Veronica Rainone In fifty years what will our generation be known for?

Well the Ipad obviously, the first African American president, the war in Iraq and what else, do you think? Why two series that became cultural phenomenons all in the same ten year period; Harry Potter and Twilight. But when future literary purveyors analyze these feats of literature, which will prove to be superior? The answer to that question is Harry Potter by JK Rowling, and today I will be persuading you beyond a reasonable doubt that Harry Potter is better than Twilight, through an analysis of its plot, character development, writing, and fan reactions. 40 Now what is Harry Potter really about? A boy who turns into a man fulfilling his destiny, while maturing? An epic ascension from child to hero while fighting evil? Witches and Wizards, the light vs dark? Death? Friendship? Love? Harry Potter is about all of these things. Now what is Twilight about? Teenagers? Love? Vampires and werewolves? Creepy Uncle imprinting himself on a baby while previously being in love with her mother? Or sparkling? Again Twilight is about all of these things On July 20st, 2007 I was thirteen and outside barnes and noble. It was five minutes from midnight and I was waiting eagerly on line with hundreds of others. In five minutes the seventh and final Harry Potter book would be released. Fans

were waiting online some for three days just to get a copy of this book. Everywhere I turned I would see people dressed as wizards, death eaters, and even House elves. We as a group of hundreds were joined by thousands in other cities and towns, joined by millions worldwide all waiting for one common goal, all waiting to receive a copy of Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows. Twilight is a different story; while its fans are also powerful, they are forever divided by an intrinsic plot point that overwhelms the entire story Team Edward or Team Jacob. Of course I am referring to the two rivals for the protagonist Bellas afections. Edward is a dark brooding vampire tortured by his past, while Jacob is a werewolf shapeshifter from a Native American tribe. Stephanie Myer makes this rivalry eclipse the entire plot of Twilight, until it becomes a facsimile of a plot, and simply turns into a book about sparkles, and shirtlessness Now dont get me wrong, I like Twilight its good to read when youre bored, but lets be real it has less literary significance and meaning than a Harlequin Romance novel. Edwards hot, Jacobs hot but really shouldnt a book be about more than hotness especially if its going to define our generation? The characterization and development is better in Harry Potter. One of the beacons of JKR's talent is her ability to write so many different characters all with varying and distinct personalities through a time in life when one develops and changes the most and keeps all their personalities consistent. These characters start

out as nave children scared about what test they will need to pass in order to be assigned a house and as they grow up the trio ends up courageously battling evil by taking on Gringotts, Bellatrix Lestrange, and even Lord Voldemort himself. Twilight characters on the other hand start out strong and stagnate or regress. At the beginning of Twiligh the character of Bella was one who stood strong in conflict, while being flawed, she resented her mother yet loved her, she resented the town of Forks but made an effort, she was clumsy, insecure, yet affable. Throughout four novels, Stephanie Myer failed to demonstrate any character development leading to Breaking Dawn, where SM quit introducing conflict in order to protect her happily ever after marriage robbing Bella of further character development. The scenes where Bella became a vampire could have been some of the most exciting and intriguing ones of the series, but Bella quit progressing when she moves to Forks and consequentially her experiences as a changed being lack discovery and insight and become almost boring. Edward starts off as a strong, sexy, mysterious vampire, somewhat creepy in his monstrous secret, but a puzzle you can't wait to solve. After reading Twilight I wanted to get to know him better, but in the end I wondered what happened to the character I had loved. The Edward in Twilight foresaw problems and could always come up with a plan of action. The Edward in Twilight was a little too bossy and possessive of Bella. The Edward in Breaking Dawn was bland. The Edward in

Breaking Dawn became a doormat to Bella's desires and became almost nonexistent in the story progression. You dont learn anything new or interesting about him after book one, or even that I was reading the same character. By the time Breaking Dawn ended, I just wanted the Edward of Twilight back. JK Rowling took seven years to write her first novel Harry Potter and the Sorcerers stone and then took another decade to finish the series, while Stephanie Myer took six months to write Twilight. And went on to finish the series in less than half a decade This lack of finesse can be seen in no way better than in the writing of each book. Lets take a look at a passage from both these esteemed third novels, Eclipse and Prisoner of Azkaban; First Eclipse which I will be reading as written; So whats the story anyway? I mean, since the last time we well, before, you know What Im asking is everything is back to the way it was before he left? You forgave him for all of that? There was nothing to forgive. I wish Sam had taken a picture when he found you that night in September. It would be exhibit A. Nobodys on trial. Maybe somebody should be.

Not even you would blame him for leaving, if you knew the reason why. Okay. Amaze me. Edward left me last fall because he didnt think I should be hanging out with vampires. He thought it would be healthier for me if he left. He came back though didnt he? Too bad he cant stick to a decision. If you remember, I went after him. This is Jacob talking to Bella about her vampire boyfriend Edward, who ditched her in a previous book. There is very little characterization here, Stephanie Meyer is really just using her dialog to remind readers of what happened earlier in the story. Now lets look at Harry Potter; Harry, you you look terrible. Where is everyone? Gone! Its the first day of the holidays, remember? Its nearly lunchtime; I was going to come and wake you up in a minute. You really dont look well, you know, Im fine. Harry, listen, you must really be upset about what we heard yesterday. But the thing is, you mustnt go doing anything stupid.

Like what? Like trying to go after Sirius Black. You wont, will you, Harry? Because Blacks not worth dying for. Dyou know what I see and hear every time a Dementor gets too near me? I can hear my mum screaming like that, just about to be killed, you wouldnt forget it in a hurry. And if you found out someone who was supposed to be a friend of hers betrayed her and sent Voldemort after her. Theres nothing you can do! The Dementors will catch Black and hell go back to Azkaban and serve him right! You heard what Fudge said. Black isnt affected by Azkaban like normal people are. Its not a punishment for him like it is for the others. So what are you saying? You want to to kill Black or something? Dont be silly, Harry doesnt want to kill anyone , do you, Harry? Harry is being consoled by his two friends, Ron and Hermione. They have just learned that the man whose betrayal killed Harrys parents, has escaped prison. With just the dialog shown here, Rowling gives you a clear picture of what time of

the day it is, where they are, and what has happened recently. With little effort you can probably tell which lines belong to whom. Even the critics agree with this assessment Noted authors such as John Green, Sue Corbett and Stephen King have spoken out against the series. Sue Corbett is "disheartened" at Meyer's popularity. She has said, "Bella is constantly in need of getting rescued. She moves in with her father and immediately starts cooking for him and doing his laundry. She's on track to go to an Ivy League College but doesn't because e of Edward. It's the exact inverse of what I'm trying to teach my daughter." In an interview with USA Weekend's Brian Truitt, Stephen King stated, "The real difference [between Rowling and Meyer] is that Jo Rowling is a terrific writer, and Stephenie Meyer can't write worth a darn. She's not very good." Stephen King also said Harry Potter is about doing whats right in the face of adversity. Twilight is about how important it is to have a boyfriend. Even Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson who portray Bell a and Edward in the movies have said that they don't like the series and feel the relationship is unhealthy." One of the most remarkable features of both Harry Potter and Twilight is their fan bases, Both have millions of devoted fans which helped to turn these two

series into cultural phenomenons. So generally when asked about this conflict both bases had responses. While Harry Poter fans were able to articulate and craft well founded answers based on literary merit, Twilight fans were a litte different. While Harry Potter fans say something like; Rowling understands that good guys can be ugly and bad guys can be pretty. Twilight fans say Oh my god its a vampire that sparkles versus a wizard with glasses duh team twilight. On the comments from the article Fangs bared at Harry found in US weekly; fans wrote (and keep in mind I am reading these as written)Hermione is a week character. Unlike Bella, who struggles every day. Hermione has no problems, the only things she has are self-created. She follows Harry into his troubles. Big whoop. Even if she is teased about being a mud blood or whatever its called, she has a choice. She could quit Hogwarts or something. Bella has no choice, she is in love. Twilight has a more reasonable plot than HarryPotter. Look at Harry and you'll see he's more angsty than Bella. And all the Harry Potter books are like Harry being "My life sucks" and then Voldemort shows up and he's like "I'm going to kill you" and Harry's all like "No way" and then Harry wins in the end. It's way obvious, especially when the author already tells you how many books there's going to be. I mean, why can't we live in total suspense on what's going to happen next? And my personal favorite Because it's one of the greatest love stories ever!! Harry Potter

is good too, but Twilight has way more romance and more hot guys....EDWARD, JASPER, EMMETT, CARLISLE!! Need I say more! Honestly Twilight didnt even become popular until the movies came out, and showcased Robert Pattinsons face, and Taylor Lautners abs. While Harry Potter started out as a phenomenon before Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson were ever even cast. In conclusion, our generation is going to be known for a variety of amazing things, things that changed history, and things that changed life as we know it. Harry Potter is the number one selling book series, second to the bible. It has been translated into 67 languages, and is being read every day. At this very moment someone is reading Harry Potter, in eighty years people will still flock to read Harrys journey and meet the cast that brought it to life, but ask yourself this, in eighty years will anyone really want to read about a whiny lovesick girl, or want to see Taylor Lautner or Robert Pattinson all old and wrinkly, shirtless? Harry Potter withstands the tests of time, Harry Potter is better than Twilight.