Harry Potter and the Internet Thieves...

Waiting for the final adventure

The ritual is quite familiar: thousands of fans, young and old, wait impatiently for the next installment of the adventures of the boy wizard, Harry Potter. The author, J K Rowling, sends her manuscript to the publishers; the publishers send the book to the bookshops; and the bookshops keep it safe and secret under lock and key until the promised time. Fans queue late into the night, waiting for bookshop doors to open at midnight when they can finally get their hands on a long-awaited copy.

A publishing phenomenon

The Harry Potter books are astonishingly successful. Over 325 million copies have been sold and they have been translated into 65 languages - and that is not even including the final book (`Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'). The Harry Potter books are, indeed, a publishing phenomenon.

Goodbye to Harry

One Harry Potter book has been written every year for the last six years and fans wait impatiently for each new book. Excitement reached fever pitch this summer as the seventh and final - absolutely, unchangeably final, according to Ms Rowling - installment of Harry's adventures made its way to the shops.

Anticipation mounts...

The waiting was nearly over; midnight was drawing near. Shop assistants and shop owners were wearing witch or wizard costumes, ready to meet the rush. Security was extra tight: the story was kept secret, no hints were given and the trucks delivering the books were tracked by satellite technology to ensure there were no unplanned stops en route. In some warehouses, workers were even forbidden to take their mobile phones to work. Meanwhile, children and adults were queuing outside bookshops and waiting excitedly for midnight, when the book would finally go on sale and they would finally be able to find out what happened to their hero.

The secret is out!

Yet, in spite of all the security, it proved impossible to keep the story secret. A day before the official release of the book, people were reading it on the internet and a shop in New York sold a number of copies by mistake. Worst of all, a number of newspapers had received copies in advance of the book going on sale and they decided to publish reviews, including details of how the story ended.

Whodunnit?

It has all the elements of a classic crime story: famous names, money, a mysterious theft and and an unknown criminal. Perhaps someone will write a book about it one day...

For now, no-one knows who let the cat out of the bag. And, judging by the sales of the last Harry Potter novel, the fans do not seem to care.

Discussion

1. Think of the last book you read and the last film you saw. Were they good? Tell your partner about them.

2. What is most important for you in choosing a film: the actors, the director, the story or something else?

3. If you have a choice, do you prefer books or films? Why?

Before you read

Here are some items taken from the text. What do you think the text might say about them?

WITCHES AND WIZARDS JK ROWLING 325 MILLION

SATELLITE TECHNOLOGY MOBILE PHONES 65

First reading - scanning

Read the text quickly and check to see if you were right.

After reading - what do you remember?

Look at the sentences below. With a partner, but without looking at the text again, decide if they true or false.

1. Fans are very angry about the information being leaked. T ☐ F ☐

2. The seven Harry Potter books have been translated into 65 languages. T ☐ F ☐

3. A New York shop sold copies early in the hope of making a better profit. T ☐ F ☐

4. Each new book is sold only after midnight. T ☐ F ☐

5. Satellite technology tracked the books on their way to the shops. T ☐ F ☐

6. Shops treated the book like any other book. T ☐ F ☐

Second Reading - detailed comprehension

Read the text again, more carefully this time. Check your answers.

Language style - colourful language

The text contains some expressive language. Work with a partner and try to translate the examples below into your own language (look back at the context if you are not sure of the meaning).

PARAGRAPH ONE

a long-awaited copy

PARAGRAPH THREE

excitement reached fever pitch

PARAGRAPH FOUR

midnight was drawing near

ready to meet the rush

PARAGRAPH SIX

let the cat out of the bag

Lexis - collocations

The verbs `write' and `read' have many collocations. Try to match the particles to the verbs. The first one is done for you as an example.

off for STH STH back STH off back to SB

STH through STH up STH down up on STH STH out

1. to write a report, article etc using notes that you made earlier

2. to decide that someone or something is useless, unimportant, or a failure

3. to write to a company or organization asking them to send you something

4. to write something on a piece of paper

5. to reply to something that someone sent you, by writing to them

6. to read and say words that are written down, so that people can hear

7. to read something carefully from beginning to end to check details or find mistakes

8. to read out loud something that you have just written down

9. to read a lot about something because you will need to know about it

(all definitions from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English)

Lexis - practice

Complete the sentences using one of the verbs above. You may need to change the form of the verb.

1. Can you ____________________ to me? I want to make sure you copied it down right.

2. This is the address. Do you want to ____________________?

3. Spend a couple of minutes just ____________________ your essay, to check there are no errors.

4. After six months of work, we eventually ____________________ as a non-starter.

5. Why don't you ____________________ the name of the winner? I'm sure everyone is interested.

6. Are you going to ____________________ that free poster?

7. I have to ____________________ before the meeting - they're expecting it to be ready.

8. I ____________________ them immediately, thanking them for their kind invitation.

9. You'll enjoy traveling more if you ____________________ the history of the countries you'll be visiting.

Grammar 1

Look at the example sentences:

1. Are the sentences about the past, present or future?

2. In these sentences, are the actions (`waiting', `drawing', `wearing', queuing') finished or not finished?

3. When will each action end? Try to complete each sentence in your own words.

4. How are the verbs formed?

Grammar 2

Look at the example sentences:

1. How many actions are there in the sentence?

2. Which action happens first?

3. Are the actions separate or linked in some way? If they are linked, how are they linked?

4. How are the verbs formed?

Practice - What's Your Alibi?

The Harry Potter story was leaked and the police are investigating. You are going to help with their investigations. Half of the class will be suspects and half will be policemen/women. The suspects say they were all together all evening and could not have stolen the story; the police will have to try to find holes in their alibi.

Each suspect will be interviewed by two policemen or women. The police will try to find differences in the suspects' story (where they were, who they saw, what they were wearing etc.) - if they find any inconsistencies then they will be able to prove the suspects are guilty.

Prepare yourselves: the police should prepare difficult questions and the suspects prepare their stories. Think hard, suspects: jail is not a nice place to spend your time!

© Pearson Education Polska 2007 PHOTOCOPIABLE

© Pearson Education Polska 2007 PHOTOCOPIABLE

Peter moran

NOVEMBER 2007

How well do you know your `children's literature'? Which books do these characters appear in? >>>>

Bagheera Bilbo Willy Wonka Tom Sawyer Polynesia Snape

write

write STH up

read

read STH out

The waiting was nearly over; midnight was drawing near…

Shop assistants and shop owners were wearing witch or wizard costumes...

Meanwhile, children and adults were queuing outside bookshops...

Worst of all, a number of newspapers which had received copies

in advance of the book going on sale published reviews

activities sheet

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