ELLEN
BERG
Diary #12
Long
Live Harry Potter!
"What has made Harry Potter so popular is the very ease with which his story is consumed. Rowling employs no difficult vocabulary, no complicating or ambiguous undercurrents of plot, no ambivalence in any of the characters' motivations or actions, nor any allusive language . . . Rowling's books are simple. She tells her readers exactly what to see in their imaginations."
-- Inda SchaenenCommentary, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Sunday, November 11, 2001 -- "Codswallop."
Harry Potter and friends
In anticipation of the long-awaited Harry Potter movie opening up this coming Friday, our local paper has been publishing numerous articles previewing, lauding, and bashing the movie and books. One particular article really struck my nerves.
Essentially, the author labeled Rowling's writing as second-rate and unchallenging for children. She did concede that Rowling was an excellent storyteller, but essentially said her books were a watered-down version of books like Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and C. S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia.
Oh, I see. She only endorses (say this with me in a hoity-toity voice) literature. The canon. The problem with the canon, many times, is that these books were either not written for young adults, or they were written so long ago that our children lack the historical background to place the story in context. Pair the inaccessibility of content with my kids' poor reading skills, and they will be turned off before they reach the end of the first paragraph.Now, before someone gets on their soapbox to scold me for attacking their beloved canon, let me say that I dearly love many of the books that are listed as great literature. Many of these books have timeless themes and lessons paired with great writing, and they have rightfully endured (though I cannot understand how Moby Dick survived). I am, however, saying that books like those in the Harry Potter series have a place and value in our classrooms.
A latecomer to Harry Potter
I confess I had not picked up a Harry Potter book until just about a month ago. I am not a great fan of fantasy or mystery books, so I had little interest in reading them. It was not until the social studies and science teachers on my team gaped in horror when they found out I had never read the books and berated me for neglecting my duty to preview good adolescent fiction that I grudgingly began to read the book. I am glad I did. The stories suck you in immediately, wrapping you in mystery and provoking a myriad of questions in your mind. I loved the first book so much that I purchased and devoured the second and third books on my trip to Washington, DC. The fourth book sits by my bed, waiting to be finished as well. I remember being a middle school reader. I loved to read, but I initially gravitated towards formula books that dealt with love and boyfriends. After some time, I realized there was a formula to the books, and I tired of reading them. It was then that I pulled Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen off my shelf where it had sat since my eleventh birthday. My aunt had given it to me, telling me it was her favorite book. After reading the first page, I put it on my shelf, scratching my head as to why anyone would like such a stuffy, complicated book. When I picked the book up two years later, I was ready. It was difficult, but I recognized the familiar structure of a romance, and that helped guide me through the book. Since then I have read the book another dozen times at least, and each time I gather something new from the story. However, I still love Mr. Darcy as much today as I did at thirteen.I am reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone aloud to my homeroom every day. My students eagerly await the time each day when I tell them to clean up and get ready for the read-aloud. They are bringing in their own copies of the book, talking with their peers in the hallways, asking questions and making predictions, all without my prompting.
A testament
I have one young man who just received a failing grade in every one of his classes and has horrible behavior, yet every day he brings his book and reads along quietly. He seeks me out to talk about the book. He is not a good reader and stated on his reading survey that he hates to read, but he has picked up this book and found some value in it. The final testament to this book from my class is that when I was in Washington, DC at NMSA, they talked the sub into reading the book to them. They made me reread the parts he had read, however, because, "He didn't put any emotion into it like you do." Why not value Harry Potter? All kids, good readers and poor readers, will gravitate to the formula books. My kids read R. L. Stine books over and over, begging me for more. However, I know that by the end of the semester, some of them will see the formula and crave something deeper in the same genre. It always happens. It is at that point that I can begin to introduce more challenging, better written fiction to them. They will at last be open to the challenge. Harry Potter is not formula‹it does have enough twists and turns to keep you guessing about the outcome‹but it is not as challenging as some other books. It is, however, engaging and magical, and will prepare them for more complicated books down the road. For kids who do not see the pictures in their minds as they read, Rowling's descriptions are a godsend. (I am wondering what Ms. Schaenen thinks about Steinbeck's first couple of pages in The Grapes of Wrath where he endlessly describes the turtle crossing the roadŠ) Long live Harry Potter. He has given my students the desire to read.
