Study Questions

1. What motivates Voldemort to do what he does? What motivates Dumbledore? Hagrid? Harry? Ron? Hermione? Quirrell?

2. Compare and contrast Dudley and Draco. Compare and contrast Dudley and Harry. Compare and contrast Draco and Harry.

3. How does the Mirror of Erised tie into the theme of greed?

4. What are the benefits/drawbacks of writing this book in third person (“He went to Hogwarts”) rather than first person (“I went to Hogwarts”)?

5. What role does Snape play in the book? Why did Rowling include him? What purpose does he serve?

6. Do you think that Rowling intentionally wrote all of these Themes (death, racism, normality) into her books? Or did she do it unconsciously, without planning, and the book simply reflects her principles? Or are analysts like myself just reading far too into her book?

7. Do you think that Rowling intentionally created parallels between her story and similar stories in Greek mythology? Or did she do it unintentionally? Or am I just reading too into the book and stretching the parallels? (See Literary/Historical Influences for the Greek mythology parallels)

8. What do you think Rowling has planned for Harry? Ron?

Hermione? Dumbledore? Voldemort? Write what you think will happen in the seventh book and support your theories with book passages.

9. Quirrell said that, “There is no good and evil, there is only power, and those too weak to seek it.” Defend Quirrell’s statement; try and see things from his eyes. Then, quoting or paraphrasing from the book, argue that Rowling disagrees with Quirrell.

10. “Harry Potter encourages kids to use witchcraft.” Argue for or against this statement. Paraphrase or quote book passages to defend your claims, if possible.

11. “Harry Potter encourages kids to break the rules.” Argue for or against this statement. Paraphrase or quote book passages to defend your claims, if possible.

13. Ron insults Hermione (“she’s a nightmare”) and later regrets it. Does Ron make any other mistakes in the book? Does Harry make any mistakes or poor judgment calls in the book? Does Hermione? What’s the significance?

14. If you were Dumbledore, what would you do about the

Slytherin House? Allow them to remain at the school? Expel them? Expel any student that the Sorting Hat designates for Slytherin?

15. Do you think that Harry Potter realistically portrays eleven year olds? Why or why not? Paraphrase or quote book passages to defend your claims, if possible.

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