Frontier Central School District



Before entering the world of heroes, it is important to understand the hero archetype and establish a definition of “hero.”

DO NOW: What is a hero?

• Your definition of “hero”:

• Make a list of all the traits a hero must have.

• Who do you consider a hero? (real, fictional, famous, etc…)

• Do you think everyone will agree that the people/characters you listed are heroes? Why (not)?

• Are heroes always role models? Are role models always heroes? What is the difference?

• When we disagree whether someone is a hero, what are we considering? Why do we disagree?

CLASS NOTES

Definition of HERO:

What are some traits that everyone would agree a hero exhibits?

Create a list including physical, mental, moral, and social traits all heroes exhibit.

Joseph Campbell’s Hero Journey Archetype

Joseph Campbell, a famous writer and philosopher, came up with a popular archetype (“pattern”) in studying heroes that he referred to as the “hero’s journey”.

We have discussed the traits we associate with heroes, but Campbell focused his work on the idea that regardless of the age, gender, or culture of a hero, they all experience the same type of journey to becoming heroes. You will see through the literature studied in this class that Campbell’s ideas are true.

Here are some of the traits Campbell says all heroes exhibit:

• Unusual circumstances of ________; sometimes in _________ or born into royalty

• Leaves ___________ or ________ and lives with others

• An event, sometimes traumatic, leads to adventure or _______

• Hero has a special _____________ only he/she can use

• Hero always has __________________ help

• The Hero must prove himself/herself _________ times while on adventure

• When the hero _______, he is rewarded _______________

Can you think of any heroes in books, movies, or other media who exhibit these traits?

Freak the Mighty Star Wars

Making Connections

Freak and Max made their own adventure by going on quests. A quest is a journey, led by a hero who at the end should have done something important and life-changing.

Yoda Chewbacca Darth Vader Luke Skywalker

Han Solo Princess Leia Obi Wan Kenobi

Complete the chart below using the names above. You may only use each name one time. Under “Why are they similar,” list character traits AND choices/events.

|Freak the Mighty |Star Wars Character |Why are they similar? |

|Character | | |

|Maxwell Kane | | |

|Kevin/ | | |

|Freak | | |

|Grim | | |

|The Fair Gwen | | |

|Kenny “Killer” Kane | | |

Although Star Wars helped bring the concept of the hero's journey into the public consciousness, The Empire Strikes Back poses some unique challenges in this context. That's because the film is merely the first half of a story that'll be concluded in Return of the Jedi—you'd need to look at both films to get the full picture. Despite this, we can still see a form of the hero's journey in the plot of Empire… though it sometimes hits those marks in unexpected ways.

Ordinary World

The movie opens on the freezing cold planet of Hoth, where the rag-tag Rebel Alliance has holed up following the destruction of the Death Star, a WMD created by the evil Empire. Luke Skywalker, the hero of the first film, has settled into the life of an ordinary Rebel soldier, rather than the Jedi warrior we know him to be.

Call To Adventure

After spotting an Imperial probe crash into the planet's surface, Luke is attacked by a wampa (a fearsome yeti-like creature), and dragged into its cave. Luke uses his telekinetic Jedi powers and lightsaber to slay the beast, but he's still in a tough spot—night is falling and it's freezing. Before he passes out, however, he has a vision of his now-deceased mentor Obi-Wan telling him to go to the planet Dagobah, where Luke will learn from the Jedi master who taught him: Yoda.

Refusal Of The Call

Although he's rescued by his buddy Han Solo, Luke doesn't immediately go to Dagobah—he stays behind and helps the Rebels hold off an Imperial assault while they evacuate. They just barely do it: Luke's friends Han, Leia, and Chewbacca leave on the Millennium Falcon with the Empire in hot pursuit.

Meeting The Mentor

Luke doesn't rejoin the Rebel fleet, and instead heads for Dagobah, a swampy planet full of life but bereft of civilization. He crash-lands, which is a bummer, but Luke quickly sets up shelter. Suddenly, a strange green creature appears and subtly implies that he knows Luke. Annoyed by the intrusion but intrigued, Luke agrees to eat dinner with the creature if he introduces him to Yoda.

Crossing The Threshold

Surprise—this green goofball is Yoda. However, Yoda is so annoyed by Luke's rudeness that he almost refuses to teach him altogether, saying that he is too emotionally volatile, just like his father Anakin. Luckily for Luke, the ghost of Obi-Wan appears once again and convinces Yoda to change his mind. Then, just like that, Luke starts his training to become a Jedi.

Tests, Allies, Enemies

While Luke begins his training, his pals are in some serious trouble. After hiding in an asteroid to escape the Imperial forces, the crew of the Falcon is shocked to learn that they're not in a cave at all—they're in the belly of a giant space worm. Luckily, they get out in one piece. Meanwhile, Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine, the rulers of the Empire, observe Skywalker's growing strength and discuss their plan to turn him to the dark side.

Approach To The Inmost Cave

Luke starts acting strangely after a day of training. Observing this, Yoda explains that they're standing near a cave that is steeped in the dark side of the Force. Guess what? He wants Luke to go inside. After warning Luke to leave his weapons behind (a warning that Luke ignores), Luke crawls down into what is quite literally the inmost cave.

Ordeal

After crawling down into the cave, Luke is shocked to see the evil Darth Vader appear. Egad! The two men pull out their lightsabers and fight—Luke wins handily, decapitating his foe. To our horror, however, Vader's helmet explodes to reveal Luke's own head underneath. Luke, naturally, is tripping out.

Reward (Seizing The Sword)

Although Luke improves after his experience in the cave, he continues to struggle in his training. In particular, he has an extreme lack of faith, a failure Yoda highlights when he lifts Luke's ship out of the swamp with the flick of his wrist. Once he focuses on his newfound powers, however, Luke has a strange vision of his friends in danger...

The Road Back

That's because they are. After going to Cloud City in the hopes of finding refuge with Han's old friend Lando, the crew of the Falcon is led straight into Vader's trap—a trap, it must be noted, that's meant to snag Luke. It works like a charm. Terrified at the thought of losing his friends—and against Yoda's vehement protestations—Luke decides to return to civilization and rescue his friends from Cloud City.

Resurrection

Luckily, Leia and Chewbacca are saved when Lando switches back to the good team. (Han is frozen in carbonite and shipped off to the ruthless crime lord Jabba the Hutt.)

Meanwhile, Luke meets the real Vader in the lightsaber duel that ends with Vader cutting off Luke's hand and pushing him to the edge of a balcony. That's when he drops a bomb—he is Luke's father. For real.

Horrified by this revelation, Luke tosses himself off the balcony and is shot out a hole on the bottom of the city, though he manages to grab hold of a stray antenna before falling to oblivion.

Return With The Elixir

Somehow, Luke is able to telepathically contact Leia and the Falcon picks him up. Thanks, Kenobi! After escaping the Imperial forces, they then rendezvous with the Rebel fleet, where Luke gets a new mechanically reconstructed hand. Meanwhile, Lando and Chewbacca are preparing the Millennium Falcon to undertake a perilous rescue mission to save Han Solo.

Following Max’s Quest:

Freak the Mighty/Star Wars: Major Assessment

What makes a hero?

Now that you have tracked two very different heroic journeys (Luke Skywalker & Maxwell Kane), write a well-developed essay in which you determine the three most significant criteria that make a hero. Use evidence from both Star Wars and Freak the Mighty to support your claims.

STEP 1: Assess the assignment

Think about Joseph Campbell’s and our class’ definitions of a hero and what qualities or traits put someone in that category. Be sure you fully understand discussing these topics.

STEP 2: Determine the 3 Most Significant Criteria that Make a Hero

Make a list of the top 3 traits/criteria a hero must have. Be sure both Skywalker & Max exhibit all three.

|Heroic Trait/Criteria |Evidence Max Exhibits Trait |Evidence Skywalker Exhibits Trait |

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STEP 3: Draft

When all is said and done, you will have a written a 5-paragraph essay.

You will use ClEE(E)R for the essay as a whole (with an extra “E”), and within each paragraph:

Cl: Introduction (Paragraph 1)

E: Body Paragraph (Paragraph 2)

E: Body Paragraph (Paragraph 3)

E: Body Paragraph (Paragraph 4)

R: Conclusion (Paragraph 5)

Introduction (Paragraph 1):

• Claim (restate the question/prompt): What makes a hero?

• Evidence (x3): Present three heroic traits/criteria

o (DO NOT ELABORATE with examples/quotes)

• Introduce Luke Skywalker & Maxwell Kane as both heroes AND evidence of the criteria you just stated (without using specific examples)

Body Paragraphs (Paragraph 2-5):

• Claim (present first trait/criterion): Explain what that trait/criterion means without discussing the characters

• Evidence (show how Max exemplifies this trait/criterion with specific example)

o Explain how this example proves Max exhibits the trait/criterion

• Evidence: (show how Luke exemplifies this trait/criterion with specific example)

o Explain how this example proves Luke exhibits the trait/criterion

• Reasoning/Realization: How can you reason that all heroes must exhibit this trait or criterion? What does this information make you realize about heroes/Max & Luke?

Conclusion (Paragraph 5):

• Claim (restate your overall claim AKA whether Max is a true hero or not)

• Evidence (x3): Summarize body paragraphs

• Reasoning/realization: Explain what the evidence showed or proved to you.

TIPS:

1. DO NOT use 1st person

“I think”

“In my opinion”

“I believe”

2. Underline titles of long works (novels/movies); chapter titles get quotes

3. Indent for each new paragraph

4. Capitalize all proper nouns (specific people/places/things)

5. Check for homophone errors

6. Explain all pieces of evidence and how they support your claim

Your Name: ___________________________ Period: ____

| |4 That’s It! |3 Almost There |2 Needs Improvement |1 Just Beginning |0 Unacceptable |

|Ideas & Insight |Fulfills all requirements of |Fulfills most |Fulfills some requirements; |Shows little understanding |No understanding of text |

| |task; shows insight; makes clear |requirements; some |mostly literal |of text or task; meaning is|or task; illegible or |

| |connections within & beyond text |insight & connections |interpretation; gaps in |often unclear |incomprehensible writing |

| | | |understanding | | |

|Support-ing |Ideas are supported with specific|Some support; good |Vague; little elaboration; |Few details; too brief; no |Incomplete or mostly |

|Details |details and examples; good |details; some |some inaccuracies |elaboration |copied from text |

| |elaboration |elaboration | | | |

|Organiza-tion |Clear focus; clear connections |Focused; mostly |Weak structure; poor topic |Very weak structure; no |No structure or mostly |

| |between main idea and sub-topics |relevant details |sentences; irrelevant |topic sentences; just lists|copied from text |

| | | |details | | |

|Voice & Word |Vivid & precise words; |Some interesting |Vague words; uninteresting |Basic words; repetitive; no|Meaningless words or just |

|Choice |appropriate tone; clear voice |words; tone is usually| |voice or interest |copied from text |

| | |appropri-ate; some | | | |

| | |voice | | | |

|Sentence Fluency |Variety of sentence length & |Some variety of |Choppy sentences; lack of |Poor sentence structure; |No sentence structure or |

| |structure; smooth, flowing |sentences |variety |monotonous |mostly copied from text |

| |sentences; good transitions | | | | |

|Conven-tions |No mistakes |Very few mistakes, |Mistakes begin to interfere |Mistakes begin to interfere|Shows little attempt at |

| | |which do not interfere|with reading |with understanding |proofreading or shows |

| | |with reading | | |little understanding of |

| | | | | |conventions |

What Makes a Hero? Essay

Final Draft DUE: ___________________

Grade: _______ / 25

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Module 2:

The Hero’s Journey

Name:_______________

Period: _____

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