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Shameya sat cross-legged on the soft grass, her gluteal-globes molding the soft earth, creating rounded depressions fitted perfectly to her form. For about the 98th time she repeated the self-admonition that she should have brought a ruglet or even a blanket to her duty shift. No matter, the shifts were not arduous, and hers was the last one today. The sun was drifting toward the horizon and the danger increased rapidly the closer it got. She must soon return to the castle, to safety, to the room she shared with her sisters, where she can wash herself of any grass stains or soil before evening feast. Sitting on the bare ground was not a hardship.
It must soon be time for the Beasts to roam. The Beasts roam ever earlier in the day, and it is not safe to be out of doors. When she was a child, the Beasts dared not appear while the sky held light. Monsters are bolder now.
Peering intently at the Threshold of Worlds, she wondered if she might someday soon be lucky enough to see it open. Few had seen that miracle. The miracle happens most when no one is looking. She was quite certain she was looking in the right place, although she had never actually seen the Threshold herself. She had heard the tales of the Threshold opening and the Smooth ones stepping into the world as she might step through a doorway. She very much hoped to see the
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She understood that the Threshold opens according to it's own whims, and not the desires of any person. The Smoothies alone possess the secret of knowing when it will open. Though they know the when of it, they cannot themselves command it. The mystery of the Threshold remains theirs for now, but the Mathematician was determined to change that, to learn the secret for the People. It is Shameya's duty to watch the Threshold as much as possible, with her sisters, recording and reporting anything that might add to the
Watching a film, one can easily recognize plot, theme, characterization, etc., but not many realize what basic principle lies behind nearly every story conceived: the hero’s journey. This concept allows for a comprehensive, logical flow throughout a movie. Once the hero’s journey is thoroughly understood, anyone can pick out the elements in nearly every piece. The hero’s journey follows a simple outline. First the hero in question must have a disadvantaged childhood. Next the hero will find a mentor who wisely lays out his/her prophecy. Third the hero will go on a journey, either literal or figurative, to find him/herself. On this journey the hero will be discouraged and nearly quit his/her quest. Finally, the hero will fulfill the prophecy and find his/herself, realizing his/her full potential. This rubric may be easy to spot in epic action films, but if upon close inspection is found in a wide array of genres, some of which are fully surprising.
What is the role of shame in the lives of these soldiers? Does it drive them to acts of heroism or stupidity? Or both? What is the relationship between shame and courage, according to O’Brien?
What is a hero? To our understanding, a hero is a person who is admired for great or brave acts. Joseph Campbell, an American mythologist, and writer wrote The Odyssey. In this novel he talks about The Heroes Journey which are twelve different stages of adventure known as the Ordinary World, the Call to Adventure, Refusal of the Call, Meeting the Mentor, Crossing the Threshold, Test/Allies/Enemies, Approach to the Inmost Cave, Ordeal, Reward, the Road Back, Resurrection, and the Return With The Elixir. The Odyssey is about a legendary hero named Odysseus, who fought among the Greeks in the battle of Troy and went through the stages of The Heroes Journey. Odysseus lived in Ithaca, Northwest of Greece, with his wife Penelope and son Telemachus.
Americans have always been optimists, and optimists have always liked to speculate. According to Laurence Shames, “great American hunger for more – more toys, more land, more opportunities – is an essential part of our history, and character, stemming from the frontier era when the horizon alone seemed the only limit to American desire.” (qtd. In Shames 80) Moreover, Shames asserts that Americans have been influenced by the frontier belief that “America would keep on booming” (para. 8). They believed that “There would always be another gold rush, another Homestead Act, another oil strike. The next generation would always ferret out opportunities that would be still more lavish than any that had gone before”. (qtd.in Shames 81). Because of these,
When I think about the steps of The Hero's Journey, I think back to myself; Am I on my own Hero’s Journey as I type this essay? A hero's journey comes in steps which are the Normal World, Call to Adventure, Refusal of the call, Mentor, Start the journey,Tests, Allies, Supreme ordeal, and lastly the Resolution. I'm going to take you through the steps in my own hero's journey. My Normal World was my mother and stepfather having a weird yet happy relationship. I remember the good times and the bad ones, it still leaves chills in my bones when I think back. My family has always been crazy, we’re always really good, then we fight, everyone stops talking for two weeks then the cycle begins all over again. That is still my Normal world. But Let us take a look at Joseph Campbell (1904-1987) who was recognized worldwide as a mythologist, also working with comparative religion too. One of his many books, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, which has sold over a million copies and translated into twenty languages. Campbells concept, also called the monomyth, details on how all stories, fiction or nonfiction, follow a certain pattern. My call to adventure in my opinion is me choosing to go to college, with my mom being a single mother at 14; she never had a chance because in reality she had responsibilities. That is why I felt
All hero stories have similar experiences in their life journey. Every hero undergo growth, development, and transformation through a journey of self-discovery. According to Seger (2013), “Many of the most successful films are based on these universal stories” (para. 2). Some of these stories could be either a search, a hero, or a healing story about a specific character. In the film “Dinosaur” (2000), a young broken iguanodon named Aladar goes on an similarly astonishing journey like in the hero’s journey to become a hero to his family of lemurs and a herd of dinosaurs because of his desire to do special and great acts, pass tests and obstacles, and journey to a special world.
Assignment details: Analyze the components of the hero’s journey. Basically, support the argument that Jaws follows the epic hero cycle. Name specific examples from the movie and connect them to the hero’s journey. However, this is not a plot summary. You are not retelling the story, but selecting examples to support the analysis.
The Hero’s Journey is a pattern of narrative that appears in novels, storytelling, myth, and religious ritual. It was first identified by the American scholar Joseph Campbell in his book A Hero with Thousand Faces. Campbell also discussed this pattern in his interview to Bill Moyers which was later published as a book The Power of Myths. This pattern describes the typical adventure of the archetype known as The Hero, the person who goes out and achieves great deeds. Campbell detailed many stages in the Hero’s Journey, but he also summarized the pattern in three fundamental phases: Separation, Ordeal, and Return that all heroes, in spite of their sex, age, culture, or religion, have to overcome in order to reach the goal. Alice in Wonderland, written by Lewis Carroll, provides a good example of the Hero's Journey. This story describes the adventures of Alice, a young English girl, in Wonderland. Although she lacks some of the stages identified by Campbell, she still possesses many of them that are necessary for a Hero to be considered a Hero.
Today in the world there are many types of adventures that are closely related to the Hero’s Journey. In the book The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon, it uncovers the adventure of Christopher Boone searching for the killer of Wellington, his neighbor’s dog. Christopher ran away from Swindon, his hometown, because he discovered that his father lied about his mother’s death and that he killed Wellington. While on his adventure, Christopher encounters challenges such as talking to strangers and being followed by a police officer. Since Christopher was a person who showed symptoms of Asperger’s Syndrome, a developmental disorder that affects a person’s ability to socialize with others, it causes him to have a hard time
“It was a large, beautiful room, rich and picturesque in the soft, dim light which the maid had turned low. She went and stood at an open window and looked out upon the deep tangle of the garden below. All the mystery and witchery of the night seemed to have gathered there amid the perfumes and the dusky and tortuous outlines of flowers and foliage. She was seeking herself and finding herself in just such sweet half-darkness which met her moods. But the voices were not soothing that came to her from the darkness and the sky above and the stars. They jeered and sounded mourning notes without promise, devoid even of hope. She turned back into the room and began to walk to and fro, down its whole length, without stopping, without resting. She carried in her hands a thin handkerchief, which she tore into ribbons, rolled into a ball, and flung from her. Once she stopped, and taking off her wedding ring, flung it upon the carpet. When she saw it lying there she stamped her heel upon it, striving to crush it. But her small boot heel did not make an indenture, not a mark upon the glittering circlet.
“The journey of the hero is about the courage to seek the depths; the image of creative rebirth; the eternal cycle of change within us; the uncanny discovery that the seeker is the mystery which the seeker seeks to know. The hero journey is a symbol that binds, in the original sense of the word, two distant ideas, and the spiritual quest of the ancients with the modern search for identity always the one, shape-shifting yet marvelously constant story that we find.” (Phil Cousineau) The Hero's Journey has been engaged in stories for an immemorial amount of time. These stories target typical connections that help us relate to ourselves as well as the “real world”.
When driving home her cow in the dark Sylvia’s “feet were familiar with the path, and it was no matter whether their eyes could see it or not” (Jewett 682). Sylvia is familiar with the woodlands to such an extent that she forms a strong physical connection to the natural world because even her “feet were familiar with the path.” She also refers to her cow as a “valued companion” and considers the cow’s pranks as an “intelligent attempt to play hide and seek” to which she responds to “with a good deal of zest” (Jewett 682). Sylvia escapes urban society because she was “afraid of folks,” and now relies on her “valued companion” to fulfill her need for friends and playmates. In doing so, the cow becomes the sole being she interacts with and consists of the totality of her amusement, which in turn prompts a close emotional attachment and relationship. Prior to coming to the farm, she had lived “in a crowded manufacturing town” but now feels “as if she had never been alive before.” Sylvia is content in her isolation from humanity at the farm where she only lives with her grandmother, and finally feels “alive” in a setting where she is alienated from other people and surrounded by nature and animals. She in turn seems content and welcomes her close relationship to the natural world around her and willingly gives up human interactions to achieve this. After trailing through the woods late into the night she feels “as if she were a part of the gray shadows and the moving leaves.” Sylvia comes to the realization that she becomes “a part of” and finds a sense of belonging in the natural world, which shows her close emotional
Alone with his sad realization, tears dripped from his eyes into the void, filling it with a part of him. To the surprise of himself was the mist that formed from it, being innately drawn to itself it began forming denser and denser clouds. In that short time it had sprouted a new world within the creator's plane of existence. Unfortunately for the
When things are at their best prepare for the worst. That’s something I always told myself since I was young boy. Joseph Campbell was no stranger to this concept which he described as the hero’s journey. This journey had three stages: leaving the everyday world, overcoming trials and tribulations, and finally going back to the everyday world with newfound knowledge that you can share with people. I traveled through all three of these stages myself. This is my hero’s journey.
Her spry, Timberland-clad foot planted itself upon a jagged boulder, motionless, until her calf muscles tightened and catapulted her small frame into the next stride. Then Sara's dance continued, her feet playing effortlessly with the difficult terrain. As her foot lifted from the ground, compressed mint-colored lichen would spring back into position, only to be crushed by my immense boot, struggling to step where hers had been. My eyes fixated on the forest floor, as fallen trees, swollen roots, and unsteady rocks posed constant threats for my exhausted body. Without glancing up I knew what was ahead: the same dense, impenetrable green that had surrounded us for hours. My throat prickled with unfathomable thirst, as my long-empty Nalgene bottle slapped mockingly at my side. Gnarled branches snared at my clothes and tore at my hair, and I blindly hurled myself after Sara. The portage had become a battle, and the ominously darkening sky raised the potential for casualties. Gritting my teeth with gumption, I refused to stop; I would march on until I could no longer stand.