What the Harry Potter Symposium Taught Me

Let me tell you a sad story. Once upon a time, I was shadowing an 8th English class and we were all in a library. The librarian asked the students to raise their hands if they have read the Harry Potter books. About 3-5 out of twenty students raised their hands in each of the 4 classes I attended. That's like 20% people. After that experience, I decided that if I became a middle school teacher or even got to do British literature in High School, I would most definitely be bringing Harry Potter to the masses! So I was incredibly excited to go to the Harry Potter Pedagogy (or teaching) Symposium.

While none of the content related to The Count of Monte Cristo or my thesis whatsoever, two of the the three presented their comparison papers. Which is what I'm most nervous about in writing my paper-its comparison structure. It was helpful to see their successful structure. One person compared Remus Lupin's teaching style to Dorlores Umbridge's, while another compared the first day lesson plans of Lupin, Umbridge and Treawley. Both of them organized their presentation by focusing on each character at a time. I realized that for my paper, if I did that tactic, I could easily end up giving more importance to Edmond Dantes, who I have a lot more text on, and make the comparison unequal between him and the Queen of Hearts. So I am going to organize my paper based by the common and contrasting elements not the characters.  

To the Core

The Victorian Era and the 80's don't seem to have much in common...

Experiences, focus', and expectations for life and society may have changed, but what drives people to pick up a book seems to be timeless.  

Coming of age, feminism, breaking social norms, fantasy, unknown worlds full of new rules -- 

these are things that bridge the centennial gap between 

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Winter of Fire.

Though surfaces tell us that these books are different and independent; 

their core reveals the a single entity 

People will pick up these novels for what they are, but they will return to these novels for the journey. 

The journey of the characters, the emotions, the moral and their own growth. 

Teaser...

Sara Book 1:

“Why do they keep bothering me? I don’t bother them!”
Well, Sara, this is the way it works. In every moment, you have the option of looking at something that you want, or at the lack of it. When you’re looking at something you want—just by observing it, you begin to vibrate as it is. You become the same as it is, Sara. Do you understand?
“You mean that just by watching who is rotten, I’m rotten too?”
Well, not exactly, but you’re beginning to understand. Imagine a light board, about the size of your bed.
“A light board?”
Yes, Sara. A board with thousands of little lights, like little Christmas tree lights, protruding up from the board. A sea of lights. Thousands of them, and you’re one of these lights. When you give your attention to something, just by giving it your attention, your light on the board lights up, and, in that moment, every other light on the board—that is in vibrational harmony with your light—lights up, too. And those lights represent your world. Those are the people and experiences that you now have vibrational access to.
Think about it, Sara. Of all the people you know, who does your brother, Jason, tease and harass most?

Sara answered instantly. “Me, Solomon. He’s always bothering me!”
And of all the people you know who do you think is most bothered by Jason’s teasing? Who do you think their light board in vibrational harmony with these rascals, Sara?
Sara laughed, now beginning to understand. “It’s me, Solomon. I am most bothered. I keep lighting my light board by watching Jason and getting mad at him.”
So you see, Sara, as you see something you do not like, and you notice it and push against it and think about it—you light your light board, and then you get more of that. Often, you’re vibrating there even when Jason is nowhere around. You’re just remembering the last thing that happened when he was around. The nice thing about all of this, Sara, is this: You can always tell, by the way you’re feeling, what you’re achieving vibrational harmony with.
“What do you mean?”
Whenever you’re happy, whenever you’re feeling appreciation, whenever you’re noticing the positive aspects of someone or something, you’re vibrating in harmony with what you do want. But whenever you feel angry or fearful, whenever you feel guilty or disappointed, you’re—in that very moment—achieving harmony with what you don’t want.
...
Remember, Sara, if you let the conditions that surround you control the way you feel, you will always be trapped. But when you’re able to control the way you feel—because you control the thoughts you offer—then you’re truly liberated.

Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland:

"But I don't want to go among mad people," Alice remarked.
"Oh, you can't help that," said the Cat: "We're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad."
"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "otherwise you wouldn't have come here."
Alice didn't think that proved it at all: however she went on. "And how do you know that you're mad?"
"To begin with," said the Cat, "a dog's not mad. You grant that?"
"I suppose so," said Alice.
"Well, then," the Cat went on, "you see a dog growls when it's angry, and wags its tail when it's pleased. Now I growl when I'm pleased, and wag my tail when I'm angry. Therefore I'm mad."
"I call it purring, not growling," said Alice.
"Call it what you like," said the Cat.

Teaser:

When I was reading Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland, it reminded be somewhat of Sara. This sense of familiarity dawned on me when Alice was conversing with the Cheshire Cat. There is a kind of logic in what Cheshire Cat says, yet it is difficult pin-point just what he means. Solomon’s conversation with Sara seems at first rather unbelievable, yet there is a kind of logic we can perceive from his analogy. Both Cheshire Cat and Solomon offer an analogy that triggers our mind to make sense of something we normally consider irrational or strange.

Now, the question. Do you find any similarity in these two texts? What do you think?

I’m planning on circulating this through Kakao Talk (a texting application) and Facebook to my other friends.