The Hero’s Journey(the same great story over and

over and over)

We prior knowledge…

• Think of your favorite hero stories or movies. What events, characters, themes are in all good hero stories?

• Follow along in the guided notes.

One story to rule them all…

An American professor and all-around smart dude named Joseph Campbell noticed these patterns too. He studied hero stories from many different cultures all over the world, and he realized that they were essentially the same story! He created a framework to help us understand why hero stories are so similar.

The Great and Wonderful Pattern

Campbell’s pattern is known as the “hero’s journey.”

Campbell’s diagram (bottom left) is slightly different than the one we will use, but it is the inspiration for our own diagram (bottom right).

Women Warriors

The Hero’s Journey is not just about men! We will be reading The Hunger Games, which follows the Hero’s Journey cycle.

Let’s Get Down to

Business and learn the

steps of the Hero’s

Journey through a

Disney Woman Warrior:

Mulan

Step 1: BIRTH/FAMILY BACKGROUND

• Fabulous circumstances surrounding hero’s birth and childhood that set the hero apart as “special” or “different”

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• The hero is called to adventure by an event or messenger. Occasionally, the call to adventure is an accident. The hero may accept the call willingly (Let’s do it!) or reluctantly (No, thank you).

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Step 2: Call to Adventure

During the early stages of the journey, the hero will often receive help from a protective figure. This helper can take a wide variety of forms, such as a wizard, an old man, a dwarf, a fairy godmother, or a friend.

The helper sometimes gives

the hero a protective amulet

or weapon for the journey.

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Step 3: AMULET

• The hero must undergo some sort of ordeal in order to pass from the everyday world into the world of adventure. This trial may be as painless as entering a dark cave or as violent as being swallowed up by a whale. The important feature is the contrast between the familiar world (light, normal, everyday) and the world of adventure (dark, unknown, magical).

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Step 4: CROSSING THE THRESHOLD

Step 5: TESTS• The hero travels through the world

of adventure in which he must undergo a series of tests. These trials are often violent encounters with monsters, sorcerers, warriors, or forces of nature. Each successful test further proves the hero's ability and advances the journey toward its climax. These tests also reveal the hero’s character.

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• In the world of adventure the hero often meets helpers who assist in the tests and serve as a loyal companions or givers of advice.

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Step 6: HELPERS

This is the critical moment in the hero's journey in which there is often a final battle, sometimes with a monster, wizard, or warrior, which leads to the resolution of the adventure.

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Step 7: CLIMAX/FINAL BATTLE

After accomplishing the mission, the hero must return to the threshold of adventure and prepare for a return to the everyday world. If the hero has angered the opposing forces by stealing an object or by killing a powerful monster, the return may take the form of a hasty flight. If the hero has been given an object freely, the flight may be a safe stage of the journey.

Step 8: FLIGHT

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• The hero again crosses the threshold of adventure and returns to the everyday world. The return may take the form of an awakening, rebirth, resurrection, or a simple emergence from a cave or forest. Sometimes the hero is pulled out of the adventure world by a force from the everyday world.

Step 9: RETURN

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• The object, knowledge, realization, or blessing that the hero acquired or learned during the adventure is now put to use in the everyday world. Often it has a restorative or healing function, but it also helps to define the hero's role in the everyday world.

Step 10: ELIXIR

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The hero finds a place in his or her society, possessing the

knowledge and experience of two worlds: the everyday world

and the world of adventure.

Step 11: HOME

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Technical Competency 12

• Before reading The Hunger Games, I teach the steps of the hero’s journey through the Disney movie Mulan.

• The times listed on each side indicate the part of the movie to demonstrate each step.

• It is useful to our class because the students become familiar with the steps so they can track them in the class text.