The Hero’s Journey

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

2. What we are exploring… Identifying qualities that make a hero Analyze how a hero becomes a hero using Campbell’s MonomythFormula Question to consider today: How does a hero become a hero?

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

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

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

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

7. Heroes Among Us“Subway Story” 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…

8. 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 1949- describing the journey a hero goes through in mythology in very specific stages

9. Examples of Greek Mythology Greek Mythology We will watch and review“The Top 5 Heroes of Greek Legend” Compare your understanding of each of the 5 heroes based on what you saw You should know the basics now of all 5` heroes… Let’s bring these out to the floor… Achilles Attacking Troy Achilles vs. Hector Achilles’ Heel The Phrase “Achilles’ Heel” Explained

10. What is Myth? To begin, turn to your partner and share any myths or legends that you may know of or heard of? Let’s share some of the myths that we know… Now, let’s get a broad understanding of the definition of myth before we look at examples… As you watch this video: 1. How is myth being defined? What is Myth?

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

12. Creating Your Own Hero… 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 an image-of 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

13. Joseph Campbell and The Monomyth 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… What are hardest aspects of being a hero? How do you know when you are in fact a hero?

14. The Hero Must Make Choices… 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

15. Campbell called this journey with stagesThe Monomyth

16. 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

17. Some things to know about heroes… 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” Universal Theme Truths about life that any person can connect with i.e. love, friendship, death, etc

18. Examples of Archetypes 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

19. The Stages of the Monomyth… Departure Initiation Transformation Return

20. 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

21. 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”

22. 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”

23. 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

24. Questions to Consider… 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?

25. Practicing the Monomyth 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….

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

27. Star Wars & The Monomyth 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