When I began this class, I was thrilled; English had always been my one of my favorite and best subjects. However, I didn't expect to be challenged and write in different styles that I normally would avoid. For this class our final paper was about discourse communities. We were to choose a specific discourse community, immerse ourselves in it and familiarize ourselves with that community in order to write an informed paper about it. Having never written a research paper before, I was a bit daunted by this task. But by the end of the semester, I had discovered how to successfully research a community, think critically about the different identities that make up a discourse community as a whole, and had become comfortable using another style of writing.
The paper below is a genre analysis where I explored the popular book series Harry Potter. This was one of my favorite assignments in the class, as I was able to take material that I loved and cherished as a child, and explore it from a mature point of view. This paper also helped me to better understand various genres and genres conventions, in addition to helping shape and polish some of my writing techniques.
"HARRY POTTER: MERELY MAGICAL OR MORALS AND VALUES?"
The other week, I took a trip to a Barnes and Noble to purchase a new book. I have always loved bookstores, and can usually get lost in them, wandering the shelves while looking for new reads. This time while walking through the store, I realized just how many genres there are in the literary world. From science fiction, to romance and everything in between, there is a book for every type of reader. In fact, there are so many genres, it can be a bit overwhelming sometimes. What is even more overwhelming are the conventions of each genre. But do all the materials of a genre necessarily fit the conventions? Is it possible for books, movies, and songs to break the mold?
One of my favorite book series to this day are the Harry Potter books written by J.K. Rowling. I grew up reading the stories; most of my childhood memories can be traced back to these books. I still re-read them from time to time, if I ever feel as if I have to escape back to the magical wizarding world. This series can be considered a part of the coming-of-age genre, as Harry and his friends grow up and learn life lessons and gain deeper understandings of themselves as the series goes on; but the main genre the Harry Potter series fits into would be the fantasy genres. This genre also includes fairy tales, fables, myths, and legends, and usually involve magic or supernatural forces. This genre has many different types of conventions; for example, fantasy is often set in a magical far-away land and includes enchanted items such as wands, potions, or swords. The characters remain fairly stereotypical; involving a hero, his sidekicks or accomplices, a villain, and a damsel in distress the hero ultimately saves. The plotlines of fantasy genres typically tend to follow a similar sequence; and such books that fall into this genre discuss many of the same themes, such as good versus evil, quests, and magic. Fantasy is typically thought to be aimed toward children and teenagers, and the audience is often assumed to hold the stereotypes of “nerds” or “geeks”.
When readers closely examine the text of Harry Potter, they will discover that this series does follow some conventions for the fantasy genre. The books deal with the main themes of the fantasy genre: good versus evil, quests, and magic. The main story arc concerns the hero Harry Potter, and his quest to overcome the Dark wizard Lord Voldemort, whose aims are to become immortal and conquer the wizarding world. Harry, the good figure, is constantly trying to find ways to overcome the evil in his world, specifically Voldemort. Quests play a huge role in the series, of course, as it takes seven books at hundred of pages each for our protagonist to accomplish the quest, which is the heart of the tales. The final main theme of fantasy, magic, is of course found all throughout Harry Potter. In the series, a plethora of enchanted objects are involved: the Marauders Map, Mirror of Erised, magic wands and potions to name a few. The book series is also set in Hogwarts, a wizarding school for British witches and wizards. This takes the place of the magical, faraway land. Yes, these conventions hold true for this popular saga, but Harry Potter also goes beyond these conventions.
Comparable to children’s books, fantasy is considered to be a pleasure read that holds not much literary value. Many believe that the fantasy genre strictly holds books that follow the same storyline: once a upon a time in a land far-far-away, a hero is challenged by a villain, the hero defeats said villain, the hero saves and wins the girl, they all live happily ever after. Yes, the majority of fantasy novels and films follow this script, but there are other books who do more than that. While the Harry Potter series began very much as kid’s books, as the series progressed the subject matter was revealed to be darker. The children who had started reading the books at a young age were older; as were the characters, and as a result the books were more mature. The themes were much more than good versus evil.
One of the biggest themes throughout the series is death; the first book opens with the news of death, and the main villain is constantly searching for ways to evade it. As we get deeper into the series, we are met with more character deaths. This is a dark theme that is not normally for children, the audience for which the fantasy genre is aimed towards. In addition, there are many complex themes throughout the Harry Potter series that allow for greater thought and discussion. The theme of racism is explored throughout the novel, found through prejudice against wizards who are not considered a pureblood, meaning wizards who have no non-magical relatives. In fact, Voldemort’s obsession with ridding the wizarding world of all half-bloods and mudbloods is often compared to Hitler and the Jews during World War 2. Another huge themes of the series is politics. Throughout the series we are introduced to the interworking of the Ministry of Magic, which is the wizarding world’s government. Rowling discusses how politics can greatly influence our lives; from convincing citizens to look the other way when war is apparent and hiding the government’s problems as to not worry the people, to how politics can affect the schooling of children. Other major themes such as love, courage, tolerance, and bravery are expressed through the words of certain characters who embody these core values of the series.
In today’s society, it is typical to be judged for your preferences in popular culture. Whether it be books, music or movies, people tend to form opinions of you based on what you like, and the conventions of that genre. Sometimes it is believed that if certain material was recast in a different genre, people would take it more seriously and not base the content and characters on the conventions of the genres. After considering this recast option for the Harry Potter series, I would recast this popular series into the political genre. If this series was cast in a political genre, I believe that if the setting was a utopian or dystopian world, society would be more willing to accept the deeper themes of the tales (racism, death, government, etc.). Being set in an utopian or dystopian future, the magical elements would be explained and would give reason for corrupt government and evil figures. In fact, if recast into this genre, Harry Potter seems similar to the novel A Brave New World. Harry Potter would then be set apart from such conventions that are found in the fantasy genre, and be considered more adult and meaningful than a fairy tale adventure for children.
People tend to make snap judgements upon hearing the names of certain books, films, and songs, but they are often forgetting that sometimes such material is deeper than it appears. Though this series is part of the fantasy genre, it is not limited to those conventions. Harry Potter has gone beyond the typical aspects of fantasy, and explores deeper themes and ideas throughout the books. The Harry Potter books are not simply about magic, heroes, and villains; but love, bravery, acceptance and government. These books aren’t just for children, but adults too. The limitation that genre sets is sometimes unfair, but we must also remember that there will always be books and authors, like J.K. Rowling, who succeed in subverting conventions and making the books known for their literary value rather than their genre.
The paper below is a genre analysis where I explored the popular book series Harry Potter. This was one of my favorite assignments in the class, as I was able to take material that I loved and cherished as a child, and explore it from a mature point of view. This paper also helped me to better understand various genres and genres conventions, in addition to helping shape and polish some of my writing techniques.
"HARRY POTTER: MERELY MAGICAL OR MORALS AND VALUES?"
The other week, I took a trip to a Barnes and Noble to purchase a new book. I have always loved bookstores, and can usually get lost in them, wandering the shelves while looking for new reads. This time while walking through the store, I realized just how many genres there are in the literary world. From science fiction, to romance and everything in between, there is a book for every type of reader. In fact, there are so many genres, it can be a bit overwhelming sometimes. What is even more overwhelming are the conventions of each genre. But do all the materials of a genre necessarily fit the conventions? Is it possible for books, movies, and songs to break the mold?
One of my favorite book series to this day are the Harry Potter books written by J.K. Rowling. I grew up reading the stories; most of my childhood memories can be traced back to these books. I still re-read them from time to time, if I ever feel as if I have to escape back to the magical wizarding world. This series can be considered a part of the coming-of-age genre, as Harry and his friends grow up and learn life lessons and gain deeper understandings of themselves as the series goes on; but the main genre the Harry Potter series fits into would be the fantasy genres. This genre also includes fairy tales, fables, myths, and legends, and usually involve magic or supernatural forces. This genre has many different types of conventions; for example, fantasy is often set in a magical far-away land and includes enchanted items such as wands, potions, or swords. The characters remain fairly stereotypical; involving a hero, his sidekicks or accomplices, a villain, and a damsel in distress the hero ultimately saves. The plotlines of fantasy genres typically tend to follow a similar sequence; and such books that fall into this genre discuss many of the same themes, such as good versus evil, quests, and magic. Fantasy is typically thought to be aimed toward children and teenagers, and the audience is often assumed to hold the stereotypes of “nerds” or “geeks”.
When readers closely examine the text of Harry Potter, they will discover that this series does follow some conventions for the fantasy genre. The books deal with the main themes of the fantasy genre: good versus evil, quests, and magic. The main story arc concerns the hero Harry Potter, and his quest to overcome the Dark wizard Lord Voldemort, whose aims are to become immortal and conquer the wizarding world. Harry, the good figure, is constantly trying to find ways to overcome the evil in his world, specifically Voldemort. Quests play a huge role in the series, of course, as it takes seven books at hundred of pages each for our protagonist to accomplish the quest, which is the heart of the tales. The final main theme of fantasy, magic, is of course found all throughout Harry Potter. In the series, a plethora of enchanted objects are involved: the Marauders Map, Mirror of Erised, magic wands and potions to name a few. The book series is also set in Hogwarts, a wizarding school for British witches and wizards. This takes the place of the magical, faraway land. Yes, these conventions hold true for this popular saga, but Harry Potter also goes beyond these conventions.
Comparable to children’s books, fantasy is considered to be a pleasure read that holds not much literary value. Many believe that the fantasy genre strictly holds books that follow the same storyline: once a upon a time in a land far-far-away, a hero is challenged by a villain, the hero defeats said villain, the hero saves and wins the girl, they all live happily ever after. Yes, the majority of fantasy novels and films follow this script, but there are other books who do more than that. While the Harry Potter series began very much as kid’s books, as the series progressed the subject matter was revealed to be darker. The children who had started reading the books at a young age were older; as were the characters, and as a result the books were more mature. The themes were much more than good versus evil.
One of the biggest themes throughout the series is death; the first book opens with the news of death, and the main villain is constantly searching for ways to evade it. As we get deeper into the series, we are met with more character deaths. This is a dark theme that is not normally for children, the audience for which the fantasy genre is aimed towards. In addition, there are many complex themes throughout the Harry Potter series that allow for greater thought and discussion. The theme of racism is explored throughout the novel, found through prejudice against wizards who are not considered a pureblood, meaning wizards who have no non-magical relatives. In fact, Voldemort’s obsession with ridding the wizarding world of all half-bloods and mudbloods is often compared to Hitler and the Jews during World War 2. Another huge themes of the series is politics. Throughout the series we are introduced to the interworking of the Ministry of Magic, which is the wizarding world’s government. Rowling discusses how politics can greatly influence our lives; from convincing citizens to look the other way when war is apparent and hiding the government’s problems as to not worry the people, to how politics can affect the schooling of children. Other major themes such as love, courage, tolerance, and bravery are expressed through the words of certain characters who embody these core values of the series.
In today’s society, it is typical to be judged for your preferences in popular culture. Whether it be books, music or movies, people tend to form opinions of you based on what you like, and the conventions of that genre. Sometimes it is believed that if certain material was recast in a different genre, people would take it more seriously and not base the content and characters on the conventions of the genres. After considering this recast option for the Harry Potter series, I would recast this popular series into the political genre. If this series was cast in a political genre, I believe that if the setting was a utopian or dystopian world, society would be more willing to accept the deeper themes of the tales (racism, death, government, etc.). Being set in an utopian or dystopian future, the magical elements would be explained and would give reason for corrupt government and evil figures. In fact, if recast into this genre, Harry Potter seems similar to the novel A Brave New World. Harry Potter would then be set apart from such conventions that are found in the fantasy genre, and be considered more adult and meaningful than a fairy tale adventure for children.
People tend to make snap judgements upon hearing the names of certain books, films, and songs, but they are often forgetting that sometimes such material is deeper than it appears. Though this series is part of the fantasy genre, it is not limited to those conventions. Harry Potter has gone beyond the typical aspects of fantasy, and explores deeper themes and ideas throughout the books. The Harry Potter books are not simply about magic, heroes, and villains; but love, bravery, acceptance and government. These books aren’t just for children, but adults too. The limitation that genre sets is sometimes unfair, but we must also remember that there will always be books and authors, like J.K. Rowling, who succeed in subverting conventions and making the books known for their literary value rather than their genre.