Teaching Unit: The Hero’s Quest Through Film

Introduction: The hero’s quest (also known as a monomyth) is a standard archetype found in myths, legends and other stories that have a heroic protagonist. There are 17 different elements that structure the hero’s quest.

1) Call to adventure
2) Refusal of call
3) Supernatural aid
4) Crossing the first threshold
5) The belly of the whale or rebirth
6) Road of trials
7) Meeting with the goddess
8) Woman as temptress/temptation
9) Atonement with father
10) Apotheosis (glorifying to a divine level)
11) The ultimate boon
12) Refusal of return
13) Magic flight
14) Rescue from without
15) Crossing the return threshold
16) Master of two worlds
17) Freedom to live

These elements have made up the plotline and backbone of stories and legends throughout the ages, but now the elements are being used heavily in film today.

Objectives: This unit will allow students will understand the main elements that make up a heroic journey and know their function. Students will use media such as film, youtube, and blogs as tools to delve deeper into the texts presented in class. Students will be able to pick elements of the monomyth out of an unfamiliar film and note its significance to the work as a whole and the values our societies expect from a hero.

Texts: Beowulf
Star Wars: A New Hope
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
Star Wars: return of the Jedi
Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
The Matrix
The Matrix Reloaded
The Matrix Revolutions

For students not familiar with these films, important clips will be shown in class so everyone can have the same references.
Grade Assessment: Grades will be based around factors: 20% will be on class participation and discussion facilitation, 60% will be based on blog posts, 10% attendance, 10% final examination.

Lesson One:
-Define what a Hero is.
a) Ask students who their favorite hero figure is. (Batman, Robin Hood, Frodo)
b) What notions do they already have of Heroes? What do they expect a hero to do, or go through?
c) How does one become a hero?
-List the 17 elements and define what they mean.
a) Apotheosis is a big word
b) The goddess is not always a goddess verbatim
c) The belly of the whale isn’t literal
d) Two worlds doesn’t exactly mean planets, etc…
-Assignment: Create a blog to keep track of progress on each text we discuss. Students are encouraged to find clips of their own on youtube to post on their blogs that have significance to any one of the monomyth elements.

Lesson Two:
-Call to adventure and refusal of call
a) Explain how some force or person attempts to nudge the hero out the door, only to find that the hero is resistant to leave.
b) Show a clip from Episode One where R2D2 gives Luke Leah’s distress call.
c) Discuss what kind of reaction that would evoke in the student’s lives if they were faced with an adventure proposition.
d) Show the red-pill/blue-pill scene from The Matrix, and discuss the pro and cons of curiosity and call for something greater vs. the duty one has to the life they have been leading before said option presented itself.
-Assignment: Write a description of what the student would do if put into either one of these situations. Would they refuse the call and stay with Uncle Owen on the moisture farm, or go with Obi Wan to danger, excitement and perilous adventure. They could write what they’d do in Neo’s shoes. Red Pill? Blue Pill? Why? Why not? What is the appeal of adventuring off into the unknown?

Lesson Three:
-Supernatural Aid and Crossing of the Threshold.
a) Discuss popular culture icons and heroes who seem to have a magical talisman or tool that grants the hero additional powers. (i.e. Jack Sparrow’s compass that doesn’t point north, Green Lantern’s ring, Wonder Woman’s magic lasso, any X-Men power). Why are these items useful? What do they do to enhance the story?
b) Discuss the story of King Arthur and the Lady of the Lake myth vs. the sword in the stone myth. What powers Excalibur has and how it was given to him.
c) Show the clip from The Fellowship of the Ring where Sam and Frodo realize that they are farther away from home than they’ve ever been. Discuss the emotions going on in the scene. How did Peter Jackson really make that a powerful action of exiting the Shire and the Hobbit’s comfort zone?
-Assignment: Write in the student’s blogs either an experience where the student had a threshold to cross into unfamiliar territory. How did you feel when you did it? What were the driving forces behind your actions? Try and find a clip on youtube of a different director’s take on crossing thresholds. OR If the student could have a magical talisman or weapon or tool, what would it be and why? (i.e. magic-homework-writing-pencil). What purpose would it serve in your life? Is it necessary for your advancement in life? Try to find a youtube clip of a magical weapon or talisman in action. Analyze its purpose.

Lesson Four:
-The belly of the whale/rebirth and the road of trials
a) Discuss what the phrase “Into the belly of the whale.” And what it really means. Look at the story of Jonah and the Whale in the bible and see if there are any references to the bible in each of the films.
b) Show the clip from A New Hope where the Millennium Falcon is sucked into the Death Star via tractor beam. Discuss the whale imagery of the death star being something unbelievably massive, so massive that the plot can advance within its entity.
c) Show a clip from The Fellowship of the Ring in the mines of Moria. This clip functions as both inside the belly of the whale, as they are deep within the mountain roots, and the trial and rebirth when the hobbits have to fight and Frodo is spared and reborn after being speared by a cave troll. Discuss the rebirthing process and where we can see it in popular culture today. (i.e. Austin Powers unfreezing himself, Jesus coming back to life after his trial and death)
-Assignment: Find clips on youtube of characters being reborn. What are the cinematic elements that make scenes like these extra emotional, or stunning? Are the characters brought back clothed in white, like Gandalf was? Do they have new mannerisms? Write also about a “whale” seen in popular culture, that a protagonist needs to enter to face a trial. How is this “whale” depicted in these clips? What happens inside the “whale”?

Lesson Five:
-Meeting with the Goddess and the Temptation
a) Discuss gender roles of heroes found in pop culture. Are most heroes men or women? Do they have different values or standards put upon them? If male heroes are tempted by female temptresses often, how does this conversely affect a female hero and her temptations on her hero journey?
b) Show the clip from The Matrix where Neo meets the Oracle. Discuss why the Oracle is a woman? Discuss how having a superior woman figure can contrast the manly skills of the hero and to remind the audience that the hero is still mortal.
Assignment- Blog about temptation and its effects on people society holds in high regards (Bill Clinton affair?). How do we see our heroes tempted and depicted as mortals? Tabloid magazines are good sources to show stars as normal human beings and flawed, unlike how they are presented in movies and ads. Blog on the phenomena of tabloids and how they are related to this element in a heroic quest.

Lesson Six:
-Atonement with father and Apotheosis
a) Discuss the importance of heritage and how it hasn’t changed that much from medieval aristocracies. (wealthy business owners pass down their company and money to child, etc) How does family play a role in the lives of modern heroes, like batman’s parents having been killed when he was young, or Superman’s parents sending him from Krypton to Earth?
b) Show the famous clip from The Empire Strikes Back, where Luke learns that Vader is his father. What kinds of emotions are going through Luke at this time? What were Vader’s motives for telling Luke this information? How does this change the plot from here onward? What was Luke’s reaction to this news?
c) Discuss glorification to a divine status, and how it is used in culture today. Movie stars and musicians are often glorified beyond their true worth, but what does that say about our society? How are characters such as Beowulf glorified for his actions in Hrothgar? Why is he glorified and others not? How does this reflect culture?
Assignment- Blog about the importance our society places on different actions, live winning the Super Bowl vs. saving families from a house-fire. Why do we place value in certain places rather than others? What does it say about our own values as people? How can this portion of a hero’s journey allow us to reflect upon our own values of family, especially a patriarchal family, and the actions from which we receive praise?

Grading Period: Students will have enough material in their blogs combined with in-class discussion participation to assess their grades thus far. Grading of the blogs will take into account the organization of discussion points, how well they stayed on topic and how deep they went into their research or reflection on the current topic. The amount of videos found and posted from youtube will be taken into account also as this course has an emphasis on teaching media tools and using media to enhance learning.


Lesson Seven:
-The Ultimate Boon and The Refusal of Return
a) Explain exactly what a boon is, and why they are valued. Why do we call it a boon instead of gift or reward? Is applause reward enough for some heroes? Why does the boon need to be superior to all other boons?
b) Look at Beowulf and how he receives the magic sword Hrunting and shiny armor from the king, and then show the clip from Fellowship of the Ring where the fellowship is granted gifts to help their journey by Galadrial.
c) Discuss why heroes always want to stay in with the danger instead of going somewhere safe. Why are they hesitant to enter into the fray, but always refuse to exit it before the quest is completed? Is it our society’s emphasis and value on a rebellious person, or a person who sees things through to the end? How do we see people like injured football players wanting to stay in the game to finish it, even though they have a sprained ankle?
d) Show a clip of an injured football player going back into the game to finish it off. Analyze the crowd’s reaction to the player coming back in. How does that reflect our values? Our culture? Why is he a hero for going back in, and refusing to return to the bench?
Assignment- Blog about what you would do if you were caught in a struggle and had the option to exit the battle or ordeal without completing it, but also meaning that your safety is ensured. What makes a coward? Is accepting a ticket home cowardly? Why are cowards looked down upon so much? They do live longest. If you had to go through a trial or ordeal, what would you expect in return? After this class is done, you expect a good grade, but you need to complete it fully to obtain that grade. How is this similar to the questing hero’s story?

Lesson Eight:
-Magic Flight and Rescue from Without
a) In every action movie, there has to be a car chase. If there is no other element of the monomyth presented in an action film, the chase scene is required. Magic flight is the chase scene where “bad guys” are pursuing them and they miraculously escape their clutches. Everyone has seen scenes like this because they are so commonly used and prominent and flashy, in media today, we cannot help but see the showy exits heroes make from the evildoer’s lair.
b) Show the clip from A New Hope when TIE fighters and Vader are chasing the X-wing fighters along the rim of the Death Star. How is it exciting? What techniques did the director use to make it an action packed ride through space?
c) At the end of their journey, the hero may also need a bit more help to make it home safely. Sometimes they need to be rescued by friends or humanity to show the audience once again that the hero is mortal. Show the clip from The Matrix Revolutions where Neo is trapped in the Trainman’s limbo between worlds. Trinity and Morpheus then break him out. Discuss why someone with the powers Neo has, would need outside assistance to break out of his prison? Do we sympathize with heroes that are rescued that can’t do it themselves?
Assignment- Create a collage of images from Flicker or Google Images of chase scenes and how they are presented from early film to today. Consider the 1930s car chase scene vs. the Bourne Identity or other fast paced action packed films. Explain why you chose those images and how they are significant to the monomyth we are studying.

Lesson Nine:
-Crossing the Return Threshold and Master of Two Worlds
a) The homecoming parade is a representation of the returning threshold of the hero’s quest. High School football players go off to face an ordeal and come back to be praised by their home state. This is part of the monomyth that is seen everywhere today, soldiers coming home from war and astronauts returning from space.
b) Show clip from The Return of the King where the four hobbits return to the Shire clad in full armor (and Pippin and Merry are a couple of feet taller) riding on ponies. How do they react to the Shire-folk upon their return? How do the Shire-folk react to their homecoming? What is exactly happening in this scene as seen thought the director’s eyes?
c) Mastery of two worlds is the definite sign that a hero’s quest is over as they now control two powers, or entities or tracks of land or respects. Show the scene in Return of the Jedi at Vader’s funeral where the ghosts of Anakin Skywalker, Obi Wan Kenobi and Yoda are revealed to Luke. How are the spirits, being succumbed to the force, transcendental of one world and the next? How will Luke be able to Master the earthly world with the force and then succumb to it to master death as well, as his teachers and father did? How does this make Luke a master of two worlds?
Assignment- Blog about the questions, where do we see heroes mastering two different entities at the end of films? How to they reign over these entities or worlds? As just rulers? As tyrants? The same can be said of the football players coming home from winning an away game (mastering two worlds), how do they use that fame and popularity after they have crossed the return threshold? Find videos on youtube concerning people crossing the return threshold, like graduations playing Pomp and Circumstance.

Lesson Ten:
-Freedom to Live
a) This final stage is where the hero is finally at peace and that society recognizes the duty that the hero has performed for them. This is the “and then they lived happily ever after” portion of the story. Peace is restored, conflict resolved and the hero is no more use to society, so the hero settles down to a life of peace.
b) Show clip from Return of the King where Samwise Gamgee and Rosie get married and have little hobbit children. Sam, as an adventurer has returned home and settles down for an ordinary life without unexpected surprises or adventures. Discuss why the hero doesn’t go on to have more adventures? How does the society accept the hero back in? Is the hero comfortable to be back in society? Does the society always accept the hero back? (i.e. US troops in Vietnam)
-Assignment: Create a final blog post concerning an old, aging hero and how they might act, and talk, and their mannerisms. How are they distinctly different from the other people? Is the old hero happy? Does the hero live in the past with his memories or does he try to forget what happened in the past? This post is speculative and interpretation-based, so grading will be conducted based upon the creativeness and depth of your interpretative post.

Grading Period: With the students’ blogs completed, asses their grades based on the aforementioned criteria, depth, clarity, sticking to the topic, youtube posts, creativeness, and expansion on ideas.

Final Examination: For the final exam, students will be given a sheet with all 17 elements of the monomyth on it, and asked to watch a full-length film in class, while completing the worksheet. They will watch Disney’s The Lion King and pick out the different elements of the monomyth as they occur in the film. They will then be asked to write a short paragraph on each element, explaining its significance in the journey of Simba through the pride lands. Although not all of the elements are represented in this film, the students should be able to spot the elements that are not present or that have a variation on the classical role. This exam will be 10% of their final grade.

Works Cited:

http://www.kinema.uwaterloo.ca/wong991.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monomyth

http://hubcap.clemson.edu/~sparks/sffilm/mmswtab.html

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/vine/showthread.php?t=477292

http://teachingmedialiteracy.pbwiki.com/

Klinger and Griffon

I don't watch much TV and reading is something I do almost exclusively to books, so this blog is going to a tough one. I do watch a few television programs if I have the time and they are on, I prefer to spend my time playing mindless videogames and reading rediculous sci-fi novels in my free time, but M*A*S*H and Family Guy make it into my TV set on occasion. M*A*S*H is on the Hallmark channel whenever I watch it. It may be on other stations, but I haven't seen it on any other. The Hallmark Channel is owned by Crown Media, which provides film training to otehr stations. I don't think this affects my viewing experience because there seem to be no hidden agendas in the commercials (which are typically aimed toward an older, female audience... both of which I am not) and the fact that I am deliberately watching this program rather than watching it on a whim.

Family Guy on the other hand is on cartoon network during Adult Swim. This is owned by the Turner Broadcasting Agency and has a lot of impact on my viewing experience. A lot of Adult Swim's commercials are aimed toward people around my age group with my style of humor or "college humor" to be specific. The voice in the ads and messages from Adult Swim are in dialogue that a person my age can connect with because it isnt a 60 year old huffing and puffing man talking to me about his concerns about falling down in the shower. Adult Swim talks about new bands coming out, video games that deal in senseless violence and the commercials usually have a redicuulous amount of sex appeal. This advertising strategy makes me want to watch Family Guy on Adult Swim more than on FOX (also because its on later an night when I actually have time for TV) This kind of media is something I allow into my life, and enjoy, but the majority of the time, I do not like media entering my life without my consent.

Metal Media

Ah, a music topic. I like writing about music because I enjoy music that I write. Well, I'm not that good at it, but I do draw a lot of influences from all over the spectrum. Primarily, I will be talking about Heavy Metal. I did my presentation on industrial metal, but that was because it had more to do with classroom oriented subjects. Heavy Metal tends not to fit in well in classrooms anywhere, but I still love it.

I play lead guitar and have been in and out of a couple of bands here and there, but my favorite thing to listen to when I'm not studying or reading is the wail of a whammy-bar or the chugging E string of a Fender Stratocaster. For some reason it pumps me up and changs my mood to something alert and vigorous. I also love the references to literature strewn throughout the genre. One reference I'd like to make is to a classic piece of heavy metal that is based on a book.

The song "One" by Metallica is based on the anti-war novel "Johnny Got His Gun" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Got_His_Gun) and features lyrics that paralell parts of the plotline. Their music video for the song has also got clips from the novel's film adaptation integrated into the song.



Some of the features of this song I like are the different kinds of guitar-work done. The song starts so mellow and smooth but then builds into a thrashy speed metal chugging fretfest. The solo pieces also start very classic rock-ballad like until the end when they turn into face-melting shredding fretwork that fits well with the general theme. The song also has a double-bass drum rhythem near the end that replicates the sound of machinegun fire, which gives the song more poetic liscense with the novel it is about. Its lyrics are also about hard issues to deal with in unusual circumstances like having no face limbs or senses, going mad, regret and unattainable death. All of these themes and musical devices make this song my number one (pun intended) song on my list of songs I listen to too often.

Film in the classrooms

Film media in classrooms is always a great idea for those who can't picture exactly what Mercrutio is doing with Tybalt at one time or another. Unfortunately there are some drawbacks to the variety of selections being taught in classrooms.

I am not a teacher yet, so I can only speculate as to how I would run a classroom. (Or if I could even walk it, I hear teaching gets pretty hard sometimes) Hypothetically speaking, if I were a teacher, I would want to integrate film into the class for portions of literature that are difficult to grasp, or major key points. I'd also like to show texts to their full extent in a feature length movie, but I would keep the adaptation of said film as close to the original as possible.

We talked about the different adaptations of Hamlet in class and I found myself on the conservative end of the classroom due to my belief that author's work shouldn't be changed. If a modern version of Hamlet is the only visual representation a student gets in a shakespeare class, they will forever think of Romeo as Leo Dicaprio. The setting and time period are paramount pieces used by the author to convey a general atmosphere of their work. That setting is deliberate. Of course, Shakespeare couldn't have thought of putting his "To be or not to be" monologue in a video store, but newer adaptations should be looked upon as supplemental entertainment to the text rather than visual representations of concrete texts. Students should learn that the precise things the writer has written are what they are learning. Any unnecessary filters and biases such as a director's viewpoint should be considered only as an afterthought, like an end of the semester kind of thing. Those adaptations are thought provoking and provide hundreds of more questions, but I think that if there is a text being taught in the classroom, it has enough thought provokation and insight to be found without a director telling the class what to believe.

I would be more prone to films like Mel Gibson's Hamlet because it is set in time period and, although the entire play is not included (it is a long play) the kind of presentation and imagery is what one would get in one's head if they saw the play in typreface (like in the theater of the mind as Shakespeare would put it). I think of swords and poofy trousers and skulls and crowns when I think of Hamlet because that is what Shakespeare wanted me to think. I don't see buisness suits, 9mm berettas and news reporters. I'd be very picky about what kinds of film I'd allow my students to watch.

Rocky Horror Documentary

One topic that I've been waiting to see a documentary on is the Rocky Horror Picture Show. There is a very unique culture that enshrouds this cult classic with very unique individuals. I've been to several shows in the Twin Cities and North Dakota. I've also been to one in San Diego CA, but the culture is identical. Everywhere i the US this phenomena of getting dressed up in drag or extremely gothic (or not getting dressed up at all for some) has become a ritual part of the underground cultures of several cities across the US.

My documentary would be an exploratory excursion into the theaters where this film is acted out and get behind the scenes to find out who produces these showcases and what goes in to macking a sucessful show. I'd also interview people in the audience, especially those who see it often to see why exactly they come to see the same show over and over again. I'd like to somehow capture the general tenor and feel of the groups of people participating and communicate that with an audience.

The work as a whole would consist of several different interviews coupled with clips from the original film and the acting that goes on in front of the movie screen. I'd also try to collect a few of the callback lines that the audience is supposed to shout out with during the show. One unique interview I'd do is to talk to a "virgin" who is someone who has never seen the show presented on stage before. I'd talk to them before the show, asking them what they've heard of the show and what they expect to see. I'd follow up by asking them after the show to see what they got out of it, weather or not they liked the show and if they're hooked enough to come back and see it again. I think this would make a gret documentary that could be fodder for follow-up documentaries in the future as the scene grows and changes.

News?

I rarely watch the news. Not because I don't like to know whats going on in the world, but because I think I can find other sources for information in better places than from the TV. I watched the ten o'clock news on KARE 11 to see what exactly the broadcasting station was sending out to its viewers. Here is my log of the first portion of news (it was going so fast that I couldn't time it after the commercial break)

College Grafitti, possibly hate speech message: 1 minute

Armed robbery: 15 seconds

College murder: 28 seconds

Charity for the family of a murdered woman: 5 minutes

Newscaster's attempt at witty banter: 20 seconds

Housefire: 16 seconds

Road construction: 15 seconds

Cholesterol health topic: 20 seconds

Drug recall: 20 seconds

Then there were about 20 seconds worth of previws of what was to come after the commercial break. They mentioned weather getting colder and a dog race that one of their reporters did a special on. They showed greyhounds running a race. After that, Santa Claus came on the screen telling me to buy things.

This small portion of television is completely packed with information concerning mainly the local area. I don't think that the major breaking headlines are going to be played on the 10:00 news, so the intended audience is for people interested in the community that have already seen the headline news earlier in the morning. This kind of news is more entertainment and gossip fuel for local communities and for people who just like to know whats going on outside their door.

The priorities really fit the bill of standard newscasting. Murder, death and crime sell, so even in this small clip, hate crimes, murders and robberies came first. That is how they get you hooked in hopes that you will sit through the rest, and maybe (if they're lucky) they'll get you to sit through the bit about the dog show coming to the Twin Cities.

The editing techniques are fairly simple: throw as many action clips at the audience as nessicary to keep their attention long enough for the information to be passed along. Fires, moving cameras toward a picture of a deceased person and children running around frantically all were part of the imagry presented in this clip. As a whole, I still do not like to watch the news.

...........................

The assignment says that I should list some podcasts, but I don't have an ipod or itunes and I really dont listen to anything on my computer. I do listen to 93X while I'm driving sometimes, but not often because my take on music radio is that the station's purpose is to play a couple of partial songs in between advertising.

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