More on Snape

[huntergreen_3]

No: HPFGUIDX 102677

vmonte wrote:
>>>>And I believe that the way he treats Hermione has something to do 
with her heritage. Or does he hate her because she is a know-it-all? 
No offense, good teachers love this kind of student because they 
encourage the rest of the students to also excell.<<<<

Ava replied:
>>>Not necessarily.  (That is, good teachers don't always love this 
kind of student, & this kind of student doesn't always encourage 
others to learn.  If little Janie is always shouting out the correct  
answer, her classmate Joe Shlunk may feel too intimidated to 
contribute.  Or he may wonder why he should bother, when Janie is 
always ready to share.  
Now, a truly thought-provoking answer to a question is usually 
appreciated, & THAT may stimulate others to add their 2 cents, but 
that's a different issue.<<<

Alla wrote:
>>I was like Hermione in school... to certain extent. I always knew 
the answer (Not in all classes, mind you :o), in some), but I was shy 
enough to raise my hand all the time.

I cannot remember of any teacher who tried to shut me up, when I  
indeed raised my hand. <<

HunterGreen (who wrote a rather nice reply to all this, and then it 
was eaten by her computer and is now begrudgingly trying to re-write 
it):
I know it happened to me a few times in class, more in a "please give 
someone else a chance to answer a question". Yes, it was never as 
malicious as Snape, but then again, I never spoke out of turn either 
(I typically just got bored and tuned out the teacher if I wasn't 
called on). Getting all students involved in a class can be hard with 
one student dominating everything. Lupin is aware of this, you can 
see it in the boggart lesson, when he lets Hermione answer a question 
(the first one), but then ignores her after that (like Snape often 
does), but unlike Snape, he turns to another student (in that case 
Harry) to get the question answered. If Snape doesn't have anyone 
else but Hermione answer a question, he doesn't bother to coax one 
out of anyone else. I think Snape intends to run his class in a 
more "lecture" format, but needs to ask questions to get his dose of 
superiority first.

Actually, Snape used to confuse me a little bit. Judging by his 
little speech during the first potions class in PS/SS he doesn't seem 
like the type of teacher who wants to give every student a chance to 
answer. You'd think he'd be delighted with a class full of Hermiones: 
students who study hard, follow directs, and do their homework. But 
despite what he says, I think what he values most is power and 
control. This (IMO) has a lot to do with his adolesence experiences 
with James & Sirius, with being disrespected and powerless 
(*especially when it comes to Harry--its no mystery why he wants 
Harry to call him "sir" during occulmency lessons and why Dumbledore 
impresses the *Professor* Snape title on him, that title means 
something to Snape).

I think Snape quite enjoys walking around the classroom telling his 
students how unintelligent they are, and when one of them knows the 
answer, it punctures that. So he ignores Hermione. That's why he's so 
furious when she speaks *anyway* (I have a hard time feeling too bad 
for Hermione in this situation, she should know not to speak out of 
turn in Snape's class, even if he *should* be calling on her).

If only for his own sake, Snape should really consider a different 
career. BUT as long as students are learning and he's not damaging 
anyone, I don't see why he HAS to stop being a teacher or change his 
methods.