Intro and questions...

[Ebony]

No: HPFGUIDX 8149

--- In HPforGrownups at egroups.com, Dante <chortler at e...> wrote:
> 
> Just joined the group so here's a quick introduction.  My name is 
Dante and I'm 28 and am an elementary school teacher in Omaha, 
Nebraska. Originally from Olympia, Washington though.

Welcome, Dante!  Nice to see another teacher...

As for your questions:

1) "How does Hogwarts compare/contrast to contemporary English 
boarding schools?" 

I think John Walton is the resident authority on this... this summer 
there were some interesting posts about what elements JKR borrowed 
from schools she'd attended.

2)  "How will the popularity and the marketing of the books
and merchandise affect the quality of the future books?" 

As you'll see, many of us around here are merchandise fanatics... we 
talk about the woes of commercialization, but many of us (myself 
included) are starting to build collections.

3) "How will Harry and his friends mature in the coming books?"

That's the #1 question that interests me as well (I think it's 
symptomatic of working on a day-to-day basis with kids and teens, 
don't you?).  We discuss various aspects of this a lot.  For 
instance, Jim Flanagan posted a very good character analysis/spec a 
few days ago... it's called "Characterizations:  Rowling vs. 
Steele".  Stay tuned, and welcome again.

--Ebony