are or they will be, and that is what keeps me wanting to read on and find out exactly what is going to happen.

Blog Post #1 Response: Expectations Suggested and Dashed: Pathos in the Making?

If we construe the “Harry Potter” series as a true literary text, we must read it, understanding that our expectations for the plot and its characters are unlikely to be fulfilled. In the first book, Rowling suggests that the Dursleys will suffer from ultimate divine retribution for their cruel behaviors. This expectation is augmented by Hagrid’s surprise appearance at the hut on the rocks, a situation in which he threatens Vernon Dursley and expresses his dismay that Harry has been kept in the dark about his true past. Since Harry is the clear protagonist, we as the reader want his cruel Muggle family to suffer for their unfairness. This expectation is fulfilled, although on a relatively superficial and minor scale, when Dudley must live temporarily with his pig tail. In the second book, expectations for Ron’s behavior are raised and dashed. When Ron and Harry opt to fly Mr. Weasley’s car to Hogwarts and crash it into the Whomping Willow, we finally understand that Ron Weasley is more like his brothers Fred and George than like Percy, an unfortunate realization for his mother. He will have the heart of a lion and a moral compass directed more towards fun and adventure than responsibility. That Ron is heroic and his little regard for the rules explain why the two are such good friends and why Ron is always involved in Hogwarts mischief. Our expectation for Harry’s Quidditch career is fulfilled, since we are told that his father was a great flier and come to learn that Harry too has a similar knack for the sport, judging by his ability to recover Neville’s Remembrall and his being situated as the first First-Year seeker in a century. When an author fails to fulfill an expectation, the reader is forced to rethink he approach to characterization and place those events into a different spectrum. New events must then be cast on a different time-line, one which has a different ultimate ending. Our ideal ending for characters is exactly that, an ending which we have created in our ideal literary universe, which is not the same as the one which the author had in mind.

Blog Prompt #1

Please address either one or both of the following prompts. Reply on a new thread, using “Blog Post #1 Response:” and your own title.

Wolfgang Iser argues in “The Reading Process” that “reading removes the subject-object division that constitutes all perception, [and so] it follows that the reader will be ‘occupied’ by the thoughts of the author […] Text and reader no longer confront each other as object and subject, but instead the ‘division’ takes place within the reader himself” (67). How might you apply this insight to the first two Harry Potter books? Reflect on the way your own experiences may alter the way you read, what interests you, and how you either identify with or fail to identify with various characters in the series. Consider how someone with a different perspective, and therefore, a different perception, may read these works differently.

Wolfgang Iser argues in “The Reading Process” that “expectations are scarcely ever fulfilled in truly literary texts” (53) because the text continually modifies our expectations about what is to come. Consider how this applies in different ways to the first two Harry Potter books. What expectations are raised? Why? What expectations are and aren’t fulfilled? Why? What is important about the choice to raise an expectation and then fail to fulfill it?