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Archive for the ‘Harry Potter Games’ Category
Wouldn’t it be nice to study about your favorite book all college years? That could be quite ideal especially if you are a Harry Potter fanatic because the Columbia College is offering a Harry Potter course for incoming students. If you are going to enrol in that course, they will charge you 600 dollars per hour. The course aims to go through Rowling’s writings that will focus on “reading between the lines” and double meanings, intricate details that is all over Harry Potter books. Example of a question asked to students is Harry’s Muggle residency, Privet Drive. So they have to find out what is a privet and its significance.
With all of the controversy surrounding Harry Potter, including cries to ban the book from schools, the novels have done something that American parents and teachers, as a group, have failed to do. They have made our children read.
A recent study by Scholastic notes some intriguing statistics among the kids of Harry Potter’s world. Parents and kids both credit Potter with getting kids to read for fun; just over half of the kids surveyed said they neglected to do so before latching on to the series. Almost two thirds – 65% – have noted improvements at school since they started Rowling’s works.
More important than grades, however, is the entire shift in attitude towards reading. Previous surveys have found that children’s reading drops after the age of 8. The average Harry Potter reader, however, start the series at 9 and continue to read – and reread – the books as they get older.
Reread the books. This single statement spoke volumes to me. Most people I know read a book once and then never again. Most people, who will watch the same movie over and over, refuse to read a book they have already enjoyed because ‘they know how it ends’. They watch the same television shows with the same expected, overused endings. Yet we have kids now reading and rereading books. The idea boggles the mind.
Speaking of mindboggling, you do realize that most adults read less than five books after they graduate school, be it high school or college. Reading is apparently too difficult for most people. But Rowlings has lured her audience to read not one but six books, and eagerly anticipate the seventh. Not only that, but according to the aforementioned survey, half of Harry Potter readers will seek out a new series to devour. One in three – that is 33% – intend to reread the series. Oddly, only 27% intend to look for a new Rowlings book; perhaps the rest are afraid of being sucked into another ten year series.
You can put me down for all three sections, personally (no word was spoken on overlap, by the way). I will reread the entire series immediately before Book 7 comes out, trying to time it so that I receive my book ‘just in the nick of time’. That’s how I managed the last two books. I will continue to seek out new books and new series to read. And I will eagerly anticipate Rowlings next book – although I might wait until she concludes her next series before I start reading this time around.
[From our deconstruction of hundreds of Hollywood blockbusters and sitcoms (see below for the URL of our Home Page) and our isolation and identification of more than 188 stages of the Hero's Journey that you need to know about...]
The Hero’s Journey is the template upon which the vast majority of successful stories and Hollywood blockbusters are based upon. In fact, ALL of the Hollywood movies we have deconstructed are based on this template.
Understanding this template is a priority for story or screenwriters.
The Hero’s Journey:
a) Attempts to tap into unconscious expectations the audience has regarding what a story is and how it should be told.
b) Gives the writer more structural elements than simply three or four acts, plot points, mid point and so on.
c) Gives you a tangible process for building and releasing dissonance (establishing and achieving catharsis).
d) Gives you a universal structural template upon which you can superimpose your situational story.
and more…
Harry Potter and Star Wars
The Harry Potter and Star Wars stories are good examples of the applicability of the Hero’s Journey (Monomyth)
Both are orphans living with distant relatives (foster parents or aunts and uncles).
Both meet magical wizards as mentors (Hagrid or Ben Kenobi).
Both have unique skills (a great little pilot and a quidditch player)
The Hunger Games, a science fiction novel by bestselling author, Suzanne Collins, was published on September 14, 2008. It has already become the hot book for teens, having received great reviews and even better word of mouth buzz. Although categorized as “Young Adult”, The Hunger Games, due to its violence, may be too intense for preteens. However, teens of all ages, and adults are eating it up. The author has two more books planned to create a trilogy.
The Hunger Games takes place in a postapocalyptic Earth in the (hopefully) very distant future. The actual games are a combination of the reality show “Survivor” and the Coliseum of Ancient Rome. From the book jacket:
“In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. Each year, the districts are forced by the Capitol to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the Hunger Games, a brutal and terrifying fight to the death, televised for all of Panem to see.”
The heroine of the book is 16 year old Katniss Everdeen. She takes her sister’s place in the Hunger Games and then struggles with the fight to survive and life versus humanity and love.
The overwhelming sentiment by nearly all readers is that they can’t put the book down. It is fast paced and action packed. You can learn more about the Hunger Games at the Scholastic web site and on Amazon.
The objections raised by some fundamentalist Christians to the Harry Potter books continue to make the news.
The Christian attacks on the Potter series aren’t an attack on witchcraft and magic, so much as an attack on the imagination and freedom of expression – and by extension an attack on literature. The Harry Potter books aren’t ‘How To’ manuals on witchcraft, nor is the author, J.K. Rowling, advocating the practice of witchcraft.
The themes in the Harry Potter stories pit the good against the dark side. Magical themes happen to be an effective way to play out the drama in a manner that is engaging, especially for younger readers.
Professor Dumbledore, the Hogwarts headmaster, is clearly the personification of good and urges Harry to use the power of love when dealing with the dark side personified by Lord Voldemart. On one level the Potter books are morality tales that happen to take place in a make-believe world that is magical – but then a lot of literature contains magical themes, including books by famous Christian authors.
C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkein are examples of Christian authors who created magical worlds with plots that at root are moral and even Christian in philosophical intent. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by Lewis creates an intermediary zone between the real and imaginary worlds using a prop – the magical wardrobe. Enchantment and make-believe allow the ‘other world’ beyond the wardrobe to become a possibility. Similarly Tolkein in Lord of the Rings invokes the powers of wizardry and magic. But it is used as a device to enable characters and events that couldn’t feasibly exist in the ‘ordinary’ world. This doesn’t mean that either Tolkein or Lewis were promoting magic or attempting to ‘corrupt’ the minds of young readers.
The problem with the criticism coming from a section of the evangelical community is that their interpretation of the books is much too literal. They seem to think that young readers are incapable of divining meaning and truth beyond the trappings of the tale. They get hung up on the trappings themselves rather than probe the deeper meaning of the stories. When they do look a little deeper, they often misconstrue the author’s intent and try to spin the plot as evidence of literary evil doing. Fortunately, a few leading voices in the evangelical community have had the good sense to take a more objective view of the content, and have resisted the temptation to try and subvert a fictional fantasy in order to smoke out the devil.
In attempting to ban the Harry books or in other ways suppress them, the detractors ironically succeed in adding to their allure and power. When something is ‘forbidden’ it becomes a lot more tempting. When the D.H. Lawrence novel Lady Chatterley’s Lover was banned, it did more for the sale of the book than any promotional campaign could ever have done. The same went for Ulysses by the great Irish writer James Joyce.
Moreover when you consider the amount of material on magic and witchcraft that is freely available in book stores these days, on the internet, in magazines, via certain video games or just by word-of-mouth – it makes it almost absurd to try and suppress Harry Potter books.
If Harry Potter gets banned in the bailiwicks of the offended – what’s next on the list? Grimm’s Fairy Tales? Rupert the Bear? Teletubbies? We live in a society in which diversity of opinion is an integral part of our fundamental freedoms. People who for personal or religious reasons attempt to create a chill by pushing for a ban of material as innocuous as Harry Potter, cater to a mean spirited approach that diminishes us all. Objectors can refuse to buy the books or have them in their home, and that’s as far as it should reasonably go.
We are talking about tales for young readers after all – not Anton La Vey’s Satanic Bible.
The Boston Globe featured an article that talks about John Williams, composer extraordinaire. Harry Potter fans are well aware of this music genius because he composed the scores of Sorcerer’s Stone, Chamber of Secrets and Prisoner of Azkaban. Aside from performing some of his Potter scores in Boston just a week ago, the article also revealed that he currently working hard on several soundtracks for Half-Blood Prince. But it was revealed in November that Nicholas Hooper would be setting score on the sixth film, not Williams. The truth is he is credited for the Harry Potter theme in Half-Blood Prince but it was originally composed for Sorcerer’s Stone and used for every film after that.
My young son, Joseph, was born in September 2006. I was delighted to know he’d be joining our family, but we needed to have an emergency C-section. I had been pushing for two hours and he was starting to show signs of distress. He was born at 2:11 am, nice and pink with a “Harry Potter” scar on his forehead that went away after a few days. Unfortunately, what might have occurred during his birth was some neurological damage which left him with Sensory Integration Dysfunction.
I didn’t notice something was wrong until Joe was about eighteen months. He met all his physical milestones – in fact, he made them earlier than my first son. At eighteen months though, Joe wasn’t talking. He didn’t seem to know “Mommy” or “Daddy.” He threw toys for no reason, as if he needed to throw them. He also covered his ears with his hands often, which we didn’t understand. He hardly got sick or had ear infections. We knew he wasn’t autistic, but we also knew something wasn’t quite right. Our pediatrician recommended us to our Regional Center, in charge of Early Childhood Intervention. (Every state should have an Early Childhood Intervention Program.) Joseph was evaluated with severe cognitive and speech delays. He was twenty-months-old at the time of the evaluation, but presented with the cognitive skills of an eight-month-old. My husband and I were stunned. Joe began receiving child development, speech, and occupational therapies. At twenty-seven months, he began group therapy.
After six months, Joe had closed some rather daunting developmental gaps. A re-evaluation at twenty-nine months showed him at twenty-two months cognitively. Still, we had no idea what was the cause. Joe’s occupational therapist review had the clues we needed to determine what he had – Sensory Integration Dysfunction.
Known as SID or DSI, (so as not to confuse it with Sudden Infant Death Syndrome SIDS) Sensory Integration Dysfunction is where the brain perceives sensory input normally, but misinterprets the information. This misinterpretation leaves the child in a hypo or hyper-active state. Hypoactive is an under stimulation to sensory input and hyperactive is an over stimulation to sensory input. In Joe’s case, he’s more hypo than hyper-active.
There are multiple causes for DSI, and in fact, it often presents with autism, but it can also present by itself. In my son’s case, it was presenting with cognitive and speech delays.
Joe’s occupational therapist report documented several sensory seeking behaviors. (As opposed to sensory avoiding/hyper-active behaviors.) He loved to jump, spin, and swing over the norm that children with no sensory issues do. He had a high tolerance for pain and had a high activity level. Joe is also easily distracted by other things. I did a Google search on sensory seeking behaviors and it led me right to Sensory Integration Dysfunction.
To my surprise, I discovered there are seven senses – yes, seven! Hearing, sight, smell, taste, touch, we all know, but there is also the vestibular sense and proprioception sense. The vestibular sense refers to the sense of balance and gravity. Without that sense, we’d be clumsy or awkward in our movements. Proprioception refers to the impacting/compacting of joints. Signs that your child might be sensory seeking in these areas are running, jumping, spinning more than normal (vestibular) and throwing toys just for the sensation of the impacting/compacting of the joints. (proprioception) This was Joe to a “tee.”
Other signs of DSI include covering one’s hands over their ears, (something Joe used to do a lot, but now rarely does. It was his one sign of sensory avoiding, hyper-active behavior) unusually high or low activity, and very picky eating. (In Joe’s case, he needs crunchy, chewy foods to help provide the stimulation he needs to get the proprioception sensation of the jaw’s joints impacting and compacting.) More signs involve tip-toe walking (because their feet are highly sensitive to touch), hand flapping (for the proprioception effect) speech delays, cognitive delays, poor balance, unusually high or low tolerance for pain, acting impulsively, and an unusually high or low activity level. There are many other symptoms which you can research online. There’s also a wealth of information on the Internet regarding DSI and there are several well written books on the subject alone.
An occupational therapist is essential in helping the family with a DSI child. They can help identify DSI behaviors and establish a “sensory diet” for a family to use when their child shows signs of sensory seeking or avoiding behaviors. In fact, A. Jean Ayers, an occupational therapist, was the one to identify the dysfunction.
DSI is a dysfunction, not a disease. It can’t be cured, but managed. Though early childhood services, my son is thriving and we’re managing his DSI now. It’s still an adventure for us, but recognizing DSI symptoms early will help your child get the services he or she needs.
Hogwarts castle is said to be the wondrous and magnificent fictional building that is highly elaborated in most ground- breaking novels of Harry porter by J.K. Rowling. It is built of many towers and turrets which is a home to Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry. This gigantic construction is a fabrication of the author who perceived it as huge, rambling and scary built on magic.
Structural feature
The main entrance door of the Hogwarts castle consists of enormous oak doors facing more or less to the west. Sprung up to seven stories, the massive building of the castle is awed by many students (non- muggles) who enters for the first time. It is said to be unapproachable to the muggles who cannot see it but only get threatened. The lake is located at the south. The stone of this virtual Hogwarts is believed to have not been invented till 900s. The castle comprises the vast ground with sloping lawns, small flower beds, a loch known as black lake, a huge dense forest and number of green houses. With a great exception, there is also an owlery which is home of owls belonging to the schools and some to the students as well.
Ground floor
Entrance hall- The Hogwarts entrance hall is situated at the ground floor. Double doors to the right lead straight to the great hall. From the entrance hall, passage to kitchens, the dungeons and grand stair case can be accessed.
Great hall- It is the main gathering area in the school. Students here eats their meals, shares light moments, receives the owl post and have induction events too. The long huge walls approaching to the ceiling give splendid look to this ancient grand hall.
First floor
Girl’s lavatory- Girls lavatory which is also known as moaning Myrtle’s Bathroom is located at first floor. The lavatory is prohibited for the usage since a girl named Myrtle was been murdered. This place also leads to the chamber of secrets.
Second floor
Headmaster’s office- Hogwarts castle holds its most reputable office of headmaster on second floor. The doorway of the entrance staircase is under the guard of gargoyle. This gargoyle rises up with the utterance of a password and the spiral stair case is then appears. These staircase leads to the office of the headmaster.
Third floor
Hospital wing- Students who suffer mishap or generally fall ill due to the wrong application of magic are admitted to the hospital of the Hogwarts castle on third floor.
Fourth floor
Library-The Hogwarts library is located at the fourth floor containing tons of thousands of books on the countless shelves.
Fifth floor
Muggles studies classroom- This room is meant for the study of muggles.
Sixth floor
Boy’s lavatory- The boy’s lavatory also lead passage to the seventh floor.
Seventh floor
Room of requirement- This is a secret room that only appears when a person is in great need. It can be transformed into whatever a wizard or witch want it to be. It is unplottable which cannot be located on the Marauder’s map with its occupants.
The splendour of the castle can only be plotted in imagery. The unfathomable existence of the castle is breath-taking with its amazing features.
It seemed like such an easy thing at first. I merely wanted to buy my son some kid’s pajamas depicting his favorite characters and images from the Harry Potter series. I thought I’d just pick some up at my local discount super center the next time I bought groceries. I had no idea how wrong this would turn out to be.
The problem was my son decided that he loved Harry and his friends after he read The Chamber Of Secrets over a summer when no Harry Potter film or book releases were on the horizon. The truth is, while it’s possible to get your hands on Harry Potter kid’s pajamas when a book or movie is being promoted, it’s potentially difficult even then. And if you’re looking for Potter pajamas for an adult or teen, it’s even more difficult.
I soon found, after several special trips to and pleas with managers of discount stores, malls and specialty shops, that merchants do not regularly carry Potter items or pajamas until a new movie comes out and even then it’s hard to swoop them up before the other desperate parents find out.
This creates a bit of desperation for parents of children who are wild about the wizards. I have even seen forums where parents desperate for Hogwarts or Hermione sleepwear were willing to buy the fabric and attempt to make them themselves. I am no where near this crafty.
What I’ve learned is that you really have two options. You can (and should) stock up on these pajamas when the books and movies come out. You should also make friends with the search options on your computer, because you’ll need to pounce as soon as a rare pair of simple wizard pajamas becomes available on your screen.