108P F20 Condon

Popular Potter - ENGL 108P 

I would like to acknowledge that we are on the traditional territory of the Attawandaron (Neutral), Anishnaabeg, and Haudenosaunee peoples. The University of Waterloo is situated on the Haldimand Tract, land promised and given to Six Nations, which includes six miles on each side of the Grand River. Further, I am a citizen of the United States and a Permanent Resident of Canada, where I now teach, research, and write. I recognize that I move through the world as a raced-white subject whose body, language, and history are privileged in both the nations I call home – not by virtue of any inherent quality they might possess but through the social operations of white supremacy. I acknowledge that the idea of whiteness and materiality of white supremacism are progenitors of systemic, institutional, symbolic, and individual racism. I hear Peoples of Colour and Indigenous Peoples who are subjected to racist violence as they cry out, “I can’t breathe.” I acknowledge my culpability for white supremacy and my responsibility as a white person to oppose and resist racism enacted in my name. I commit myself to this resistance and stand ready both to hold myself and to be held accountable by others for making this commitment actionable. 

Why is it important to remember where we are and how we came to be in the places where we are? 

In this course, we’ll read and discuss all seven of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter novels with the aim of deepening our understanding of the young adult novel. We will study, at least in an introductory way, the practice of literary criticism. Finally and most fully, we’ll begin to explore cultural studies and critical theory as they are engaged in the field of English Studies. None of these areas of study should preclude having fun together. If you’re worried that you don’t know anything about literary or critical theory or cultural studies, don’t be. Your job is to be open, curious, and invested in learning and my job is to teach you. There should be a place in the course for those of you who are fans as well as those of you who are Muggles (just kidding). My hope is that we will all learn more and better how much our enjoyment of the Harry Potter books is an effect of the quality of Rowling’s craft as a writer, as well as how much our tendency to read over the flaws in the books, their cracks or broken places is an effect of the cultures, ideologies, and material conditions that shape our lives as readers. 

When you think about taking an online course (as opposed to meeting face-to-face in a classroom) what are you most worried about? 

REQUIRED READINGS 

J.K. Rowling 

• Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone 
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets 
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban 
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire 
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix 
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince 
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 

Additional readings as assigned 

“Aren’t you ever going to read Hogwarts, A History?” ~Hermione Granger 

APPARITION (20 points): 

Determination (6 points) 

You will read every powerpoint and listen to every lecture, complete every weekly reflection, and contribute to the work of the Houses to which you are assigned with dedication. 

Deliberation (6 ½ points) 

You will will stay on task with your House, be a leader in your House, and support to the best of your ability the learning of others by being an active contributor to your House discussions on Learn and on the class activity feed, and will contribute to the work of your House. You will be interested and invested in your own learning and if you need help you will ask Dr. C (politely) for assistance.. This means you, Malfoy. 

Destination (7 ½ points) 

You will read the novels. If you have already read them, you will read them again for this class. You will not imagine, nor will you behave as if watching the movies could possibly substitute for reading the books. This means you, Ronald Weasley. 

HOUSE MEMBERSHIP (20 points) 

You will be assigned to a House in which you will be a member for half the term. At midterm, you will be assigned to a new House. As a member of those Houses, you will contribute to the work of the House and earn points for your house by contributing to the individual and collective success of your fellows. 

Nomenclature: this House bears responsibility for tracing the etymology of names and spells in the novels 

Divination: this House bears responsibility for tracing foreshadowing within and across the novels 

Magical Creatures and Spirit Guides: this House bears responsibility for tracing the mythological forebears of all magical creatures and spirit guides in the novels 

Archetypes: this House bears responsibility for identifying archetypal characters in the novels and relating appearances of these archetypes to their appearances in prior mythological and literary works 

Each House will bring its ongoing research, deliberations, and contributions to the full class by updating us on the class activity feed. Assign one or two members each week to write an update on the research your House has achieved each week. Houses will earn points by the quality of individual contributions to discussion by their members, as well as by the quality of the collective 

contribution of the House to our understanding of each novel through the quality of research the House provides. Houses may earn additional points by following the House points prompts in each class powerpoint. 

Over the course of the term, each House will write a minimum of one article for each book we read to be contributed to our class project: an issue of The Daily Prophet. House articles will be newspaper length (five to ten paragraphs depending on the subject matter). House members may gain points by adding creative visual, audio, or video contributions over and above their minimum articles. Houses will also gain points for the degree of collaboration they enact as they research, write, and revise their Daily Prophet contributions. 

Houses will lose points for a dearth of research and/or preparation and/or participation. Individual members of each House will lose points in this category if they fail to contribute to the work of the House. At the close of each House rotation, a House Cup will be awarded. Members of the House receiving the Cup will be bountifully rewarded. 

Prefects 

During each House cycle, four students will act as Prefects. Prefects will lead the work of their Houses but rather than writing Daily Prophet articles for their Houses will bear responsibility for helping their Houses revise their articles in preparation for publication at the end of term. Prefects will work together to read submitted articles, offer feedback, and editing advice. Prefects will coordinate the publication of the Daily Prophet. Prefects will have their own discussion space in which to work collaboratively on the Daily Prophet. 

COLLABORATIVE WRITING (20 points): 

Daily Prophet articles should be collectively researched and collaboratively written. All Houses will aid the Prefects in the design, layout, and publication of our Daily Prophet issue. At a minimum, this aid will take the form of revising articles as requested, attending to any publication guidelines as developed by the Prefects, and by copyediting articles carefully under the guidance of the Prefects. Students are encouraged to be creative and innovative in their designs, to experiment with digital media and multimodal composition, and to consider carefully user access and interface with each issue. 

Collaboratively written articles: co-authoring is harder than you might think, but it is also – when done well – more rewarding than you might imagine. You should discuss with your housemates the subject of each of the articles you will write together for the Daily Prophet. Once you have decided on topics, you may choose to work all together on both or to divide into smaller groups. You should talk extensively together as you draft your articles and, as much as possible, write them together (as opposed to dividing up the writing between you). At the end, it should be hard for any of you to discern or remember who wrote what or which words are whose. Each of you should take a pass at the final polishing and copyediting of the articles your House produces before passing them on to the Prefects for inclusion in the Daily Prophet. Warning: if it becomes clear to me that one or a few people have done most of the work for either or both articles your House produces, I will award points for those articles only to those who most actively and committedly produced them. Further, if it becomes clear to me that one or a few of you have interrupted, spoken over, or disregarded the contributions of quieter members of your group, I will award points to those who have been marginalized rather than to the most insistent speakers (or, in this case, writers) on the House’s discussion board. This means you, Hermione Granger! 

The articles your House publishes should meet the following criteria: 

• Move beyond merely reporting what other scholars have written or said by contributing original critical insight or perspective 
• Are well researched, drawing both academic and popular materials you have gathered as well as assigned readings and House members’ investigations of literary scholarship 
• Are well-composed and crafted, written not only to inform, but to delight readers 
• Written through an extended process of peaceful collaboration 

To determine an appropriate length for your House’s articles, you should follow the guidelines established by the Prefects for the issue as well as what is appropriate to the subject of your articles. You may also want to look at 

a variety of traditional and electronic newspapers or other news sources to discern the style of writing appropriate to the genre of a news article. In general, such articles range from five to ten paragraphs. 

INDIVIDUAL WRITING (20 1/2 points): 

You will write a reflection essay each week of the term. Questions to guide your writing of these essays may be found in the weekly powerpoints. I will be far more concerned with the depth and breadth of your thinking than with surface correctness. I will not grade individual reflections. Instead, I will read them and each of you will receive two letters from me over the course of the term in which I respond to what you have written. You can get 10 points simply for submitting every assigned reflection. You can receive an additional 5 points for writing well and thoughtfully (see assignment sheet for details). You can earn up to 5 1/2 points on top of the 15 by surprising, delighting, and teaching me well (see assignment sheet for details). 

What questions do you have about the requirements for this course? Is there anything in the workload described above that worries you? If you have no worries, why not? 

COURSE EXAMINATIONS 

OWLs (Ordinary Wizarding Levels) (9 and ¾ points): 

On our course Learn site, you will find a series of ridiculous quizzes – one for each novel. Take each quiz and earn all the points for this category, regardless of your score on any individual quiz. Quizzes may be taken as many times as you like. 

NEWTs (Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests) (9 and ¾ points): 

At the end of the term, you will be asked to choose three questions from any of the course powerpoints. Over the course of one week, you will write short essays in response to those questions. You may draw from any or all of the novels, any or all of the course powerpoints, and any or all of your reflection essays to write your short essays. The only stipulation is that you may not reuse any previously submitted reflection essay for your NEWT. You may quote yourself, summarize yourself, or paraphrase yourself so long as you CITE yourself. Finally, you may choose one House research topic or House question for a House to which you DID NOT belong to respond to with a fourth short essay. Your final NEWT submission – including all of your short essays – should total 8-10 pages. This is an open book, open powerpoint, open all the things examination. 

EDUCATIONAL DECREES 

Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Electronic Devices 

Haha! Just kidding. You’ll need your devices. Please do not share classroom lectures without permission. 

Decree for Academic Integrity 

In order to maintain a culture of academic integrity, members of the University of Waterloo community are expected to promote honesty, trust, fairness, respect and responsibility. See the UWaterloo Academic Integrity webpage and the Arts Academic Integrity webpage for more information. Cordially refrain from asking Hermione Granger for help with your homework. 

Decree of Discipline 

A student is expected to know what constitutes academic integrity, to avoid committing academic offences, and to take responsibility for his/her actions. A student who is unsure whether an action constitutes an offence, or who needs help in learning how to avoid offences (e.g., plagiarism, cheating) or about “rules” for group work/collaboration should seek guidance from the course professor, academic advisor, or the Undergraduate Associate Dean. (Please note Argus Filch is not authorized to make such decisions.) When misconduct has been found to have occurred, disciplinary penalties will be imposed under Policy 71 – Student Discipline. For information on categories of offenses and types of penalties, students should refer to Policy 71 - Student Discipline. For typical penalties check Guidelines for the Assessment of Penalties. 

Regulations on Grievances 

A student who believes that a decision affecting some aspect of his/her university life has been unfair or unreasonable may have grounds for initiating a grievance. Read Policy 70 - Student Petitions and Grievances, Section 4. When in doubt please be certain to contact the department’s administrative assistant who will provide further assistance. 

Ministry Policy on Appeals 

A decision made or penalty imposed under Policy 70, Student Petitions and Grievances (other than a petition) or Policy 71, Student Discipline may be appealed if there is a ground. A student who believes he/she has a ground for an appeal should refer to Policy 72, Student Appeals. 

Ministry Liaison Office for Students with Disabilities 

The AccessAbility Services office, located on the first floor of the Needles Hall extension (NH 1401), collaborates with all academic departments to arrange appropriate accommodations for students with disabilities without compromising the academic integrity of the curriculum. If you require academic accommodations to lessen the impact of your disability, please register with the AS office at the beginning of each academic term rather than wait for the Room of Requirements to appear. 

Mesdames Bermingham and Ashdown, Purveyors of Aids to Conscientious Students, are proud to present the Writing Centre 

The Writing Centre works across all faculties to help students clarify their ideas, develop their voices, and write in the style appropriate to their disciplines. Writing Centre staff offer one-on- one support in planning assignments and presentations, using and documenting research, organizing and structuring papers, and revising for clarity and coherence. You can make multiple appointments throughout the term, or drop in at the Library for quick questions or feedback. To book a 50-minute appointment and to see drop-in hours, visit their page. Group appointments for team-based projects, presentations, and papers are also available. Please note that writing specialists guide you to see your work as readers would. They can teach you revising skills and strategies, but will not proof-read or edit for you. Please bring hard copies of your assignment instructions and any notes or drafts to your appointment. Despite popular perception, it is not unplottable. 

WEEKLY SCHEDULE OF COURSE MODULES 

FIRST DAY OF CLASS - Tuesday, 8 September 

Lecture - Course Orientation 

Assignments

• First House assignment 
• First weekly reflection 
• Read Book One: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone 

WEEK TWO BEGINS - Monday, 14 September 

Lecture - Subjectivity, Perspective, and the Problems with Normal 

Assignments

• Second house assignment
• Second weekly reflection 
• Read Book Two: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets 

WEEK THREE BEGINS - Monday, 21 September 

Lecture - Being and Becoming 

Assignments

• Third house assignment 
• Third weekly reflection 

WEEK FOUR BEGINS - Monday, 28 September 

Lecture - Race and the Social Order of the Wizarding World 

Assignments

• Fourth House assignment 
• Fourth weekly reflection 
• Read Book Three: The Prisoner of Azkaban 

WEEK FIVE BEGINS - Monday, 5 October 

Lecture - Blood/Fear/Love 

Assignments

• Fifth house assignment 
• Fifth weekly reflection 

WEEK SIX BEGINS - Reading Week 

Lecture - None 

Assignments

• Read Book Four: Goblet of Fire 
• Sixth house assignment 
• NO WEEKLY REFLECTION 

WEEK SEVEN BEGINS - Monday, 19 October 

Move into new Houses House Cup Awarded! 

Lecture - Blood: Identity, Place, and Conflict in Harry Potter 

Assignments

• Read Book Five: The Order of the Phoenix 
• Seventh house assignment 
• Sixth weekly reflection 

WEEK EIGHT BEGINS - Monday, 26 October 

Lecture - Social Formation and the Organization of Resistance 

Assignments

• Eighth house assignment 
• Seventh weekly reflection 

WEEK NINE BEGINS - Monday, 2 November 

Lecture - Curating Life 

Assignments

• Read Book Six: The Half-Blood Prince 
• Ninth house assignment 
• Eighth weekly reflection 

WEEK TEN BEGINS - Monday, 9 November 

Lecture - Notes on Terrorism: The rise of the Death Eaters in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince 

Assignments

• Tenth house assignment 
• Ninth weekly reflection 

WEEK ELEVEN BEGINS - Monday, 16 November 

Lecture - Love is a Double-Edged Sword: the Trials of Dumbledore 

Assignments

• Read Book Seven: The Deathly Hallows 
• Eleventh house assignment 
• Tenth weekly reflection 

WEEK TWELVE BEGINS - Monday, 23 November 

Lecture - Critiques of JK Rowling and her Politics of Representation 

Assignments

• Twelfth house assignment 
• Eleventh weekly reflection 

LAST WEEK OF CLASS - Monday, 30 November 

Lecture - Two Resurrections: Apotheosis and Antithesis 

Assignments

• Thirteenth house assignment 
• Twelfth weekly reflection 

LAST DAY OF CLASSES - Monday, 7 December 

House Cup Awarded 

Lecture - None 

Assignments

• FINAL HOUSE ASSIGNMENT 
• FINAL REFLECTION ASSIGNMENT 

THE DAILY PROPHET REVEAL PARTY – ATTENDANCE OPTIONAL – Monday, 14 December 

What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen sparrow? 

APPARITION 

Apparition is the grading category that includes the most basic expectations for this course: 

• that you listen to lectures, review powerpoints, and show up for the work your house is assignment to complete 
• that you participate in the work of your house for as long as you are a member of that house 
• that you read or reread each of the novels in the Harry Potter series and do not – ever, ever, ever – imagine that having seen the movies will be a sufficient substitute for reading the books for this course 

ASSIGNMENT DESCRIPTION: HOUSE MEMBERSHIP (20 points) 

You will be assigned to a House in which you will be a member for half the term. At midterm, you will be assigned to a new House. As a member of those Houses, you will contribute to the work of the House and earn points for your house by contributing to the individual and collective success of your fellows. 

• Nomenclature: this House bears responsibility for tracing the etymology of names and spells in the novels 
• Divination: this House bears responsibility for tracing foreshadowing within and across the novels 
• Magical Creatures and Spirit Guides: this House bears responsibility for tracing the mythological forebears of all magical creatures and spirit guides in the novels 
• Archetypes: this House bears responsibility for identifying archetypal characters in the novels and relating appearances of these archetypes to their appearances in prior mythological and literary works 

Each House will bring its ongoing research, deliberations, and contributions to the full class by updating us on the class activity feed. Assign one or two members each week to write an update on the research your House has achieved each week. Houses will earn points by the quality of individual contributions to discussion by their members, as well as by the quality of the collective contribution of the House to our understanding of each novel through the quality of research the House provides. Houses may earn additional points by following the House points prompts in each class powerpoint. 

Over the course of the term, each House will write a minimum of one article for each book we read to be contributed to our class project: an issue of The Daily Prophet. House articles will be newspaper length (five to ten paragraphs depending on the subject matter). House members may gain points by adding creative visual, audio, or video contributions over and above their minimum articles. Houses will also gain points for the degree of collaboration they enact as they research, write, and revise their Daily Prophet contributions. 

Houses will lose points for a dearth of research and/or preparation and/or participation. Individual members of each House will lose points in this category if they fail to contribute to the work of the House. At the close of each House rotation, a House Cup will be awarded. Members of the House receiving the Cup will be bountifully rewarded. 

Weekly House Assignments will include: research on assigned or chosen topics associated with the focus of your House; reporting to class on the research your House has undertaken (members should take turns with this task and post their reports to the class activity feed); and writing, revising and/or editing your Daily Prophet articles. 

HOUSE MEMBERSHIP RUBRIC

HOUSE MEMBERSHIP – PREFECTS 

During each House cycle, four students will act as Prefects. Prefects will lead the work of their Houses but rather than writing Daily Prophet articles for their Houses will bear responsibility for helping their Houses revise their articles in preparation for publication at the end of term. Prefects will work together to read submitted articles, offer feedback, and editing advice. Prefects will coordinate the publication of the Daily Prophet. Prefects will have their own discussion space in which to work collaboratively on the Daily Prophet. 

PREFECTS’ COLLABORATIVE WORK ON DAILY PROPHET

WEEKLY REFLECTIONS ASSIGNMENT DESCRIPTION 

NOTE: ALL REFLECTIONS ARE DUE ON OR BEFORE THE FINAL SUNDAY OF THAT WEEK AND DEFINITELY BEFORE 11:59 PM. FOR EXAMPLE: WEEK TWO BEGINS MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14. YOUR WEEKLY REFELCTIONS ARE DUE ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20 BEFORE 11:59. 

You will write a reflection essay each week of the term. Questions to guide your writing of these essays may be found in the weekly powerpoints. I will be far more concerned with the depth and breadth of your thinking than with surface correctness. I will not grade individual reflections. Instead, I will read them and each of you will receive two letters from me over the course of the term in which I respond to what you have written. You can get 10 points simply for submitting every assigned reflection. You can receive an additional 5 points for writing well and thoughtfully (see assignment sheet for details). You can earn up to 5 1/2 points on top of the 15 by surprising, delighting, and teaching me well. 

Details: 

Reflection Length: 11 inches minimum (hint: what are the dimensions of a 

letter-sized piece of paper?) 

Line Spacing: 1.5 

Font: Verdana or Helvetica 

Font Size: 11 

Citations: Cite in-text when you quote, paraphrase, or summarize. Use year and page number. EXAMPLE: (1997 p. 394) 

Works Cited page: author (last name), author (first name). year of publication. Title. Publisher. EXAMPLE: Rowling, JK. 1997. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Bloomsbury Children’s Books. 

Note: you are not required to cite anything in your reflection essays. I am not counting the number of citations and you need not think of your reflections as formal essays. IF you quote, paraphrase, or summarize, however, you should give credit where credit is due. 

Question: what is the significance of page 394? In what novel is that page number reference and by what character? 

REFLECTION RUBRIC

DAILY PROPHET ASSIGNMENT DESCRIPTION (COLLABORATIVE WRITING) 

DUE DATE: FIRST HOUSE DAILY PROPHET ARTICLES: 18 OCTOBER BEFORE 11:59 PM 

DUE DATE: SECOND HOUSE DAILY PROPHET ARTICLES: 9 DECEMBER BEFORE 11:59 PM 

Over the course of the term, each House will write a minimum of one article for each book we read to be contributed to our class project: an issue of The Daily Prophet. Daily Prophet articles should be collectively researched and collaboratively written. Students are encouraged to be creative and innovative in their designs, to experiment with digital media and multimodal composition, and to consider carefully user access and interface with each issue. 

Co-authoring is harder than you might think, but it is also – when done well – more rewarding than you might imagine. You should discuss with your housemates the subject of each of the articles you will write together for the Daily Prophet. Once you have decided on topics, you may choose to work all together on both or to divide into smaller groups. You should talk extensively together as you draft your articles and, as much as possible, write them together (as opposed to dividing up the writing between you). At the end, it should be hard for any of you to discern or remember who wrote what or which words are whose. Each of you should take a pass at the final polishing and copyediting of the articles your House produces before passing them on to the Prefects for inclusion in the Daily Prophet. Warning: if it becomes clear to me that one or a few people have done most of the work for either or both articles your House produces, I will award points for those articles only to those who most actively and committedly produced them. Further, if it becomes clear to me that one or a few of you have interrupted, spoken over, or disregarded the contributions of quieter members of your group, I will award points to those who have been marginalized rather than to the most insistent speakers (or, in this case, writers) on the House’s discussion board. This means you, Hermione Granger! 

The articles your House publishes should meet the following criteria: 

• Move beyond merely reporting what other scholars have written or said by contributing original critical insight or perspective 
• Are well researched, drawing on both academic sources including but not limited to literary scholarship and popular materials you have gathered as well as assigned readings 
• Are well composed and crafted, written not only to inform, but to delight readers 
• Are produced through an extended process of peaceful collaboration 

All Houses will aid the Prefects in the design, layout, and publication of our Daily Prophet issue. At a minimum, this aid will take the form of revising articles as requested, attending to any publication guidelines including length, typeface, citation style, etc. as developed by the Prefects, and by copyediting articles carefully under the guidance of the Prefects. 

DAILY PROPHET ARTICLES RUBRIC