Fairytale Endnote
By Julianne
Since the children’s book Tales of Beedle the Bard plays such an important role in the Deathly Hallows, we chose to integrate a fairytale as one of our genres. In the critical essay What Would Harry Do? J. K. Rowling and Lawrence Kohlberg’s theories of moral development[1] the author discuss how moral development is constructed in the Harry Potter series. I thought this essay made a good connection to this piece because fairytales are, traditionally, meant to teach children about morals. The writing of this fairytale also made us return to the massive community that has emerged from the Harry Potter series (as discussed in the comic strip endnote), this time focusing on the literature that has been written to supplement the series.
In some ways one can consider this fairytale fan-fiction, as the idea derived form something within the series, and I therefore decided the audience of this piece to be Harry Potter fans. It is important to note, however, that one does not need to know anything about the Harry Potter series to understand this, so it could also be entertaining to younger children if they were to stumble upon it. On the website the Harry Potter Wiki, the wizarding fairytales are described to “resemble Muggle fairytales in many ways; for instance virtue is usually rewarded and wickedness punished. However there is one very obvious difference. In Muggle fairytales magic tends to lie at the root of the hero or heroine’s troubles (…). In the Tales of Beedle the Bard we meet heroes and heroines who can perform magic themselves”[2]. In writing the fairytale for our project, I modeled it after this description and also the other stories in the Beedle the Bard publication.
What we learned from the research was integrated in this piece in the following ways: 1) The cover and table of content: by using the book cover Rowling’s Beedle of the Bard publication uses, I integrated the information that there has been written works to supplement the Harry Potter series. The table of content shows the names of the fairytales Rowling wrote for the book, and I simply inserted my own fairytale with respective page numbers to give the piece an authentic feel. ;2) The content of the fairytale: the content of the fairytale is consistent with what I learned from the research. I have integrated the heroes (house elves) who are able to perform magic, punished the wicked, and rewarded virtue. ;3) Moral of the Story: Picking up on the What Would Harry Do? essay, I incorporated a moral in the story that teaches little wizards and witches to stay away from black magic, much in the same way that “Muggle fairytales” teaches children to use wit over strength.
The fairytale compliments our project nicely, as it picks up on J. K. Rowling’s books directly, as well as it integrates research done by reading supplementary works and critical essays. The way that the Harry Potter Community has received other works based loosely on the Harry Potter series, like cookbooks and poetry, confirms that the piece also have a place with the audience of Harry Potter fans. I think because the way the piece allows interaction on the web page by “flipping through” the pages, it opens up to the audience of young children as well. All in all, I created a piece that is fun to read and interact with, and that draws good connections to the research.
[1] Essay from the Ivory Tower and Harry Potter
[2] Harry Potter Wiki - The Tales of Beedle the Bard (27.11.12)
Since the children’s book Tales of Beedle the Bard plays such an important role in the Deathly Hallows, we chose to integrate a fairytale as one of our genres. In the critical essay What Would Harry Do? J. K. Rowling and Lawrence Kohlberg’s theories of moral development[1] the author discuss how moral development is constructed in the Harry Potter series. I thought this essay made a good connection to this piece because fairytales are, traditionally, meant to teach children about morals. The writing of this fairytale also made us return to the massive community that has emerged from the Harry Potter series (as discussed in the comic strip endnote), this time focusing on the literature that has been written to supplement the series.
In some ways one can consider this fairytale fan-fiction, as the idea derived form something within the series, and I therefore decided the audience of this piece to be Harry Potter fans. It is important to note, however, that one does not need to know anything about the Harry Potter series to understand this, so it could also be entertaining to younger children if they were to stumble upon it. On the website the Harry Potter Wiki, the wizarding fairytales are described to “resemble Muggle fairytales in many ways; for instance virtue is usually rewarded and wickedness punished. However there is one very obvious difference. In Muggle fairytales magic tends to lie at the root of the hero or heroine’s troubles (…). In the Tales of Beedle the Bard we meet heroes and heroines who can perform magic themselves”[2]. In writing the fairytale for our project, I modeled it after this description and also the other stories in the Beedle the Bard publication.
What we learned from the research was integrated in this piece in the following ways: 1) The cover and table of content: by using the book cover Rowling’s Beedle of the Bard publication uses, I integrated the information that there has been written works to supplement the Harry Potter series. The table of content shows the names of the fairytales Rowling wrote for the book, and I simply inserted my own fairytale with respective page numbers to give the piece an authentic feel. ;2) The content of the fairytale: the content of the fairytale is consistent with what I learned from the research. I have integrated the heroes (house elves) who are able to perform magic, punished the wicked, and rewarded virtue. ;3) Moral of the Story: Picking up on the What Would Harry Do? essay, I incorporated a moral in the story that teaches little wizards and witches to stay away from black magic, much in the same way that “Muggle fairytales” teaches children to use wit over strength.
The fairytale compliments our project nicely, as it picks up on J. K. Rowling’s books directly, as well as it integrates research done by reading supplementary works and critical essays. The way that the Harry Potter Community has received other works based loosely on the Harry Potter series, like cookbooks and poetry, confirms that the piece also have a place with the audience of Harry Potter fans. I think because the way the piece allows interaction on the web page by “flipping through” the pages, it opens up to the audience of young children as well. All in all, I created a piece that is fun to read and interact with, and that draws good connections to the research.
[1] Essay from the Ivory Tower and Harry Potter
[2] Harry Potter Wiki - The Tales of Beedle the Bard (27.11.12)
Research connecting to this piece
Rowling, J. K. The Tales of Beedle the Bard. New York: Children's High Level Group in Association with Arthur A. Levine, 2008. Print.
"The Tales of Beedle the Bard." The Harry Potter Wiki. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2012. <http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/The_Tales_of_Beedle_the_Bard>.
Whited, Lana A. The Ivory Tower and Harry Potter: Perspectives on a Literary Phenomenon. Columbia: University of Missouri, 2002. Print.
Anelli, Melissa. Harry, a History: The True Story of a Boy Wizard, His Fans, and Life inside the Harry Potter Phenomenon. New York: Pocket, 2008. Print.
"The Tales of Beedle the Bard." The Harry Potter Wiki. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2012. <http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/The_Tales_of_Beedle_the_Bard>.
Whited, Lana A. The Ivory Tower and Harry Potter: Perspectives on a Literary Phenomenon. Columbia: University of Missouri, 2002. Print.
Anelli, Melissa. Harry, a History: The True Story of a Boy Wizard, His Fans, and Life inside the Harry Potter Phenomenon. New York: Pocket, 2008. Print.
Additional examples of literature emerging from the HP series (click to buy):