The Three Final ‘Deathly Hallows’ Chapters Begin With Harry Potter “Lying Face Down.” So What?

April 17, 2010 by 5 Comments

I am just back from a wonderful speaking tour during which I gave talks at a C. S. Lewis Conference in Oklahoma City, an Anglican church outside St. Louis, a Community Center in Sikeston, Missouri, and at Augustana College. The topics ranged from Lewis’ Space Trilogy and its alchemical relevance in understanding Michael Ward’s astrological Planet Narnia thesis to ‘Why We Love or Despise Stephenie Meyers’ Twilight Books’ with a few stops to unlock Harry Potter and unpack his Christian content. I had a lot of fun, sold a few books, and made a bunch of friends and reconnected with others. Many, many thanks to Messrs Aaron and Steven Taylor in Oklahoma City, Eighth Day Books’ Joshua, Fr. Matthew Mayes and Dr. and Mrs. David Stroud in Missouri (and Sara!), and Pastor Richard Priggie, English Education Elly, and Dental  Stephanie at Augustana for making the trip as enjoyable and edifying as it was for me.

I spoke with Pastor Priggie’s ‘Postmodernism and Harry Potter’ class on Wednesday and then again that night over pizza about the last chapters and epilogue of Deathly Hallows. The class I spoke with last year showed up for the evening discussion (or was it the pizza?) and the discussion largely turned on an observation by Amanda Rodriguez of a story point that had escaped me entirely. She noted that the last three chapters of Deathly Hallows begin with Harry lying face down.

Perhaps you noticed that and have discussed it at length at other Potter fan sites. Forgive me if you caught that as Amanda did and if you think its meaning is straight forward or has been beaten to death. I certainly didn’t make this catch until Miss Rodriguez brought it to my attention and am unaware of discussion of the point because I don’t surf even the better Potter sites (Hog’s Head excepted, of course). And, as comprehensive as The Deathly Hallows Lectures is, this isn’t mentioned in that valuable resource. I think it is worth discussing what this face-first posture means in itself, in relation to the last three chapters, and how they work together. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Deathly Hallows Lectures

‘Alchemists Everywhere,’ Part 2, a Pubcast Discussion with Travis Prinzi at The Hog’s Head

April 16, 2010 by 5 Comments

Thank you, Elizabeth, for keeping things jumping here at HogwartsProfessor in my absence! I enjoyed reading your posts in Oklahoma City, in Sikeston, Missouri, and in Moline/Rock Island, Illinois, this past week. I worry that you’ve raised the bar here significantly both in terms of frequency in posting and the quality of the pieces put up; the Substitute Teacher is always much better than the bumbling absentee (ask Hagrid!). I’ll do my best to raise my game this week lest the All-Pros summon Dolores Umbridge for a review…

Tomorrow I’ll share some thoughts from my trip and about an observation made by an Augustana College co-ed about the last three chapters of Deathly Hallows that left me slapping my forehead. Tonight, though, I just want to say “Hi!” and “Thank you, Elizabeth!” and “What do you think of the explanation I give to the question of why alchemy is so pervasive in contemporary best selling fiction?” You can hear that explanation — that we are materialists with spiritual longing — in the second part of my discussion with Travis Prinzi about literary alchemy at the Hog’s Head, PubCast #79. I spoke on this subject at the C. S. Lewis Conference in Oklahoma City and at Augustana College while opening up Lewis’ Space Trilogy and Meyers’ Twilight books.

I want to believe this answer touches on the heart of why we read, that is, ‘what we get out of reading’ and why books do what they do for us, in a profound way and I look forward to your comments and correction about this alchemical thesis.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

EBH: Don’t go down in the Hole – Coal Mining Life in District 12 and in Present-Day Appalachia

April 14, 2010 by 30 Comments

As you may have noticed from my previous Hunger Games guest post, I am deeply interested in the connections between Suzanne Collins’s fiction and the very real history and culture of Appalachia, where I live, work, and teach Appalachian culture. My husband’s mother was born in a coal mining town, and her mother has graced us with wonderful oral history material regarding life in the coal towns.

“There’s a hole in this mountain, it’s dark and it’s deep,/And God only knows all the secrets it keeps./There’s a chill in the air only miners can feel/And there’s ghosts in the tunnels that the company sealed.”  The Mountain—Steve Earle

As the families of 29 Montcoal, WV, families mourn their loved ones lost in the mine explosion last Monday (the remaining four miners’ bodies were found over the weekend), Hunger Games readers might be thinking of Katniss Everdeen, whose father, along with her friend Gale’s father, was killed in an coal mining accident when Katniss was 11. In honor of those very real individuals and their families, it might be appropriate to look at a few of the ways in which Suzanne Collins’ fictional District 12 and its coal mining culture mirror the actual history and culture in the coal-mining regions of Appalachia.  Although this is a rather lengthy post, be assured that, pardon the pun, it only scratches the surface. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Hunger Games

EBH: Philly-area Potter Fans Needed for Research

April 13, 2010 by 4 Comments

A student at Temple University is working on a Youth Cultures paper, and would like to interview Potter readers, but is unable to attend the next  Potterdelphians meetup; therefore,  she asked that people interested in being  interviewed email her directly. If you would like to contact her, please email Andrea,  Potterdelphia Ravenclaw Prefect,  who will pass along her contact information.
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Filed Under: Uncategorized

EBH: An Update about my Correspondence with Focus on the Family concerning ‘Twilight’s Merits

April 12, 2010 by 8 Comments

As you may recall, a few weeks ago, John posted my concerned letter to Focus on the Family after their two-part program that essentially threw up caution tape around the Twilight Saga. After a week or so, I received a response. Below please find the letter Focus wrote to me, my reply, and the most recent response from Focus to my second letter. I’m not planning to reply further, as they clearly are getting more mail on the subject, and I feel a little sorry for Michael Krider, as he may just be the poor guy who drew the short straw and was assigned to respond to the Twilight backlash. I am intrigued by the line in the last letter that indicates  Focus is, as John supposed, taking heat for not being anti-Twilight enough for some folks. There are also, it seems, plenty of others who, like myself, feel that High School Musical is far more “dangerous” than Twilight. Maybe I’m just over-sensitive, but it seems that the FOF folks are more afraid of the crowd that wants them to start burning any book with fictional elements than they are of me. Oh well, now back to our regularly scheduled thoughtful discussion; for me, that means back to the Hunger Games post I’m working up for later this week and some more thoughts on reading , writing, and thinking.

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Filed Under: Elizabeth Baird Hardy