Effects of Harry Potter

What was going on in J.K. Rowling's head when she wrote the Harry Potter Books? How did the characters in Harry Potter reflect J.K. Rowling's mindset at the time the book was written?

Psychological Criticism is one of many ways to look at literature critically. There is three ways it can be looked at. 1) It looks at the creative process of how the literature was created, 2) A psychological study is done of a particular artist to figure out their motivations for creating their work, and 3) Lastly they observe the fictional characters from a authors literature.

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Harry Potter the story of an orphan boy who figures out he is a wizard and needs to defeat the dark lord and which was written by J.K. Rowling lends itself to a lot of analysis. J.K. Rowling herself talks about how she wrote the story and some of its characters to be similar to her life and her family. It makes us ask ourselves how did Psychological criticism play a role in the creation of Harry Potter.
The death of Harry Potters Mom is a reflection of the death of her Mother and how close they were.In her bibliography she talks about how the death of her mother made her make the way Harry's mom died more potent then she would have originally. So instead of his mother dieing in a car accident or natural death Harry Potters Mom was killed by the dark lord because she was protecting harry from the dark lord.
Malfoy could be a reflection of the messy divorce that J.K. Rowling went thru. Throughout the books Malfoy is portrayed as a angry, jealous, self centered person who likes to try and be better then Harry and take everything he wants. I think this shows that J.K. Rowling used the events that were happening in her life at that moment to make the characters a certain way and she decided that Malfoy could be her husband after the big divorce they went thru and he kicked her out of the house. I think it also shows us how she used this type of criticism in her writing.
One example that is not from from Harry Potter but from the literature assigned for this class is called A Good Man Is Hard To Find by Flannery O'Conner. The characters in the story like the family of people who are on their way to a vacation after hearing about a murderer who has escaped from jail and is dangerous, to the dangerous killer himself makes us begin to wonder if the author wanted to create stories as horrific and gross as this one or if the author just naturally wrote this way.
All seven of the Harry Potter books written by J.K. Rowling and the story of Flannery O'Conner all make us question how psychological criticism plays a big role in the creation of the stories and the characters in their stories. This method of critical literature can be very successful in understanding the world around us and the novels we read. Without it we may not have as great an understanding as we do now.

Freestyle

I am reading through alot of websites this week and the past few weeks to find some information on some authors I am going to use for my 3rd paper and I find it interesting how much what is going on in and authors life and what they believe can affect their stories that they write for us to read.

For example in the first harry potter book the reason that harry's mother and father die the way that they do is because during the time when JK rowling was writing the book her mother died and she was really close to her so the mother dieing in the book was a representation of the pain she felt when her mother died.

Jodi Picculot who is another one of my favorite authors tends to write her books on issues that she feels are important or events that have happened during her life time for example her novel Handle with Care involves a wrongful birth suit and is the story about when a parent who loves there child very much can go to far.

There are alot of other examples of authors and how their lives affect their writing but it just goes to show that everyone has a story to tell its just a matter of how they use that to do their story.

Othello Scene Response

My favorite scene from the Shakespeare play Othello is the scene in which Iago is telling Othello about how his wife is cheating on him and lying to him. My favorite rendition of this scene was done by the cast of the 1995 which had Laurence Fishburne as Othello and Kenneth Branagh as Iago. I think that this is one of the best renditions of this scene because of the acting and how the director goes back and forth between the closeup of whispering in an ear and Iago getting close to Othello and telling him a story that is not true which Othello eventually believes. I then like how the music is changed to an evil music when Desdemona's friend takes the handkerchief Othello has given her.

This is interesting and important to the story because this is the beginning of the climax of the story in which we begin to see that the lie Iago has created is going the way he wants it to and that the end is not going to be a happy one. It is the first glimpse of the story in which we see just how strong Othellos love is for Desdemona and how angry he will be if his friends story is true.

Othello Quote Response Two

"Othello: I have a salt and sorry rheum offends me;
Lend me thy handkerchief
Desdemona: Here, my lord. [She offers him a handkerchief]
Othello: That which I gave you
Desdemona: I have it not about me
Othello: Not?" (Shakespeare, 971)

This part of the play is rather important to the story because this is when we begin to see what the actions and words of one of the characters has done to another. The most important part about this dialouge is when Desdemona says she does not have the handkerchief that Othello has given her, because this begins to make his mind go crazy since he starts to believe what his friend has told him about Desdemona not being faithful. I think it is important to the whole play because this is the first step to realizing that Othello is being mislead and is eventually going to do something terrible because he feels as though Desdemona isn't being true to him. It is interesting to me that Othello is willing to believe someone who he thinks he knows but doesn't know and it ends up in him killing himself out of depression.

Freestyle Blog

The past couple of weeks my reading has been filled with school reading from this class, history and geology. Earlier this week though I was able to go to Powells and get some books that I could read when I wasn't reading school books. Recently, I have been reading the book Rescue by Anita Shreve. I haven't gotten very far in the book yet but its seems to be interesting.
In the second chapter of the book right after they rescue the boy Webster is talking to Burrows about how he needs to go back. "I tossed the keys that were on her belt onto the grass. Find them on your own time. There was a rabbits foot. Burrows laughed. Lucky Girl." This quote is important to the rest of the story because this is the beginning of the relationship between The women and Webster. I also think it is interesting because the women who's keys he threw had been severely drunk and had wrapped her car around a tree but yet she had a rabbits foot and she somehow lived. I just find it ironic that she happened to have a rabbits foot in an accident that should have killed her.

Othello Quote Response

"Desdemona: My noble father
I do perceive here a divided duty
To you I am bound for life and education,
My life and my education both do learn me
How to respect you. You are the lord of duty,
I am hitherto your daughter. But heres my husband
And so much duty as my mother showed
To you preferring you before her father
So much I challenge that I may profess
Due to the to the Moor my lord" (Shakespeare, 925-27)

I think that this set of lines from the play is important to the story itself because it is the part of the play when Desdemona tells her father that she loves him but she also loves the Moor and that she doesn't want to have to chose between the two of them. It is one of the deciding points in this play because this is the point in the play where the plot to get Moor to commit a crime is started. I found this part interesting because this poor girl is asked whether she was forced to do things with the one man she loves but she is afraid to tell her father that this is the man that she loves. She knows that she is bound to her father for a few things but she also knows she doesnt have to love who her father wants her to love.

Trifles Quote Response

"Mrs. Hale: ...Theres something wrapped up in this piece of silk
Mrs. Peters: Why, this isn't her scissors.
Mrs. Hale: (lifting the silk) Oh, Mrs. Peters---It's ----
Mrs Peters: Its the bird
Mrs. Hale: But, Mrs Peters- look at it! Its neck! Look at its neck! Its all--other side up
Mrs. Peters: Somebody--wrung--its---neck" (Glaspell, 816)

I think that this dialogue between the two women is most important to the story because it is at this point towards the end of the play where the women realize that the women accused is actually guilty and the evidence is right there in their hands. I think without this dialogue we wouldnt really know whether or not the women killed her husband but with it we can see that she first practiced it on a bird and then hid the evidence so that no one would know. I guess what interests me most about these lines is that they found the bird where they did. If they hadn't saw her quilts and then the horrible sewing job she had done and started to rip them up they may not have found the bird. I think that this dialogue is the climax of the story.

Scene Response

I honestly think the most important scene in this movie is the very beginning when the narrator is talking about how he wishes he could fly like a hawk and not be jealous of anyone, then the scene switches to a basketball game and we see that they are behind by a point and it is here where I think the plot of the story is established because we see how proud the narrators dad is of one of the players and when they win the game and the other player is lifted above everyone else we see the narrators jealousy begin to form towards the other player. This scene is the setup for the rest of the movie.
There are a few techniques used in this scene that help show its importance. One of the techniques is the close up the director uses on the bird while the narrator is talking about how he wishes he was like a hawk and fly away not being jealous. He also uses long take with the birds and even short take with the group of kids in basketball uniforms to emphasis a point such as the importance of a hawk and in the second half of the scene where the boys are sitting listening to the coach we see the immense pressure they are under, and how the coach and the teammates look at at the player the story talks about.
I think that this scene is important to the rest of the film because it is the set up to the way the rest of the story plays out. I think it is the scene that shows us the events that began that cause what happens at the end of this story. I liked it because after watching the movie a few times I realized what exactly the meaning of the birds at the very beginning was. I also see that this scene is the focal point of the movie.

Freestyle Blog

This summer I have noticed a lot about reading in general. Last week I was in the book store and I noticed that the sale of graphic novels is becoming more and more popular. I noticed that the amount of kids in that section of the store had a lot more people then any other part. The thing I found interesting about this is that it was a reflection on how the culture today is so much different from the culture of 19 years ago. It actually makes sense in this new age where technology is becoming more prominent because now graphic novels are a reflection of online comics.
I guess my biggest question on this whole subject is: Will the reading of normal literature novels become extinct because of the reading of graphic novels soon? It also makes me wonder about how this will affect what people read to.
The one thing I have noticed about graphic novels that I do like is how quick they are to read especially like someone for me. I personally like mixing up the reading of normal Literature novels with graphic novels because I feel like sometimes I just need a quick read. I think that is why I decided to write about this topic.

Quote Response (Entry 14)

In Persepolis on page 31 a scene is depicted where the father went to the hospital to take pictures of a group of people that were carrying a man out that was killed by the army and right after him another group of men are carrying another man but his widow gets upset when they start to call him a martyr.
"Please! Stop It! Stop It!
What? What is it?
Stop it!
Who are You?
His Widow!
Are You a Royalist?
No, but my husband died of Cancer" (Satrapi, pg 31)

What I found most interesting about the illustrations for this particular quote and this situation was that the people yelling about the martyrs were angry and upset but the widow didn't look that angry. I also found it interesting that in this particular section of illustrations the widow after telling them what her husband died of ended up yelling about how bad the government was and began to protest with the rest of them. I think these frames are important to the novel because it shows how the people in the country progressed over time after the government was overthrown and how it affected the people emotionally. I guess my big question to this section is did they begin to call the man a martyr after they found out what he died from just to draw attention to themselves? Why did the widow start to protest with them?

Quote Response

"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth" (Frost, 610)

I think that this poem even though it was written a while ago is still a very important poem. This poem itself talks about how life has two different paths and you chose the path you go down by the choices you make. This particular stanza reflects that the author is at the point in the path where it splits off into two different directions and he is sad he cant travel both to see what they each hold and that he stood there and really thought about which one he wanted to go down. I think this is important because everyone does this in there life they stand at a cross road in life and try and see what the outcome will be before they actually take the outcome and I think this poem is a good reflection on how taking a certain path can change your life then the other and how once you start down that path you cant just go back and change to the other one because you dont like the outcome.

Poem Paraphrase

This poem paraphrase is from William Meredith "The Illiterate" on page 577

"Was unfamiliar but, truth is, the man
Has never had a letter from anyone;
And now is both afraid of what it means
And ashamed because he has no other means
To find out what it says then to ask someone."

I think what the author is trying to say is that there is a man who has gotten a letter but it is not normal to him since he has never received one before. It is saying he is afraid because he cant read it since he never learned and that he is ashamed because it means the only way he will find out what it says is by going to someone else and asking them to read it to him and tell him what it means.

Quote Response

"I shoot the Hippopotamus
with bullets made of platinum" (Belloc, 544)
I guess the thing about this phrase from the short poem by Belloc that go to me was the fact that the person is shooting a hippopotamus because it makes me wonder why he would shoot the hippo. I also find it interesting that he shoots it with platinum bullets because he thinks it will make it thru the armor.I think it is important because in the second part of this poem he talks about why shooting the hippo with the platinum bullets is important. I just thought this little poem was kind of adorable and sad at the same time.

Song Quote Response

Katy Perry is a popular pop singer among many teenagers. This is from her recent song "Firework"

"You just gotta ignite the light
And let it shine
Just own the night
Like the Fourth of July" (Perry)

I guess the words that leap out to me the most are ignite from the first line and Fourth of July in the last line. I feel like the reason ignite is important is that the stanza is talking about opening yourself up to people around you and letting them see whats inside and ignite makes me think of opening a lighter and a flame burning. I also think that Fourth of July is important too because she is comparing opening yourself up to the Fourth of July because of all the fireworks and things that go on that day.
I think that this stanza is important to the song not only because it is part of the chorus but because it helps you understand the song. This stanza talks about how you shouldn't let people get to you and that you need to open yourself up to the world and shine and let people know who you are. Its telling you to own your own life and be like the 4th of July and explode with life to people.
I guess what interests me about this stanza and this song in general is that it is telling you to be yourself and be proud of that and don't hide it just enjoy your life and be you and people will love you for that.
I like the way that they relate opening yourself up to the 4th of July. Here's a link if you want to listen :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGJuMBdaqIw

Found Poem or Haiku

So I am not very good at making a poem so I decided to do a Haiku because to me a Haiku is very beautiful if done right and its a little bit easier then a poem.

Bright star born again
Ablaze in the dark night sky
The loveliest sight

Poem Paraphrase

I decided to do a paraphrase of the poem by Aaron Abeyta called Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Tortilla on page 723. I chose to paraphrase the first two stanzas of the poem.

I.
Among twenty different tortillas
The only thing moving
Was the mouth of the nino

II.
I was of three cultures
Like a tortilla
For which there are three bolios

I think what these two lines really mean is:
Of all of the twenty babies in the nursery room the only one thing in the room that is moving or making a noise is that of a little baby who is crying.
I am one of three children, which like a tortilla who also has three different layers, just like me there are two other children just like me in this nursery.
This is at least what I got out of this poem and I'm sure there are plenty of other ways this poem or at least these two stanzas could be interpreted.

Books Books and More Books

I'm not sure if this is a reading issue or not but its just something I have come to see and realize lately. I have always been the type of person that enjoys to read her books as a book that was printed with every page accessible to hold. I have noticed though that as I have gotten older the technology has moved more towards electronic books such as books on tape, books on CD, kindles, nooks, etc.
To me I feel like in a way books are becoming a part of history forgotten. Those of us who still read books in their rare original form get stares by onlookers who walk by and see us just reading our newest books. I feel like we as a society are almost saying that books in paper form are not eco-friendly and that we need to go completely electronic and try and save the planet.
I guess my interest is I wonder how everyone else feels about this? I have so many questions and concerns for people about why this may not be the best choice for us. I mean if you think about it we are using up electricity when we charge the electronic book, also what about the people who don't have the money to afford buying one of these? What will they do when we become a society that fully relies on having electronic books, and electronic everything?
This issue has become so common that you can now go online and buy college textbooks for your kindle or nook, in a way that is scary to think about especially since being a college student I know how important for me it is to be able to go back and highlight the book and re read it and not have to spend time fighting with something to get it to pull up a page.
In a way I recommend that we as a society and culture realize and learn that we need to make sure there is going to always be ways out there for people who cant afford things like this to be able to have paperback books to look at. We need to remember that sometimes what may seem like it uses more resources and energy really doesn't and may be the more useful option.

The Gift of Magi Quote Response (Entry 6)

"Dell, said he, lets put our Christmas presents away and keep 'em a while. They're too nice to use just at present. I sold the watch to get the money to buy your combs and now suppose you put the chops on." (O.Henry, 162) I don't think that there are necessary any words in particular that reach out to me in these two sentences frankly because this sentence is at the end of the story and in a way shows the irony of what the love of the two people has done.
I think that these two sentences are important to the story because without it you wouldn't see the great lengths that a couple would go to make each other happy. I mean the women cuts off and sells her precious long hair just to have more money to get something nicer for the man, whereas the man sells his only real possession which is his watch to get the woman the hair pieces she so very much wanted. These sentences show us that in the attempt to do this they both now have basically useless items for the time being because what they were bought to go on or with are now gone.
I just find it interesting and sweet that this couple has that much love for each other that they would sell the one thing that means the most to each other just to see the other one so happy. I mean would you not go and sell the one most important thing you have to make someone else you love so much happy?

Freestyle (Blog 5)

So far this summer I have still not been able to really sit down and enjoy any of my books in my personal connection. My summer has been filled with me reading textbooks and moving around from house to house. Maybe I will finally have a chance to crack open a personal book this weekend when I am on the bus for 12 hours. So I guess that means I am going to be writing about a reading issue that I find important.
Well, after sitting here and thinking about it I can't really think of a reading issue that is on my mind so I will talk about the book I started reading. For the past couple of years I have slowly been reading thru the book: A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson. Its not that I am a slow reader its just that I forget about this book and come back to it on days when I want to read something intriguing.
One of the chapters entitled Dangerous Beauty talks about Yellowstone National Park and the history behind it. Well in this chapter the author tells us a story about some park employees. Late one night, three young summer employees engaged in illicit activity known as "hot potting"-swimming or basking in warm pools. The author continues to tell you the story and in the end you find out that these particular employees were not smart about it and ended up dieing one night while not being safe. When I read this story I thought it was funny and sad at the same time, and if not for this sentence I probably would have skipped over the story and kept reading the rest of the book. I also found this sentence interesting because I have been to Yellowstone many times and I didn't realize that some of the pools in Yellowstone are cool enough to swim in, I mean obviously they cant announce it but I did find it interesting. I think that might be why after reading this sentence I was interested in reading the rest of the story maybe in hopes of a few laughs.
I will hopefully finish this book and a few other personal books this summer when I have some time to sit down in do it. Can't wait to keep reading.

"The Lottery" Quote Response

"Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box they still remembered to use stones" When I finally got to the end of this story and I realized what the lottery signified I was shocked. This particular sentence is the sentence that I read and realized what the lottery was about and what it meant. The words that stuck out to me and made me horrified and feel bad for the woman was they still remembered to use stones because at this point I realized that the stones symbolized the fact that the woman was about to be stoned to death.
I think that this sentence is important to the story because without it you wouldn't understand the meaning of the lottery. Throughout the story they talk about how all the families gather and pick slips of paper and how the little boys collect stones and stack them, but if this sentence wasn't present we wouldn't know why the little boys were collecting the stones. This sentence in a way shows us the meaning of the lottery and the horrible end that is about to come to the one unfortunate person of the town.
I guess the thing that interests me the most about the story and this sentence in general is why this community is still killing people. My biggest question about this story and this sentence is that shouldn't they kill the whole family instead of just one person if they are killing people? Also is the reason they stone the person to death a sign of there sympathy? or the fact they want it to last a long time and be painful for the person? Also my other question is what is the point of the lottery? Is it to control the number in the population?
Maybe what the author was getting at is that the theme and symbolism of this story is that the woman who eventually gets stoned in the beginning shows up late to the lottery and her family just happens to get chosen to see which one of them will die and then it just happens to be her slip that has the black dot on it. In a way this could be luck or it could be the authors way of showing us how we need to keep an eye on this character.

Freestyle Blog

This summer so far has been busy and I haven't really been able to snuggle down and read any books, even though I do plan on reading a lot of books this summer so for this post I decided that I would talk about a reading issue that is close to my heart.
There is a reading issue that is close to my heart that I know we don't talk about in class, and that is getting kids just starting out in school to read books. The reason this interests me is because I have a nephew who is going to be in 1st grade next year and I know that all this year my family has struggled to get him to pick up a book and read or at least look at the pictures and make up a story. I have been home for a few weeks now and I see reasons why in this day an age that is hard for him. I have noticed that TV is a big distraction for him, and to him reading is boring instead of watching TV where the characters talk and are already made up.
I guess my biggest question about this reading issue is how can my grandparents figure out a way so that my nephew will want to read instead of watch so much TV. I mean I've watched him and many other kids his age not be that entertained by books but more by TV. One idea I thought of was maybe instead of paperback books that I am so fond of and maybe using a kindle. I mean unlike a paperback it has a computer like screen that might seem more interesting to such a young kid.
I see this issue occurring all over the US and the world in general. I mean it isn't like I have been all over the world but I'm sure that there is this issue all over the world. I guess my recommendation is that we as a nation and world need to find ways that we can engage kids in a way that is as interesting as TV.

Quote Response

"When Miss Emily Grierson died, our whole town went to her funeral: the men through a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument, the women mostly out of curiosity to see the inside of her house, which no one save an old manservant- a combined gardener and cook- had seen in at least ten years.....she had vanquished their fathers thirty years before about the smell. That was two years after her father's death and a short time after her sweetheart- the one we believed would marry her- had deserted her. " (Faulkner, 30-31)
When we were assigned the two chapters to read this week I found that I enjoyed reading the second chapter more. I felt like the story about A Rose For Emily was better the Updike so I picked it for this assignment. As you can see I picked two sentences, one from one page and another one from another page. I feel like these two sentences connect with each other to help you get a better understanding of who Emily the main character was.
When I looked at these two sentences I saw two words that popped out to me the most, which were the words fallen monument. I think it is strange to think that the townspeople saw Miss Emily as a fallen monument when throughout the story all they tell you is how she would never leave her house, with no one ever seeing her so how can she be a monument?
I think that both of these sentences are important to the story even if they are in different places, because they show us the how Miss Emily came off to the people around her. It shows us how they see her as a shut in and shut off from everyone. The first sentence describes why they went to the funeral after she was dead and the second one describes why the people around her think she acted the way she did, because of certain events like her boyfriend leaving and her father dieing.
I guess what interests me about these sentences and this story in general is the fact that you can see how people leap to conclusions about people without getting to actual know them. I also like this passage because in a way I feel like I can relate to this story. The reason being is that you always read stories and there is always some type of judgement. Another thing that there is always going to be judgement and sometimes I wish that stories wouldn't have as much in it.
I guess what I am saying is that this story was easy for me to relate to because I have always been judged in my life and I feel like even in writing and stories you cant escape the judgement of others.

Autobiography

My Name is MacKenzie Oliver. I am a sophomore at Eastern Oregon University this year. You can call me MacKenzie or I go back Kenzie. I have two majors currently Psychology and Theatre. My hobbies include motorcycle riding with my grandparents, playing water polo, swimming, and hiking with my family/friends. I haven't lived in Oregon all my life. I was born in Rochester, NY and moved here when I was 10 to live with my grandparents.
The story of my reading life is simple to me yet complex to others. I have gone thru a lot of things in my short life and I used reading as my outlet. When I was younger there was alot of fighting and arguing in my house so to get away from it I would run to my room and read the books my teachers in school had given me. My favorite memory from my past that involves reading was back when I was in 4th grade. I wasn't able to go home right after school and since I was shy my teacher would let me stay behind in her room after school and read. She would even stay until 7 or 8 o'clock at night if I was really into a story, because she knew I felt safe. As the year progressed, as I finished my school work she would let me go to the reading corner to read when I finished work. Thanks to that teacher I'm know my love for reading is so great because of that experience. I have had a college reading level since elementary school and I am proud of that. Currently, I enjoy reading true life stories from an authors childhood, but more specifically tragic ones. I enjoy reading these stories not only because they touch my heart and take me to a place I cant always go, but because when I read these stories they always make me think of two things. One is when I'm sad and I read these I realize my life is not as bad as their life is or was, and two it makes me strive to be a better person and one day help people similar to the ones in the story.
When I asked people what kind of books they liked to read and why I got some interesting answers. Two people told me they like to read science fantasy. When asked why they responded completely different. One told me it was because he liked the way the genre was written, because to him science fiction books are always a good story just waiting for him to read. The other told me it was because she liked to escape reality and be in her own world for a little bit. This woman also told me that she likes to read action adventures, because when she sits down to read them she gets pulled into the story and can't seem to stop reading. I then asked a close family friend what they liked to read and why, and was told my favorite type of book to read is a murder mystery. Slightly perplexed by this I asked her why she would want to read something so closely related with murder and death. In response she told me these books help her think, because she likes to try and figure out who committed the murder before she is told by the author. If she is right it makes her feel like she really is a detective and it makes her want to read more just like it.
All of these people like reading because it makes them think and escape reality, yet I like to read books that are closely related to reality, because I don't want to escape it I want to live it over and over again. They are all similar to me though because they all share the love for being able to sit down and read a good book for a while and just escape the drama that your everyday life throws at you. I also feel that by making the connection that I read for different reasons then them shows you that everyone is different and has gone thru different things, which in turn makes reading important in different ways then your own.