The Writer’s Journey

Team:

• Michelle
• Jordan
• Kirstin
• Ryan

We have been given the task to read a chapter of Christopher Voglar’s, The Writer’s Journey and create a presentation on the contents. The chapter was “A Practical Guide” pages 3-20. My team read the chapter and then came together to decide on the best way to create the presentation. When reading we discovered that this was the start of the book, and a summary for the rest of the books contents. The chapter starts of talking about Joseph Camphell’s, The Hero with a Thousand Faces. It then continues with 11 different sub headings, these are:

• Ordinary World
• Call to Adventure
• Refusal to the call
• Meeting with the Mentor
• Crossing the first threshold
• Tests, Allies, Enemies
• Approach to the inmost
  cave ordeal
• Reward
• The Road Back
• Resurrection
• Return of the Elixir

We decided to split them up so that each of us can look into a specific sub heading and get information and images etc. The slides that I will research and present are:

• The hero with a thousand Faces
• The heroes Journey
• Ordinary World
• Call to Adventure 

The Presentation 

This chapter starts by talking about Joseph Camphell’s, The hero with a Thousand faces. The ideas expressed in this book have had a major impact in story telling. It also has had an influence in Hollywood, seen through the work of Steven Speilberg and John Boorman. Camphell studied the myth of the hero and discovered that the stories are basically the same, just told in different variations. The book is like a tool kit and if you are a writer you can use this equipment to take your story to its peak performance.

 

Here is a summary of the different stages of the Hero’s Journey that we will be briefly going through.

At the start of The Hero’s Journey we usually see them in their ordinary world before being taken to a special, new and alien world. This is called “A fish out of water” effect. Examples of this is the Wizard of Oz, when Dorothy is taken away of Kansas. Or Beverly Hillbillies moving to a completely different lifestyle.

The call to Adventure is when the hero is presented with a problem, challenge or adventure. It establishes the hero’s goal of the story. It could be a revenge plot, making a wrong into a right. Or it could be a question. For example, will E.T ever find his way home? It could also be an actual call. For example, Princess Leia sending a Hologram message to Hans Solo asking for his help.

The Refusal to the call is when the Hero is not full committed to the journey or they may be afraid of the unknown. Usually there are changes in circumstances that would force the hero to react whether he wants to or not. For example, in Star Wars Luke does not want to be a Jedi and refuses the call. Things change when his family are killed and he could not protect them, this makes him rethink the call.

A mentor has the function of preparing the hero to face the unknown. They give them advice and instructions, whether it be wisdom, advice on their path or teaching the hero a technique. For example when Shifu from Kung fu Panda teaches Po how to fight. Also professor X from Xmen gives the others wisdom and helps them control their powers. The mentor does not necessarily have to be good. They could be someone that are only interested in their own goals, and use the hero to get it. As long as they give the hero some guidance they are considered a mentor.

This is when the hero finally gives their full commitment to the adventure and they cross the threshold into that special and new world. This marks a turning part in the hero’s character development. A example of this is in The Hobbit, when Baggins decides to travel with the dwarfs and leave his ordinary and mundane life.

After the hero fully commits to the journey they now face Tests, Allies and Enemies. They will encounter different challenges and make allies aswell as enemies throughout their adventure. They must learn the rules of this new world if they want to complete the journey.

This is the location where the hero has been searching for and holds the object or purpose of the quest. The hero may need a plan to approach or face obstacles before entering.

In a Hero’s Journey the Ordeal is usually a life or death moment in which the hero or their goal is in jeopardy. It is also known as “The Black Moment.”

The Reward is when the hero has completed their challenge and past the test. The audience would celebrate and the hero would receive the object or purpose that they have been searching for.

On the Road Back the hero would have a decision to make on whether or not to return home and leave the special world. The new world could have temptations, like allies or loved ones that would make them want to stay. Or perhaps their life would be more appealing rather than going back to their ordinary lives.

Resurrection is when the hero is transformed through the life and death moment of the Ordeal. A lesson is learned and they are able to return home with new being and new insights, like a life reborn. In ancient times, hunters and warriors had to be purified before they returned to their communities, because they had blood on their hands.

The hero Returns to the Ordinary World, but the journey is meaningless unless she
brings back some Elixir, treasure, or lesson from the Special World. Dorothy returns to Kansas with the knowledge that she is loved, and that
“There’s no place like home.” E.T returns home with the experience of friendship
with humans. Luke Skywalker defeats Darth Vader (for the time being) and restores
peace and order to the galaxy.

A recap of the journey:

1. Heroes are introduced in the ORDINARY WORLD, where
2. they receive the CALL TO ADVENTURE.
3. They are RELUCTANT at first or REFUSE THE CALL, but
4. are encouraged by a MENTOR to
5. CROSS THE FIRST THRESHOLD and enter the Special World,
where
6. they encounter TESTS, ALLIES, AND ENEMIES.
7. They APPROACH THE INMOST CAVE, crossing a second
threshold
8. where they endure the ORDEAL.
9. They take possession of their REWARD and
10. are pursued on THE ROAD BACK to the Ordinary World.
11. They cross the third threshold, experience a RESURRECTION,
and are transformed by the experience.
12. They RETURN WITH THE ELIXIR, a boon or treasure to
benefit the Ordinary World.

 

Presentation Reflection 

During my research I read the whole chapter of “A practical guide” before we had even decided to split the sub headings up in the team. This was so that I had a better understanding of the message and also it was very interesting to read. After discussing what slides I would be presenting I gathered images and information. I rewrote my notes that I would be speaking several times and reread over and over. As a team we only went through the presentation twice. I’m not sure if it was because its been two months since my last presentation, but the moment I went up infront of the class to speak my mind went totally blank. I stumbled over the words I should have remembered and forgot to mention important points. It looked really bad on my part, like I had not practised or learnt the message of the book, even though I did. I was very annoyed with myself and how my nerves got the better of me. I really want to get better with public speaking and I hope that in my next presentation my legs wont be shaking or voice quivering!