'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets'

Course Overview

On this course, students will read and study J K Rowling's world phenomenon, 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.' Students will be guided through the plot in its entirety and construct a personal response to the text. Each lesson will explore a key theme from the text, presenting opportunities for discussion and debate. Themes will be analysed in detail, as well as key characters like Draco, Dumbledore and Snape. The course will be delivered through extract analysis, teaching students how to conduct close language analysis and critical reading. Students will analyse key themes and characters, as well as explore writer intention/reader effect. They will examine the importance of essential themes, engaging in sophisticated debate and discussions (conflict, prejudice, power) and they will focus predominantly on thematic analysis, eventually building towards an analysis of Harry, his development over the course of the text and his relationships throughout. Students will learn to annotate, interpret, infer and analyse extracts in preparation for an assessment question such as 'How is the character of X presented in the text?' Students will learn how to conduct character analysis while practising essential reading, writing and oracy skills.