J.K. Rowling - Articles - Zimbio

Interesting Ideas for Harry Potter Essays

Thu, 25 Jul 2008 08:32:49 GMT

posted by lennypraidz

What do you know about the world of magic? We believe in magic when we are children, but with time all our beliefs and dreams disappear in the world of reality.

It is quite possible to return such fantasy by means of writing. For example, writing a literary essay… You should read a fantasy book and write about your impressions.

How about Harry Potter? Why not to write an essay about Harry Potter, his friends and their adventures, plunging into the worlds of magic, mystery and danger? Do you like this idea? Then, let us talk about writing papers on Harry Potter!
Harry Potter essays should reproduce not only your personal attitude to this fantasy novel, but also introduce information about its writer and plot.

It will not be very difficult to create an essay on Harry Potter if you have read this novel (at least, if you have watched one of the movies). If you are one of those who do not enjoy reading, then pay attention to the information presented below:

Point out in your essay on Harry Potter that this novel is written by J.K. Rowling. It is about little wizards, Harry Potter and his friends Ron and Hermione, who study in a magic school Hogwarts. Most probably, this info is not new for you. So, try to find some interesting facts from the biography of J.K. Rowling and present them in your essay on Harry Potter (as an introduction). Describe the main plot of the novel and its main characters.
Your essay on Harry Potter can also introduce your viewpoint on what effect the screening had on children of approximately 12-15 years old? Was it good or bad? Speculate about this issue in your Harry Potter essay.
You may also underline in your essays on Harry Potter the values of friendship and trust.

(more…)

Stephanie Meyer: The Next J. K. Rowling?

Thu, 25 Jul 2008 04:01:00 GMT

posted by paulc

"Bella has to choose humanity or immortality, Edward must decide between love and yielding to his deepest urges. Three volumes later, the big issues remain unresolved. With the end nowhere in sight, and her beguiling combination of adventure, comedy and the highest of high romance as potent as ever, the reach of Stephenie Meyer's world may yet rival J.K. Rowling's." ~ Brian Bethune

Excitement is building for the release of Stephanie Meyer's fourth book Breaking Dawn at midnight on August 2. This is the fourth in a series for the 34 year old mother of three boys from Phoenix. The first three books, Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse, have sold 5.5 million copies and depict a young star- crossed couple who struggle with their love. The problem is Bella Swan is an average girl and Edward Cullen is a vampire, a creature of unearthly beauty. He loves her so much that he struggles with the desire of piercing her flesh and draining her life away. According to one review in Macleans there is a passionate Bronte-esque element of romance, with a hint of a love triangle with Jacob Black, a native American who is also a werewolf.

In the local paper today two teen girls have won a round trip to New York City on August 1 to attend the first stop of Meyer's Breaking Dawn Concert Series, a four city tour featuring questions and answers with the author as well as the music that inspired her writing. Also they will receive an autographed copy of Breaking Dawn, a day before it is released to the general public. 3.4 million books have been printed. One of the fourteen- year- old girls said that she could read one of Meyer's entire 600 page books in a day. She "freaked out" when she found out that she won.

It seems enthusiasm for Meyer's work is building. A movie of the first book Twilight is scheduled for release in the fall, and many bookstores will stay open at midnight on August 2.

At a time when independent reading may be on a general decline among adolescents, it is good to see a skilled writer bringing them back for a spellbinding summer read. See Stephanie Meyer's website for more information.

J K Rowling: Reaches top of rich list

Wed, 24 Jul 2008 14:17:28 GMT

posted by mathewspaul45
According to the Forbes' lists the famous author J K Rowling of Harry Potter is the highest earner with a total of $300m.
http://www.netglimse.com/news/1561

Rare JK Rowling book goes on display in Tokyo - AFP

Thu, 4 Jul 2008 03:00:08 GMT

posted by wizi

Rare JK Rowling book goes on display in Tokyo - AFP

E! Online

Rare JK Rowling book goes on display in Tokyo
AFP - 14 hours ago
TOKYO (AFP) — Online bookseller Amazon on Thursday gave Japanese fans a glimpse of JK Rowling's first book since the phenomenally successful Harry Potter …
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Source: news.google.com

USA TODAY BEST-SELLERS - The Associated Press

USA TODAY BEST-SELLERS
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Source: news.google.com

New phones books in the mail - Examiner.com

New phones books in the mail
Examiner.com - 5 hours ago
Jul 3, 2008 2:40 PM (8 mins ago) AP HAGERSTOWN, Md. (Map, News) - Verizon says new Washington County phone books, without thousands of previously published …

Source: news.google.com

‘Harry Potter’ Author J.K. Rowling Opens Up About Books’ Christian Imagery

Thu, 20 Jun 2008 06:30:32 GMT

posted by nirajperipleko

‘They almost epitomize the whole series,’ she says of the scripture Harry reads in Godric’s Hollow.

By Shawn Adler

HOLLYWOOD — It deals extensively with souls — about keeping them whole and the evil required to split them in two. After one hero falls beyond the veil of life, his whispers are still heard. It starts with the premise that love can save you from death and ends with a proclamation that a sacrifice in the name of love can bring you back from it.

Harry Potter is followed by house-elves and goblins — not disciples — but for the sharp-eyed reader, the biblical parallels are striking. Author J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” books have always, in fact, dealt explicitly with religious themes and questions, but until “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” they had never quoted any specific religion.

(SPOILER ALERT! The rest of this story discusses the conclusion of “Deathly Hallows.”)

That was the plan from the start, Rowling told reporters during a press conference at the beginning of her Open Book Tour on Monday. It wasn’t because she was afraid of inserting religion into a children’s story. Rather, she was afraid that introducing religion (specifically Christianity) would give too much away to fans who might then see the parallels.

“To me [the religious parallels have] always been obvious,” she said. “But I never wanted to talk too openly about it because I thought it might show people who just wanted the story where we were going.”

Indeed, at its most simplistic, Harry’s final tale can in some respects be boiled down to a resurrection story, with Harry venturing to a heavenly way station of sorts after getting hit with a killing curse in Chapter 35, only to shortly return. (Read how Rowling revealed the characters’ fates to the “Harry Potter” movies’ stars here.)

But if she was worried about tipping her hand narratively in the earlier books, she clearly wasn’t by the time Harry visits his parents’ graves in Chapter 16 of “Deathly Hallows,” titled “Godric’s Hollow.” On his parents’ tombstone he reads the quote “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death,” while on another tombstone (that of Dumbledore’s mother and sister) he reads, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

While Rowling said that “Hogwarts is a multifaith school,” these quotes, of course, are distinctly Christian. The second is a direct quote of Jesus from Matthew 6:19, the first from 1 Corinthians 15:26. As Hermione tells Harry shortly after he sees the graves, his parents’ message means “living beyond death. Living after death.” It is one of the central foundations of resurrection theology.

Which makes it a perfect fit for Harry, said Rowling, who was talking about those quotes for the very first time.

“They’re very British books, so on a very practical note Harry was going to find biblical quotations on tombstones,” Rowling explained. “[But] I think those two particular quotations he finds on the tombstones at Godric’s Hollow, they sum up — they almost epitomize the whole series.”

As the one to bring together all three magical Deathly Hallows, Harry, in fact, becomes the “Master of Death” by novel’s end, able to bring back the spirits of his parents, his godfather, Sirius Black and his old teacher Remus Lupin. It’s a conclusion that ends Harry’s three-book-long struggle over questions about the afterlife, which begins when Sirius falls through a veil connecting this world and the next at the end of “Order of the Phoenix.”

“Deathly Hallows” itself begins with two religiously themed epigraphs, one from “The Libation Bearers” by Aeschylus, which calls on the gods to “bless the children”; and one from William Penn’s “More Fruits of Solitude,” which speaks of death as but “crossing the world, as friends do the seas.” No other book in the series begins with epigraphs — a curious fact, perhaps, but one that Rowling insists served as a guiding light.

“I really enjoyed choosing those two quotations because one is pagan, of course, and one is from a Christian tradition,” Rowling said of their inclusion. “I’d known it was going to be those two passages since ‘Chamber’ was published. I always knew [that] if I could use them at the beginning of book seven then I’d cued up the ending perfectly. If they were relevant, then I went where I needed to go.

“They just say it all to me, they really do,” she added.

But while the book begins with a quote on the immortal soul — and though Harry finds peace with his own death at the end of his journey — it is the struggle itself which mirrors Rowling’s own, the author said.

“The truth is that, like Graham Greene, my faith is sometimes that my faith will return. It’s something I struggle with a lot,” she revealed. “On any given moment if you asked me [if] I believe in life after death, I think if you polled me regularly through the week, I think I would come down on the side of yes — that I do believe in life after death. [But] it’s something that I wrestle with a lot. It preoccupies me a lot, and I think that’s very obvious within the books.”

That, by the author’s own acknowledgement, “Harry Potter” deals extensively with Christian themes may be somewhat ironic, considering that many Christian leaders have denounced the series for glamorizing witchcraft. When he was known simply as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the Pope himself condemned the books, writing that their “subtle seductions, which act unnoticed … deeply distort Christianity in the soul before it can grow properly.”

For her part, Rowling said she’s proud to be on numerous banned-book lists. As for the protests of some believers? Well, she doesn’t take them as gospel.

“I go to church myself,” she declared. “I don’t take any responsibility for the lunatic fringes of my own religion.”

‘Harry Potter’ Actor Robert Knox Killed In London Knife Fight

Actor was reportedly trying to protect his 17-year-old brother.

Robert Knox, 18, who portrays Ravenclaw student Marcus Belby in the upcoming movie “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” was stabbed to death during a brawl outside a London bar on Saturday. According to The Associated Press, Knox was one of five young men taken to area hospitals after the brawl. Karl Bishop, 21, was later arrested on suspicion of murder. British officials do not believe the fight was gang related. Knox, who was to make his debut in the sixth installment of the Harry Potter screen franchise, had previously appeared in the 2004 movie “King Arthur,” and had signed on to reprise the role of Belby in the final installment of the movie series, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.”

“Rob was kind and thoughtful and would always help out others — he would always spend his last penny on other people instead of himself,” parents Sally and Colin Knox said in a statement released on Sunday. “The life and soul of the party, he was very outgoing, loved sports and would always strike up a conversation with people. He was respectful to others and adored by all his family and friends. He was [an] asset to the family.”

The Telegraph newspaper reported that Knox was killed when he tried to protect his younger brother, Jamie Knox, 17, after two men, including one who was said to be armed with a knife, came into the Metro Bar in southeast London. According to The Independent, Knox’s family made a plea for tougher sentencing on knife crimes on Monday. Knox’s death was the 28th murder of a teenager in England this year and the 14th in London alone.