Peer Review

Strengths:
Good focus, development of story, grammar and sentence structure.

Weaknesses:
I need to explain more about what I learned.
I need better transition sentences
Better word choice.

Ordinary World and The Call to Adventure

These two chapters are about the ordinary world and the call to adventure. It talks about the importance of creating a strong contrast between the two worlds. Sometimes a hero will get more then one call to adventure other times they will have no other options but taking the call to adventure. The hero can be forced to answer the call by some event such as the kidnapping of a child or death of someone important to them. The author used the Wizard of Oz as an example of the Ordinary World. In the beginning of the movie it is in black and white. When Dorothy changes worlds the movie changes to color to show the contrast between worlds.

A writer must know how to create a distinct ordinary world so that the reader can identify the switch when the hero begins the adventure. The call to adventure also plays a huge role in the personality of the hero. Some of the heros willing take the call to adventure while others need a push such as a tragic event or some other character to intervene to cause them to answer the call. It is important for a writer to understand how to create these parts of a story because these are the most important parts to keep the reader interested and to keep them reading. I think Volger uses the examples of the different movies to explain his points very well. These examples let the reader see how each ordinary world and call to adventure can range from story to story. There is no specific way to write them.

1. Why is the ordinary world so important when writing a story?
2. How does the call to adventure tell the reader about the Hero?
3. Why is the refusal to the call to adventure so important in many stories?

Vogler 3

The third reading in Vogler included the archetypes: Herald, Shapshifter, Shadow, Ally, and Trickster. The herald is the one who give the challenge to the hero in the beginning of the story. The Herald is usually part of the story during a time of change. The shapshifters are characters who may not be what they seem. There nature can change throughout the story. The Shadow is usually the “dark side” or the enemy of the hero. The Ally is one of the easier archetypes to understand. He/she is usually the friend of the hero. The Ally is important because he helps create a more in depth personality of the hero.

I think it is interesting how each archetype interacts with the hero to create a story. The line “that a story is only as good as its villain” is very true. Without having an obstacle to face the hero would never be the hero that the reader sees. Shapshifters are another archetype that can really make a story more interesting. Those characters that a reader cannot figure out are always intriguing.

To create a stronger personality for the hero, the writer must know how to use all of the other characters. Each one plays a strong role in creating the hero’s personality. The Hero’s relationships with the other characters is important in determining how he is seen and related to by the readers.

1. In what ways can the Shadow be part of the hero and not a separate character at all?
2. How does the Ally help make the hero easier to relate too?
3. What are some examples of the Trickster in modern day movies?

How do the Archetypes relate to the real world?

Why is the growth of the Hero important in a story?

Why are Hero’s with contradictory traits better liked?

The Archetypes

The chapter on Archetypes talks about the different types of characters that usually make up a story. These include: the Hero, Mentor, Guardian, Herald, Shapshifter, Shadow, Ally, and Trickster. Each type has its own unique purpose in the development of the story. A character does not have to have the same archetype throughout the story. It can change to fit the needs of the story. This chapter also goes into great depth about the Hero and the Mentor. Most stories are about the journey of the Hero. He must have qualities that make him easy to relate to by the reader and also qualities that make him admirable. The Mentor is important in stories as a teacher. He helps guide the hero on his journey.

Every fantasy or adventure book I have read has almost all of these archetypes in some kind of form. The better stories had better developed characters who were not rigid and who changed with the story. I thought it was very interesting that the character flaw of a hero is a very important part of the story. If the Hero did not have any flaws it could not grow as the story went on. I also thought it was interesting that the word “Mentor” came from the Odyssey.

The Hero seems to represent every individual. And all of the other Archetypes described are people they meet during their life. The reason these Archetypes are used from story to story is because they are representation of real life and what real people go through. People like reading things they can relate to.

Childhood Hero

Mulan was my childhood hero. Adventurous and intelligent, she is not like the normal Disney princess that must be rescued by her prince charming. She is an independent young girl and can think for herself. I admired her bravery to leave her ordinary life and take her “Call to Adventure”. She risks her life and honor to save her father. She faces the difficulties of passing off as a boy and even when she is discovered she never gives up. She is persistent and keeps trying to help the same people who try to suppress her. Her persistence pays off in the end after she saves the whole nation and gains back her lost honor.

A Practical Guide

The Writer’s Journey by Christopher Volger is a must read guide for any writer. The first chapter A Practical Guide introduces the Hero’s Journey, an extremely important structure of almost any story. The author talks about how almost every story, movie and play, follow a very similar structure. This includes twelve different steps starting with Ordinary World and ending with the return of the Elixir. These steps can be changed rearranged added to and taken away. Vogler talks about The hero with a thousand faces, a very influential book written by Joseph Campel. He is the first one that noticed, or recorded the similar pattern of all of the world’s stories since the beginning of time.
I never realized that almost every story is just the same story told over and over and in many different ways. This reading made me think a lot more about everything I have read. I’m an avid reader and have a hard time finding a book that did not follow this structure at all. Volger compared movies such as Star Wars and the Wizard of Oz. At first glance these movies seem so different, but when he analyzed them I noticed how similar they are. I have briefly been told about the Hero’s Journey but never thought about it before. It was very interesting how this is true. The stories that had the most success where the ones that showed the most change in a character as the story progressed. It is important to understand the structure of stories so that I can learn how to expand from that and create something new. Without a clear understanding of how writing works it is hard to improve on my own style. I like how different movies are used to explain the different steps in the Hero’s Journey. The author uses totally different stories but finds connections in each story that follows the Hero’s Journey.

1. How is the Hero’s Journey changed from story to story but still end up having the same structure?
2. Are there any other structures of writing/stories that do not follow The Hero’s Journey?
3. How does the Hero’s Journey relate to everyday life?