Harry Potter: Think and Write
What is Webquest?
"A WebQuest," according to Bernie Dodge, the originator of the WebQuest concept, "is an inquiry-oriented activity in which most or all of the information used by learners is drawn from the Web. WebQuests are designed to use learners' time well, to focus on using information rather than on looking for it, and to support learners' thinking at the levels of analysis, synthesis, and evaluation." (Linda Starr)
Activity
Web quest: Harry Potter (Students’ Handout)
Wwyp, carry out following tasks with the help of internet search engines:
1) Find at least three good web resources for the following topic/s.
2) Find key arguments for the discourse on the given topic/s
3) Note down illustrations from Harry Potter for the arguments
Blog Task: With the help of web resources and arguments worked out by various group, you shall think critically to develop an argument on any three of the following topics. Give your response in the 'Comment' section under this blog post.
Topics for web quest:
Think critically and develop an argument on any three of the following topics.
1) Feminist reading of Harmione’s character in Harry Potter: How do the character portrayal of Harmione and other female characters support feminist discourse?
2) Discourse on the purity of Blood and Harry Potter: How do the novels play with the thesis of pure blood (Master Race) giving an anti-thesis by belonging protagonists to half-blood / Mud-blood? What sort of synthesis is sought in this discourse in Harry Potter series?
3) Confronting reality by reading fantasy: How does reading Harry Potter make us confront the reality of our everyday existence?
4) Self-Help culture and Harry Potter: How does it stand by an argument that Self-Help Culture serves as a tool of social control: it sooths political unrest . . . one blames oneself for not getting better off is society and remains in one's own pursuit of self-invention, blaming oneself for the failure rather than the systems?
5) The discourse of Power and Politics in Harry Potter: How does Ministry of Magic control the resistance? How do they prosecute the ‘Other’?
6) Children’s Literature and Harry Potter: How far does J K Rowling transcends the canonical confines of children’s literature and claims the heights of ‘real’ literature?
7) Speculative literature and Harry Potter: What is speculative literature? How far Harry Potter qualifies for the same? Does J K Rowling transcends the confines of speculative literature and claim the heights of ‘real’ literature?
8) The theme of Choice and Chance: How does Harry Potter discusses the antithetical concepts of ‘choice’ and ‘chance’?
9) The theme of Love and Death: How does Harry Potter make use of age old theme of Love of the dead as well as living as protecting armour? How does Harry Potter deal with the concept of Death as something inevitable?
10) Moral and Philosophical reading of Harry Potter: How does the concept of ‘evil breeds evil’ unfold in Harry Potter? What is the significance of Harry being one of the Horcruxes?
11) Christianity and Harry Potter Series: How many times Harry and his friends visit Church? how often in the moments of crisis when they are helpless, clueless, they pray to God for Grace or Mercy? How many times God's Grace saves them from the Devil Lord Voldemort? Does J.K. Rowling use Christianity at any level in the entire Harry Potter series?
12) What is your opinion on this:
How to self-assess my webquest activity?
A Rubric for Evaluating WebQuests
The WebQuest format can be applied to a variety of teaching situations. If you take advantage of all the possibilities inherent in the format, your students will have a rich and powerful experience. This rubric will help you pinpoint the ways in which your WebQuest isn't doing everything it could do. If a page seems to fall between categories, feel free to score it with in-between points.
This rubric is modified from Original WebQuest rubric by Bernie Dodge.
This is Version 1.03. Modified by Laura Bellofatto, Nick Bohl, Mike Casey, Marsha Krill, and Bernie Dodge and last updated on June 19, 2001.
