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How literature creates imagination
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Imagination is an important part of growing up for children, and books that explore magical lands encourage the reader to use their imagination and create the world he or she is reading about. From a young age, children use their imagination to create worlds or places to play games. According to the Childtime Learning Center, “[c]hildren today desperately need time and space to develop their creative imaginations free from adult agendas,” This article encourages parents to let their child be creative on their own, whether it would be through reading or creating a world on their own. The article also explores the idea that children not using their imagination are “being fed someone else’s story.” A child’s imagination helps shape them and his …show more content…
Without imagination, children would not be able to picture Hogwarts, Diagon Alley, or Hogsmeade. These places are similar to our world, but they are located in a world filled with magic. The book starts by following what seems to be a normal family, and follows the husband, Mr. Dursley through his workday, during his day he encounters people dressed in strange clothes, and strange events happen around him. This leads to the introduction of a magical world beneath the surface of our world. The book focuses on a young boy named Harry Potter, and how he survived the attack by the evil wizard, Voldemort. Of course readers do not get the whole story of what happened when Harry’s parents died until the end, but readers are given clues about the magical world from the very beginning of the book. Readers follow Harry’s life throughout the book, and experience magic with him for most of the story. Harry experiences magic for the first time in chapter five on page 85, “Harry took the wand. He felt a sudden warmth in his fingers. He raised the wand above his head, brought it swishing down through the dusty air and a stream of red and gold sparks shot from the end like a firework, throwing dancing spots of light on to the walls. Hagrid whooped and clapped…” In the …show more content…
Of course readers are given small amounts of information about the evil in the world, but as far as the reader knows, the evil has been defeated. Chapter nine of the book is the first time readers are introduced to the trapdoor guarded by the three-headed dog. This leads to a lot of questions about what is being guarded, and why was it important. The storyline of the book is then centered on the trapdoor, and the sorcerer’s stone that is being guarded. When someone tries to break into the trapdoor to get the stone, Harry and his friends believe it to be Professor Snape, as Harry saw him being patched up from what seemed like a dog bite. For the last chapters of the book, readers believe that Snape is bad guy in this story, but when Harry and his friends follow “Snape” down the trap door to protect the stone from being taken, they find out that they were wrong about their suspect. Finding out the Professor Quirrell was the one trying to take the stone, seemed like the biggest reveal of the story, but it was just one of them. When readers’ find out the Voldemort is trying to return, and that he plans to harm Harry when he is back, readers are intrigued by the storyline. Although Quirrell tries to make Harry understand that there was no good and evil in chapter seventeen, “’I met him when I traveled around the world. A foolish young man I was then, full of
Harry and the Narrator face quests that they must overcome like most typical hero myths. But the only difference about the quests they take is that yearn for desire to be at peace and find the meaning of their life. Which is not enough to find within their ordinary life. It isn’t until that Harry goes to Hogwarts and the Narrator meets Lettie that they realize that they are there for a reason. Everything that happens in their life is connection to their past. They will never lose that desire to belong somewhere. Like Harry wanting a family who loves him as much as his parents did. The narrator desires somewhere to belong. (Gaiman, Neil Page 139), “ How can you be happy in this world? You have a hole in your heart. You have a gateway inside you to lands beyond the world you know. They will call you, as you grow. There can never be a time when you forget them, when you are not, in your heart, questing after something you cannot even properly imagine, the lack of which will spoil your sleep and your day and your life, until you close your eyes for the final time.” Gaiman uses this quote to emphasize that the hole in the narrator’s heart is a doorway between reality and within him. When Ursula is brought into his world she mentions how she has always been inside him and knows him. I can be perceived that Ursula as the Narrator’s conscience. Seeing that the Narrator’s family was having
Think back to your childhood; a time where everything and anything was possible. Magic and imagination was something that was used everyday in your life. Now think about where you are in your life right now. There is no longer any magic or mystery. Neil Gaiman and Antoine De Saint-Exupry write two different novels that include multitudes of fantasy. But in the midst of all of the fantasy is the fact that children and adults think differently. Both of these novels explore the idea that children think positively while adults grow out of that stage, developing a pessimistic way of thinking from what they experience in life.
Just to quickly run through the two previous books; Harry Potter is a wizard, who’s parents were killed by the worst dark wizard ever known. The reason why Harry Potter is still around, is because Lord Voldemort failed to kill Harry. His spell hit Harry, but then backfired on Voldemort taking all of his powers with him. Harry is so famous for two things. Withstanding the powers of Lord Voldemort, and, taking him back in to the underworld in hiding. In the first book, Harry receives a letter from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He’s eventually allowed to go, and spends the next six months there learning magic, getting into trouble, and trying to solve mysteries of his past, and the school. In the second book, Harry goes back to his second year at Hogwarts, and gets into more trouble, figures out many astonishing mysteries and learns loads more magic. His best friends in the two books consist of Ron and Hermione (two of his fellow wizard students) and Hagrid the gamekeeper who was expelled from Hogwarts but allowed a job as the gamekeeper.
Ownership is a symbol of control. As human beings, we tend to put labels on things, believing that everything must belong to someone or something. This issue of ownership does not exclude the world of fairy tales. Fairy tales, much like birds, follow no rules and are free, but can be over ruled by potential superiors. In Donald Haase’s essay entitled, “Yours, Mine, or Ours?” and Lawrence R. Sipe’s case study, “Talking back and taking over: Young children’s expressive engagement during storybook read-alouds”, both scholars claim that children holds the baton of ownership over fairy tales. Although Haase and Sipe lay out an appealing theory and practice for children’s literacy, a story like “The Juniper Tree” by the Grimms brothers suggest skepticism
According to the textbook’s fantasy fiction characteristic of escape, “fantasy can take us far away from our everyday world, to times that never were, to places that never existed; it lets us forget our everyday routines, our frustrations, our anxieties”(p. 205). Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, like other fantasy books, help children escape and explore another world, even if that world is not real. Karin Slaughter a mystery novelist said, “ Reading is not just an escape. It is access to a better way of life.” Being able to invest in characters and a story is an escape for a child that does not make it a bad thing. Reading does let children into a world they wish to be a part of, based on the fact that there is magic and characters they wish they could meet. For instance, children invest in the characters of Harry and Ron, because Harry is the brave, courageous friend, while Ron is terrified of everything, but sticks by Harry no matter what happens. J.K. Rowling wrote characters that are relatable to a child. Some parents
At first glance, what makes a fairy tale a fairy tale may seem obvious—some kind of magic, hidden symbols, repetition, and of course it’s evident it’s fiction—but fables are more than that. As Arthur Schelesinger puts it, it’s about “[expanding] imagination” and gaining understanding of mysterious places (618). While doing this, it also helps children to escape this world, yet teach a lesson that the reader may not be conscious of. A wonderful story that achieves all of this is Cinderella, but not the traditional tale many American’s have heard. Oochigeaskw, or The Rough-Faced Girl, and Ashputtle would be fitting for a seven-year-old because they get the gears of the mind turning, allowing for an escape on the surface, with an underlying enlightenment for children of the ways of the world.
The wildly popular Harry Potter book series by J. K. Rowling has caused controversy for many families over the past five years. These novels according to some critics are harmless, adventurous, children's tales. Others choose to portray them as stories that inspire children to become involved in the occult and serious witchcraft. The Harry Potter novels chronicle the life of a young wizard whose wizard parents were killed by the evil Lord Voldermort. On his eleventh birthday he receives invitation to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Each of the five books represents a year of his life there (Walker). This essay will discuss whether the Harry Potter novels are a suitable read for children and why despite what some critics portray, Harry Potter can be a positive role model for youth.
The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling has been one of the most popular series to ever hit the bookshelves.The books aren’t focused on magic. J.K. Rowling just uses the idea of magical elements to make the series entertaining to read, yet still teach valuable life lessons along the way. These lessons can easily be applied and related to the daily lives of the readers. The Harry Potter series teaches readers the dangers of desire, the acceptance of others, the importance of teamwork and community and many others. The moral wisdom embedded in the Harry Potter books outweighs conservatives’ claims that wizardry is evil and that these books will result in evil children.
Jones, Marnie. "The Threat to Imagination in Children's Literature." International Journal of the Book 3.2 (2005/2006): 71-76. Print.
JK Rowling is one of the most influential authors of our time, breaking boundaries and creating an alternate reality in a world far from anyones imagination. The series she is most well known for is the Harry Potter series. The series is seven books accompanied by eight movies. The tale starts with a young boy named Harry, whose parents died, from the sinister Voldemort. The series takes a bunch of twist and turns that ultimately lead to Voldemort 's death. Although, Harry and Voldemort want to destroy one another, they have some undoubtedly strong connections that are undeniable. JK Rowling has said that the connections between Harry and Voldemort range from childhood, through the death of Voldemort. The story of Voldemort and Harry begins
One of the most read series in all literature is Harry Potter. The seven-book succession has sold over 400 million copies and has been translated into over sixty languages. What is it that makes this series so wildly famous? What is it about the boy who lived that makes frenzied readers flock to their local bookstore at midnight on the day of the release to buy the latest installment? How is a story set in a world that doesn’t exist about wizards, witches, magic, and mystical creatures so popular? The series has been able to earn its spot on the New York Times Bestseller list and has granted author J.K. Rowling multiple awards because it is relatable. It is not the setting or the events in the plot of the story that we relate to. We relate to what Harry, his friends, mentors, teachers, caretakers, and even enemies feel. Harry is in a lot of ways exactly like us. He represents some of the good characteristics that all of us have as well as the bad. The series as a whole, is about one thing that is stressed over and over again in the novels, love. The Harry Potter series is one of the most read sequences of novels because the central theme is love and self-sacrifice, and readers are looking for a novel that shows them just that.
..., Maria. “An Introduction to Fairy Tales.” Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. Ed. Laurence Behrens, Leonard J. Rosen. Toronto: Longman, 2013. 230-235. Print.
I got my first Harry Potter book when I was in the 2nd grade, it was my reward from the local library for finishing the summer reading challenge. They didn’t have the first book though, only the second, but that little second grader didn’t care. So while most people’s journey into Harry’s world started with “Mr. and Mrs. Dursley of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.” mine started with “Not for the first time, an argument had broken out over breakfast at number four, PrivetDrive.”. This book probably should have been above my reading level at the time, but far be it from anyone to tell me that. I finished that book within a matter of days and was quickly begging my grandfather
In a child’s early life, hearing or reading fairy tales is an extremely important aspect of expanding their imagination. In these fairy tales, children can use their minds to paint a picture and create a reality that only their eyes can see. It is said the “original” fairy tales, like those from the Brothers Grimm, were too explicit for a child’s mind, and that a “happier” fairy tale would do the job better. It is also said that these fairy tales are appropriate because they display honest and real life situations. Although the “original” fairy tales were great and legendary in their time, children today should not be exposed to these darker fairy tales at an early age, and instead should be exposed to the more “sanitized” fairy tales because
Imagine a magnificent sunset in the gorgeous scenery of Scotland. The trees are a luscious green, the sky morphing from a soft pink-orange to a deep blue-purple. Suddenly, and without warning, a dragon appears, opens its large mouth with piercingly sharp teeth, and…it is time to turn the page. Reading is considered a learning necessity and it is right that people are concerned about the rapidly decreasing child reading habits. As children grow older, their imaginations grow weaker, as does their love of reading. Young minds become preoccupied with other hobbies, interests, or responsibilities. As a result, concern from parents and teachers increase. However, nineteen years ago, a story was born that might have held the key to getting children