The Daily Mail is reporting tonight that Harry Potter is now required reading for A-level students in the UK. The paper says that Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s (Sorcerer’s) Stone is one of the books students will be tested on in exams given by the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA), the largest exam board in the UK.
According to the paper, students “taking the English language and literature A-level next year will study Rowling’s first Potter volume – the 12th best-selling book of all time and the basis for a Hollywood film – along with one other book for the module Themes in Language and Literature. They will have to write a 1,200 to 1,500-word piece of coursework comparing the “approaches” of J.K. Rowling and the other writer.Examiners will mark students on how they relate story lines and the activities of Harry Potter and his friends to the context of the times. And students will have to show an understanding of J.K. Rowling’s use of language, described recently as gibberish by a High Court judge. They will also have to write their own 500 to 800-word story inspired by the book.”
While many here may view this favorably, apparently some in the English government are not as excited about the inclusion of the Harry Potter series along side other classic works such Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre.
Professor Alan Smithers, a special adviser to the House of Commons Education and Skills Committee, said: “The point of English literature is to provide works that have stood the test of time and that allow people to understand their place in the world as others have understood it.I don’t think Harry Potter is appropriate as a set text; I don’t see how it fits in with that. It may be an enjoyable read but I don’t think we are just trying to keep people occupied.”
Nick Seaton, chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, added: “This is all done in the name of relevance and popular culture, but it is not why children go to school.They should be encouraged to read and understand the great works of English literature. Harry Potter may be what children want to read, but that doesn’t mean it should be part of an A-level.”
Last night the AQA said: “Harry Potter is a genuine example of literature of our time and therefore entirely deserves its place in this unit. We believe that it will prove a popular and engaging inclusion.”
I think “waiting” a little before including Harry Potter, just to make it a “classic, sounds a little artificial to me. Shouldn’t modern literature be just as important as classics? It represents the world we live in today, and of course it’s different.
Today’s successful books are enjoyable primarily because they’re entertaining, so, in my opinion, good writers today should be able to produce texts that are entertaining on one level and rich in themes on another (think of The Matrix even: immensely popular, while doctoral theses have been written on the movie). Now I haven’t really studied the books closely but I’d say especially the first one falls into this category.
Also, it’s not like Rowling replaces Shakespeare or anything, the way I see it, the book is to be compared to another story with respect to themes and language. Very harmless… And if it encourages children to read, maybe it will encourage students to study English literature? How about that?
WOW! I am acually plannig to take English Language and English Litrature next year at College. However, I never thought for one second that Harry Potter would be envolved! English + Harry Potter = What more could HP Fans ask for! Oh I cant wait to start English! I suppose it can now be also known as An A Level In Harry Potter
WOW! I am actually plannig to take English Language and English Litrature next year at College. However, I never thought for one second that Harry Potter would be envolved! English + Harry Potter = What more could HP Fans ask for! Oh I cant wait to start English! I suppose it can now be also known as An A Level In Harry Potter
This is rather controversial, but totally deserved, I think.
Rowling’s works are by far the best children’s literature I’ve ever read, with the possible exception of Lewis Carroll’s works. Far from being pure escapism, the Harry Potter books address both classic and current themes and teach important lessons in imaginative and compelling new ways. Plus, they’re extremely readable; even adults like myself enjoy them!
I’d love it if this was on AS level…but it’ll probably be on A2. Which is annoying because im going to do AS English LIt and Lang next year…That would be awesome.
It does make sense reading it, because its got so many levels, and it’s just like the books usually studied. If the college doesnt think so, then they can choose another book.
Sorry ‘bout that, everyone—the latter note, which is marked “from Heather,” was intended to be a private message sent with a copy of the article. My goof!
Having worked at a bookstore in the US, I must say I was also appalled at what high schoolers had not read, and what they were reading (mangas and sci-fi). One girls actually had been sent to buy a copy of The Yearling, a book most kids had read in the first or second grade.
Not only that, but they now publish “dumbed down” simplified versions of classic children’s books, so they aren’t even reading the real book anymore. I’m talking about books like “National Velvet”, and “The Chronicles of Narnia”.
I don’t see any harm in including the Harry Potter books in the curriculum, they would be fun for kids to read and discuss in a group-but it’s the only thing JKR has written really. She hasn’t written anything on the scale of Dickens or Austen (both of whom she greatly admires, by the way, which should encourage others to read them). She’s a best-selling author and I think they should throw something fun in there, but I don’t take Harry Potter so seriously; maybe because there are already plenty of conventions and contests and things where people basically do the same thing, analyze the books and write fanfic.
This is appalling. Even diehard fans cannot suggest that Harry Potter is great literature – so to put it on lists with Shakespeare, Austen, Chaucer, Hardy and Keats is disgraceful. This undermines all the hard work us English A level students are doing. It discredits the qualification we are trying so hard to achieve.
English Literature could now be quite easily considered a joke subject for prostituting itself to increase the number of takers while sidetracking the greatest works written in the English language.
I am an ardent and avid Potter fan—but to study it for a serious qualification is apalling.
NB it will not be compulsory. Only Shakespeare is compulsory for the other texts teachers have to choose from a selection of other authors. So only very foolish teachers will select this to make up a major part of what their students study. They would be a laughing stock. I recognise that Harry Potter might have some place in the classroom but for far younger students. NOT for people who want to study the serious literature for the qualification which is the highest that the English School System offers.
I think that all the people who are saying that HP isn’t “serious” enough to be considered for this should pick up a book of scholarly essays on the series. You would be amazed at the amount there is. I am currently writing my Master’s thesis on Animal Studies in Children’s Fantasy Literature, and HP is one of my sources. Before I decided on that I was using Joseph Campbell’s Cycle of the Hero in Fantasy Literature. I have a friend who just finished her thesis on The Role of the Environment in Fantasy Literature . All of them included Harry Potter, and the amount of scholarly and academic work we found to use in the them was astounding.
Think about it this way: if the group of work considered “classics”, “great works of literature”, or the “canon” had never been expanded upon and improved, it would not contain people like Jane Austin or Charlotte Bronte, because women wouldn’t be on it. People HAVE to start considering new works of literature.. new genres.. otherwise literature becomes stagnant.
Also, I do not think that people necessarily need to compare Rowling to Shakespeare or Chaucer. Their works of literature are not supposed to do the same thing. Shakespeare and Chaucer show the evolution of the English language (olde and middle), but cannot be appreciated by someone who is just beginning to be interested in reading. When a child first picks up their first book BY CHOICE, do you want it to be something like Romeo and Juliet (which, quite apart from being inappropriate for a small child, may turn them off from reading with its complexity) or Harry Potter (which is something they can more easily understand, and therefore probably enjoy)? I vote Harry Potter.
My little brother has never read an entire book in his life. He is 22 years old, and do you know why he has no appreciation for literature? Because the people at our private school had us read “great” literature, the kinds of things that probably should have been reserved for when we were older. It was different for me, because I started reading before I was in school, so I appreciated more approachable books earlier. He didn’t. His first exposure to literature were things that were considered classics..things that are sometimes dull for children.
There are some books that are considered classics that even I, who have a GREAT appreciation for literature, cannot stomach reading all the way through. Who decided that The Canterbury Tales was a great work of literature? Obviously they haven’t read the Parson’s Tale or Melibee… the book is useful because it opened the doors to studying Middle English. Harry Potter is useful because it opens the doors to an interest in reading. It should therefore be given a proper place of respect.
I’m studying for my alevel now and while i think the books deserve academic recognition, this is not the right way to go about it. the books are better suited to degree level where an in-depth analysis of themes and word-choice could be looked at with more freedom. DH would have been more appropriate for A-level because of the theme of death/afterlife and similarities to WW2.
There are few themes developed in PS and it is not a book that can be put into a modern context as much as other modern novels that address modern social issues in more depth like A Thousand Splendid Suns or Then We Came to The End. But books like that don’t attract more people to study english.
The exam board still have to have the six criteria for marking the essays so I guess it’ll still be as acedmic as other novels and it might be harder than people think- especially for us fans who might not be objective!!
Wow. This is great! Lived in the US can be annoying b/ they never add newer books to the required reading. I always wish they would add HP. I would love that.
I think this could be really benificial to these kids b/c her writing so so different than the traditional readings like Catcher in the Rye, Lord of the Flies, Animal Farm, The Great Gatsby…. and so on. It gives kids a broarder view of litterature that can inspire them. I know it inspired me.
Oh no books_4_eva , im gutted !! :(:(:(