The Structure of Potter Harry Potter is one of the best-known fictitious characters in the history of literature, making J.K.

Rowlings first novel about him world-famous and influential to an entire generation. Ive read and re-read the magical world of Harry Potter until the books are well-worn, but as an adult reader I cant help but wonder what factors contributed to the incredible success the series enjoyed, unprecedented by any other childrens literature. The novels have an interesting coming-of-age theme, complete with a good triumphs over evil motif and, of course, plenty of fantasy and adventure. Beyond these surface literary elements, though, part of what makes this childrens literature so appealing is the complexity of the structure and language. One of the strongest foundations of the Harry Potter series is less glamorous than the aforementioned fantasy and adventure- how Rowling constructs her characters. Each of her characters has an extensive background, though she doesnt include every mundane fact in the novels, and this leads to interesting dimensions for every one of them. Each of her characters, particularly the leading ones, are written with such specificity that even their dialogue is filled with clues about their character. Looking through to see how the grammatical structure influences and reflects each of Rowlings characters has given me a deeper understanding and appreciation of the incredible literary world she created.

For the sake of structural analysis, I looked through a couple of different characters in the series and the way their dialogue impacts their characterization and role in the first novel. Harry, Hermione and Ron were all easy picks, and for sake of contrast, I also found Professor McGonagall and Hagrid to be interesting characters. I also noticed Rowlings running style and inclination towards embedded clauses that make a hidden, complex world more rich and intricate. Rowlings style in general is more complicated than one might normally assume is appropriate for a childrens book, something that helps to create her vivid descriptions. Running style is described by Lanham as written almost stream of consciousness as things come along and are described. Sometimes this means many sentences, but sometimes these are a collection of descriptions and clauses in one sentence, and Rowling uses a combination of both in her books. Describing Mr. Dursley at the start of the Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone, Rowling seems to rely on a running style in order to tell the story from Mr. Dursleys point of view, before the audience really has any concept of what the novel is about, listing off his thoughts as He hurried to his car and set off for home, hoping he was imagining things, which he had never hoped before, because he didnt approve of imagination (Rowling, 5). Rowling uses a combination of running sentences and complex and compound sentences to describe setting and characters, and will often end this with a simple sentence that creates tension and shifts the mood. One such example is from the beginning of the book.

Mrs. Potter was Mrs. Dursleys sister, but they hadnt met for several years; in fact, Mrs. Dursley pretended she didnt have a sister, because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband were as unDursleyish as it was possible to be. The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbors would say if the Potters arrived in the street. The Dursleys knew that the Potters had a small son, too, but they had never seen him. This boy was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didnt want Dudley mixing with a child like that. When Mr. And Mrs. Dursley woke up on the dull, gray Tuesday our story starts, there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happening all over the country. Mr. Dursley hummed as he picked out his most boring tie for work, and Mrs. Dursley gossiped away happily as she wrestles a screaming Dudley into his high chair. None of them noticed a large, tawny owl flutter past the window. (Rowling, 2)

This passage helps illustrate a few key things that Rowling uses to create dramatic tension and set up the hidden world Harry Potter relies on to be such a success. The last sentences is indicative of a change of mood, not least because it is its own paragraph, alone after a long, running description of the Dursleys and their rather dull, judgmental way of life. For all of the Dursleys gossip and dislike of the Potters, and the flurry of action in their house this dull, gray Tuesday, Rowling undermines their entire setup with None of them notice The reason this sentence is so effective is that it is on its own, and separate from the remainder of the running style. The other reason is that the sentence contains a complementizer phrase. A complementizer phrase (CP) is an embedded sentence that connects one embedded clause to another clause. In this case, the sentence could have read, None of

them noticed that a large, tawny owl fluttered past the window, but Rowling intentionally left out that. Having a closed, or missing, complementizer (denoted below by (0)) in this case draws attention to the owl, an oddity in this sentence that changes the tone of the story. Its part of what makes the sentence into a literary shift and lets the reader know that there is another layer to this story. The diagram of that sentence follows.

Sentence NP N None P of PP NP N them D a V noticed C (0) NP N' Adj P adj large, tawny N owl V flutter P past D the VP CP S VP PP NP N window

None of them noticed a large, tawny owl flutter past the window. Rowling repeats this style frequently throughout the book for effect, both with a CP and without. Using a new paragraph and a new sentence to emphasis a beat change or humor makes her style similar to other childrens literature, but what makes it unique is that these short sentences usually follow the running style as seen above.

The usage of running style allows us to live in the moment with Harry (or whoever we are following), but theres also a certain amount of periodic structure during plot -heavy moments to build tension. During the final adventure, Harry, Ron and Hermione find themselves Eyes watering, they saw, flat on the floor in front of them, a troll even larger than the one they had tackled, out cold on the floor with a lump on its head (Rowling, 284). The embedded phrases help elevate the tension, but also have the added bonus of creating vivid descriptions of whats taking place inside the minds of the characters. Something that might be unusual to Rowlings work is the level of agency she gives her characters in grammar while often making their language within dialogue rather simple.

Harry wondered over to the restricted section. He had been wondering for a while if Flamel wasnt somewhere in there. Unfortunately, you needed a specially signed note from one of the teachers to look in any of the restricted books, and he knew hed never get one. These were the books containing powerful Dark Magic never taught at Hogwarts, and only read by older students studying advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts. What are you looking for, boy? Nothing, said Harry. Madam Pince the librarian brandished a feather duster at him. Youd better get out then. Go onout!

Harry says only one word, but Rowling makes it clear from her descriptions before his dialogue that there is more than meets the eye going on in his head. Though his sentence is really just a one word declaration, he has a vast interior life, something that is unusual for a

young childrens literature character. This style, combining dialogue with internal thought narrating action gives Rowlings young characters more agency than is typically awarded to characters in this genre. The story is frequently told in 3rd person limited, usually around Harry, but as in the first example, occasionally it is around other characters, such as Mr. Dursley. 1 st person is sometimes more typical for young readers because it supposedly makes it easier to connect to the character, but Rowling often includes us as part of an active audience. In this section, however, we are part of Harrys mind, and in schemata form a la Lanham, the first paragraph looks like this. Harry wondered over to the restricted section. He had been wondering for a while if Flamel wasnt somewhere in there. Unfortunately, you needed a specially signed note from one of the teachers to look in any of the restricted books, and he knew hed never get one. These were the books containing powerful Dark Magic never taught at Hogwarts, and only read by older students studying advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Harrys experiences are largely physical, something that causes many of his thoughts to be full of prepositional phrases, as evidenced above. Interestingly, much of his dialogue is largely simple, and lead by what, how, and why, notable because his early life, we are told, was

informed by him not being allowed to ask questions. These choices of dialogue paint the picture of Harry as humble and curious, and as someone who doesnt waste words. Hermione is in many ways the antithesis of Harry when it comes to both language and character construction. The most intelligent and complex of the trio, Hermiones sentences are frequently run on sentences due to her quick thinking. Her dialogue is sometimes compound/complex in nature and heavy on prepositional phrases and parenthetical expressions, but it has to be structured differently because we cant always see what shes thinking and experiencing the way we can see Harry.

A lamp flickered on. It was Hermione Granger wearing a pink bathrobe and a frown. You! said Ron furiously. Go back to bed! I almost told your brother, Hermione snapped, Percyhes a prefect, hed put a stop to this. Harry couldnt believe anyone could be so interfering. Come on, he said to Ron. He pushed open the portrait of the Fat Lady and climbed through the hole. Hermione wasnt going to give up that easily. She followed Ron through the portrait hole, hissing at them like an angry goose. Dont you care about Gryffindor, do you only care about yourselves, I dont want Slytherin to win the house cup, and youll lose all the points I got from Professor McGonagall for knowing about Switching Spells.

The informality of Hermiones dialogue is sometimes surprising, especially given how intelligent of a character she is, but the way of speaking is actually more natural sounding than

if she was to speak in verse as a reader almost might expect her to. For the sake of space, this is only a diagram of the last half of Hermiones sentence. I dont want Slytherin to win the house cup, and youll lose all the points I got from Professor McGonagall for knowing about Switching Spells.

Sentence

NP

VP

V'

NP

you

aux

N'

CP

will

lose

adjP

N'

all

(0)

NP

VP

the

points

PP

PP

got

N Professor McGonnagal lr

CP

from

for

(0)

NP

VP

(0)

PP

knowing

NP

about

N Switching Spells

Hermiones sentences are deceptively complicated sentences, and this, in combination with the inferred intelligence Rowling gives her, makes Hermione an interesting and complex character. Through the use of dialogue and structurally created tension, Rowling created a beautiful underworld that allows the audience to bond with the characters as well as get wrapped up in the plot. For a childrens book, the number of embedded sentences and complementizer phrases is unusual and doesnt underestimate the intelligence of the young

people who may be reading it. The structure of Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone is the basis of a hidden world and a relatable eleven-year-old boy with a scar on his forehead.