Assignment 1-3-3-Analysis #2- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone- Analysis #2

     Rituals can be described as a shared ceremony that usually takes place at a certain time and place. Rituals occur in my different areas of everyday life such as in families, different religions, and in some businesses; but at times, one never really think about it until it is time for the ritual to take place. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer have Stone and throughout the Harry Potter series, the characters in the book and movies practiced a ritual called the “Sorting Hat”, which is now a well know artifact associated with Harry Potter (Profiles of Popular Culture, 2005).

     The Sorting Hat is a ceremony that took place at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry each year the children return to school. The Hogwarts School consist of four different houses named after the four founders and each had a different very different idea of what kind of person should be taught; the sorting hat ceremony is a magical way to decide which house the new students will live in based of course on what the hat says. Now in today’s society you can see the sorting hat everywhere on children’s heads and some are having sorting parties where the hat is worn (J. K. Rowling, 2012).

     Based on the information stated this could also be a classified as a stereotype because it puts the children in different classes based on their personalities. Now they have sorting hat personality test that children have to take before they can be place anywhere in the game, whether good or bad. Is this the right example for our children?  I read on one of the web-site where it stated, “In our modern age, those who don’t know, or aren’t magical, will merely see old ruins and a sign warning of danger”. Does that mean those who don’t know and does not pass the personality test will never know and therefore, cannot be taught? So this ritual is stereotyping children based on personality. I don’t agree with it of course and but it’s sad that any child would have to be subjected to something like that to be accepted at a birthday party (Hogwarts, 2004, September 1).