Snape as DADA substitute (Was: Poor KnowItAll)
Laura
metslvr19 at yahoo.com
Sun May 4 16:27:44 UTC 2003
No: HPFGUIDX 56926
OK, I started this post intending to simply reply to the discussion
about teaching styles and know-it-alls, but I have an English thesis
to write, so I'm procrastinating as much as possible. Hopefully I
won't get sued for all the copying from PoA I'll be doing. =) (For
reference, this is in US paperback edition, Ch. 9: Grim Defeat,
between pages 170 and 173) I've stolen someone else's trick and have
numbered the points in the text I'll be referring to.
< < <
(1) *Snape takes 10 points from Gryffindor for Harry being late to
class, and another 5 for not sitting down when asked.*
"As I was saying before Potter interrupted, Professor Lupin has not
left any record of the topic you have covered so far-"
*Hermione tries to fill him in*
"I did not ask for information, (2)I was merely commenting on
Professor Lupin's lack of organization."
"He's the best DADA teacher we've ever had," said Dean Thomas.
"You are easily satisfied. (3)Lupin is hardly overtaxing you- (4)I
would expect 1st years to be able to deal with Red Caps and
grindylows." *Snape tells them to open to page about werewolves*
'Which of you can tell me how we distinguish between the werewolf and
the true wolf?' said Snape.
Everyone sat in motionless silence; everyone except Hermione, whose
hand, (5)as it so often did, had shot straight into the air.
(6)'Anyone?' Snape said, ignoring Hermione.
"we told you," said Parvati suddenly, "we haven't got as far as
werewolves yet, we're still on-"
"*silence*!" snarled Snape. "Well ,well ,well, I never thought I'd
meet a third-year class who wouldn't even recognize a werewolf when
they saw one. (7)I shall make a point of informing Professor
Dumbledore how very begind you all are. . ."
"Please sir," said Hermione, whose hand was still in the air., "the
werewolf differs from the true wolf in several small ways. The sount
of the werewolf-"
(8)"That is the second time you have spoken out of turn, Mss
Granger," said Snape cooly. "Five more points from Gryffindor (9)for
being an insufferable know-it-all."
<snip> (10)"Very poorly explained. . .That is incorrect, the kappa is
more commonly found in Mongolia. Professor Lupin gave this 8 out of
10? I wouldn't have given is 3. . ."
<snip> (11)"You will each write an essay, to be handed in to me, on
the ways you recognize and kill werewolves. I want two rolls of
parchment on the subject, and I want them by Monday morning. (12)
It is time somebody took this class in hand."
< < <
1) Snape takes a total of 15 points from Harry for being late to
class and not following instructions. In my opinion, justified, but
a bit harsh, as McGonagall takes 20 points from Draco for being out
of bed at night. However, I don't think we can really argue
fairness, because that's obviously subjective. McGonagall obviously
has different ideas from Snape, and there's no real way to tell them
how to run the point system. We've seen Snape be very strict with
points and Lupin be very generous. I believe Gryffindor receives
about 50 points for the boggart lesson. I think what we need to
argue is consistency. Lupin gave 5 points to each person from
Gryffindor to battle the boggart, which is quite fair, as long as he
gave 5 points to every person from Slytherin to battle it. Of
course, we aren't shown that lesson. But we can't fault anyone for
their different views on how many points anything is worth. As long
as the teachers are consistent in their own use of the point system,
it is fair. Although we have never seen Snape take points from
Slytherin, he's fairly consistent with the points he's taken from
Gryffindor. And I'll even argue that this might even things out,
because Slytherins definitely get screwed all over. Even if Harry,
Ron, and Hermione deserved the points he gave them in PS/SS, the way
Dumbledore handed them out was completely *tactless* in my humble
opinion. And I adore Dumbledore, so it's hard for me to say so. The
first time I read it, I was so excited and happy that Harry and the
Gryffindors beat the big, bad Slytherins and got to rub it in their
faces. But the more I read and the more immersed I became in the HP
world, I began to resent that move. Everytime I read that scene, I
cringe with the way Dumbledore handles it. Dumbledore is opened-
minded, but everyone has their faults.
2) Snape openly criticizes the teacher he is substituting for, which
is very unprofessional. There is no need to do so.
3) "Lupin is hardly overtaxing you-" Um, excuse me, that's
*Professor* Lupin to you. Dumbledore corrects Harry in PS/SS when he
calls Severus just plain old, "Snape." I know, Lupin is Snape's co-
worker and Harry's teacher, but still. In my school, when talking to
students about their co-workers, my teachers refer to each other as
Mr. or Mrs. In casual conversation, my friends and I might say, "we
have Jones next." But to her face we call her "Mrs. Jones" and Mrs.
Smith never tells us, "I eat lunch with Jones." She says, "I eat
lunch with Mrs. Jones." And in my opinion, that's the way it should
be. Snape needs to be shown the meaning of respect, IMHO.
4) Snape reprimands the class *and* Lupin for how behind they are,
with the "I would expect first-years to know this" bit. This always
irks me to no end- Snape damn well knows how incompetent the previous
DADA teachers were. He was the only one we know from canon to fight
against Quirrell's quest for the Stone, and he loathed Lockhart as
much as the next guy. This, I think, shows not only how little
respect he has for Lupin, but also in a way reinforces the AIDS-type
stereotype we've discussed before. He blames Lupin for anything and
everything- including things in which Snape knows Lupin is not at
fault. Perhaps Lupin is *not* organized. Snape is justified in
saying so, but it's unprofessional to say so to the class. What's
even more unprofessional is to take another cheap shot at Lupin in
front of the class- for something that Snape *knows* IS NOT Lupin's
fault.
5) Now to tie in the teaching-style debate.
Mel Claros sided with Snape:
> > >
But I honestly wish I had a dollar for every time I have had to say
to the same student something along the lines of "Yes, I'm sure you
have the answer, but why don't we give someone else a chance this
time?" > > >
Catlady says that if anyone else had wanted a chance, they could have
raised their hands as well. To which I say "yes and no." I have a
Hermione in my school. Kristi is in every one of my classes, and as
I'm fairly good friends with her, I sit next to her in almost all of
them. When Kristi raises her hand, no one else bothers. She's a
wonderful person and I love her and all- but she *can* be
an "insufferable know-it-all" at times. I completely understand
Harry and Ron's (and to a lesser extent, the rest of the school's)
predicament. They are good friends with Hermione, but sometimes
they'd love to just tell her to shut the heck up already. It *can*
be impossible to learn or think with someone like that next to you,
as Harry notes in the lesson with the boggart in PoA.
6) Snape ignores Hermione. Catlady tells us how horrible it was for
her when teachers used to do this to her:
> > >
Teacher asks the class a question. I am the only person to raise a
hand. Teacher looks at the class and says: "Doesn't anyone want to
answer?" What am I, invisible?! Still no more hands go up. Teacher
briefly scolds the class for no one even wants to *try*. Great, I'm
not only invisible, I'm scolded for what I *FOR SURE* did not do!
Poor Hermione was reflexively trying to *please* him, by showing that
she is not guilty of what he was accusing the class of (ignorance).
He punishes her for speaking, for trying to please him.
> > >
I agree that sometimes teachers wish their bright students would just
shut up, but ignoring them is not a good idea. However, I've seen
teachers say things like, "So Hermione is the *only* one who knows
this?" which is just as harmful, only to the rest of the class. So
Hermione can be downright annoying, and she certainly hinders the
rest of the class's learning- but Snape isn't doing anyone any good.
He wants his class to be comfortable for him and him alone.
7) Snape threatens to tell Dumbledore how behind they are. This gets
me every time. I get so frustrated- as mentioned before, he
absolutely knows that none of this is Lupin's fault, and he intends
to tell *Dumbledore* about it! Please, even if this weren't horribly
immature ("I'm going to tell my mommy on you!") I'd still want to
smack him- there's no need to say something like this to his
students. Not only does he discredit the teacher, he also tries to
make it seem as if some of this is *their* fault. Unless he was
bluffing about it, which just makes him more of an idiot.
8) Completely justified. Hermione spoke out of turn. Snape tooks
points. The end. I don't care how smart she is, she has no right to
speak up when not asked. I honestly wish some of *my* teachers
would "take points" or reprimand some of my classmates for this kind
of behavior. It drives me nuts when people do this and makes it
impossible for anyone else to learn.
9) Completely unjustified. Hermione *can* be an insufferable know-
it-all. But for Snape to say that to the whole class is nothing
short of childish.
10) Throughout the lesson, Snape continues to undermine Lupin's rule
of the class and throw doubt on the students' abilities. Again, very
unprofessional. I begin to wonder just how important the schoolbooks
are to the scheme of things at this point. From FB we can learn that
Snape was incorrect about the kappas. Is this evidence important?
Perhaps that he isn't as good at DADA as claimed? I wonder how many
clues are in the schoolbooks.
11) "You will each write an essay, to be handed in to me, on the ways
you recognize and *kill* werewolves" emphasis mine. OK, so Snape
wants the class to catch on to Lupin. How to recognize werewolves.
Fine. But how to kill them? *shiver* Ok, I know, its DADA, they
*do* need to know this kind of stuff. But it always kinda creeps me
out that Snape gave the lesson about werewolves *because* of Lupin,
and he includes information about killing them. Yuck.
12) "It is time somebody took this class in hand" Again, another
unwarranted shot at Lupin. But it does have some truth to it-
Hogwarts students *are* terribly behind in DADA. But is Snape really
the man to keep them up on it? We've already been given some
evidence to possibly disprove that. Also, you would think Dumbledore
would find a competent DADA teacher. Considering all the dark things
going on, I find it really unnerving that DADA never has a good
teacher. Why couldn't Flitwick be the DADA teacher and Charms be
the "cursed" position? But I honstly think that this statement by
Snape will come back to haunt us- it *is* time that somebody took
repsonsibility for teaching these students DADA. Lupin was good at
it, but he resigned after a year.
So, Snape is a horrible brat in this scene, but it does give us a lot
to ponder about the DADA position.
-Laura
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