The Hero’s Journey Joseph Campbell’s Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949)

 Identifying qualities that make a hero  Analyze how a hero becomes a hero using Campbell’s Monomyth Formula Question to consider today: How does a hero become a hero? What you’ll be doing today…

Preamble:  Take 2 mins to make a list of all the qualities associated with a hero- be as specific as you can What exactly is a hero?

Hero Picture Analysis  Who is this character?  What makes this character a hero?  Does the hero have any flaws/weaknesses?

Hero Picture Analysis  Who is this character?  What makes this character a hero?  Does the hero have any flaws/weaknesses?

Hero Picture Analysis  Who is this character?  What makes this character a hero?  Does the hero have any flaws/weaknesses?

 We will now take a few minutes to read together a short story…  I will read out loud…  You will annotate or highlight any parts of the story where you see heroism being demonstrated…  What did you learn about heroes according to the story?  Bringing these out to the floor… Heroes Among Us “Subway Story”

So how do you know when a hero is a hero?.... In walks in Joseph Campbell… Joseph Campbell-  Wrote a book called “Hero with a Thousand Faces in describing the journey a hero goes through in mythology in very specific stages

Greek Mythology  In pairs, take out the “The Top 10 Heroes of Greek Legend”  Compare your understanding of each of the 10 heroes based on what you read  You should know the basics now of all 10 heroes…  Let’s bring these out to the floor… Achilles Attacking Troy Examples of Greek Mythology

 We are now going to watch a short animated version of the story of David & Goliath  Some questions to guide you as you watch… 1.What challenges does David have? 2.How does he overcome them? 3.What lesson does this story teach you? David and Goliath Examples of Biblical Heroes

 To end our session on myths and legends, you are going to create your own hero. Here are some simple guidelines:  You can draw, make a body outline, print from La Negra an image-your choice  Choose what powers and characteristics your hero has  Do they have an enemy?  Do they have weaknesses?  You can include anything else about your hero Creating Your Own Hero…

Some questions to get us thinking before we dive into the Hero’s Journey as described by Campbell.. Take 2 mins to respond to these questions… 1.What are hardest aspects of being a hero? 2.How do you know when you are in fact a hero? Joseph Campbell and The Monomyth

 In most narratives (stories), the hero is always left with choices to make…which paths to take…those choices determine the outcome of the hero’s journey The Hero Must Make Choices…

Campbell called this journey with stages The Monomyth

His argument about heroes…  All major stories in the bible and in Greek mythology have a formula for their stories  At the center is the hero

Some things to know about heroes… Universal Theme Truths about life that any person can connect with i.e. love, friendship, death, etc Archetypes  Every story has different characters that help and challenge the hero  These “other” characters are called Archetypes  They are like a “blueprint” or “model”

 The hero is never alone in the quest…  There are people present in the story that support but also challenge the hero The 12 Common Archetypes Examples of Archetypes

 Departure  Initiation  Transformation  Return The Stages of the Monomyth…

Departure The Call: Place in life where things are going to change – they may take challenge willingly or by force The Threshold: Person crossed field of adventure leaving the known and ventures to unknown

Initiation  The Challenges: Series of tests, obstacles, person must undergo to begin transformation-failure is a part of this for growth  The Abyss: Greatest challenge of journey, must face their worst fear alone – AKA “Slaying the dragon”

Transformation  The Transformation: Death and rebirth- part of person dies so that new one can be born- i.e. fear must die to turn into courage  The Revelation: Sudden dramatic change in way person views life  The Atonement: Person is at peace with their new self- incorporate changes from “journey” and are “reborn”

The Return The Return: Final stage of journey is return to everyday life, discovery of gift based on what they have learned- essence of return is contributing those lessons learned to the greater society

 How does this theory help us understand the “hero” in narratives (stories)? What insight (understanding) do we get?  What happens if the hero fails one of these stages, does the hero still exist? Questions to Consider…

 Before you can start to identify the stages using Star Wars…  Let’s watch something short so you can practice  We are watching a 22 minute episode of Ultimate Spiderman (From Netflix)  Your job is try and identify the stages present in this short episode.  Go ahead and use a Thinking Log for this  I saw… and I thought…. Practicing the Monomyth

REMINDER and TIP: Start to make connections with NPR piece for this week’s blogging. Questions?

 Before we dive into the movie next week, let’s become familiar with the creator George Lucas and the saga that is Star Wars  Here is a documentary from the History Channel that gives you better insight into Star Wars  Star Wars: A Legacy Revealed Star Wars: A Legacy Revealed Star Wars & The Monomyth