Elizabeth Baird Hardy Archives – Page 33 of 44

First Look at the Hunger Games Film
ByElizabeth August 29, 2011August 29, 2011
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At last night’s video music awards, Jennifer Lawrence (via video, as she’s still here in NC filming), introduced the first teaser trailer for the new Hunger Games film due out in March. The clip is the very epitome of brief, just a few shots of Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss walking through the woods, some footage which is obviously the fire scene from chapter 13, spliced in with a neat shot of Lawrence shooting the silver bow (taken from later in the film, as she does not acquire the bow until chapter 14 (the center chapter in the novel, incidentally) and the arrow landing in the mockingjay symbol, which then catches on fire. There is a little bit of voice over from Liam Hemsworth as Gale with some of the post-Reaping pep talk, and the music is the same as that used by Scholastic in their book trailers.

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Publishing Gamemakers Desperate to Conjure up Another Rowling
ByElizabeth August 26, 2011
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A recent Wall Street Journal article profiles newcomer author Erin Morgenstern, whose debut novel The Night Circus is due out next month. The article posits the question of how far publishers are willing to go to find something to replace the Harry Potter cash train they have been riding . Yet, in profiling Morgenstern, the WSJ (inadvertently, perhaps) reveals much about the way the machinery of the publishing industry resembles the Gamemakers of The Hunger Games, but without ever really noticing that the most popular books, like Hunger Games and Twilight are those which are not so much Harry copy-cats as those which draw on the “bag of tricks” used so adroitly by Rowling. Follow me after the jump for more observations on these paradoxes and more.
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What do they teach them in these schools? College courses in Harry Potter and Reading Selections we Actually Enjoy
ByElizabeth August 19, 2011
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Last week, I worked late registration at my college, helping students as they tried to get everything sorted out for their semester. Although I think our classes are plenty fun, some of the larger institutions obviously are way ahead of the game with classes that, at least in title, connect to Harry Potter. Even in non-Harry-themed courses in colleges, universities, high schools, junior high, and elementary schools across the country, students this fall will be reading some of the books we discuss here. In my own Expository Writing classes, my students will be reading The Hunger Games, which I began implementing a year ago. Join me after the jump to see a list of Fifteen Fascinating College Course for the Ultimate Potter Scholar (as posted on the Best Colleges Online website) and for some conversation about the books teachers are assigning this fall. Read More “What do they teach them in these schools? College courses in Harry Potter and Reading Selections we Actually Enjoy”
Hunger Games Movie Updates: A Flaming Poster, Study Guides from Scholastic, and an “On The Ground” Report from an Extra
ByElizabeth August 2, 2011
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We’ve had several great pieces of Hunger Games movie news lately, so here’s a full post with a little something for everyone who is intrigued about the filming of Suzanne Collins’s remarkable story. Join me after the jump for thoughts on the fabulously fiery poster, the study guide from Scholastic, and a very detailed report from Jay, friend of this blog, and recent survivor of the District 12 Reaping (Way to go, Jay! Just one more year, and you’re home free, since I don’t think your mom let you take out tesserae). He tells us all about how being an extra for the film was a whole lot like actually being a Tribute. Read More “Hunger Games Movie Updates: A Flaming Poster, Study Guides from Scholastic, and an “On The Ground” Report from an Extra”
Ditch Professor Binns’s Class and Have a Blast from the Past with Harry Potter and History
ByElizabeth July 31, 2011
2 Comments

In its latest installment in the History and Pop Culture Series, Wiley Publishing has just released Harry Potter and History, edited by Pace University Professor (and friend of this blog) Dr. Nancy Reagin, who also edited Twilight and History. It’s a wonderful collection written by historians from a diverse array of backgrounds covering topics from the real life Nicolas Flamel to the parallels between events in real human history and the history created by J.K. Rowling for her wizarding world. Read More “Ditch Professor Binns’s Class and Have a Blast from the Past with Harry Potter and History”