Blog Post #1 Response: "The Reading Process"

I have chosen to answer the second prompt concerning Wolfgang Iser and “The Reading Process”. I have found myself changing my predictions for the story and views of the characters many times while reading the first two Harry Potter books. I was one of the few people who had never read the books before this course. My reasons were that I did not like this type of genre at the time they became popular and by the time of the publishing of the last book I felt like I was too behind to start reading now. So this class has given me a unique opportunity to look at the books in a more mature fashion and still have the chance to read the books. This being said my expectation before reading the books was neutral. I knew they were very popular but I did not think they would be as relatable as they are to my life. I did not think that a fictional tale of witches and wizards would evoke so many emotions while sustaining an interesting plot. As you read you visualize the story in your mind and can occasionally imagine what should/will happen next but since reading is a continuous process the author is in essence in control of your mind. An author such as J.K. Rowling can develop a story line that is difficult to predict. Especially with a fictional topic; anything could happen. My expectations were satisfied in the first book but the second book forced me to form many predictions such as, who the heir of Slytherine was and who opened the Chamber of Secrets. I remember thinking in the beginning while Harry was staying with the Wiesley’s that the older brother Percy was mentioned as acting “weird”. So I suspected him as being in charge of petrifying people and writing on the walls. He was never brought up again so that was an element that was not fulfilled by the author but I forgot about it and moved on as the story progressed. I did not think Ginny would have anything to do with the Chamber of Secrets and I did not predict Voldemeort to appear yet again in this book. I think Rowling did a better job of not making the actual culprit as obvious or the non-culprits as obvious. By this I mean to say that in the first book Snape was made out to be the “bad guy” too often to have actually been the thief of the Sorcerer’s Stone. The second book was not as obvious. The importance of raising expectations and then having the author fail to fulfill them almost keeps you more interested and intrigued to keep reading. If you could guess everything that was going to happen you would not continue to read the books.