Harry Potter =)

In class today, my small group and I were discussing a few things that I felt were note-worthy. The first is the importance of animals and creatures in the three novels that we are reading for the high fantasy section of this class. In Wizards of Earthsea, the only living thing that Ged ever showed much emotion to was to his otak. This otak even pulled Ged back to life after he was chasing the soul of the little boy. In Harry Potter, he has Hedwig. Hedwig is the only tie he has to Hogwarts during the summer break. She not only is necessary for him to mail to and from for his friends but becomes a companion to him through out his growth at Hogwarts. Lyra has Pan, her daemon in the Golden Compass. Pan experiences everything as Lyra does and is not only her protector but he dearest friend. I just thought it was interesting to note that even in all of the differences in the three novels, animals and their relationships with the main characters or the heroes in the novels are animals.

Our second discussion was about the different styles in which LeGuin and Rowling write. We talked about how even though both authors focused on the main tropes for high fantasy, each one has a completely different idea of what a hero is. Ged was primarily alone to fight his own demons while Harry had a constant support system that was always there for him to fight off whatever may come.

Introduction 1/12

My name is Callie Mason. I am a senior broadcast journalism major. I graduate in May and I wanted to take this class because I love fiction literature. Children's literature is very interesting to me because I was always fascinated by children's stories and the way that children absorb the information and characters of these stories. My favorite book as a child was Where the Red Fern Grows and the Shiloh stories. Did I mention that I loved dogs as well?