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 …show more content…
Sadly before I was able to end my journey through Hogwarts, some other kid who now I try to think was just as eager to find out the fate of my literary friends as I was stole my book from me. I was so upset by the loss of my personal copy that I waited two more years to try again. When I finally finished the last book and all was well I pushed Harry to the back of my mind where he stayed for some time. Fast forward a year and I was having a really hard time in life. I found solace in books, particularly the books about the wizard with lightning bolt scar. The farther I got into the stories the second time the more I could relate to some of the problems he had, maybe not so much fighting dragons and killing a basilisk, but living in a home full of people who don’t really want you, and feeling the pressure of trying to make everyone around you happy even if it meant sacrificing your own happiness? Yeah, that was something I could relate to. Harry Potter was always a martyr, the lives of the people around him always came first. I didn’t have an evil dark wizard trying to kill all my friends at the end of each school year, but I had two and very separate families to try and …show more content…
Those first copies all still sit on my book shelf in my bedroom and every few months I take them down and sit in my chair in the corner of the room and read again, “Mr. and Mrs. Dursley of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.”, and I read on, and one by one the family I found solace in when I needed it most starts to die, first Cedric, a true Hufflepuff, fair and kind, then Sirius, who lived his whole life trying to do the right thing, only to die a very unfair death in the end, then Dumbledore, then Hedwig, then Dobby, then Fred, then Remus and Tonks, then Colin Creevey who shouldn’t have fought in this war. At the end you’re left with only a fraction of the people you’ve learned to love and it seems so unfair, but that’s full circle isn’t it? James and Lily Potter died at 21 years old, betrayed by someone they would have died to protect, Harry left an orphan, and Sirius, left to rot in Azkaban for a crime he didn’t commit knowing his best friend is dead, and his Godson will grow up without him, and hes only 21 and his life is
Over the course of this summer I read four books. The books I read were Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J K Rowling, The Giver by Lois Lowry, Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix, and Number the Stars by Lois Lowry again. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J K Rowling was the first book I read this summer and I really liked it. I decided to read the 5th Harry Potter book because I had it and I never really got a chance to read it. The book begins were it had left you of in the 4th book when Harry is just about to enter his 5th year at Hogwarts. He still lives with his aunt and uncle whom he hates because they are mean and evil to him. The letters from his friends are very dull and they have nothing to say, which confuses him and makes him furious. He is also mad because he’s still stuck with the Dursleys all summer long. The story goes with his adventures and challenges throughout his 5th year. The genre is fantasy complete with magic. I would recommend this book to anybody who likes the Harry Potter books. I would also recommend that if you have never read any of the previous books you start from the beginning. I can’t wait ‘till the next book comes out!
Heroic Harry Potter battles prejudice in the second volume of Rowling's wizard series. Retur The second Harry Potter book begins at the Dursleys – Harry’s Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia and Cousin Dudley. Harry, who is “home” for the summer holidays, desperately misses Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He misses the castle, and Hagrid, and Quidditch. But all his wizard stuff is locked in the cupboard under the stairs. The Dursleys, being non-magical Muggles, hate everything having to do with magic. Today is Harry’s 12th birthday. Not only have the Dursleys ignored it, they are focused on a dinner party to be given for a business prospect of Uncle Vernon's that night. Harry is expected to sit silently in his room during the party. Out
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
When comparing two young adult novels, one would never think that a wizard with a lightning bolt scar on his forehead and a poor Indian basketball player would have anything in common. However, this is not so as The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling are alike in many aspects. One might ask why a different novel from the Harry Potter series was not used, and the answer is that the main character matures quite a deal through the novel selected and seemed better fit for comparison with Alexie’s novel. Both boys, Arnold Spirit, Jr. and Harry James Potter, encounter some form of bullying. Both must also cope with tragic deaths that have impacted the way
I was having a conversation with my grandmother about the final book in the Harry Potter series, which had just been released in the summer of 2007. She had bought it for me as one of my birthday presents and we were discussing our thoughts on J.K. Rowling’s ending of the series. As I was explaining what I thought of the book, I referenced several parts of the story. The first
The story of Harry Potter amazed a whole generation of not only children, but also adults, and still does. Rowling’s series, tells the story of Harry Potter and his fight against Lord Voldemort, which takes place in the world of magic. The difference between Harry Potter and Lord Volde-mort is explained by Dumbledore at the end of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone using the following words: „’If there is one thing Voldemort cannot understand, it is love. He didn’t realise that love as powerful as your mother’s for you leaves its own mark. Not a scar, no visible sign...to have been loved so deeply [...] will give us some protection for ever.’“ (Rowling 216). This love, which is described by Dumbledore as „’ [...] something
...ave evolved about the subject matter of these books. The greatest controversy, though, centers on the series’ religious references, which have caused many parents to despise the “immoral” concepts of the stories and forbid their children from reading these books. Such people feel that Rowling promotes paganism through the magic performed by the characters, and promotes evil through various connections to Satan. Still, Harry Potter does not reflect the practices of Wicca and good always overpowers evil in the end; therefore, we should not be concerned with the effects of the series on children, or even adults. After all, readers have been enjoying stories containing magical references for centuries and humanity has not suffered because of it. Harry Potter is just another magical story and should be enjoyed, rather than judged because of its controversial references.
Everyone is supposed to have a story about how he/she became the reader and writer he/she is today. For me, my story is not just about how I became an exceptional reader and writer; it is about how I became the person I am. I do not have some dark childhood story filled with depressed memories. I had a delightful childhood and cannot complain about anything that I have been through. However, I feel as if I live a life much different from all the children I knew.
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.
George R.R. Martin once said, “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies… The man who never reads lives only one.” For centuries, books have transformed readers into someone else and transported them to different worlds. In my fourteen years, I have fought dragons, saved the world, and survived World War II. I have become others who were anywhere from a toddler to an adult. I have gone to wizarding school and a summer camp for demigods all because of books. Something magical happens when I open bound pages of words and begin to read. Books inspire me because they each open up a new world of experiences and feelings that will last with me forever.
In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, author J.K. Rowling displays the themes of feminism, love, and death because she personally experienced the importance of each. Throughout her lifetime Rowling experienced many difficult and wonderful times with her family, friends, and fans. These experiences and the effects that they had on the author’s life are clearly demonstrated in her written work. Through her characters in this novel Rowling created an outlet that she may solve her problems and relive the wonders of her life not only for herself but for her readers as well.
Harry Potter is a fascinating tale of sorcerers, wands, broomsticks, dragons, and magic. The story begins with a young boy named Harry Potter who lives at number four Privit Drive, Surray, England. His journey begins after the death of his parents at the hands of the evil Lord Voldemort. Harry learns of his past and his future as a wizard from Hagrid, the keeper of keys and grounds at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He travels to Hogwarts where he learns spells and enchantments, makes new friends, finds enemies, and discovers fantastic secretes. J.K. Rowling weaves a web of impeccable storytelling with this critically acclaimed novel. In the tale of Harry Potter imagery, symbolism, and motif take central focus.
There are many different types of events that shape who we are as writers and how we view literacy. Reading and writing is viewed as a chore among a number of people because of bad experiences they had when they were first starting to read and write. In my experience reading and writing has always been something to rejoice, not renounce, and that is because I have had positive memories about them.
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.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was written by J. K. Rowling and is the seventh and final book in the Harry Potter series. The book is about a seventeen-year-old wizard, named Harry Potter, who has to travel all over England to find things that will help him defeat the evil wizard, Lord Voldomort. The main theme/moral of the entire series is good will always triumphs over evil. In every book, even when it looks like evil is going to win, good always triumphs in the end.