graduation and respect for British culture

[Brian]

No: HPFGUIDX 188345

Replying to
 > Posted by: "Catlady (Rita Prince"  catlady at wicca.net     
catlady_de_los_angeles
Sun Nov 1, 2009 2:02 pm (PST)
 > Yes, but British wizard culture is not exactly the same as British 
>muggle culture, and Hogwarts is a unique institution. It was founded >at 
>a time when there were no universities in Britain or Western Europe, >and 
>I don't think there were any schools not associated with >monasteries, 
>and Hogwarts must have awarded its own qualifications (degrees, 
>diplomas) for the centuries before OWLs and NEWTs were invented, so >it 
>may have had graduation and degree-granting ceremonies before 
>universities did.


OWLS and NEWTS are clearly based on the English O and A levels, the 
Muggle exams taken at the end of the 5th and 7th years in Secondary 
school (around ages 16 and 18 respectively, the end of the fifth and 
seventh year of secondary school - note YEAR NOT GRADE).
In Half Blood Prince, nobody received their OWL results until halfway 
through the summer holidays (vacation)
That is exactly what happens with O and A level results.
If you don't receive your results until a month AFTER you've left school 
HOW can you have a graduation?  You don't know if you've passed anything!
In Britain there is no "all or nothing" graduation.  You leave school at 
16 or 17 with however many O and/or A levels you have passed.  (I say 
"leave school... with", but as stated earlier, you don't get the results 
until later, after you've left.)

In addition, even though Percy finished school at Hogwarts there isn't a 
SINGLE mention of him "graduating", nor is the term used at any time 
throughout the seven books.  Can you imagine Molly never mentioning it?  
Not once?
Can you imagine Hermione NEVER mentioning once how the education system 
was different from the Muggle system in such an important way?
Note that Hogwarts has a HEADMASTER (UK style) NOT a Principal.

There is no reason whatsoever to suggest that Hogwarts has a 
graduation.  To impose an American institution on a British school 
without firm evidence that it existed and simply because nowhere does it 
explicitly say that there is no graduation (why would it?) is simply 
cultural disrepect.

My brief page on British culture and language explained for non-Brits is 
at www.thesiteofbrian.com/cultural.  As far as language differences go, 
there are also many pages on wikipedia  about this.

At the moment the main characters in my own latest fanfic (Harmony Bond) 
are in the USA for a while.  I take the trouble to make it as real as 
possible by not only researching online, but asking Americans to check 
each chapter, and where possible obtaining help from Americans actually 
in the area where the characters are supposed to be.  That's because I 
refuse to impose Britishisms on the US because I have respect for YOUR 
culture.  Is it so difficult for so many Americans to show us the same 
respect and take the trouble to at least avoid the most basic 
Americanisms and stop trying to justify the unjustifiable?
I have to admit that I did include one stereotypical "evil American" 
obsessed with money.  He's the librarian Warner's brother.  Warner's 
brother, of course, is so called out of "respect" for a certain media 
company.  (I couldn't resist.)

Incidentally, ignoring British culture can even mean you use words which 
are possibly offensive in British English.  For example "fanny", as in 
fanny-pack, does not refer to a person's "behind" as in US English, but 
a woman's vagina, thus the equivalent term for "fanny-pack" is 
"bum-bag", "bum" being roughly the British equivalent to the American 
"fanny".

Brian (brigrove on fanfiction.net)