The impact of Harry Potter on readers of his age

Facharbeit (Schule) aus dem Jahr 2009 im Fachbereich Englisch - Literatur, Werke, Note: 14 Punkte, , Veranstaltung: Leistungskurs Englisch, Sprache: Deutsch, Abstract: The immensely popular Harry Potter series by British writer Joanne K. Rowling has captivated tremendous attention from people of all ages all over the world. However, the ones that have probably been most grasped by Harry Potter are the children who started reading the first book of the series when they were between eight and twelve and then grew up with Harry (who turns eleven in the first book). There is a generation of children who were always about the same age as the protagonist of the series. And as Harry got older with every publication of a new book, so did they. There are readers who have read every book of the series, children who have read them multiple times and others who only know one or some of the books. However, according to the survey considered in this paper at least one Harry Potter book has been read by the majority of 18-20-year olds. No matter how great the impact was, overall it seems to have affected children more than any other book. What is it about the Harry Potter books that made them worth reading to such an extent? What influence did the books have on people's reading attitudes, e.g. how many people have actually read them how many times and have the books changed their interest in reading? What exactly was the actual impact that the books have had on children's character and personality development, such as moral reading, their (the reader's) own character and the formation of a generation's common identity? And what impact did the increasing complexity of the books have on young readers? This is what the following analysis wants to find out. It is mainly based on a survey among 100 18 to 20-year-old students and also on published research and surveys on the subject as well as newspaper articles and internet publica