Západočeská univerzita v Plzni Fakulta pedagogická Katedra anglického jazyka Diplomová práce POROVNÁNÍ DĚL HARRY POTTER OD J. K. ROWLING A THE WORST WITCH OD JILL MURPHY Lucie Baláková Plzeň 2014 1 University of West Bohemia Faculty of Education Department of English Graduate Thesis COMPARISON OF HARRY POTTER BY J.K.ROWLING AND THE WORST WITCH BY JILL MURPHY Lucie Baláková Plzeň 2014 2 Tato stránka bude ve svázané práci Váš původní formulář Zadáni dipl. práce (k vyzvednutí u sekretářky KAN) 3 Prohlašuji, že jsem práci vypracoval/a samostatně s použitím uvedené literatury a zdrojů informací. V Plzni dne 14. 4.2014 ……………………………. Lucie Baláková 4 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my supervisor Mgr. Libuše Lišková, M.A. for her valuable advice and comments which have allowed me to complete the thesis. 5 ABSTRACT Baláková, Lucie. University of West Bohemia. April, 2014. Comparison of Harry Potter by J.K.Rowling and The Worst Witch by Jill Murphy. Supervisor: Mgr. Libuše Lišková, M.A. This graduate thesis deals with comparison of two literary works, namely “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone“ by J.K. Rowling and „The Worst Witch“ by Jill Murphy. The aim of the theoretical part was to compare both works with respect to the settings, characters and plot. The research was divided into two parts. The aim of the first part was to find out students’ familiarity with both the works and their authors. The results are demonstrated in graphs as well as interpreted in text. The aim of the second part of the research was to find out what students like and dislike about main protagonists of given works. The results are demonstrated in tables and interpreted in text. 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS I.INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 10 II.THEORETICAL BACKGROUND ..................................................................... 12 Jill Murphy and Her Literary Work ......................................................................... 12 J.K. Rowling and Her Literary Work ...................................................................... 14 Public Schools ......................................................................................................... 17 Comparison of Selected Literary Works ................................................................. 20 Setting .................................................................................................................. 20 Overall setting. ................................................................................................. 20 Exteriors. .......................................................................................................... 21 Interiors. ........................................................................................................... 21 School organization. ........................................................................................ 22 Lessons. ....................................................................................................... 23 Books. .......................................................................................................... 24 Teachers. ...................................................................................................... 25 Atmosphere at school ...................................................................................... 25 Atmosphere at the Academy. ....................................................................... 25 Atmosphere at Hogwarts. ............................................................................ 26 Conclusion. ...................................................................................................... 28 Characters ............................................................................................................ 29 Harry Potter vs. Mildred Hubble ..................................................................... 29 Origin. .......................................................................................................... 29 Physical Appearance. ................................................................................... 30 Character traits ............................................................................................. 30 Harry Potter. ............................................................................................ 30 Mildred in comparison with Harry. ......................................................... 32 Draco Malfoy vs. Ethel Hallow ....................................................................... 35 7 Origin and physical appearance. .................................................................. 35 Character traits. ............................................................................................ 35 Draco Malfoy. .......................................................................................... 35 Ethel in comparison with Draco. ............................................................. 36 Albus Dumbledore vs. Miss Cackle ................................................................ 37 Origin, physical appearance. ........................................................................ 37 Character traits ............................................................................................. 38 Albus Dumbledore. .................................................................................. 38 Miss Cackle in comparison with Dumbledore. ........................................ 39 Severus Snape vs. Miss Hardbroom ................................................................ 40 Origin, physical appearance. ........................................................................ 40 Character Traits ........................................................................................... 41 Severus Snape. ......................................................................................... 41 Miss Hardbroom in comparison with Snape. .......................................... 41 Conlusion. ........................................................................................................ 43 Plot ....................................................................................................................... 44 Plot structure. ................................................................................................... 44 Plot itself. ......................................................................................................... 45 Feature 1: Potion lessons. ............................................................................ 45 Feature 2: Broomstick event. ....................................................................... 46 Feature 3: The ending. ................................................................................. 47 III. METHOD .......................................................................................................... 48 Research 1 ................................................................................................................ 48 Research 2 ................................................................................................................ 49 Lesson 1 ............................................................................................................... 49 Lesson 2 ............................................................................................................... 51 Lesson 3 ............................................................................................................... 52 8 IV. RESULTS AND COMMENTARIES ............................................................... 54 Research 1 ................................................................................................................ 54 Graph 1 ................................................................................................................ 55 Graph 2 ................................................................................................................ 56 Comparison of the results .................................................................................... 57 Graph 3 ................................................................................................................ 57 Commentaries to Research 1 ............................................................................... 58 Research 2 ................................................................................................................ 59 Table 1 ................................................................................................................. 59 Table 2 ................................................................................................................. 61 Comparison of the results .................................................................................... 62 Commentaries to Research 2 ............................................................................... 63 V. IMPLICATIONS ................................................................................................ 65 Pedagogical Implications ......................................................................................... 65 Limitation of the Research ....................................................................................... 66 Suggestions for Further Research ............................................................................ 66 V. CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................