The Hero Essay

What are you writing your essay about? Main focus: To what extent are heroes similar and different throughout literature? What aspect of heroes are you going to compare and contrast? Why is it important to have heroes? What role does the hero fulfill? Why are we drawn to the hero story? Why do we need different types of heroes?

What other aspects of heroes might you compare? What can you say about the hero’s journey?’ Which elements of the hero’s journey seem to be in each hero story? Which elements of the hero’s journey are not present in each story? Do heroes have the same basic personality throughout literature?

Claim Must be debatable Non-debatable claim: All heroes must be brave. Debatable claim: The hero story intrigues human kind because it contains fantastical elements and violence yet gives its audience hope for things to come.

Claim Contains two parts: 1.The first part states the topic: a.The hero story intrigues human kind 2.The second part states the point of the essay: a.because it contains fantastical elements and violence yet gives its audience hope for things to come.

Claim Tells your reader what is to come Controls your essay The hero story intrigues human kind because it contains fantastical elements and violence yet gives its audience hope for things to come. What will my first body paragraph be about?

Claim Tells your reader what is to come Controls your essay The hero story intrigues human kind because it contains fantastical elements and violence yet gives its audience hope for things to come. What will my first body paragraph be about? Body one will be about why we are intrigued by fantastical elements.

Claim Tells your reader what is to come Controls your essay The hero story intrigues human kind because it contains fantastical elements and violence yet gives its audience hope for things to come. What will my first body paragraph be about? Body one will be about why we are intrigued by fantastical elements. What will my second body paragraph be about?

Claim Tells your reader what is to come Controls your essay The hero story intrigues human kind because it contains fantastical elements and violence yet gives its audience hope for things to come. What will my first body paragraph be about? Body one will be about why we are intrigued by fantastical elements. What will my second body paragraph be about? Body two will be about why we are intrigued by violence

Claim The hero story intrigues human kind because it contains fantastical elements and violence yet gives its audience hope for things to come. What will my third body paragraph be about?

Claim The hero story intrigues human kind because it contains fantastical elements and violence yet gives its audience hope for things to come. What will my third body paragraph be about? Body three will be about how the story gives us hope even though it contains fantastical elements and violence

Other Sample Claims Heroes are the same throughout literature because they follow the same basic journey which includes _________________, ______________, ______________. Although heroes have many similarities, heroes differ because ____________, ___________, ____________. Heroes throughout literature are similar and different because _____________, ____________, ___________.

Write your own claim.

Introduction Eases your reader into the topic at hand Gives needed background information Contains claim (should be last sentence of paragraph)

Introduction Claim

Introduction General sentences—Grab Readers Attention: Superheroes dominate the box office starting every May and continue into the summer months. This rise in hero stories seems like a new trend in the past decade with The X-Men, Batman, Spiderman, and the Avengers each with their own series of stories separate from the team.

Introduction Specific sentences on topic—use transitions to move from one idea to another: However, upon a closer look at heroes beyond the silver screen, we see that the hero story is not, in fact, new but rather centuries old. Hercules and Odysseus battled monsters in ancient Greece, while Lakota heroes brought back helpful tools to their tribe, and American folk heroes inspired settlers during Western expansion in the 1800s in the United States. The fact that we have so many stories throughout time and cultures tells us that this infatuation with the hero is timeless.

Introduction Claim—use a transitional sentence to “flow” into the claim. So what draws us to the hero story and keeps us coming back for more? The answer is simple: the hero story intrigues human kind because it contains fantastical elements and violence yet gives its audience hope for things to come.

Superheroes dominate the box office starting every May and continue into the summer months. This rise in hero stories seems like a new trend in the past decade with The X-Men, Batman, Spiderman, and the Avengers each with their own series of stories separate from the team. However, upon a closer look at heroes beyond the silver screen, we see that the hero story is not, in fact, new but rather centuries old. Hercules and Odysseus battled monsters in ancient Greece, while Lakota heroes brought back helpful tools to their tribe, and American folk heroes inspired settlers during Western expansion in the 1800s in the United States. The fact that we have so many stories throughout time and cultures tells us that this infatuation with the hero is timeless. So what draws us to the hero story and keeps us coming back for more? The answer is simple: the hero story intrigues human kind because it contains fantastical elements and violence yet gives its audience hope for things to come.

General information about topic Specific information Claim Transitions to help move from one idea to another

Write your introduction.

Body Body paragraphs prove your claim to be true Each paragraph should include: Topic sentence (tells what the paragraph will be about) Evidence (specific events in the stories) Analysis (tell how the evidence proves your point

Body Before you begin writing your body paragraphs, identify which two stories you will be using to prove your point. The two stories I will use are: 1.The Odyssey 2.The Boy Who Lives With His Grandmother Brings Home a Buffalo Horn Club Next list what three things you will be comparing between your two stories (refer to the three things listed in claim): 1.Both contain fantastical elements 2.Both contain violence 3.Both give hope to its audience

Body Now that you know which two stories will be included, briefly write what similarities or differences your stories have for each of the three points. Fantastical Elements: Odysseus fights the Cyclops which is not real The Boy Who Lives With His Grandmother receives powers from seven grandfathers and can transform into animals.

Body Violence: Odysseus kills hundreds of men to rid his country of them The Boy Who Lives With His Grandmother kills the Woman With Long Hair for the buffalo horn club Hope: Odysseus was lost at sea for 10 years and faced impossible obstacles yet he returns home. The One Who Live With His Grandmother was an unlikely hero but he managed to bring home the needed tool for his tribe

Body: Providing Evidence Now you must find evidence from both stories that prove the point you are trying to make. Evidence can be a brief summary of the action or direct quote from the story.

Body: Providing Evidence Brief Summary: Odysseus lands on an island inhabited by giant mythical creatures who are lazy, beat their children and wife, and have only one eye. Direct Quote: “In the next land we found were Cyclopes, giants, louts, without law to bless them” (866).

Body: Analysis of Evidence Once you have found your evidence, you must make the needed connection for reader to understand how the evidence proves your point. This is called analysis of evidence and should always directly follow the evidence. It should also answer the question: How does the evidence prove your point?

Body: Putting it all together! Each body paragraph should be organized in this way: i.Topic sentence ii.Evidence from story #1 iii.Analysis of evidence from story #1 iv.Evidence from story #2 v.Analysis of evidence from story #2 vi.Concluding sentence that helps make the connection between the two stories and overall point of paragraph

To begin, most hero stories contain fantastical elements that immediately draws in its audience. It seems we like stories that contain unreal elements. The Odyssey, from centuries ago, contain monsters of all sorts. One in particular is the Cyclopes. Odysseus comes to the island of the Cyclopes to investigate who lives there. He reports, “we found…Cyclopes, giants, louts, without a law to bless them…dwell[ing] in his own mountain cave dealing out rough justice to wife and child, indifferent to what the others do” (866). Just as Odysseus is curious to know about these one-eyed monsters, so are we as an audience. We want to know more about what Odysseus will do when he faces the Cyclops. However, these fantastical elements are not reserved for just Greek mythology. In the Lakota story “The Boy Who Lives With His Grandmother Brings Home A Buffalo Club,” the main character is given assistance by seven magical grandfathers who give him the power to transform into animals. With each grandfather, the reader is interested to know which animal The Boy Who Lives With His Grandmother will be given and how it will help him achieve his goal. Both stories provide elements not apart of this world. Although not real, the audience is drawn in because we like to witness things that we actually could not do ourselves.

Topic sentence which tells reader what paragraph will be about Evidence from story #1 which supports point trying to make Analysis of evidence to make connection Transition sentence to move into next story Evidence from story #2 which supports point trying to make Analysis of evidence to make connection Concluding sentence that also makes connection between both stories & main point

Tips for Writing the Body 1.Write each point in the order in which it is listed in your claim. 2.Always provide evidence from stories in the same order: if you start with The Odyssey in paragraph one then start with The Odyssey in paragraph two. 3.Use transition between paragraphs and between sentences a.Remember: transitions show your reader the connections you are making between ideas.

Write your body paragraphs.

Conclusion Connect back to introduction Review major points of essay Bring up no new ideas End with a summative last thought

Although superheroes have swept the box office in recent years, the hero tale has been drawing in people for centuries. It is the intrigue of fantasy elements like Cyclopes and turning into animals that keep us coming back for more. More over, it is the brutal, detailed violence that can be found in most hero stories that creates emotions in us like relief and satisfaction when the monster or bad guy gets what is coming to him. Or even sadness and regret when the hero doesn’t accomplish his goal or loses someone close to him or her. But most importantly, it is that feeling of hope that comes to us once the story is over. That feeling that someone will always be there to save human kind no matter the situation. Bringing it back to introduction Reviewing all the main points Final sentence which sums things up Transitions to move from idea to idea

Write your conclusion.