1. 6. Notes with in-text citations Ryan Bailey

2. Question 1: What inspired Obama to want to be President? Once Obama gained so much support, which he started gaining from his speech at the Democratic National Convention in August 2004, he announced he would be running for President on February 10, 2007 (Hunter 1-2) Obama’s father worked for the government when he (Obama jr., our current president) was young, so maybe that inspired him: to be like his father (U*X*L Encyclopedia, 1)

3. Question 2: How did Obama work his way up to become President? Obama successfully ran for a seat in the Senate in “the Chicago South Side neighborhood of Hyde Park” in 1996 (Hunter 1) He failed to get a seat in the House Of Representatives in 2000 (Hunter 1) Obama was elected to the Illinois state Senate in 1996, and served there until he was elected to a U.S. Senate seat in 2004 (Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition, 1)

4. Question 3: Where did Obama grow up? Obama grew up in Hawaii, moved to Indonesia with his mother when he was young, and then moved back to Hawaii to stay with his grandparents when he was ten. (Hunter 1) Obama lived in Hawaii when he was young, and in 1967 he moved with his mother and stepfather to Indonesia while his real father was at Harvard taking up a scholarship offer (Hutchinson 1)

5. Question 4: What inspired him to want to go into politics, and the government? His father worked for the government, so maybe that inspired him (Britannica Biographies 1) Maybe President Abraham Lincoln inspired him. Obama has visited Lincoln’s memorial, used the Lincoln bible for his inauguration, the Gettysburg address is said to have inspired Obama’s inaugural theme “A birth of a new freedom”, and he studied a bit about Lincoln during his campaign (Hornick)

6. Question 5: How was Obama viewed by the public when he rose to office? Why? Obama was widely criticized when he rose to and came to office. People criticized just about every move he made, because that’s how people are (Britannica Biographies 2-3) Europeans view Obama in a positive manner, and 61% of all nations have some or a lot of confidence in Barack Obama to “do the right thing regarding world affairs” (Blue Water Media)

7. Question 6: How do we define the personality traits of a hero? The 5 D’s:Determinants (honesty, kindness/generosity, skill/expertise, risk-taking, objects of affection), depth (mysteriousness in a way), domain (the hero’s field of expertise), database (where one finds information on their hero), and distance (how close one is to the hero, physically and emotionally) (Psychology Today 1-2) Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009 for his work to "strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.“ (Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition, 1) ^This makes him a hero because he must have hero-esque qualities if he earned national attention for what he has done

8. Question 7: How do the setting, conflicts, and antagonists influence the development of heroes?

9. Question 8: How does a hero reflect his/her particular culture and society? After living in Hawaii, visiting his father in Kenya, and living for a short while in Indonesia, Obama realized he could be proud of his Caucasian and African-American heritage (Hunter 1)

10. Question 9: How does a hero represent his/her time period and geographical area?

11. Question 10: How do various cultures reward or recognize their heroes?