Heroes Across Cultures

Introduction

Heroes have appeared in every culture and time period! From Spiderman, to Hercules, to Wonder Woman, heroes have played a key role in our stories and became role models to teach positive, moral behaviors. Heroes inspire us, challenge us, and reflect a society's values. Whether it is through bravery, sacrifice, power, or compassion, heroes have taught us how to be heroes ourselves. 

In this WebQuest, you research heroes from different time periods and cultures and compare them to our modern heroes of today.

You'll discover:

- What qualities define a hero in different cultures

- How heroes reflect values and challenges of their societies

- How those same traits appear in today's world

Task

You will work in groups of 2-3 to:

1. Research one hero from a world culture. You will pick one hero from a list I provide. This hero may be mythological, literary, or historical. 

2. Research one modern-day hero. You will pick one hero from a list I provide. This hero will be someone who has made a positive impact in our world in the last 100 years. 

3. Compare the two heroes. What do they reveal about their cultures and about how heroism is understood across time?

Create a final product that reflects your comparison of the two heroes and what you learned. You can pick from a list of options with your group to decide how you want to synthesize, portray, and present your information. 

Process

Follow these steps carefully:

Step 1: Pick one hero from world culture.

  • Gilgamesh (Mesopotamian), Mulan (Chinese), Odysseus (Greek), King Arthur (Celtic), Anansi (African), Quetzalcoatl (Aztec)
  • Choose one your group is most interested in researching. 

Step 2: Pick one hero from modern-day.

  • Malala Yousafzai (female education), Greta Thunberg (climate change), Martin Luther King Jr. (rights and equality for all), Nelson Mandela (south African leader), Jane Goodall (protection of animals), Cesar Chavez (working conditions for farmworkers). 
  • Choose one your group is most interested in researching

Step 3: Pick your product before you begin researching, Decide what kind of project you want to put together.

  • Google Slides presentation
  • Short written report
  • Multimedia project (video, podcast, or digital poster)
  • Posterboard presentation

Step 4: Use credible sources to find this information twice for each of your heroes using Google

  • Their background or origin story
  • Their main challenges or conflict
  • Their traits, values, and actions
  • How their culture views them
  • What lessons or morals their stories teach

Step 5: Compare and analyze the two heroes by answering these questions.

  • What do both heroes fight for or stand up for?
  • What does each hero's story say about their culture's beliefs?
  • How has the definition of hero changes - or stayed the same - overtime?

Step 6: Making your project

  • Organize the information you gathered to put together the project your group chose

Step 7: Present

  • Present your project with the class by showing what you created, sharing the information about your heroes, and answering the questions listed in Step 5.

 

Evaluation
Category 4 - Excellent 3 - Proficient 2 - Developing 1 - Beginning

Research Quality

 

 Use 3+ credible sources; detailed and accurate information about both heroes. Uses 2-3 sources; mostly accurate information. Uses limited sources; some inaccuracies. Minimal research or reliable sources. 

Analysis and Comparison

 

 Insightful, well-developed analysis showing strong connections between heroes. Clear comparison with some analysis. Limited or basic comparison; no analysis.  Little to no analysis or unclear comparison.

Organization and Presentation

 

 Creative, well-organized, and engaging presentation. Clear organization; meets task requirements. Some organization issues; lacks creativity. Disorganized or incomplete. 

Conventions and Citations

 

 Few or no errors; proper MLA citation format. Minor errors; mostly correct citations. Frequent errors or missing some citations. Many errors; no citations. 

Presentation

 

 Organized and clear presentation; spoke confidently and understandably; met the above requirements. Overall organized presentation; spoke clearly; met the above requirements. Somewhat confusing presentation; unconfident speaking; met the above requirements. No presentation or very unorganized and hard to follow; spoke unclearly; met the above requirements.

 

Conclusion

Heroes help us understand what people value most in any time period, culture, and place in the world. This can include courage, loyalty, justice, and compassion. 

By exploring heroes across cultures, you've learned that while settings, myths, and appearances may change or be different, the heroes often share many similarities. 

As a final thought:

  • What kind of hero does our world need today - and how can you embody those traits in your own life?