1. The Coming-of-Age Story or Hero Quest
Bildungsroman
The Coming-of-Age Story or
Hero Quest

2. What Is a bildungsroman or Hero Quest?
The story of an individual’s quest for identity within society

3. Process is long, arduous, and gradual
Some form of loss must jar them away from home/family at an early stage
Process is long, arduous, and gradual
Repeated clashes between his needs/ desires and views imposed by society
Protagonist adopts society’s values and is welcomed
Protagonist assesses his place in this society

4. The main character is often an orphan or a child who has lost his/her father
He/she is usually from a small town
Education is preparation for adulthood
It opens his/her mind to other possibilities
He/she desires to leave home to search for his/her identity
The hero often experiences love after leaving home

5. Stages of the Hero Quest

6. Stages of the Hero Quest
The Departure
Common World
Call to Adventure
Refusal of Call
Supernatural Aid
Crossing First Threshold

7. Stages of the Hero Quest
The Initiation
Road of Trials
Supreme Ordeal
The Ultimate Boon

8. Stages of the Hero Quest
The Return
Refusal of the Return
Crossing the Return Threshold
Master of the Two Worlds

9. THE DEPARTURE
The story of an individual’s quest for identity within society
Hero will leave everyday world
Hero receives a “call to adventure”
May feel restless / outgrown old ways
Hero accepts call willingly or reluctantly
Aide or mentor appears
Helps hero get past fears

10. Crossing the Threshold
Hero undergoes ordeal in order to pass into the world of adventure
Trial could be painless or violent
Contrast between familiar world and the unknown world of adventure

11. THE INITIATION Hero must undergo a series of tests
Helper / companion to assist
Often violent encounters with forces of nature
Each success proves hero’s ability and advances the journey toward its end
Supreme Ordeal – expansion of consciousness (after a Final Battle)
Ultimate Boon – hero succeeds in journey and acquires object or knowledge

12. THE RETURN Hero considers return
Sometimes refuses
Hero MUST return to complete the cycle
Ultimately crosses the return threshold
Takes form of awakening, rebirth, resurrection, or emergence
Knowledge or object acquired is put to use in everyday world
Home is not a place

13. THEMES
Opening Scenes
The opening of a story must do more than get our attention; it should also present key ideas and themes that will be echoed in some way throughout the story.

14. Voice and Point of View From whose point of view is this story told?
How would you describe the narrative voice of the story?
Are you sympathetic to this voice, or not?
How does this point of view influence or affect the story?

15. Turning Points
What were the most significant events in the protagonist's early life -- those that truly changed who he or she became?
How does the story show the importance of those events?
What recurring themes and motifs are there in this person's story?
Choose one and explore how it is echoed throughout the story.

16. Who Am I?
In some way, all coming-of-age stories address the quest to define oneself.
Writing in the voice of the main character in the story you are studying, try to answer as that person would if the question "Who am I?" was posed to him or her.

17. Interpersonal Relationships
Does the main character have "good" parents/guardians by your definition?
How do they influence him or her?

18. Family What is the role of the main character in his or her family?
Does that role change?
What code or set of beliefs does the family seem to live by?
What expectations does the family have for this person?
Does he or she meet them? How does the character try to separate from his or her family?
To what extent is he or she successful?

19. Gender Roles
How many stories can you think of that portray men and women in stereotyped gender roles?
Now examine the story you are studying: to what extent are the roles of men and women stereotypical?

20. Friendship
For many young people, their peer group becomes more influential than their family.
How do friendships change this character?
In what ways are these friendships a substitute or continuation of his or her family?

21. Friendship
For many young people, their peer group becomes more influential than their family.
How do friendships change this character?
In what ways are these friendships a substitute or continuation of his or her family?

22. Rebellion In what ways does the character rebel?
What does he or she rebel against?
How does the character rebel -- outwardly or inwardly?
Does rebelling accomplish something important?

23. Where Is Home?
How does the main character in the story you are studying define "home"?
Is it the place the character comes from, or somewhere of his or her own making?
What about this character's "home" seems to stay with the person wherever he or she goes?

24. Everyday Life
What films or books have you seen in this genre in which the everyday life of the characters is especially interesting or unfamiliar to you?
What do you learn about different cultures from this description of everyday life?

25. Romance and Sexuality
Almost no coming-of-age story is without this theme.
How big a role does it play in the story you are studying?
Do you wish it had played a smaller or larger role?
How?

26. Community Values
Where is the main character from in the story you are studying?
How does it shape who he or she is?
What values and beliefs of this community does the character embrace?
Which does he or she reject?

27. Education / The Arts
Many artists, writers, and filmmakers first glimpsed the outside world through books, dance, or other art forms.
What works of art were important in affirming or changing the main character's view of him- or herself?

28. Political / Social Realities
As young children, we are sometimes unaware of issues such as gender roles, race, class, or other political realities. A common theme of many coming-of-age works is a dawning understanding of these realities.
At what point do the characters in the story you are studying begin to understand the political and social boundaries that define their lives?
What incidents set off this understanding?
How does it shape them?

29. The Outside World
How does the story you are studying show how outside events change or define the characters?

30. Some Coming of Age Stories You Might Know
Go Tell It on the Mountain
The Tale of the Swamp Rat
The Mortician’s Apprentice
The Dirt Eaters
My Enemy, My Brother
Hoop Dreams
Angela’s Ashes
Bastard out of Carolina

31. Black Boy
Star Wars
Great Expectations
The Silence of the Lambs
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
The Catcher in the Rye
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Native Son
Boyz in the Hood
The Outsiders
Stand By Me
Lord of the Rings

32. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Mama’s Girl
The House on Mango Street
Rattlebone
White Oleander
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Girl Interrupted
Coming of Age in Mississippi
We Were the Mulvaneys
The Joy Luck Club
The Color Purple