Harry Potter and the Consumerism of Azkaban Essay Example

that Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts, has written a foreword assuring the reader that they are holding Harry Potter’s own copy of the book. Throughout the book, Harry doodles and annotates within the margins, but the real allure of the books is that each of them include “Harry Potter’s” signature (though the rare copy bears Rowling's signature, and those copies go for upwards of thousands of dollars).

People may not think much about purchasing items like dolls, or faux textbooks when they are connected to a book series they enjoy, but Teare's claim of value here suggests that such items only fuel commodity culture. Teare establishes her ethos by inspecting several examples of books associated with commodity culture.

She also gives a detailed description of the success of the Harry Potter franchise, leaving readers with the impression that she has a vast knowledge of both consumerism in literature, and of Harry Potter. Her intentions appear to be fixated on educating her readers on understanding the consumerism that is linked with the Potter books, she does not scrutinize the commodity culture, but instead argues that most of the efforts associated with consumerism in these aspects, slip by unnoticed by those who buy into it.

Teare is also seemingly impartial, as she shells out evidence that both supports and discourages consumerism exploits in Harry Potter stating, “I will argue that the stories the books tell, as well as the stories we’re telling about them, enact both our fantasies and our fears of children’s literature and publishing in the context of twenty-first-century commercial and technological culture. ” (Greene and Lidinsky, 808).

Teare allows readers

to see both sides of commodity culture: the good and the bad by presenting factual arguments in defense of both, this is helpful to us as readers as it allows us to acquire a total sense for how commodity culture is affiliated with Harry Potter. The intended audience of Elizabeth Teare’s article seems to be aimed toward the parents of child readers, and fans of the Harry Potter books. Teare encourages parents to be aware of the various ways consumerism might affect their children through the books they read.

After gaining a sense for the article, it becomes apparent that Teare feels that, the more unaware readers are of this specific aspect of consumer culture, the more likely they are to fall victim to it. Of this, Teare gives many examples. Analyzing the role Scholastic (the publisher of the Potter series) plays in the consumerism of Harry Potter, Teare states that “the elaborate Scholastic website encourages young visitors to play Harry Potter trivia games and to post entries identifying the character they most admire.

To play some games, they must register their 'personally identifiable information', which Scholastic, in a lengthy privacy notice, acknowledges the company may use to 'provide parents, via e-mail or other means with information about materials, activities, or other things that may be of interest to parents or their children, including products or services of third parties. '” (Greene and Lidinsky, 806). With this example, we are able to see some possible repercussions of being uninformed.

The main idea of Teare’s article, is that readers should be aware of the consumer culture phenomenon, and that consumerism can be linked

with books, even the beloved Harry Potter series, which has been praised for it’s “grassroots” success. The author appeals to logos by referencing several ways in which the Potter franchise is profiting off of related merchandise (i. e. books, toys, candy). She appeals to pathos in her attempt to educate people, such as the parents of children, to help them educate themselves and their children about the ploys of consumerism in places in which you wouldn’t expect them.

The structure of Teare’s article begins with giving a brief summary of the fame that has been achieved by the Potter franchise and its author before continuing on to describe the idea that consumer culture is affiliated with children’s literature. Teare describes how children’s literature has adapted a new appeal to the “twenty-first-century”, by developing products such as toy broomsticks and wands, wizard trading cards, and several candies that go along with the Harry Potter book series. Finally, Teare brings her argument to a close, by stressing the power of being adequately informed.

Although the form does indeed complement the content, Teare gives no real solution to completely dodging the consumer culture. The author fulfills her intentions on educating readers to have a better understanding of understanding and recognizing commodity culture. Teare does a great job of effectively fitting her message to her audience. She relates commodity culture to something as popular as the Harry Potter book series, so as to target the parents of child readers, and follows through by describing several different ways in which children can be influenced by consumerism.

The culture produced within this article comes off as an intelligent

and educated woman, who has conducted quite a bit of research on both commodity culture and Harry Potter. The values of the producer, would depend on the readers ability to differentiate personal opinions and choices from those forced upon them by society. By thoroughly reading this article, and gaining those perspectives of Elizabeth Teare and other credible authors she references, readers are able to gain a sense of awareness for the commodity culture that is often incorporated in children’s literature.

Heightening these senses is crucial to taking the most information out of the article, and about the author. To do this we must observe the writing process used throughout the article. By doing this, we can determine the intentions of the author and can evaluate the importance of the information at hand. By practicing this process, I can conclude that the research presented and carried out by Elizabeth Teare is both valid and useful.