RESEARCH GUIDE FOR THE HARRY POTTER BOOKS
Welcome to my research guide for the Harry Potter book series by J.K. Rowling. This guide is for anyone interested in the series, targeted especially towards those aged 16 and up. The following guide will explain how to research the Harry Potter books using written and online resources. Whether you are researching for a school project or personal interest, this guide will help you through the journey.
"Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic."
J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
WRITTEN RESOURCES
HARRY POTTER BOOKS
If you are researching or wondering about the Harry Potter books but you have not read the series yet, this is the best place to start. If you have read the series already, keep a copy nearby so you can reference it. The following resources are accurate enough to support research, but it is always a good idea to get the information or fact check others’ information directly from the source if possible. The series began in 1997 and wrapped up in 2007. There are multiple formats and cover variations available. Click below for the author's website where you can get information on where to buy copies. Or, of course, you can always look for them in your local library!
THE IVORY TOWER AND HARRY POTTER: PERSPECTIVES ON A LITERARY PHENOMENON
The Ivory Tower and Harry Potter: Perspectives on a Literary Phenomenon edited by Lana Whited is a book of collected works that cover a large range of literary elements seen in the Harry Potter series. Some of the topics discussed in this collection include past literary works that influenced the series directly and indirectly, moral and ethical issues in the Harry Potter books, J.K. Rowling’s use of folklore in the texts, along with many more subjects. Perspectives on these issues come from experts in the fields of literature, folklore, psychology, sociology, and popular culture to name a few. The Ivory Tower and Harry Potter only covers books 1-4 in the series but can be used as a topic guide or reference book.
THE LIBRARIAN IN ROWLING'S HARRY POTTER SERIES
The Librarian in the Harry Potter Series written by Mary Freier from Northern Michigan University points out that Hermione Granger acted as a librarian and researcher throughout the Harry Potter series. Freier argues that Hermione’s ability to use the library and properly conduct research led to the direct take-down of Lord Voldemort. Throughout the series, Hermione’s ability to use the library improves and eventually overshadows the actual librarian character in the series, Madam Pince. The article pulls from the series as well as other research on this topic. Freier starts at the beginning of the series and follows Hermione in her growth as a librarian and researcher. This is a good article to read for those interested in or researching Hermione Granger as a character.
NAMING TROPES AND SCHEMES IN J.K. ROWLING'S HARRY POTTER BOOKS
Naming tropes and schemes in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter Books is an article written by Don L. F. Nilsen and Alleen Pace Nilsen about the tropes and schemes found in the Harry Potter series. The article starts with the difference between tropes and schemes and an explanation for why the Harry Potter series was used to teach these plot elements to students. The article then goes on to name a few tropes and schemes arranged alphabetically, each with examples from the Harry Potter series. Naming tropes and schemes in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter Books provides a lot of information on literary aspects of the series with plenty of examples. In addition, there are explanations for J.K. Rowling’s choice in character, setting, and object names.
GENDERED REPRESENTATIONS THROUGH SPEECH: THE CASE OF THE HARRY POTTER SERIES
Gendered Representations Through Speech: The Case of the Harry Potter Series is a study conducted by Maeve Eberhardt from the University of Vermont who looks into the way gender is represented in the Harry Potter series. The study focuses on the gender representations of the characters Hermione and Ron by dissecting their speech throughout all seven books. Eberhardt’s study is conducted based off the once popular idea that men and women speak differently. The article explains the process, method, and results of the study along with an in-depth explanation of the verbs and other elements of speech that were evaluated. The article is written with some jargon that will have to be looked up, but it is otherwise an easy read with interesting results.
HEROISM IN THE HARRY POTTER SERIES
Heroism in the Harry Potter Series edited by Katrin Berndt and Lena Steveker is a collection containing a study of heroism, ethics, and morals in the Harry Potter series. It does this by comparing the heroism in the Harry Potter series to the former ideas of heroism in classic works of epic, romance, and adventure genres. The book has three broad sections for the discussion of genre, how Harry developed in to a hero, and the definition of a hero according to the Harry Potter series. More narrowed topics in this collection include heroism of secondary and minor characters, the influence of the Gothic tradition, Hermione’s version of heroism, and many more. Heroism in the Harry Potter Series makes the argument that the Harry Potter series follows the modern day trend of heroes being responsible, brave, kind, and humble.
THE HOGWARTS LIBRARY, 3 VOLUMES
There are a few companion books to the original Harry Potter series and they are: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, The Tales of Beedle the Bard, and Quidditch Through the Ages. All three of these titles were specifically mentioned by characters in the Harry Potter books. They contain information and stories about the wizarding world through the eyes of the character who “wrote” them. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (not the screenplay) is a textbook listing magical creatures alphabetically. The book contains notes by Hermione, Harry, and Ron and illustrations of some creatures. The Tales of Beedle the Bard is a collection of children’s stories told to young witches and wizards. The tale of the Deathly Hallows is one of those stories. Quidditch Through the Ages has information on brooms and quidditch teams, and also has notes from the characters and illustrations.
HARRY POTTER A JOURNEY THROUGH A HISTORY OF MAGIC
Harry Potter a Journey Through a History of Magic is a book created as the official companion guide to the British Library Harry Potter exhibition. The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom which held the Harry Potter: A History of Magic exhibit from October 2017 to February 2018 put together by head curator Julian Harrison. The book contains images of original sketches and manuscripts, illustrations by Jim Kay, and information about the subjects studied at Hogwarts. This book also goes into the real-life influences of the Philosopher’s Stone, dragons, trolls, wands, mandrakes, and many other elements of the story. Along with those are photos taken of artifacts and objects displayed in the library’s museum Harry Potter exhibit.
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF HARRY POTTER
The Psychology of Harry Potter: an unauthorized examination of the boy who lived edited by Neil Mulholland is a collection of articles from leading psychologists. Each article explains an aspect or theory of psychology in terms of Harry Potter. Each article uses some jargon that might need to be looked up, but the examples are taken from J.K. Rowling’s series. Topics discussed in this collection include disobedience, the fascination of Professor Lupin, life after N.E.W.T.s., time, relationships, and many more. The character’s minds and motivations play a big part in The Psychology of Harry Potter and is a good resource for people wanting to learn more about the characters, are interested in psychology, or are researching these topics.
READING HARRY POTTER: CRITICAL ESSAYS
Reading Harry Potter: Critical Essays edited by Giselle Liza Anatol is a collection of critical essays about the Harry Potter series. Topics discussed in this collection include psychology, child development, experiences, literary and historical influences, school, social values, morality, and many more. Anatol believes the popularity of the series requires a critical look at the books with no regard to the fact that it is a children’s series but, instead, a work of important fiction. It is noted that the contributions to this collection come from a variety of backgrounds which help in the interpretations so that they are not all one-sided. Reading Harry Potter: Critical Essays is a good resource for specific research and in-depth commentary on the series.
ONLINE RESOURCES
POTTER TALK
The website and blog pottertalk.net is owned and maintained by a woman named Katy Rochelle. Katy is an English graduate who spends her time gathering news about the Harry Potter world and blogging about the Harry Potter events she has attended. The website has information on books, movies, do-it-yourself crafts, and articles.This is a good website to look at to start finding news articles since many have been collected from various news sources. There is also a search feature to make it easy to find what you are looking for, and the postings are frequent with about one per week. Even though there are personal stories and articles, this website is a good place to start your research.
J.K. ROWLING'S WEBSITE
J.K. Rowling’s current official website was launched in 2016. She wrote in her “Welcome to my new website!” article that she didn’t feel the old website was a proper representation of her, so she rarely updated it. Since the redesign, the website has a more personal touch and is updated more regularly. Jkrowling.com has four main sections: About, Writing, News, and Answers. The “About” section contains a biography, list of honors and awards, charities, and her trust. The “Writing” sections houses information on all books she wrote in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter companion books, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the Casual Vacancy, Very Good Lives, and the books she wrote under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. The “News” section collects articles about her works and world from various sources. The “Answers” section holds J.K. Rowling’s answers to frequently asked questions about her and her works.
THE HARRY POTTER LEXICON
The Harry Potter Lexicon is a fan-made online encyclopedia of the Harry Potter world. The creator of this resource is a school librarian named Steve Vander Ark and the site is maintained by a group of fifteen editors. The website stresses a few things about their site that sets it apart from others. One of those traits is that they only collect and draw from what J.K Rowling herself wrote to make sure it is 100% canon. They also want the Harry Potter Lexicon to be a source for research, so they always link to the sources they used to find their information. I highly recommend starting here if you are researching Harry Potter for a class but are still unsure of your topic.
U.S. NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE
The United States National Library of Medicine used the popularity of the Harry Potter series to help people explore Renaissance traditions seen in the books. The exhibition and online resource shows connections between the series and the magic, science, medicine, and myths of the Renaissance. The exhibition contains information on potions, monsters, herbology, magical creatures, and immortality. There is also an “Education” section that offers lesson plans, higher education, online activities, and other resources. The lesson plans available examine history and social studies through fear and science and technology through genetic traits. The topic under “Higher Education” allows undergraduate and graduate students to explore the themes in modern development of medicine and science. The online activity available shows how philosophers of the Renaissance shaped the development of modern western medicine. The digital galleries allow people to look at the items and information without visiting in person.
POTTERMORE
Pottermore is a digital publishing company founded and owned by J.K. Rowling. The site was created to share information and behind-the-scenes content with fans. Posted on this site are articles; features; extra writings about the story and characters by the author; artwork; descriptions of locations, characters, creatures, magic, and magical objects; as well as other information about the wizarding world. A fun activity this website provides is the ability to create an account and get sorted into your Hogwarts house after taking a short quiz. When you do this, more content becomes available. The site also has an option for an interactive reading of the whole series. I chose this resource because it was created by J.K. Rowling and all of the content comes from or is vetted by her.
TV TROPES: HARRY POTTER
TV Tropes is a website that collects, analyses, and shares plot devices found in everything from advertising to toys. The TV Tropes team consists of two co-owners, three developers, and one social media expert. The “Literature/Harry Potter” page starts with an explanation of the overarching plot of the series, and then it is broken down by book. Each book gets an analysis of the tropes used in the writing and is backed up with examples and direct quotes from the text. This is a good resource for those delving into the literary aspects of the series. I recommend using this source in the beginning stages of research to help understand certain elements of plot used in the Harry Potter series.
Bibliography
Anatol, G. (Ed.). (2003). Reading Harry Potter: Critical essays. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, LLC.
Ark, S. V. (2018). The Harry Potter lexicon. Retrieved from https://www.hp-lexicon.org
Berndt, K. & Steveker, L. (Eds.). (2011). Heroism in the Harry Potter series. Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing Company.
British Library. (2017). Harry Potter a journey through a history of magic. Bloomsbury.
Eberhardt, M. (2017). Gendered representations through speech: The case of the Harry Potter Series. Language and Literature, 26(3), 227-246. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963947017701851
Freier, M. (2014). The librarian in the Harry Potter series. CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture, 16(3).
J.K. Rowling official website. https://www.jkrowling.com
Literature/Harry Potter. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/HarryPotter
Mulholland, N. (Ed.). (2007). The psychology of Harry Potter: An unauthorized examination of the boy who lived. Dallas, TX: BenBella Books.
Nilsen, L. F. & Nilsen, A.P. (2009). Naming tropes and schemes in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books. The English Journal, 98(6), 60-68. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40503461
Pottermore: a unique online Harry Potter experience from J.K. Rowling. http://www.pottermore.com
Rochelle, K. (2018). Potter Talk. Retrieved from https://www.pottertalk.net
Rowling, J. K. (1998-2007). Harry Potter series. Scholastic.
Rowling, J.K. (2012). The Hogwarts library. Bloomsbury Childrens.
U.S. National Library of Medicine. (2017). Harry Potter’s world. Retrieved from https://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/harrypottersworld
Whited, L. (Ed.). (2004). The ivory tower and Harry Potter: Perspectives on a literary phenomenon. University of Missouri.