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Post by Bridget O'Neill on Aug 16, 2008 20:06:51 GMT -5
Place your assignments on my desk please, and thank you!
Professor O'Neill
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Post by Alessandro Darko on Aug 17, 2008 18:14:22 GMT -5
Alessandro meandered slowly into the Divinations room, rifling through his messenger back and pulling out a couple sheets of parchment which had his unique brand of print-cursive handwriting scrawled all over the front. Laying the parchment down on the professors desk, he nodded slowly, eying her with a smile twirking up the left corner of his mouth. Having recently developed a seer talent of his own, he was quickly learned on the subject and quite confident with the outcome of the assignment.
[EXIT: Alessandro]
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Post by Caitlin Collins on Aug 18, 2008 13:55:45 GMT -5
Having been late to the lesson, Caity had known she would need to get in the homework set as soon as possible to avoid any bad impression sticking. She thought she had done pretty well with the essay topic, but with no real knowledge of divination other than the basics she couldn’t be entirely sure that she would get one of the higher grades. The ‘science’ part she had taken in general to mean the muggle variety. Having had a good dose of biology, physics and chemistry at the muggle school her parents had sent her to during the time she was out of Hogwarts, she could relate to it fairly well. Placing the essay on the Professor’s desk, she took a moment to look around the rearranged classroom before leaving again, heading down to the Great Hall for lunch.
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Post by parisnowan on Aug 18, 2008 15:40:08 GMT -5
Paris casually walked into the room, holding a file folder under her arm. After observing the room for a second, she quickly pulled the file folder out and handed her essay in. She'd rushed her essay, but thought that it deserved a decent grade. She usually did well when it came to writing; but a weakness of hers was to ramble on too long. So, this time, she'd rushed herself a bit so it would be shorter. Paris hoped that the experiment would pay off and she would get a good grade. After a narcisstic smile, Paris was on her way to her next class.
Paris Nowan 02/17/19 Prof. O'Neil's class
Divination: An Extraordinary Art
Divination; a form of magic that’s use has benefited Wizard kind for centuries. The ability to predict and understand properties of the human mind, and aspects of the future; a form of magic truly remarkable. Some have gone as far to suggest that this amazing form of magic is a science rather than art. This is not so. Because of its unpredictability, personal bias, and inability to be wholly classified into mathematical formulas or restriction, divination truly is an art.
Divination is largely unpredictable; one example of this is in the several documented cases where seers have gone into “uncontrollable fits”, seeing visions of the future, with no logical explanation of why that particular vision took place at that time. Science, on the other hand, although having to do much with unpredictable events (such as the study of unexpected volcanoes and such) is all about the logical explaining of such situations. Science results can be largely formed from a logical basis; whereas fits of divination come largely from visions and inherited talent that are unexpected and many times illogical. Art too is not always based on a logical process; coming more from a person’s emotions than a drawn out logical process. For these reasons, divination truly can be unpredictable and illogical, merely based of instinct, just as art is and not science.
Divination is also based off of personal bias, such as an emotional interpretation of foresight. We truly see this through one’s interpretation of their own visions; often times, quite different from how another person would interpretate the same vision. Science, on the other hand, is a drawn out logical way of thinking which involves no bias in emotional extent for it is focused on the laws of nature and not the laws of an individual’s perception of an event. In art, emotional interpretation is also a major component. Science does not involve itself with emotional and personal bias; therefore, divination is not a science.
Finally, divination is not able to be wholly classified into restrictions of mathematical formulas, such as science is. Although there are some formulas involved; such as tea leaves and such, divination in itself cannot be explained by formulas as a whole. For, unexpected visions, although closely tied with astronomy, cannot be predicted and explained by mathematics; especially when regarding the material and subject of unexpected visions. Astronomy cannot predict the material of one’s vision, or the depth of such vision; although it can be tied to dates and such. There has yet to be a mathematical formula to explain how visions come to pass, why they come to pass, and how to predict the content and depth of one’s vision. While science is based upon mathematical formulas; divination is not; nor is art. Art cannot be tied down by mathematical restrictions. Therefore, divination is truly more of an art.
Divination truly is a remarkable art that has been used for centuries by the people of the Wizarding world. Divination if full of unpredictable tendencies, emotional bias, and fails to be classified into mathematical formulas and restrictions. Science, on the other hand, is the opposite of the description, while art is compatible with divination’s description. Therefore, Divination is not a science, but rather, an art.
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Post by scarlettcooper on Aug 22, 2008 19:55:13 GMT -5
When Scarlett had received the pile of textbooks and other assorted things, her jaw had dropped. She had been even further shocked as Professor O'Neill had given them an assignment - reading and an essay . What class did Professor O'Neill think she was teaching? This was like no Divination class Scarlett had ever experienced. They weren't supposed to actually do anything! Yet she'd been given more textbooks than even fit in her bag.
Still not believing this class wasn't a joke, she'd merely skimmed the chapter she was supposed to read and thrown together something that barely qualified for fulfilling the assignment. Scarlett truly was a good student. Divination was just not a class one actually did work in. Or so she thought.
She easily relocated the Divination classroom. Pulling the single, slightly bent up parchment out of her bag, she placed it on the professor's desk. Satisfied with her work, though still shocked she'd actually had an assignment in Divination, Scarlett left the room to begin the search for her next classroom.
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Post by kairava on Aug 26, 2008 23:08:42 GMT -5
Kai was glad to see that at least one of the classes was more challenging than at Al'Nirah in Arabia. He was beginning to wonder if it truly was worth coming to this school but with Professor O'Neill's challenging personality, he was beginning to enjoy where things were headed.
Even though the seeming challenge was pleasant, thoughts filled with trepidation and fear edged at him while he walked towards the classroom to turn his paper in. He spent that evening touching a few objects and going through the visions that he feared might have disappeared but was thankful that they were still there. That thought, being thankful that something he, at least used to dread, was still there was a conundrum for him. Was it truly such a part of him that he would miss it if it was gone? After mulling over the idea for a long time he found that he had in fact grown attached to his ability. Now the question, should he confront O'Neill about it, arose. Deciding to wait until after the second class to make his decision he walked in and turned his paper in.
He had reviewed his work a few times and was appeased by the amount he had written. It was only about two pages but it covered the topic the teacher conveyed. He believed that divination was an art due to the fact that it was not something you could rely on hard evidence for and was always understood by interpretation which is usually biased. He also had added in a few personal experience with which he took himself out of so that it would not be apparent that he had a form of seeing. Overall, for most teachers he felt that the paper would have earned an O. Confident in his work, he left his paper on the stack of others and left the classroom.
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Post by Katherine Knightswood on Sept 4, 2008 2:22:42 GMT -5
Katherine Marie Knightswood Divinations 17 February 2019
Divination: Art or Science?
Divination is from the Latin root word divinare, meaning to be inspired by the gods. Attempting to seek out the future through many different means was the hallmark of divination through the ages. Even Muggles have attempted to use divination to try and see into their futures. As to the question of it being an art or science, I would say that it is both. It is an art, in that it requires attention to detail, has a certain element of uncertainty, and is a creative medium involving interpretation. It is a science in that it attempts to discover how the physical world will work, albeit in the future and not the present.
There are many forms of divination used in the Wizarding world, and most rely on some sort of object to focus innate talent. Tea leaves, Tarot cards, runes, Ogham, and even natural signs are used for focusing the Seer’s gifts. Some folk can read impressions off objects. Others can see future events. And yet others can find people or things that are missing. The science is in learning what is to come to be, but the art is in figuring out how it will come to be.
Divination also involves the science of recording one’s impressions. The most famous Muggle Seer, Nostradamus of France, was known for his quatrains or simple poems in which he recorded his visions. Several Seers in the Wizarding world, including the author of our introductory text, also record their visions. They use methods from simple dictation to parables to poems. In their writings, the art of Divination comes into play.
In conclusion, I believe that Divination involves both science and art. Without out one, the other fails, and one is left with incomplete information. I am interested in learning more about both sides of this coin, as well as about the methods available to obtain information about the future. If I happen to have a Divinatory gift, I hope that I will be able to employ both the science and the art of Divination well.
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Post by Bridget O'Neill on Sept 4, 2008 3:14:52 GMT -5
Good job, students! Thank you for turning in your work.
I'll be giving you your grades shortly, but everyone will receive 5 points for their Houses.
Well done, and we'll be on to our next subject soon.
Professor O'Neill
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Post by lydianowan on Sept 4, 2008 16:06:50 GMT -5
(OOC: Um, I totally forgot about this. Can Lydia still get credit? Also, Lydia would probably hand in the essay, but I don't really have time to write another one so I'm assuming it's okay that I just post as if she turned it in? Thanks.)
Lydia entered the Divinations room quickly. Her mind on other things, Lydia spared little of her time dwelling in the classroom. Placing her short essay into an already existing pile, she smiled a little to herself before turning around and exiting the classroom. Another assignment; another hour lost to homework. At least now she had some spare time to do something exciting. She left fully with the intention of heading back to the common room, thrilled that she could do something fun.
The essay was not Lydia's finest; but not Lydia's worst, either. However, thankfully enough, writing persuasive essays was one of Lydia's small strengths when it came to Magical Academics. Although in real arguments, Lydia would often get too fired up and lose her temper, on paper she was quite logical and good with words. She argued her point clearly and firmly; appealing to emotions and using logic. Persuasion was a kind of competition; and Lydia loved competition. So, as Lydia continued on her way out the door, she smiled, knowing that she would probably get a good grade despite it not being her best work. At least she could rely on something to keep her academic performance favorable.
But as her eyes lingered on the doorway as she passed back through, her thought process was reminded of her own encounter with the Proffessor....O'Neill, was it? Yes, of course it was. The Professor had seemed quite fun and understanding about Lydia's absence of the class...and had given her a very intriguing rune; a rune of growth and good change. Lydia herself found it quite odd, still not fully understanding the meaning. Yet somehow, she trusted it...
With a final conclusion that only time would tell, Lydia left all thoughts of Divination behind and resumed her fun-loving thoughts.
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