| 1 User(s) are reading this topic (1 Guests and 0 Anonymous Users) |
|
Basic Dramatic Structure of HP, How do book 1 and book 7 tie together? |
|
|
|
 Jul 23 2006, 11:47 PM
|
Being Eaten by the Pea Soup
Posts: 18
Joined: 12:17am July 3, 2006
|
in my sophomore english class my professor spent a great deal of time discussing the structure of greek plays. many of you have seen the pyramid structure used to show the rising and falling action it looks like a small mountain. shakespeare followed the greek outline for plays and so did many other great playwrites. what i think is really interesting though, is that the different acts parallel one another. so in a 5 act play the first act and the fifth act will have similar things happening the second and fourth acts will have similar things happening and the third act will be the climax. what i mean by similar things is that often a character will only appear in the second and fourth acts, or the location will be common or a theme will tie the two acts together. i was thinking about this in terms of harry potter and realized that the structure of a five act play could be easily used for a 7 book series.
if this is the case then books 1 and 7, 2 and 6, 3 and 5 would all have things in common and book 4 would be the climax since we don't know much about book 7 yet i'll start by showing you the similarities i found in the other books
2 and 6:
in book 2 harry encounters the first horcrux in book 6 harry finds out what a horcrux is.
in book 2 harry finds out a little bit about lord voldemort's past as he encounters tom riddle in book 6 harry spends a great deal of time learning about tom riddle's past.
2 harry saves ginny, 6 harry realizes he loves ginny.
2 people are being petrified and attacked, 6 people are being attacked by death eaters
in both books everyone seems uneasy and scared.
3 and 5:
both books have a great deal to do with prophecies.
at the end of book 3 harry saves sirius at the end of book 5 sirius dies to save harry.
in both books james's friends and their pasts are talked about a great deal.
in 3 harry takes extra lessons from lupin to learn how to make a patronus, in book 5 harry teaches his classmates how to make patronuses.
4:
the obvious climax of the books as lord voldemort returns to his former glory.
the triwizard tournament showed that harry was a powerful wizard.
so that brings us to books 1 and 7, here are a few of my guesses at what book 7 may have in common with book 1:
the books started with someone living, it will end with someone dying
snape saved harry in book 1, maybe he'll repeat the act or maybe he'll kill harry
harry will return to godric's hollow, where it all started
book 1 ended with harry facing LV, book 7 will end with them facing eachother again
harry's mother died to save him in book1, in book 7 someone else will sacrifice themself for harry
book 1 harry travelled to hogwarts for the first time, he will visit it for the last time in 7
book 1 harry makes two best friends, in book 7 they will stick with him
book 1 harry and draco face off in a wizard's duel, book 7 they will duel once more
book 1 hagrid looks after harry, book 7 he'll help harry along the way
there are a lot of possibilities of things in book 1 that will come into play in book 7. i'd love to hear everyone's theories, or any ties you see.
--------------------
make no small plans, they have no magic to stir mens' souls
|
|
|
|
|
Jul 24 2006, 07:52 AM
|
Knight Bus Driver in Training
Posts: 562
Joined: 8:16pm July 8, 2005
Location: Keep Leaky Spoiler Free!
|
This is a really interesting analysis of the plot! Excellent job!
I think this is very likely to be true in the end, even though J.K. might not have planned it to parallel Greek plays and such.
One slight difference: I always predicted the seventh book would be the climax, because Voldemort and Harry will face each other for the final time. However, I can definetly see the fourth book as the climax as well.
QUOTE book 1 harry and draco face off in a wizard's duel, book 7 they will duel once more.
Actually, they face of in the second book, when Lockhart and Snape were running the "Dueling Club." Draco does challenge Harry to a duel in the first book, but they never actually fight ( due to the fact that it was all a set-up to get Harry and Ron in trouble )
I still think Draco will have a big part in the next book, even if not for these reasons :-)
The connections between book 2 and 6 are probably the clearest, but I applaude you for finding the similarities between books 3 and 5 too!
Very good job!
--------------------
"OI! There's a war going on here!"
Thank you mudblood428 for the beautiful fanart I used in my avatar!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jul 24 2006, 08:35 AM
|
Official Singer of the Sorting Hat Song
Posts: 6,422
Joined: 3:12pm July 22, 2005
Location: Lost in Hermione's beaded bag
|
Well, I agree there is a story arc to the series. And I think it can be said that Goblet of Fire is the pivotal book. In GoF, the themes of Love and Death merge and we see the good doing evil and the evil doing good.
There are certainly many common themes shared by Chamber of Secrets and Half Blood Prince. The one I would focus on is the return of young Tom Riddle and its parallel in the coming of age of Draco Malfoy.
Prisoner of Azkaban and Order of the Phoenix are really tales of Marauders. The first tells of their creation while the second tells of their final stand. They're linked by Sirius, who is something of a prisoner in both books and dies being true to himself.
I have no doubt the last book will end with a battle at Hogwarts. I see Hogwarts as the symbol of civilization and the Death Eaters as the threat to free thought, free speech and free assembly. In Philosopher's Stone, the trio overcome the protections to the Stone by solving a series of puzzles with knowledge gained at Hogwarts. I suspect something of the same will happen in Book Seven, with the remaining horcruxes as the Stones.
However, I'm not sure I agree about the ending. I do agree Voldemort will die. It won't be seen as a complete victory as I'm sure Death Eaters will go free, as they did last time. But the first book began with Harry abandoned on a doorstep. And that's how I see Book Seven ending, with Harry facing the unknown world of adulthood. Book Seven will end with him telling off the Dursleys and leaving Privet Dr in contrast to his shocking arrival 16 years earlier. And, while the first book ends with his return to the Dursleys, the last will see him without a home and on his own.
--------------------
Come the words that bubble
Up through broken laughter,
Sweeter than spring-water,
"Gods, I am so happy!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jul 24 2006, 06:34 PM
|
Knight Bus Driver in Training
Posts: 562
Joined: 8:16pm July 8, 2005
Location: Keep Leaky Spoiler Free!
|
QUOTE Book 1 ron and hermione help harry through a series of tasks but ultimately harry must face voldemort alone, probably what we'll see in the 7th book.
Good point Ms. Skeeter!
QUOTE through the first book harry thought that snape was evil and was the one after the sorcerers stone... so maybe through the seventh book he thinks snape is evil and snape once again proves him wrong.
Let's hope so! Snape is GOOD!
--------------------
"OI! There's a war going on here!"
Thank you mudblood428 for the beautiful fanart I used in my avatar!
|
|
|
|
  Similar Topics
 Similar Topics
|
Sorting is now open for our Prisoner of Azkaban reading groups! Click here to sort!
Shopping at The Cauldron Shop supports this forum!
|
and OPAST member
