Author Archives: wdjr

Journal 12

Posted by wdjr in Journal 12

Courtnee Johns

April 23, 2017

ENGL 281

Dr. Powers

Chemical Wizardry in the Classroom

In Jane Snell Copes’ article, The Chemical Wizardry of J.K. Rowling, she fantastically breaks down some of the magical aspects of the books (such as Hermione’s blue flame in a jam jar) and explains how we can create similar effects using chemistry. Copes’ article describes exceptionally well what one might need to create these “magical” effects, and which ones are safe enough to perform indoors. This article is a great tool for teachers who are interested in creating a fun and safe lesson plan for students of all ages.

For young students, perhaps preschool through elementary, Copes’ mentions safe, indoor-friendly options such as creating “invisible” ink or color-changing ink with common kitchen ingredients (Copes, 1480). Another immersive project for young students could be aging paper with tea, or using firework sparklers as makeshift wands (1480). Whatever you choose, children are sure to have fun in your Hogwarts themed class while you can teach lessons about safe experimentation, critical thinking (what makes the ink change color, for example) skills, and provide a brief introduction to chemistry.

For older students, perhaps in middle school or high school, assuming parental permission is granted for experiments that have more of a “flash and bang” aspect, Copes’ describes how a teacher can create the blue flame in a jam jar by preparing “a gel of denatured alcohol with saturated aqueous calcium acetate solution” (1479). She notes, however, that to avoid any accidents, it would be safer to use a metal can rather than a glass jam jar as in the Harry Potter novel (1479). Also concerning neat tricks with open flames, Copes discusses how sprinkling boric acid into flames will create the dazzling green effect that Floo Powder has and that one could create a similar effect of holding flames in hand by creating flashpaper, which burns quickly and completely (1480). The allure of Harry Potter and the awesome effects that can be created using simple procedures and ingredients is certain to keep students engaged and excited during the class period.

While Coles’ article is not a step-by-step instructional guide to magical wizardry in the classroom, it is an in-depth, highly informative, and relatively short read that will help to formulate ideas about how a teacher may want to conduct a Harry Potter Potions class or a similarly themed class. Her article, while providing brief information about the types of chemicals you might need to achieve these dazzling chemical reactions, also includes a wide array of reference articles in which a teacher may find more detailed instructions and safety information.

Overall, for educators who desire adding a new, exciting element to their lesson planning repertoire, Cole’s brief article is a wonderful place to start. Her reader-friendly writing style is great for chemistry teachers who already know their way around a Bunsen burner, while it’s also easy enough to understand for educators in other subjects (such as English Educators looking for an engaging way to talk about the use of language in spells) who are looking for a break in the class’s routine.

Journal 6

Posted by wdjr in Reading Journal 6

Courtnee Johns

March 31, 2017

Dr. Powers

Journal 6

Book Banning Alive Today

In “Harry and Hierarchy: Book Banning as a Reaction to the Subversion of Authority,” Rebecca Stephens writes about the many controversies over the Harry Potter series, and the apparent belief systems behind those controversies. The article, written when only four books in the series were published, is still relevant today, as some (mostly American) groups are still trying today to get these books banned from public and school libraries.

Stephens mentions early on that banning the Harry Potter series is an American phenomenon. She quotes London’s Evening Standard to explain that in the United Kingdom, where the books were first published, the mere popularity among young readers is enough to banish any thoughts of banning the books (Stephens, 51). This seems to suggest that citizens of the United Kingdome are more concerned with literacy and promoting young readers and are also seemingly more trustworthy of children, believing that they can realize on their own not to take witchcraft seriously (Stephens, 52).

Among the many reasons for banning the Potter novels are the fears that children will get the wrong ideas about witchcraft (such as that witchcraft is fun and is something to be desired) and ideas that the books are “too violent, present ‘occult activities’ as fun, are anti-Bible, depict sorcery and magic, and open the door to ‘spiritual bondage’” (52). While this article was written when four books were published (the fourth being published in 2000), these ideologies are still present nearly seventeen years later. This cultural singularity is evidenced in a poll that was released on www.debate.org in 2015, and still is receiving votes and comments today. The poll which asks, “Should the Harry Potter series be banned from schools” received an answer of “yes” from eleven percent of its online voters. While eleven percent is not a relatively high percentage, it does exemplify that there are still people today who are reluctant or extremely opposed to letting their children have access to these novels, despite the undeniable popularity of the books and the films. In addition to this poll, there are also a few web sites dedicated to spreading information about the Rowling novels and advocating for the banning of the books.

Book burning certainly seems to be a facet of our history, and is something many people may consider obsolete. Because of their immense popularity, it is truly difficult to imagine that the Harry Potter books are still targeted for banning. Similarly, considering the American standards of being “open-minded,” it is difficult to imagine any books are still being banned. However, because of deeply-rooted religious beliefs, and fears of children becoming wiccans or being sensitive to wiccan beliefs, or for various other reasons, book banning is still alive and well today.

 

(I am aware that I need to add proper citations for the web sites and I also need to increase the word count)

 

Remixy Mix

Posted by wdjr in Remix Ideas

I was thinking about doing a painting of Professor Snape with Lily, and writing the Always quote on it somewhere since Rowling revealed that they were talking about Lily. However, I’m not so certain now about whether I have time to do it or not, so I don’t really know what other direction to go.

Journal 3

Posted by wdjr in Reading Journal Three

 

Questioning Historical Authority

Too often, students are told to blindly accept what is written in history books as undeniable fact. In America, we are trained from a very young age, often even in pre-school years, to listen to what a teacher lectures, memorize the data, and internalize the information as ultimate truth, such as the outcomes of wars and the origination of indoor plumbing. How can we be sure that we are being told the “right” version of history? Is it not often asserted that “history is written by the victors”? If what we are being taught in history class is in fact merely a biased re-telling of a story by unreliable witnesses or interpretable data, how can we be sure that we are getting the whole story, if we are learning the true story at all? These questions are also referred to in Anne Rubenstein’s chapter of Harry Potter and History titled, “Hermione Raised Her Hand Again: Wizard Writing History”, in which she asserts that J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series teaches the idea of questioning authority, and the importance of searching for the truth in historical stories.

In Kindergarten, a teacher chants a song about Cristopher Columbus, engaging the class to memorize the song, and therefore learn the details of Columbus’ great expedition to find a “new world”. We learned that he “sailed the ocean blue in 1492” and even learned the names of his three ships. Students are led to believe that Columbus was the first person who discovered America, but evidence suggests that he was not. Considering there were already an indigenous population living there, Columbus could not have been the first to discover the land. This amendment of history is also evident in the history books in the Wizarding world when Hermione consults Hogwarts, A History and when she asks Professor Binns about the Chamber of Secrets, to which he initially refuses to speak about because it is a “myth” rather than a factual story of Hogwarts (Rubenstein 316). Anne Rubenstein alludes that just like Muggles in the real world, “Hermione has learned that she cannot trust the official history of the magical world to answer her questions, (314)”.

So why are false records being kept and taught to students in the Muggle and Wizarding world? Rubenstein makes the obvious argument that “… people sometimes lie, and even when they intend to tell the complete truth, perceptions of the past differ (317)”. Oral histories, which are heavily relied on in Muggle history and Wizarding history, are not altogether reliable, and furthermore, artifacts such as diaries and written accounts can also be misrepresented by the author’s prejudices, or these accounts can be misinterpreted in terms of language. For example, some words in one language (“I miss you” in English) are not directly translatable in another language (“Tu me manques” in French) which leaves room for some serious misinterpretations of textual evidence.

Sorting through historical evidence to find the true story of our past is a daunting task, but it can be rewarding to come closer to the truth through thorough research. Rubenstein notes that because of untrustworthy and biased reporters, “even seemingly simple, trustworthy documents – newspaper articles, for example – cannot be taken at face value (318)”. Because of this, it is paramount to sift carefully through historical data, and to teach students not to blindly trust everything they read in history books, on social media, or even on the news.

Draft 1

Posted by wdjr in Reading Journal One

Courtnee Johns

February 3, 2017

ENGL 281

Dr. Powers

Nazis, Death Eaters, and Squibs

In the book, Harry Potter and History, Nancy Reagin writes a compelling chapter, titled Was Voldemort a Nazi? Death Eater Ideology and National Socialism, discussing the many similarities and differences between the Nazi National Socialists and the Death Eaters (in Harry Potter), and between Adolf Hitler and Voldemort. While Neagin asserts that the National Socialists and the Death Eaters have more in common than Hitler and Voldemort, and asserts the subsequent consequences of each group’s actions, it is interesting to consider where Squibs fall in the wizarding world while the Death Eaters sought pureblood superiority.

The National Socialists and the Death Eaters both established a Racial State in which decrees were established that forced citizens to prove that they were not “full Jews” (in Germany) or not Muggle-born (in the Wizarding world). The decrees set forth by the National Socialists aimed to identify all Germans who had Jewish ancestors, even if those ancestors converted to Christianity (Harry Potter and History, 135) and like the German edicts, The Ministry of Magic’s decrees sought to identify witches and wizards who do not have wizarding ancestry (135). Both the National Socialists and the Ministry of Magic indicated loopholes of leniency if the person in question had at least one Aryan ancestor or pure-blood history that could be proven, such as half-bloods. While muggle-born citizens were under extreme pressures to prove their ancestry, Squibs were under no seeming prosecution although they possessed no magical abilities, and should have been considered inferior to pure-bloods as well.

Usually depicted as enduring unfair treatment by other witches and wizards, Squibs (non-magic persons born into wizarding families) seemed to undergo fairer treatment while Dolores Umbridge was headmistress at Hogwarts. In Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows, readers learn that “the existence of a Squib child used to be ‘hushed up’ by pureblood families, who saw these children as a shameful family secret,” as Neagin mentions (130). Why then, did Umbridge trust Argus Filch, a known Squib, with responsibilities such as upholding her decrees, punishing students using archaic methods, and keeping his job as Hogwarts groundkeeper? Why not appoint a pure-blood wizard for the job? One possibility, is that Umbridge, and her allies, may have believed that Squibs were born without magic because muggle-borns stole their magic. “Because their theory was that all magical ability had to be inherited from a wizarding parent, this meant that half-bloods were not suspected of “stealing” a wizard’s or a witch’s magic (141).” If pure-bloods, and half-bloods inherited their magic, and muggle-borns stole their magic, who exactly did they steal it from if not from Squibs, who should have been born magical?

The belief that Squibs are magical beings who have been robbed of their powers by muggle-borns could be explained by their lack of persecution, and by the hierarchy of magical races, established by Umbridge and the Ministry of Magic. Regarding the hierarchy, Neagin explores, “Wizarding society ought to be a hierarchy that included several categories of persons, by such pureblood reckoning: purebloods with magical ability…; purebloods who were Squibs…; half-bloods…; and Muggle-born magical folk at the very bottom (130).” This hierarchy is significantly different than the previous treatment of Squibs who were harassed by magical-folk and were pressured to relocate to the Muggle world, and could explain both why Argus Filch was so eager to join Umbridge’s cause in Deathly Hallows, and why he seemingly hated the students of Hogwarts and delighted in punishing them.

 

 

Works Cited

Reagin, Nancy Ruth. “Was Voldemort a Nazi? Death Eater Ideology and National Socialism.” Harry Potter and History, Wiley, Hoboken, NJ, 2011.