Reading, Writing, Rowling

Explore the more-than-magical power of words and rhetoric in the wizarding world.  This month’s episode explores Albus Dumbledore’s wisdom that “Words are our most inexhaustible source of magic.” Mark-Anthony Lewis (Bristol Community College and School on Wheels of Massachusetts) helps Emily and Katy understand how speech and rhetoric operate in the wizarding world. He explains why “Harry Potter Has a Consent Problem,” and the importance of not only choice but lack of choice for certain characters and beings (like Muggles) in the Harry Potter series. Spells, of course, gain their power from words, but Mark-Anthony also points to pivotal moments where speeches are more powerful than magical spells. Dumbledore in particular uses speech instead of magic at critical points to persuade and to empower others in the magical community.  Mark-Anthony applies the ideas of rhetoricians like Gorgias, Kenneth Burke, Lloyd Bitzer, and Richard Vatz to explore where the power of language and speech originates, and how it