[journal entry] on Gorgias’ “Encomium of Helen”

In the “Encomium of Helen” (c. 414 BCE), Gorgias wants to show-off the power of language, of logos. “Speech [logos] is a powerful lord,” he announces (45). In order to prove that point, he argues, against all literary and cultural tradition, that Helen was innocent of any complicity in the Trojan War. Whether she [...]

Deathly Hallows, All Hallow’s Eve, and The Forest Again

Tonight is one of my favorite nights. But this will be the first Halloween in many years that Deb and I don’t celebrate with pumpkin lights, cider or wine in skeleton glasses, Nestle Crunch bars, brie cheese, our friends, and our friends’ kids in costumes. I’m 230 miles south of home, smack dab [...]

Harry Potter and death in western literature

I just came across this article, published before the release of Deathly Hallows, the final Harry Potter book. I wanted to quote a some of it because I want to begin to think about the whole question of how death is handled in western lit. It does strike me, as is noted in [...]

Teaching Harry Potter and fantasy literature

Three articles I got from the recent NCTE newsletter:
Cruz, Maria Colleen, and Kate B. Pollock. “Stepping into the Wardrobe: A Fantasy Genre Study.” Language Arts 81.3 (January 2004): 184–195. [downloaded a copy]
Wallace, David L., and Tison Pugh. “Teaching English in the World: Playing with Critical Theory in J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter Series.” English Journal [...]

first reactions to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Okay, I probably should be doing other things, but here are a couple of initial reactions to Deathly Hallows. I finished the book last night just after midnight. Three days “buried” in a book that has so much to do with death and resurrection (the figurative pointing to the literal)… Appropriate!
I read a couple of [...]

tonight! tonight! I’ll have the book tonight!

I probably feel as excited about reading the final Harry Potter book as I’ve ever felt before for anything else. It’s a lot like the feeling I used to get when I was nine or ten, while I laid awake in the dark on Christmas eve. The books are that good. We — Harry Potter [...]

Director, Hogwarts Writing Center

I got to do some fun stuff in my six-plus years in the YVCC Writing Center. I came up with this letter from Minerva McGonagall to our director, Dodie Forrest, back in November 2005. A group of us from the center were planning on seeing Goblet of Fire the day it came out and we [...]

Harry Potter editor: “I’m just a stand-in for the reader”

I just noticed on Mugglenet a link to an interview with J.K. Rowling’s U.S. editor, Arthur Levine, published in the Washington Post on Wednesday. (The Wizardly Editor Who Caught the Golden Snitch by Bob Thompson) It’s a great example to students of how even the best and most famous writers need an experienced and [...]

Hermione Granger’s writing wisdom

Via John Granger’s HogwartsProfessor.com, this is one of four playful endings to the Harry Potter saga written by professional writers for the NY Times. The whole thing’s funny, but I especially love the part about word order.

July 8, 2007
Op-Ed Contributor
Hermione Tells All
By POLLY HORVATH
YOU’VE been coming in a lot lately, you and that little tyke, [...]

defense against the dark arts with a benedictine medal

This morning, Deb gave me a St. Benedict medal for Valentine’s Day. She likes that her Protestant partner wants a Benedictine medal, so I think she enjoyed giving it to me as much as I enjoyed receiving it. I told her, “But Benny is quite ecumenical” which she already knew, of course. Anyway, I love [...]