As already mentioned before, witchcraft is a topic that has been a great influence in literature, history, and even in our culture; but today I’m just going to focus in literature…
I consider literature as a form of art in which the human expresses ideas that are product of his mind and creativity. Literature can also be seen as a huge world that is divided by genres, for example: romance, fantasy, science fiction, horror, crime, mystery, etc. I was reading a web page from the University of Florida called “Genre Fiction as Literature”, where it said that the fantasy literature was the one where elements such as witches, wizards, and magic can be seen. Matt Sanchez also says that fantasy is the richest type of literature in which characters are introduced into world or places where unexplainable and unexpected situations occur, and that it is the only one that can erase the boundaries between children’s fiction and adult fiction (iml.jou.ufl.edu).
There are a lot of examples of fantasy works in which the main topic is “wizardry” or “magic” but some of the titles that I know are the “Harry Potter” series by J.K. Rowling (one of my favorite series), “One Thousand and One Nights”, “The Lord of the Rings” books by J.R.R. Tolkien, “The Eyes of the Dragon” by Stephen King, and “The Chronicles of Narnia” by C.S. Lewis.
Witchcraft and magic in fantasy literature also plays a role in education. According to an article called “Children's Literature Across the Curriculum: An Ontario Survey”, it is said that the genre of fantasy is used by a 45.6% by teachers and librarians in Canada to give classes to children that belong to primary grades because it has a strong influence on student’s attitudes, values, and beliefs; also the use of this genre helps to see the emotions and themes that come from other human’s mind and how all this had an influence in the author’s work (Pantaleo). In conclusion, according to all the ideas that were explained before, it can be said that magic and witchcraft have a great influence in literature and even in education. Maybe this topic about magic does not exist but, in my opinion, it helps to develop creativity and critical thinking skills. That kind of literature is the one that kids prefer because it results interesting for them.
Well, that’s all for today! I hope you enjoyed it… Check this blog next week because I’ll write about “Harry Potter” series and its impact in our society.
Works Cited:
Pantaleon, Sylvia. “Children’s Literature Across the Curriculum: An Ontario Survey” Education (2002): 211-30. ProQuest. Web. 30 August 2011.
Sanchez, Matt. “Fantasy”. Genre Fiction as Literature. Web University of Florida Interactive Media Lab, 2005. Web. 30 Aug. 2011 < http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Spring05/Sanchez/fantasy3.htm>
*Doubts of how I cited the article? Check http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/02/ at the electronic source section.
This is the first time I read your blog and I've found it very interesting! Personally I like Harry Potter (but not as much you do)and its cool to see how you've found a way to relate something you love so much with your topic.
ResponderEliminarI've seen enough about the historical background of wizardry, so it is interesting to see someone writing about actuality, not often you can see people relating it to things such as actual literature and education.
An interesting question is Why kids love so much this kind of things? In my personal opinion, I think because is so out of reality, so far away that they can actually imagine without restrictions.
I hope I can read it next week, it's fascinating to meet someone that knows a lot about HP.
Great Blog,I actually liked it ,, (:
Hello AK!
ResponderEliminarI totally agree with you about the literature. I personally have written some short stories for my literary creation workshop and that is something that allow us to express emotions and thought in such an amazing way.
Fantasy is one of the genres that I really enjoy reading; the Chronicles of Narnia for instance ( read the 7 of them). The mysterious and scenarios that fantasy literature offer us are really mind blowing! Maybe for a future post you could analyze a quote from a fantasy novel or so ...
See you AK
Danyel