A Generation of Potterheads!

Laugh all you want, but I am a complete Potterhead! A good amount of our generation grew up reading Harry Potter; it was what you looked forward too! Often times book series come to define some aspects of a generation. Whether you love the books, hate them, or have no strong feelings one way or the other you know about Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling is a British genius! She came up with a multi billion dollar idea in a coffee shop. This idea spread all over the world, and the books were translated into over 60 different languages. People of all ages were living in the Harry Potter era. Many Twihards try to say that the Twilight series is as famous or more famous, but the fact is Harry Potter has done what no book series has done before. With seven books, eight movies, and a theme park, Harry Potter has caught the attention of the entire world. The effect of the Harry Potter series can be summed up in a scene from the fifth book, "The Order of the Pheonix". Ginny casts a spell, Reducto, and all of the prophecy balls come crashing down towards the gang. "It began somewhat faintly, gathered steam, built almost to a sense of the inevitable. All you could do was get out of the way." (Cited Work) It has come to a point where if you don't know about Harry Potter than you must have lived under a rock for the past 14 years. Harry Potter will be remembered for generations to come, but it is cool to be able to say that I was part of the original generation of PotterHeads!  I started reading them when I was in first grade and finished the last book the summer after seventh grade. Once I started reading the Harry Potter series, reading became a way of life for me. J.K. Rowling made reading fun and addicting. As the Potterhead generation grows up they will pass down the books to their kids, who will no doubt pass it down as well. Harry Potter is an era that shall not perish from this earth.

Like, Whatever...

Hallelujah! A nerd with a Scrabble t-shirt is finally sticking it to the slang speaking man! Taylor Mali is a quasi genius. He found a way to encourage people to speak with conviction, without having them fall asleep in the process. No one wants to be lectured about how they talk like a neanderthal, or how they don't sound like they believe in what they are saying. Mali uses humor to sneak in a real issue at hand. "it is not enough these days to simply QUESTION AUTHORITY. You have to speak with it, too. " How can anyone see you as a learned scholar, when you cannot complete a sentence without saying "like". I'm not trying to be a hypocrite, so I will admit to falling into the trap of modern day slang every so often. People like Mali remind me that I should rebel against the easy ways of modern slang, and return to proper Standard English. Some of the greatest leaders, like Martin Luther King Jr and Abraham Lincoln, were great leaders because of how they captured an audience with their conviction and tone. Mali mentions how our, supposed, declarative sentences no longer declare anything. "What has happened to our conviction?" Should we be okay with the fact that we like don't care about what we are like saying anymore? No, we should not be okay with that! We should all make a concerted effort to improve our conviction and our speaking tone in general. We shouldn't be talking in questions whenever we have a  conversation with someone. Let us all take what Taylor Mali said and keep it in our back pocket it for future reminiscing.