[HPforGrownups] JKR and the intellectual

[Lynda Cordova]

No: HPFGUIDX 188532

Librasmile:

I can't help but think that JKR's attitude toward academic achievement (i.e.
Hermione and some of the other characters' reactions to her) is helpful in
getting children to continue reading.
What do you all think of this? Am I off the mark? Or is anyone else
frustrated with JKR's apparent anti-intellectualism?

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Lynda:

Off the mark? I don't know for sure,but as for being anti-intellectual or
not encouraging kids to read, that's not what I've seen in working with
kids, which I do for a living.  Kids who read Harry Potter, do well in
school, go on to college (which in my part of the U.S. in not usual--I'm
speaking of four year colleges and beyond, not the two year community
colleges that offer kids a leg up and a quick job opportunity although there
is much admirable about those colleges and programs).  Is Rowling poking fun
at those intellectuals who denigrate what she's done? Possibly. Is she
saying that it's okay for kids not to finish school and that they can still
make something of their lives if they don't? Obviously.  But more than that,
maybe she's saying that intellectualism is not limited to the Master's and
Doctoral degrees and that overweening pride is always a problem.

Lynda


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