Introduction
by Taylor Gunn, Hansei
A writer's quest into the Hero's Journey.
Introduction
Figure 1 Writer, Writing
You, the greatest writer ever, have told the world that you will be ready to unveil your newest hero in six months’ time. However, you’re stumped. You've created your protagonist as well as the title but have no idea how you’re hero’s journey should progress. Your publisher is breathing down your neck and demanding to know what is going on. To get him off your back, you've promised to have a storyboard ready by next week. To prepare for this you must first explore the Hero’s Journey as described by Joseph Campbell.
Figure 2 Silhoutte, Man
Task
Task
Yikes! The deadline is fast approaching and you need to start producing something!
In order to prepare for the meeting with your publisher, you've decided it would be best to go back to the beginning and explore the Monomyth. You've clearly decided to do some research on the origin of the Monomyth and who created it. You give yourself a pat on the back, thinking this is a surefire and commendable way to gain a modicum of inspiration.
Without missing a beat your brilliant mind is sure then to suggest that you will need to get to work on filling out your own Hero’s Journey template in order to get this project back on track.
Being the brilliant and dedicated author that you are, you will inevitably decide to create a storyboard showing your hero’s path and all the steps they must go through. You are certain that after submitting all this to your publisher, the amazingly rich and influential Gunnagiveyouabadgradeifyoudontfinish publishing corporation or Gunn Inc. for short, you will be back on track and ready to write the novel of the century!
Process
Process
To Do List
- Begin research by discovering what is a Monomyth.
- Start by reading What is a Monomyth?
Essential Questions to Consider
What is a Monomyth?
What are the three main sections of the Monomyth?
- Watch What makes a Hero?
Essential Questions to Consider
What are the 12 common stages to the Hero’s Journey?
- How does this all pertain to story writing? How can this be used to create a story about a hero?
- Watch Hero’s Journey in 5 Disney Movies (This should be fun too!)
- Get popcorn.
Essential Questions to Consider
What are the five Disney movies?
Do they all fit the Hero’s Journey?
- Finalize ideas for the book, read An Explanation of the Hero’s Journey and completetemplate. (You must get this done before the weekend, or you will not have enough time to complete storyboard!)
- Create storyboard for publisher using Storyboardthat. Make sure to log in using the details that your publisher sent to your email account. (Wow, he is such a stickler for rules!)
*Access key and room number in email.
- Save storyboard to website, print out, and prepare for meeting with publisher. Don’t forget to be ready to explain your Hero’s Journey in the meeting!
Evaluation
Evaluation
|
|
CATEGORY |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
|
Use of Time |
Used time well during each class period (as shown by observation by teacher) with no adult reminders. |
Used time well during most class periods (as shown by observation by teacher) with no adult reminders. |
Used time well (as shown by observation by teacher), but required adult reminders on one or more occasions to do so. |
Used time poorly (as shown by observation by teacher) in spite of several adult reminders to do so. |
|
Spelling & Grammar |
No spelling or grammatical mistakes on a storyboard with lots of text. |
No spelling or grammatical mistakes on a storyboard with little text. |
One spelling or grammatical error on the storyboard. |
Several spelling and/or grammatical errors on the storyboard. |
|
Content |
All content is in the students' own words or cited properly and is accurate. |
Almost all content is in the students' own words or cited properly and is accurate. |
At least half of the content is in the students' own words or cited properly and is accurate. |
Less than half of the content is in the students' own words or cited properly and/or is accurate. |
|
Required Elements |
Storyboard included all 12 parts of the Hero's Journey as well as a few additional elements. |
Storyboard included all 12 parts of the Hero's Journey and one additional element. |
Storyboard included all 12 parts of the Hero's Journey. |
One or more required elements was missing from the storyboard. |
|
Template |
Template included all required elements as well as a few additional elements. |
Template included all required elements and one additional element. |
Template included all required elements. |
One or more required elements was missing from the template. |
Conclusion
Conclusion
You've finished creating your magnificent storyboard for your publisher and you are certain you've done a wonderful job. But before you begin to write the greatest epic of all-time, you still have some nagging questions.
- Why is understanding the Hero’s Journey important?
- Is the journey the same for a female hero (heroine)?
- What are some other archetypes that heroes meet along the way?
Since you can never leave a stone unturned, you decide to check the following websites:
What is the Hero’s Journey: Why is it important?
Additional Reading About Hero’s and Heroine’s Journey
Credits
Credits
References:
DRSJS. (Designer). 2014. Silhoutte, Man [Digital image], Retrieved from
http://pixabay.com/en/silhouette-man-fitness-muscular-331661/
Ramdlon. (Photographer). 2015. Writer, Writing [Photograph], Retrieved from
http://pixabay.com/en/writer-writing-paper-letter-author-605764/
Author Biography
Taylor Gunn
I have been teaching for seven years and working as a professor in Korea for the last four. I have taught in America, Thailand and Korea. I have a background in creative writing, poetry and English education.
Permissions
We all benefit by being generous with our work. Permission is granted for others to use and modify this WebQuest for educational, non-commercial purposes as long as the original authorship is credited. The modified WebQuest may be shared only under the same conditions. See the Creative Commons Attribution • Non-Commercial• Share-Alike license for details.
Teacher Page
A writer's quest into the Hero's Journey.
Teacher Introduction
This WebQuest supports the supplemental unit on Hero’s in Literature. The intended learners are high school students in an English Literature class exploring the archetype heroes in literary history.