Sauron needs the ring that was found by the Hobbits to return to power, and readers find out in the sixth Harry Potter book that the evil Lord Voldemort has fragmented his soul into multiple pieces, all hidden. Once they are found and joined together, Voldemort will return with full power again. In both books, the antagonists have symbols that can be seen in the sky. In Lord of the Rings the symbol is a great eye that can be seen from a tower and be transmitted into crystal balls that allow Sauron to observe what is going on in various parts of the world. In the Harry Potter books, the symbol is shot into the sky by Voldemort's followers, called "Death Eaters." However, ather than allowing Voldemort to observe others, it draws his followers together. The ring wraiths of Lord of the Rings and the dementors of Rowling's book also bring images of death to the readers.

USE OF DIFFERENT KINDS OF LANGUAGES

Both J, K. Rowling and J.R.R. Tolkien have used created languages to support their story line. Tolkien's use of created languages is extensive and elaborate. He provides his readers with appendices and supplements that provide the characters used in the languages, the correct pronunciation, and translations. Poetry in the book is written not only in English but in some of these created languages. The use of these languages emphasizes the differences between the groups of people who must work together in order to defeat Sauron J.R. Rowling's use of a created language is far more simple, however. She uses a language called "Parseltongue," a way to talk directly to snakes. In her rendering, the language is presented using the same characters used for English, and although the words are clearly not English, the written form in her books follow standard English pronunciation rules. However, the effect of the...

His ability to use it puts him under considerable suspicion, just as languages help separate groups of people in Tolkien's work.
USE OF BACK STORY

Finally, there is the use of back story. Both books involve intricate plots planned out carefully over a span of time. When the authors began their works, they did not completely know what would be included and what would not be included. However, they knew they had to thoroughly understand their characters, the settings, and all the details of their stories so they could include details and maintain consistency over long story lines.

Tolkien produced his back story in quite elaborate ways, and fans of his writing can consult with them, studying the various forms of Elvish language, for instance. He wrote other books based on the characters and details of Lord of the Ring. He provided detailed maps of the areas covered.

Rowling has done something similar but on a simpler level, and it also has resulted in some supplemental books, such as one on all the magical creatures of the world created in the Harry Potter books. However, her background information isn't nearly as complete. For instance, she has not provided a map of the areas of Great Britain covered in her stories, and she has not really created an entire language of Parseltongue that people could write in or use to communicate with others.

In summary, both books used similar elements, but in markedly different ways. Their differing uses resulted in works that are markedly different in style and tone, demonstrating that genre is a creative starting point and not a restriction for good writers.