Rebecca Varnell's Portfolio

             Nearly from the moment the first book was published in June 1997, J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series seemed to sweep the globe with popularity. Twenty-five years later, the series remains an international phenomenon, with fans everywhere still anxiously awaiting their Hogwarts acceptance letters (even long past the age of eleven) and traveling long distances just to spend a few precious moments at one of Universal Studios’ Harry Potter World theme parks. But not only did Rowling succeed in creating a wildly successful magical world with witches and wizards and flying broomsticks, she also created a world in which characters could learn new life lessons from the challenges they faced—including the lesson that the government may not always be right.             The Ministry of Magic is portrayed as one of the most controversial organizations in the wizarding world. They are shown to ac...

 My sister was with me the first time I walked into Chinatown. We stuck together, she and I, lagging behind our parents a few paces and practically cowering from the unfamiliarity around us. The air smelled strange; it was hot and rough and not at all like the air we had at home. I couldn’t read the signs on the street or understand the words being called out from vendor booths. It was uncomfortable and foreign, and I felt lost.   But something happened there on those narrow, cobblestoned streets that I will never forget. In Chinatown, I watched my dad come alive. True, Dad had always been entranced by travel, but even I could recognize that something here was different. This was new. After family, Dad’s second great love was food, and this was a parade of spices like we’d never seen. It was colors and fruits and little merchant booths. And it was food like we’d never known. Stopping in a restaurant for lunch, I made myself small behind Mom’s protective form. The woman w...