Harry Potter and the Sorcerer\'s Stone (1997)

¶ … Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (1997) by J.K. Rowling (New York: Scholastic Press, 1997)

What type of world does the author present to the child in this fantasy text?

In this fantasy text, the author presents a completely self-contained, magical world, with its own rules, hierarchies, atmosphere, heroes and villains, schools, shops, banks, restaurants, etc. Here, individuals with special magical powers outside the "muggle world" of Harry Potter's aunt, uncle, and cousin live, work, and go to school. This world exists not in place of, but separately from, the muggle world. Harry Potter and any of his friends with "muggle" parents or guardians must still live in the "muggle world" each summer when Hogwarts School is out, until they can return to Hogwarts the next fall. At Hogwarts, however, nearly everything is different than it is in the "muggle world." There are some standard similarities, however, such as classes, exams, more and less popular teachers, fellow students who are friends or not, rewards, sports competitions (quidditch), a merit system, etc. But in the separate world it creates within Hogwarts School itself, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is similar to (although it is not) a science fiction novel.

2. What is the author's philosophical position in the text?

The author's philosophical position in the text is that there is a place in life for everyone, and that things that are seen in one context as oddities (like Harry's ability to talk to snakes, and various other things he does, which his aunt, uncle, and cousin, criticize or do not understand, although not strengths in the world of the muggles, are in fact strengths within the world of Hogwarts. However, Harry himself must also learn to navigate between the tow worlds -- the one during the school year, into which he fits well, and where he is seen by others at Hogwarts as a sort of celebrity, due to who his parents were, and the one to which he must return in the summer, where he is considered someone less important than average. Rowling's underlying philosophy here seems to be that one must

3. What psycho-social issues does the text evoke and how do these issues fit with the development of children for whom the text is age-appropriate using Piaget's cognitive development or Erikson's eight stages of development?

Psycho-social issues the text evoked would include those mentioned within Erickson's fourth and fifth stages of development in particular, of all eight stages possible. In terms of Erickson's eight stages of socio-emotional development, children reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone would most likely be in either the fourth ("Accomplishment/Industry vs. Inferiority") stage or the fifth ("Identity vs. Role Confusion") stage of development, that is, Middle Childhood/Elementary or Adolescence.