Playing with Critical Theory in J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter Series by J. Wallace and T. Pugh articulate the benefits of utilizing the works of J. K. Rowling within the classroom. Pulling from the works of their own peers, the continue the argument that the use of the Harry Potter books can be used as a tool in the teacher’s toolbox at the same level as any other classic literary piece. Furthermore, they argue that the use of the Harry Potter novels specifically can act as aid in teaching students critical thinking and reading skills in the topics of social class, gender, sexual orientation, and race.

The primary argument that Wallace and Pugh make, is that the joy and excitement that readers achieve from the Harry Potter novels can be directly used as fuel for the class room. “Students already enjoy these texts as a form of play, and teachers should help students engage with them in a spirit both playful and intellectual” (Wallace and Pugh 97). The opposing train of thought argues that the use of the novels is instead giving into the whims of the students, allowing them to indulge in guilty pleasures, and wasting ever-valuable instruct time.

Wallace and Pugh argue, to which I agree with, that engaging students with material that they are comfortable with and excited about provides a zone for creation that is unrivaled. It has been argued that the learning anxiety is one of the most effective ways at halting effective learning on the end of students. If the student is in a poor home or school environment, the pressure of a class pushes the student beyond their zone of comfort, or otherwise, if a student becomes uncomfortable in their own abilities and the process of learning, then the retention rate drops to nearly zero. Rather, effective use of popular culture material (eg Harry Potter) and its application, places students in a conducive environment for success.

Furthermore, Wallace and Pugh cite argue specific examples of critical applicatoin of Harry Potter. Notably, they bring up the usage of fan fiction, “readers of these books expend considerable energy debating plots, speculating about what will happen in the final installment, and revising the stories by writing their own.” (Wallace and Pugh 97). When compared to Harry Potter, this type of critical analysis is nearly absent in “classical” or “high” literature. Not only does the usage of fan fiction require the application of critical analysis, it requires the same amount of critical application; requiring students and fans to critical examine the plot for its themes and motifs, morph them to their own agenda, and to transplant them accordingly into their own story.

Ultimately, the most effective teachers are those who are able to motivate their students to become engaged with the material at a personal level. When students become agentive in their learning, they feel the results of their own failtures and take responsibility as well as being able to claim their successes as their own doing. The Harry Potter novels contain such a rich and engaging world that is ripe with pedagogical material. For a teacher to so quickly dismiss it, it only speaks as to the laziness of the instructor. The effective use of popular culture as literature has the ability to teach just as, if not more, effectively than the same novels that have been taught for the past 50 years, “Exposing the ideological weight of the texts in service of pedagogical goals enlightens the ways in which critical thinking and critical theory help readers to comprehend how texts – and society – function” (Wallace and Pugh 100).

The Harry Potter phenomenon sparked a fascination with magic among American people and Jane Snell Copes author of The Chemical Wizardry of Harry Potter wants us to know that we too can recreate some of the magical happenings in the books and movies. There are several instances where science is applied in the Harry Potter universe such as; the mechanics of wands, colored flames, and magical ink and paper. Each of these magical events have a scientific explanation and can be recreated in real life, allowing all muggles to harness some magic.
Colored flames and lights are a huge part of the magical effects described in the books and portrayed in the movie. These colored reactions show the spell is effective and also sets each one apart from the other. Copes explains, “Both the commercial fireworks industry and traditional qualitative flame tests rely on vibrant colors produced when metal salts are heated to incandescence…”(Copes 1). This is the beginning of an explanation behind how different colored lights and flames are achieved. There is a table provided in the article that lists natural elements and metals that give off a specific color when lit on fire. This can allow for just about anyone to recreate the effect from the wizarding world and they can produce their own “spells”. I think it is interesting that there is a real life way to make these things happen, it goes to show that J.K. Rowling may have done her research while writing her series, knowing her audience could make her magic come to life.
Another link between the wizarding world and science are the wands that the wizards use to create their magic. Wands produce an end product of a spell and without them, the wizard cannot cast their magic on anything, except for maybe when making a potion. This suggests that there is a process that happens between the time that a wizard casts a spell and when it gets released from the wand itself. Copes goes on to say that, “Every wizard needs a magic wand, just as every chemist needs a stirring rod (perhaps with catalytic particles attached)…” (Copes 1). As I suggested before, Copes describes the wand as a catalyst for magic, it is essentially how the “finished product” or spell is dispersed. This is the same thing that happens during a chemical reaction; two things are combined and usually they react to one another or there is a third source that causes the reaction (stirring something, applying heat etc.). These real life concepts are able to be applied to all of these magical concepts which continues to prove that magic may be achievable for us muggles too.
Other magical materials that appear in the Wizarding World are things such as, enchanted quills, Marauder’s Map, and the magical appearing ink depicted in the movies. All of these occurrences seem impossible but Copes tells us that,” Many invisible inks can be concocted with kitchen ingredients. Most of the effects are not reversible, although they are charming nonetheless…”(Copes 2). So this magical effect can be recreated in our own homes and there is once again, a logical explanation. Copes once again provides a table of several accessible materials can make color-changing and/or disappearing ink. Substances as simple as lemon juice or baking soda can create these effects of they are prepared correctly. If we can attain these abilities, it suggests that we are capable of more than we think as mere muggles.
Science is a concept that everyone learns about in some point in their life. At some point, everyone asks “when will I even use this?” and Copes has given us the answer to that question. The magic of Harry Potter can be brought to life if we use simple, everyday items and apply fairly simple concepts and scientific methods. It goes to show that we have more potential power than we think we do as “ordinary” humans. It turns out that a lot of our general knowledge can be considered to be magic.

It’s really long so I just put it in a Google Doc. You can read it by clicking the link and then comment on this post.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1W-gv8ud2ln3gg9LeHp1fzPo5ns56IHpYo1KcORSb0NQ/edit?usp=sharing

For this journal, I read: “The Travels of Harry: International Marketing and the Translation of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter Books” by Gillian Lathey. An article that illustrates how varied the Harry Potter book series is around the world, with cultural references, name changes, and even book covers to fit the needs of the countries they are sent and translated to. Given the massive popularity of the franchise it was essential to get all these aspects done in the best possible way, as Lathey says: “Never has the role of translators been so essential to publishers and keen readers alike.” (Lathey, page 142.)

When the Harry Potter books began to appear in different countries certain things that would be a given for it’s original audience was lost to those with extremely varied cultures who may have been reading these ideas or situations for the first time.

Understandably, this has an effect on the nuance and some of the charm of the books, as Lathey states and quotes: “Gaby’s verdict was that as a result of this and other changes “the flavor of the original is gone.” (Lathey, page 146.) Because of this, it’s fair to say that people from all across the world might have very slight, subtle differences that may lead to different opinions or conclusions about things. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, if anything it’s an added point of interest, but sometimes it may go to extreme lengths, as Lathey notices: “The Russian translator of volumes two and three of the Harry Potter series, Maria Litvinova, had added new passages. “ (Lathey, page 145.) This can lead to bigger problems since not every word in every book was written or given canon’s consent by the original author.

Some Names that would have significance or connotations for the original British audience had to be changes when going across the world as well, either because the original English word meant something different in a different language or because the word associations would be lost. The first notable example of this is in the name of the street where Harry forcibly called home, privet drive. For someone born in England, a place like that is synonymous with a kind of suburban locale that would remind one of the 1940’s-1960’s, but in other countries it means very little if anything at all. Some countries retain the name and others translate the word, for example: ““Ligusterweg” (literally: “privet way”) in the German version.” (Lathey, page 147.) Unfortunately some countries have it worse than that, in Russia they made due with a transliteration since the closest thing they translated to “Privet” was their word for “Hello,” because of this they made it into: “Praivet Drive” (“Private Drive” in English).” (Lathey, page 147.) Doing this made the Dursley’s seem to be much more well off than they actually are, not that they wouldn’t appreciate that, but it takes away from a universal understanding of the Harry Potter series, which is both a compliment and a curse.

Even if it’s interesting to have a slightly different story so it isn’t all the same, either with different takes, names, and even front covers, it doesn’t take away from the universal popularity from the series. While it would probably be preferred for the entire world to have the same exact story, it’s a slightly beautiful thing that everyone has their own version, and it speaks miles about the overall majesty of the series that it still manages to be loved and understood by everyone who reads them no matter where they might be.

The article Lost in Translation? Harry Potter, from Page to Screen by Philip Nel goes into detail about the difficulties of taking a popular book series and turning it into a film series that not only pleases the fans of the book series but is also a successful film franchise. As many readers often criticize, book to film movies often leave out information that is in the book and it is often seen as appalling to the lovers of the books. I understand that not every aspect from a book can make it into a movie, especially when a book has a lot of inner mind dialogue or explanation on how a character is feeling, however, I hate when actual characters are left out or are combined. Directors try their best to stay true to a book’s fanbase, however, they do also try to make it their own thing.

The director of the first two Harry Potter movies was born in my hometown and so I always felt super connected to the first two films, even though I had never met the man as he and his immediate family hadn’t lived in town since he was young, I always still felt that it was a cool connection. Nel uses a quote from Colombus, who claimed that he would be crucified if he hadn’t stayed true to the novels, which is somewhat true. Nel then goes on to say: “However, the attempt to be completely faithful hampers those first two films; recognition of the impossibility of being completely faithful liberates the third, fourth, and fifth films” (pg 276). It is impossible to please every single person, especially when it’s loved by so many people. The recognition that no matter what they do or how they do it the film will just not be perfect for every single person which is what saved the rest of the films, though I would fight that the sixth film could have been much better than what the directors had given us.

I understand that it is difficult to put everything in from the novels, as I mentioned above. However, when half of the plot is gone and one of the main characters for that book is pushed back to a supporting character in the background, I find it annoying. In Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince shows more than just Harry’s life and what goes on from his perspective. The novel shows how Draco Malfoy is struggling to do what he was told to do by Lord Voldemort and his inner realization that maybe he was wrong in thinking that his father’s ideas were the right ideas. It comes down to Draco having to try and force himself to do the act of killing Dumbledore because Lord Voldemort had threatened Draco and his mother’s life if he did not carry out the mission. Even though Severus Snape is the one to kill Dumbeldore, the novel offered a lot of insight to Draco’s inner turmoil that we were not allowed to see in the film adaptation because he was once again, hardly in the film other than to be seen lurking around corners and on occasion fixing the disappearing cabinet until the very end when he meets Harry and Dumbledore atop the astronomy tower.

Though this article was written before the last three films were released, I still believe that the article did a good job on both pointing out some of the differences from book to film that were added simply for dramatic effect and explaining why it was either necessary or why it was a bit of a reach. I felt that most of the film adaptations, for the most part, did as best a job they could in showcasing J.K. Rowling’s magical world. Nel’s major final argument is: “Finally, one might consider both what can and cannot be translated into film, as well as the net gains and losses that arise in any translation” (pg 288). We can never get a perfect novel to film adaptation, it is simply impossible.

I really liked the high school superlatives project that someone did for the Harry Potter characters. I don’t remember who did it or even what house they were from but I absolutely loved it. The board she created was really well done and she obviously put a lot of work into it. It was well organized and it looked like she had a lot of fun doing it. It was simple or creative and I was pretty impressed by it.

She must have thought about who what superlative she was going to us for which character and I thought she did a great job with what she picked. I really loved sitting in class and trying to guess who belonged to what superlative. I always like when people make their presentations interactive in that way because it usually means that they put a lot of thought into the project and it makes the project more interesting and memorable to those who are watching.

Overall I thought that the project was really well thought out and organized. It was clear that she put a lot of effort into not only coming up with the superlatives but with making the board. It was fun to partake in the project instead of being talked at because that is usually what projects are.

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The remix presentation I decided would be best to write on was the one done by Arica Zentner who made a game out of everyone’s personalities into something similar to what one would find in a yearbook and made something for the whole class to enjoy. Of course, Slytherin knew all the answers beforehand, but it was a lot of fun hearing everyone give their guesses to whatever the topic at hand was, even though they were told most were for students, they kept guessing the professors, which was funny if not tiresome after the twelfth unsuccessful attempt. Arica went to a lot of trouble to make that poster with all the categories and everyone’s pictures on it, it was a remarkable job well done, I thought it was the best thing one could do to showcase their talents and drive for a presentation other than making drawings by hand, but that’s a different presentation. What I think Arica did overall that surpassed my expectations was to make, or at least bring, cupcakes in addition to everything else she did for the class, the fact that she put such an effort into it, I think, is admirable. My favorite bit of all was for her “You don’t even go here” one for Voldemort, it made me laugh. Overall I think everything she did was very well researched, she clearly went to some lengths to bring in more obscure characters, and her presentation skills and effort put into it were very well done, indeed. It was a joy for the whole class, which matters most of all.

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After hearing the first part of Emily’s fan fiction I was definitely intrigued by it. I read the entire thing on Slytherin’s blog. It is honestly one of the better fan fictions that have been produced that I have read. Everything was well thought out and had a very catchy beginning that kept the audience reading. Another thing is that she left a cliffhanger at the end of chapter one. I would love to keep reading this if Emily would keep on writing it. She could turn it into a short chapter book and it will allow for a deeper plotline and more details. I loved how she changed the prophecy and turned it into the two of them and not just Harry. It truly changed the entire story line.

Kylie’s take:

I was really impressed by Magdalena’s project. Not only did she take the time to research what houses the certain characters would be sorted into from “Yuri, On Ice,” but she also took the time to draw each character and dress them in clothes of their corresponding houses.

I’m a sucker for art, and stuff like this just blows me away. I don’t think people like Magdalena get enough credit for doing artistry like this. If I were to try to draw something freehand, it would seriously look like a stick figure. She was saying after her presentation that one character, alone, took her a couple of hours to do and I’m betting that’s more time than most of us would spend on a project like this.

I was also really impressed at all of the research that she did. She took the time to break down each house and see what qualities a member of that house would have. She would also have to have a lot of knowledge on the characters from the show (which, I’m betting, wasn’t too hard if she finds the show enjoyable). I was even impressed by the slideshow presentation and how the sorting hat would come in from out of screen! And I think having the class interact with the presentation was the icing on the cake. She did a really good job. I just really appreciated how much thought and effort she put into it.

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Magdalena’s presentation on Yuri!!! on Ice characters sorted into their respective Hogwarts houses resonated with me not only because I enjoyed the show but because the ability to apply houses to characters outside of the Harry Potter canon is something that has allowed the series to remain relevant. Even on Pottermore the main appeal is for visitors to be able to find out how they’d fit into the Harry Potter universe with their own wands, patronuses, and houses. Like she pointed out, though, there can be many ways to interpret how characters would be sorted, which isn’t necessarily bad – it’s true in the canon of the books as well (such as Harry being either a Slytherin or Gryffindor, or Hermione being a Ravenclaw or Gryffindor.)

With that said, I would argue for different sortings for some of the characters she showed, most specifically with Yuri and Yurio. Yuri, for instance, although shy and uncertain in a lot of things changes throughout the series and shows a different side of himself on the ice (and when partying after drinking his sorrows away) that reflects more of a Slytherin than a Hufflepuff; he also needs to have external validation in order to believe in himself, and his shyness leads to a more individually-oriented lifestyle. Additionally, Yuri ignored a younger skater who looked up to him until Victor pointed it out to him, so he’s a bit more self-centered than things let on.

Yurio, on the other hand, despite his abrasive personality, performs best when driven by his emotions, which I would argue to be a stereotypically Hufflepuffcharacter trait. Also, even though he often gives other characters the cold shoulder off the ice, he has a change of heart when in the rink and generally cheers others on. And considering Magdalena shifted driven by passion toHufflepuff’s side, I’d say that Yurio is far more driven by his desire to be a great skater than any form of reason. Despite my disagreements, it’s still true that Magdalena’s sortings are well-thought out and just as “canon” as my own, because when it all comes down to it, the Sorting Hat takes the choice of the wizard into account.

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I really liked Magdalena’s Remix project! I could tell she put a lot of work into it and that she was interested in her idea. I had seen people sort characters from other fandoms into Hogwarts houses, but I liked that she did some actual research about the houses and looked at what the values are for each house before sorting the people. The information she had about the houses was cool to see, because it took dichotomous concepts and put them in the houses so you could see how certain houses were similar and different.

Michael Van Etten did a remixed fiction work for his remix. He took the section of Harry training Hogwarts students for Dumbledore’s Army and reworked to be like the book Fight Club. I have never seen or read Fight Club, but I am interested in looking into it further after his presentation.

Michael spoke clearly and loud enough for his piece to be read sufficiently. His story fit well into the Harry Potter story and gave a new side to Harry. I think that it could be a popular fanfiction if Michael wanted to take it further. I liked that Michael only gave us a taste of the story, instead of a long project. The fiction piece was only two page, but it was two good pages. It was easy to follow along with the story without having many questions at the end.

On creativity, I think Michael did a great job. He took something, Fight Club,that he liked and was familiar with, and gave a Harry Potter twist to it. He didn’t do something typical and really thought about his audience when he was creating his remix. I liked how he gave us a background about Fight Club and how it inspired him growing up. He said that he learned about emotions through Fight Club, which is important when you study literature. This back story gave the fiction piece a personal meaning for us to connect to.

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I really enjoyed Mike’s remix. I too, am a fan of Fight Club and thought it was very clever the way he interwove Fight Club and Harry Potter. He adapted a similar writing style to Chuck Palahniuk to start with. This really helped to set the tone for the piece. It showed that he took the time to really look at how Palahniuk wrote to make his version fit.

I also loved the way he made Dumbledore’s Army the fight club. He could have easily made it dueling class, or something similar, but Dumbledore’s Army fit perfectly. The idea that it was a secret society that revolved around fighting was already there, he just had to twist it a little to make it work. And he did just that. He made it work very well.

I also loved how he included the schizophrenic aspect of Fight Club by having Harry and The Chosen One as two different people. That kind of attention to detail really made the piece stand out. He found literally every similarity I can think of and used it to his benefit.

Overall his piece was very entertaining, well thought out, and well written. I think he did a magnificent job. I’m still excited over it honestly, but that could just be because of how much I love Fight Club.

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This re-mix project got me interested in a non-Harry Potter story. I went and rented Fight Club after Michael read his fanfiction. I liked the darker feel the entire story had. It was cool to see a darker spin off of Dumbledore’s Army. I will admit to being confused as to who the story was in the perspective of. At first I thought that it would have just been a student from Harry’s year that had joined Dumbledore’s Army. After he had finished reading it I wasn’t too sure of that anymore. I think I’ve reconciled it to thinking that it was from Harry’s perspective the entire time. I like to think that it was some darker part of Harry’s mind, a part that had separated itself from The Chosen One. I didn’t ask who it was because it didn’t really bother me until later on that day when I had confused details left as to what actually happened.

I would like some clarity as to who the speaker was. I’ve also never really been a fan of such short one-shots. I would like to see that story expanded following the same darker line of thinking. Order of the Phoenix is really a turning point in the series with darkness in plot as well as in characters themselves. I would definitely read that story if he or anyone else wrote something along the same lines of Dumbledore’s Army being a secret fight club.