Wednesday, July 11, 2012

The Point of a Question - The Meandering Inquisition

The point of a question - that little point at the bottom of the swirly question sign. The point is solid - the swirly part isn't so sure... Then there is always the relevance of the answer after the question.

Have you ever felt threatened by asking a question? Have you ever asked a question - and realized that the answer was something you didn't want to hear? What's the point of the question? Why would you ask it?

Image courtesy via CC
Recently our eldest has had these crazy fits and starts where he will pummel us with questions.

Last week as we were confined inside, with the air conditioning (due to excessive heat) and as I sat trying to read through the second Harry Potter book Chamber of Secrets (J.K. Rowling) - I became an easy target (a sitting duck) for questioning - and it suddenly became a meandering inquisition.

Just sitten' there, in my chair, minden' my own business - when this hailstorm came outta the blue - by this kid who was hanging upside down like a monkey in our living room chair - wondering, and wandering - out loud, at me:
"Dad how did Harry Potter get that mark on his forehead? Dad, what happened to Harry Potters' parents? Dad what is the Lord of the Rings? Why are they trying to get the ring? Why does the boy have to hide?"
And me answering:
"Well son, that's not a boy, that's a hobbit. I don't have the answers for the Harry Potter questions yet - as I am only into the second book, but let me tell you - I can't wait to read them to you - or have you read them yourself."
Many of you readers do, have the answers - you have read all the Harry Potter books. I haven't all of them yet - and have only seen the first Potter movie. We, my wife and I, have held out... through all the marketing and the haze. We have made it this far and I am amazed thinking that the first Potter book (Sorcerer's Stone) came out almost fifteen years ago. Time flies - if you don't believe me, than take a gander at how that kid actor who played Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) has grown into something more than a kid (and a quick Potter recap).

I have read J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings books. As the movies came out, I scrambled to get them read and then to see the movies on the big screen as they came out in the theaters. I have not read The Hobbit and don't intend to.

Relating Lord of the Rings to a second grader isn't all that easy.  The Lego sect, through it's membership magazine, is pushing LOR and The Hobbit hard to kids as The Hobbit movie draws near. But my kid isn't close to being allowed to see the Lord of the Rings movies yet... something about dark headless horsemen and underground mines.

So my answer to this portion of his interrogation:
"The Lord of the Rings is about good versus evil - light versus dark - and there are all these odd creatures like dwarves, hobbits, elves and talking trees... The ring issue is way too detailed for you right now."
His questioning is fantastic. I hope he never stops. It's awesome that he is inquisitive. As he asks the questions - I look at his enormous head and measure the gap between his eyes - as if that will tell how intelligent he will turn out to be - or what he will become. Who knows...

I hope that he always has the confidence to ask questions. I didn't. The questions didn't come too often and when they did, I did not feel up to asking them. The awe and wonder of Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings is just starting to scratch at his intellect - he wants to find out more!

I want to see the Potter movies, but not until after I have read the books - and now I ask you a question: Should the books be read to them (our boys) first, before we all watch the movies? We've waited this long... so long (sigh).

But what fun summer things to do - to ask questions, to read, to find answers...

1 comment:

  1. The fascinating thing about the HP books is that as he becomes older, the books' content should be for increasing older audiences. I was lucky to have read the first three books BEFORE they were "pop". They were the talk among younger readers, though. When non-readers got on board, they hype turned them into something they're not.

    I recommend that you let your boys get to the first book when they're about 10 or 11 (the low-end of targeted 10-13 audience when Rowling wrote it). Then one a year after that until they're 14 when they can handle the content, I think.

    BTW: I didn't particularly enjoy reading the Lord of the Ring series. Perhaps because I read all 3 one summer. Tolkein gets too pedantic at times. I had read the Hobbit earlier. It's easier to take, in fact. There was also a Hobbit animated feature a few decades ago that I saw. Take a look at it; I don't remember it too well but it might be something your kids can handle -- at least your eldest.

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