Elizabeth Nelson

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English 11
Mr. Price
Period 5
Summary
In the beginning of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry is at his aunt
and uncles house for the summer holiday. Harry is strange in the way that he hates the
summer vacation because not only does he have to leave Hogwarts School, where he
feels like his real home is, but he also has to spend the whole summer with his annoying
aunt, obnoxious uncle, and his large cousin. This summer though might be the worst
summer holiday he has ever had so far. His uncle Vernons sister, Aunt Marge, who Harry
absolutely hates comes to visit them. Not only that, but he also hears about an escaped
murderer, Sirius Black, on the news. The wizarding world is also buzzing about the
infamous Sirius, who had been held at Azkaban, a maximum-security prison for those
who have committed severe crimes. Aunt Marge ends up making Harry insanely mad,
which then causes him to blow her up like a balloon, literally. He is afraid what his aunt
and uncle will do to him so he runs away with all of his school things, but ends up on the
night bus which picks up any wizarding folk who call on it. Potter then goes to platform
nine and three quarters, but before he gets on the train, Mr. Weasley warns Harry that
Sirius is after him. At Hogwarts, Dumbledore, the headmaster, informs students that the
school will be guarded by the dreaded Dementors, Azkaban guards who can suck the
souls out of wizards. Hermione, Harrys best friend, is acting strange and seems to be
enrolled in every single class, even those with conflicting times. Harry,

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Hermione, and Ron (Harrys other best friend) enroll in Professor Trelawny's Divination
class and Hagrid's Care of Magical Creatures class, which they hate. Many exciting
adventures continue through the chapters like when the school gets searched due to one
of the talking paintings seeing Sirius in the castle. Or there is the disappointing part
where Harry cannot visit Hogsmeade due to Sirius being after him so the Weasley twins
give Harry the Marauders Map which shows all the secret ways out of the castle.
Another tense adventure is when Ron and Hermione arent talking to each other because
Ron believes her cat ate his rat or when Trelawny starts acting weird during Harrys final
exam and goes into a trance and says that, "The servant will break free and set out to
rejoin his Master. The Dark Lord will rise again with his servant's aid, greater and more
terrible than before". Then there is the time that Harry, Ron, and Hermione go to Hagrids
cabin to comfort him about his hippogriff, but then find Rons rat who they thought had
been eaten. A whole exhilarating story continues with the dog grabbing Ron, who's
holding Scabbers the rat, and drags them off through a hole in the Whomping Willow
Tree roots. Harry and Hermione chase after them and end up in the creepy Shrieking
Shack. They see Ron on the floor with a broken leg still holding his rat but the real
surprise is that there in the room with them is the murderer Sirius Black. Suddenly, they
hear footsteps and Hermione screams for help and Professor Lupin bursts into the room
and stares at Black, but then gives him a hug. Black then goes on to tell them about how
Rons rat is really the man that killed Sirius best friends, who happened to be Harrys
parents. They then force the rat to change back into a human and Black is right, but also
that Sirius is also Harrys godfather. Snape, another teacher, then finds them and

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tries to kill Black but Harry stops him. They all try to go back to the castle to tell
Dumbledore the truth about Black but get stopped by the Dementors, who are trying to
catch Sirius still. Sirius then gets caught and put under guard in the castle and the rat gets
away once again. Harry and Hermione use her time turner to go back and save the
Hippogriff so that Black can escape, and be free again. They all arrive at King's Cross
Station and Harry says good-bye to his friends. This ends another normal year at
Hogwarts School with Harry and his friends.
Analysis
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was a fantastic book, full of imagination! It had
oodles of plot twists and kept your attention throughout the whole book. It is an extraordinary
series to read because you grow so attached to the characters and Rowling does a magnificent job
in writing the books so they are easy to understand but are still attention-grabbing. In the next
paragraphs I will explain my first impressions of the literary work, what type of literary work it
is and the different techniques used in it, as well as my evaluations and review of the book.
My expectations for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban were exceptionally high,
my reason being I have read every single one of J.K. Rowlings Harry Potter books and know
that they are marvelous, breath-taking, and fast-moving. I loved reading this book again,
because this one, in particular, has always captured my attention, interest, and heart. I feel
extremely close to all of the characters, as if they were real friends. Reading this book again, is
like taking a bite of chocolate cakeyou just cant get enough of it! My impression of this

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books purpose would be it is entertaining and didactic. The book is not difficult to read but it
does have a few words that were new my vocabulary such as wastrel (someone who dissipates
resources self-indulgently) and apoplectic (pertaining to or characteristic of apoplexy). My first
impressions did change from the beginning and the end. I first thought that Harry was not going
to be able to go to Hogwarts due to him blowing up his aunt, and I also thought that Harry would
end up killing or hurting Sirius Black. Both proved to be different but that is one reason I
enjoyed the book so much, it was very unpredictable.
The third book in the Harry Potter series genre has to be prose fiction. It is fiction
because it is the story of a boy who finds out he is a wizard and the book contains all his
adventures at the magical school of witchcraft and wizardry. The literary techniques in the book
are clear and easy to detect. The plot was exceptionally in depth with its countless surprises and
plot twists. Rowling also did a marvelous job at introducing and connecting you to new
characters while also keeping you attached to the main characters. The setting was present day in
England usually in wizard groups and the Hogwarts School. Rowling really brought about a clear
image in your head of the surroundings and what it truly looked like, it seemed like you were
right in the middle of the story yourself. Silhouetted against the golden moon, and growing
larger every moment, was a large, strangely lopsided creature, and it was flapping Harrys
direction. He stood quite still, watching it sink lower and lower. All throughout the book there
is always symbolism. One of the main symbols is the use of bizarre names usually with specific
meanings attached. There was Hedwig the owl, Lord Voldemort, Wendelin the Weird, Vernon
Dursley, Ron Weasley, Muggles, Hermione Granger and Sirius Black. These are not your usual

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names and most of them had significance such as Sirius Black meaning Black Dog. I definitely
think that reading this book and the series has enhanced by my own personal experiences as it
shows Harry teaching his friends lessons about life and about death. Harry is always learning
how to problem solve and not just taking the easy way out, which are real issues I deal with
every day. The book, filled with fantasy, was outstanding! One common critique of Harry Potter
is that it contains witchcraft and magic and is has a dangerous connection to scary Satanic
influences. I have found that to be false (even though my own mom did not let me read the book
series at first). The book is filled with excitement and adventure and although it does have
witches and wizards, it is mainly about good conquering evil overall. The witchcraft part is
mainly just part of the creative story line to bring more intense suspense to the story but totally
harmless. I agree with the values presented in this bookloyalty, courage, going outside your
comfort zone, kindness, and honesty. These are all attributes we should all strive for and the
book gave excellent examples of this such as when Harry showed courage when he went after
Ron when he was getting dragged by the dog into the Whomping Willow or the kindness by
letting Sirius black tell his story of what really happened to Harrys parents. Nothing could
decrease my love for these books, not even a book report! I have read it several times and each
time I enjoy it more as I pick up on some new detail. Definitely I would encourage all teens and
adults to read this book because it is an exceptional journey throughout Harrys life which keeps
everyone enthralled and on the edge of your seat at all times. J. K. Rowling, actually Joanne
Kim Rowling, came up with this idea for the book while riding on a train. She originally wrote it
for her children to give them a positive, entertaining book series without the normal teenage

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romance, profanity and violence. Little did she know her book would be the most read series in
the world and translated into the most languages of any book ever in history.
The book is filled with wonderful, hilarious quotes ranging from Dont let the Mugglies
get you down, to Ancient Egyptians used to worship cats, you know, and Ron responding
with yea, along with the dung beetle. This zany humor was throughout the entire book and I
just loved it. I laughed continually. Every time I look down at my phone case and it says,
Weasley is our King, I smile and think of so many cherished memories from this book and
wonder when I will get a chance to read it yet again.