In Defense of Snape (long)

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 122050


>>Betsy:
<snip>   
>Everything in the books points to Snape having complete control over 
his classroom: they silently listen to every word he says.  He gets a 
maximum of information pounded into his students' heads: his students 
not only pass their O.W.L's, but do so at a high level.  And he even 
pushes his students to a level of study beyond Ministry standards 
(which, granted, may be low, but still, Snape is taking his students 
above and beyond).  All of those things combined make for one kick-
ass teacher.
>Though he is scary.  Scary and strict tend to go hand in hand. After 
all, the students (and this includes Harry and Ron) are nervous 
enough around McGonagall.  Scary and strict does not mean bad 
teacher.<

>>Geoff:
>I speak as a teacher with 32 years experience of teaching mainly 
Maths and Computing.
>I had a similar control to Snape. I could walk into my class and 
quieten them down without saying a word. But I also based my teaching 
on two principles: Be firm but fair, and never ask a student to do 
anything I would not do myself. Judging by the number of contacts I 
still have with old students, this theory worked pretty well.
>Snape used methods to pull the rug from under Harry in ways which 
were calculated to make him look small and foolish....
>
>'Snape, like Flitwick, started the class by taking the register and, 
like Flitwick, he paused at Harry's name.
"Ah, yes," he said quietly, "Harry Potter. Our new -
/celebrity/."Draco Malfoy and his friends Crabbe and Goyle sniggered 
behind their hands.'
>)PS "The Potions Master" pp.101/02 UK edition)
> 
>Why say anything at all? The easiest thing with someone you might 
think had a big head or an inflated opinion of themselves would be to 
not acknowledge anything beyond them answering their name.
> 
>'"Potter!" said Snape suddenly. "What would I get if I added 
powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"
>Powdered root of what to an infusion of what? Harry glanced at Ron 
who looked as stumped as he was; Hermione's hand had shot into the 
air.
>"I don't know, sir" said Harry.
>Snape's lips curled into a sneer.
>"Tut, tut - fame clearly isn't everything."
>He ignored Hermione's hand.
>"Let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I asked you to 
find me a bezoar?" Hermione stretched her hand as high into the air 
as it would go without her leaving her seat but Harry didn't have the 
faintest idea what a bezoar was. He tried not to look at Malfoy, 
Crabbe and Goyle who were shaking with laughter.
>"I don't know, sir."
>"Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming, eh, Potter?"'
>(ibid. p.102)
> 
>Harry has answered his questions politely and waht does he get? 
Sneering and sarcasm which was completely uncalled for. What sort of 
encouragment is this to a boy in his first class to take an interest 
in this subject? I have a next door neighbour who is continually in 
conflict with his teenage son and always criticises him; he never 
finds anything to praise him - there is always something wrong. 
Result - the boy is underachieving and has a low self-esteem. This is 
the foundation that Snape is laying.<

Betsy:
But Snape is not Harry's father.  Harry doesn't even have class with 
him everyday.  And I haven't seen anything that suggests Harry is 
suffering from low self-esteem, let alone that he's an 
underachiever.  In fact, he's does try and do well at Potions, just 
so Snape will have little to criticize him over.  (Frankly, I think 
Neville suffers more under Snape than Harry does.)

But most importantly, Snape was not just trying to teach in the first 
class.  He does pick on Harry excessively much, but I think part of 
the reason is to make the correct impression on Draco Malfoy.   Snape 
is a spy.  It's imperative that he sets himself up as someone who 
loaths Harry Potter.  And he does so, beautifully.  (I won't deny 
that Snape may have gotten a certain enjoyment in watching a stand-in 
for James Potter squirm.  Snape can be petty.)

>>Geoff:
<snip of canon> 
>Fear is not a way to establish a satisfactory working relationship 
with a class. Harry was not being cheeky; he spoke quietly and was 
trying to get Snape to look at Hermione - and also get him off his 
back. In the later incident, the blame should have been apportioned 
between Seamus and Neville who were the "team". I expect if Harry and 
Ron had tried to help these two, Snape would have bounced them for 
interfering. They were on a hiding to nothing.<

Betsy:
Oh, I agree that Snape was setting Harry up for failure.  I just 
think there was a reason for the behavior as I state above.  Though I 
will argue that there was a bit of cheek in Harry's final response to 
Snape.  I'm sure Snape was well aware that Hermione was raising her 
hand, he didn't need Harry to point this out to him.  And the class 
did chuckle a bit, which would not please Snape at all.  (As to 
Neville and Seamus - it's interesting that Harry agreed with Snape's 
assessment: Neville melted the cauldron.)

>>Geoff:
>Like Harry I started at a new school when I was 11. We had a 
woodwork teacher who revelled in sarcasm and constant criticism. I 
was keen to learn and was considered a bit of a swot at that age but 
I, like everyone else in the class, hated the teacher's guts. I can 
see that beginning to show in Harry at the end of the last quote.
>I agree that Snape know his potions extremely well; it's his social 
skills which are lacking.
>You can control your class and be strict either by being scary or by 
showing the class that you are also on their side and that the whole 
thing is a team effort. I know which one I found successful over 
those 32 years.<

Betsy:
I do agree that being terrifying is not the *best* way to teach.  I 
think JKR does a great job at showing various teaching methods, and 
probably the best teacher she's shown so far is Lupin - in my 
opinion, anyway.  He keeps his class engaged, gets the information 
across, and the students love him (at least as far as we've seen).

But regardless, Snape is a good teacher.  And he's a familar type.  
Probably most folks have a "scary" teacher story.  When I was in 4th 
grade my teacher was so terrifying I had intense stomach pains every 
morning before heading to school.  Snape is cut from the same cloth 
as she was.  Interestingly enough, I look back on her somewhat 
fondly.  Wouldn't want to be in her class again, but she taught me a 
lot.

I'm not trying to argue that Snape is the best teacher at Hogwarts, 
but he is one of the better ones.  

Betsy, who'd like to be a "Lupin" if she were a teacher, but is 
afraid she'd actually be a "Hagrid".