[HPforGrownups] Re: Teaching Styles / Sorting Hat

[fair wynn]

No: HPFGUIDX 157877


> >> Betsy Hp:
> > So Snape is making an important point.  Neville needs to learn to
> > pay attention and follow directions, or someone might get hurt.
> > Snape is doing the best he can to reach him.  I think it's
> > especially telling that Snape expresses a bit of frustration
>before
> > he comes up with using Trevor as a guinea pig.  Snape has been
> > trying to get that message across, and this is one way he's
>thought
> > of for doing so.

wynnleaf,
I think is that Snape is the type of person to habitually make over-the-top 
threats.  They are soooo over-the-top, I'm always amazed that Harry, Ron, 
Hermione and Neville all believe them.  Apparently all the Gryffindors 
believe Snape's threats.  And when the Slytherins think they're funny, Harry 
assumes it's because the Slytherins want to see terrible things happen to 
the Gryffindors.

But here's a real-life example.   I actually spend a great deal of time 
around some people who make those kinds of over-the-top amazingly terrible 
threats, and as I watch children's reactions, this is what I see.  The kids 
that really understand the person making the threats -- a certain 
personality type, I'll grant you -- are not particularly worried about the 
threats.  They generally think they're sort of funny and recognize those 
threats as an indicator that the person making them really, really wants the 
kid's to pay attention.  But there's other personality types that just don't 
seem to "get" this method of communcating and take these kinds of threats as 
the real thing.  These kinds of threats can really upset them, because they 
think the person making the treats will really kill the toad (or the dog, in 
a case I'm thinking of), or poison the student, or some other dread 
punishment.

How many examples do we hear from the Hogwarts students of the past times 
people have died from Snape poisoning them?  How many times do students 
discuss a time  Snape killed somebody's familiar?  How many cases do we hear 
of past students injured by Snape's evil detentions?  What about the huge 
number of students who fail his classes?  Hm?  In fact, a much larger number 
of students seem to do well in Snape's class than in other classes.  And we 
have no reported incidences of Snape poisoning or injuring anyone or their 
familiar.

This seems to completely pass the Gryffindors by.  They apparently believe 
that every time Snape makes a threat, they will be the first "test case" (I 
guess) of Snape finally poisoning or injuring a student or familiar.

I've been wondering lately if the Slytherins are partly laughing at the 
situations because they're thinking how gullible the Gryffindors are.  The 
Slytherins know that when Snape uses those over-the-top threats, they're 
supposed to pay attention and focus, but they're probably a lot more the 
personality type that "gets" Snape's personality, and his threats don't 
worry them nearly as much as the Gryffindors.

Oh, and before someone says that Snape is so easy on the Slytherins that 
they don't have to be concerned about him, remember that in talking to Draco 
out of the hearing of any Gryffindors (at least, Snape thought), Snape 
showed that he *could* be hard on Slytherins needing to do well in class.

So this gets back to House.  Slytherins really are similar personalities and 
they understand their Head of House better than the Gryffindors.

But I like the idea of changing the House system to a random selection.  I 
taught for two years in an international school in the Pacific where many 
kids lived in youth homes.  They were divided more-or-less randomly.  Having 
varying ages was great -- made more of a family atmosphere.

wynnleaf

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