Topic
Fantasy and Magic (Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings)
Instructions
Study and write about fantasy and magic.
Consider this: One way that magic pervades our modern society is through literature, films, and games. Some of these media draw upon old traditions, whereas others create their own universes and sets of magical laws. Whether Arthurian legends of Merlin the Magician, Gandalf, Harry Potter, or a 90th level Mage in an online role-playing game, magic and fantasy hold our imagination, and allow us to escape to an alternate universe. One persistent theme regarding magic is its morality: is magic a force for good or evil, or simply an instrument for either?
Study the readings in our text concerning magic from Chapter 7 (pp. 145-154 in 4th print ed.). Feel free to extend your research beyond this source.
Write a short essay, discussing 2 fantasy worlds. By fantasy world is meant a fictional named cosmos, e.g. Middle Earth for Lord of the Rings or Azeroth for World of Warcraft. If no world is named use the title of the work or the series. Specify which media you are covering, whether films, books, games, etc. (e.g. for Harry Potter, specify whether you are talking about the book series or the film series).
Paper title: Name 2 fantasy worlds, whether in print, film or game form. Use this format for your title: Fantasy and Magic: [World 1] and [World 2]. Feel free to add an additional (creative) subtitle.
Each bullet point below should be a separate paragraph:
- Introduction
- Compare the worlds by discussing 1-2 similarities in how magic works.
- Compare the worlds by discussing 1-2 differences in how magic works.
- Relate your discussions to the Stein and Stein textbook in some way, pp. 136-147. Cite pages numbers in parentheses in your text.
- Magic today: Why do you think magic and fantasy have such a strong appeal in the popular media? Has this been controversial?
- Conclusion: what did you learn?
References: list all your sources, in APA format. Minimum is 2 properly formatted scholarly references: the textbook and an outside source. Do not use websites, except for online versions of scholarly published sources. Also reference your fiction books, films and games. For games, list: title, version, year published, and publisher. For series, reference the whole series once, not each book or film.
Answer preview
In the modern society, practice of magic remains limited and it is mainly presented through popular forms of art. Although not physically practiced openly, it continues to gain popularity when presented in arts like films. Some of the best-selling films in the modern society have depicted magic as a central them of their context. This raises a key question regarding the use of the magic among people. This essay focuses on films as a depiction of the popular culture of which is presented in different modes in the various films.
Word count: 662