Simpsons Annoted

Summary:

The article talks about the show the Simpsons.  The show is geared to lower and upper middle class people.  The how is focused around normal events that its audience might encounter.  The show makes fun, mocks, and sheds light on certain topics that are in out society.  Such as education, politics, capitalism, and employment.  The reading discusses each character and explains how and why they are a functioning part of the show and how each is a member of society.  Each character allows the audience to relate to them.  The characters are not fully developed because the audience knows that they aren’t real actors.  The reading explains some of the underlying messages that the Simpsons send out to the public.  The reading explains some specific episodes where the theme and main points are addressed to the audience.  When Lisa convinces Mr. Burns to recycle, she is trying to preach to the audience that recycling is good for the environment.  Homer tells the audience about the stress of holding a job, and working at a job that one does not like, as many American’s are doing today.  The show tries to shed light on the issues in our society by poking fun and discussing the issues in a humorous manner. 

 

Reaction: I have never ever watched the Simpsons I had no idea that it addressed so many issues in our world, and that it played a large roll in the way society functions.  I don’t think the Simpsons are a version of our world, but I think the topics they discuss we can learn from.  I also thought the Simpsons was a dumb, pointless, and fully of nonsense type of show.  After reading the article I feel as though maybe the show actually does have some substance.

 

Reflection:

I am not all that sure what the Simpsons compare to. I can’t really think of any of the readings that we have read and how they fit in with the Simpsons.  I guess most of the stories we have read have an underlying or hidden message, which is what the Simpsons are all about.  The point of the show is to mock the United States and show the audience the many problems that arise in out society.  By poking fun at the problems many people find them to be less significant.  

Knowledge Nugget

1. Shows how woman can also control a situation, that men aren't always in charge-Esther seducing Irwin.
Example: http://z.hubpages.com/u/87106_f520.jpg

2. Examines men and women relationships, healthy or unhealthy.
Example: The Sopranos

3. Shows the mind and how Esther wants to plan giving her virginity up to a ransom person, how she envisioned it, why she doesn't want it to be special, men and women mentality about sex.
Example: Thelma and Louise-man not listening to woman about sex, Thelma and Louise's thoughts about men and sex.

The Second Sex

Summary: The reading focuses on how men are the “one” and subconsciously women are the “other”.  It is believed that woman cannot think for themselves or without men.  Therefore man refers to woman as “the sex”, meaning that the woman appears essentially to the male as a sexual being.  For him she is sex-absolute sex no less.  She is defined and differentiated with reference to man and not he with reference to her, she is incidental, the inessential as opposed to the essential.  He is the subject, the absolute she is the other.  The man being the subject can only be a subject if the other counterbalances him, which is the woman.  The man makes himself the essential causing the woman to be the other the inessential.  Women have always been inferior to men and always will be until women are able to bond together will other women, all types of women and fight women against men.  The reason that history has not been changed is because a white women’s bond is not to the other women of the world but to the white men of the world.  There is no change because the women fail to bring about change.  When women can bond together they will be able to make a historical change.  History was made by men, because women where told to follow rules that were set in place by men, allowing women no room to act together as their own beings.  The rules that the men set in place also cause the women to be the men’s dependent.  The male and female sexes have never co-inhabited the world equally, the men where also looked at as the superior being.

Reaction: I am not sure why or how but even though I am a woman for a strange reason I agree that in some way men are superior to women only in some aspects of life.  At the same time I believe that women are superior to men in some aspects. I think women are not seen as superior because as a whole, women don’t believe they are.  Woman have been put down and told that men were superior for centuries, and I feel that some women have come to terms with that and accept that.  Also women are forced to live in a world that is predominately ruled by men, men create the laws that women live by.  One part of the reading that got me was that women need men to create life.  I think that is one part of life that is hard to understand.  With out one of the sexes a life cannot be made.  But I feel as though the woman is more important than the men in that aspect of life. Without a woman there is no possible way that a life can be created. 

Reflection:  I am not sure how to reflect on this I kept thinking about the video of the 1940’s that we watched in class.  The fact that the women had the strength to cut their hair, wear short dresses, and smoke.  That was a time when a large group of women bonded together to help the women of the world, however there were still thousands of women who were against the flappers.  I also noticed in writing this like the reading said I never reference the sex of women as “WE” as a solid unit.  I reference the sex of women as women, separating women in to different types of women, each loyal to a man and what that man believes in is what the women stand for.  In the story Indian Camp if we were right in assuming that the mother giving birth had an affair then it shows that she had the power over her husband and she is responsible for his death, she caused him to die because of her actions.  I think the strength of women is dependent upon how that strength is used.  WE need to stop fighting each other and fight back against the ONE as a whole.  

Annoted 6

Summary:
            In this reading by Vogler, he discusses the crossing of the threshold by the hero.  The hero crosses the threshold in the second act when he is fully commited to the adventure.  Once the hero has crossed the threshold there is no turning back.  Vogler gives the analogy that crossing the threshold is like jumping out of a plane, once you jump there is no going back.  Once the hero makes the leap over the threshold, he is then thrown into the special world.  In order for the hero to cross the threshold he must first get passed the threshold guardian.  The guardian is a powerful and useful archetype.  They pop up to block the way and test the hero at any point in the story, but they tend to cluster around doorways, gates, and narrow passages of threshold crossings.  Vogler also tells us that sometimes threshold guardians and turn into allies for the hero.  Sometimes it is easy to point out where the threshold crossing is because in Westerns the threshold is clearly marked by a river or border crossing.  In addition once the hero has crossed the threshold, the screen on a movie or curtain in a theater will become dark or close signifying the plot and scenery is changing.  Once the hero enters what Campbell calls “A dream landscape of curiously fluid, ambiguous forms where he mush survive a succession of trials,” or the special word, he becomes a beginner.  The hero no matter how powerful in the ordinary world is now the lowest in the special world.  The most important part of the special world is testing.  Either the mentor or the villain will set up the test for the hero.   While in the special world the hero can also gain a sidekick or a comical sidekick.  The sidekick’s job is to help the hero on his adventure.  The hero also encounters a rival who is the hero’s competition in spots, love, business or some other enterprise.  The hardest part for the hero to adjust to in the special world is the new rules that are in place that he must learn and follow.  The hero also must determine where the good local bars are in order to pick up gossip that he will need to help him complete his adventure. 

 

Reflection:  In the metamorphosis I still have a hard time identifying who is what archetype.  If Gregor is the hero his threshold to cross is being able to be comfortable in his new body, around his family, and finding out how to get around and make himself happy.  In Offshore Pirate Ardita’s threshold is when she must decide weather to go with the “pirates” and if she should fall in love with him, and also if she should run away with him.  The ally that Ardita gains is her uncle, had he not interfered, Ardita would never have fallen in love with a good man.  In Indian Camp the doctor doesn’t have to learn or become familiar with new rules. 

 

Reaction: In these chapters I found it really hard to relate them to some of the stories we read.  I still have a hard time deciding where A Good Man is Hard to Find, fits into any of the archetypes.  I found it strange that the threshold guardian can also be an ally to the hero.  I would have thought that anyone that was going to hold the hero back would not end up helping him.  I also found it strange that the hero will receive most of his information to help him along his adventure from people in a bar.  I guess I understand that since there are a lot of town’s people there that they will be informative but a just thought a bar was a silly place.  

Annoted 5

Summary:  
            In Vogler’s text we read about the refusal of the call and meeting with the mentor.  The refusal of the call is the halt on the road before the journey has really started and serves an important dramatic function of signaling the audience that the adventure is risky.  The text talks about how the hero usually takes the time to think about all his choices and weigh the consequences and either refuses the call or is willing to stake his life against the possibility of winning the goal.  Vogluer also talked about how more heroes hesitate to accept the call because of past experience, but that the hero eventually become ready to accept the call once a family member is kidnapped or dies.  Vogler talks about how the excuses the hero uses to refuse the call are temporary roadblocks usually over come by the urgency of the quest.  Vogler also talks about if a hero is persistent and constantly refuses the call to adventure by looking back and dwelling on the past and denying reality they that hero leads himself into be a tragic hero.  Sometimes the refusal of the call to adventure is good when the call is trying to lure the hero onto the evil side, and when the hero refuses the evil call it allows him to accept the right call to adventure.  There are also willing heroes who accept or even south out the call to adventure, Propp calls the m seekers rather than victimized heroes.  Sometimes the supporting characters are the ones who give insight to the audience about how the dangerous the adventure will be since the hero is willing and doesn’t thing about the consequences, the supporting character is killed or ties to convince the hero to abandon the adventure because it is too dangerous. If not a supporting character then the mentor will try to persuade the hero to not go on the adventure, while other mentor help guide their heroes to the adventure.  Some of the mentors help the heroes but warn them not to cross the boundaries they set for the hero, which is known as the secret door.  The hero can have help and magical powers from the mentor as long as they follow the rules but the hero inevitably always will open the secret door.  The mentor can also be known as the provider or donor according to Propp, he says that the mentor is responsible for protecting, guiding, teaching, testing, training, and providing magical gifts to the hero.  In addition to the mentor there is also a centaur Chiron, which is a prototype for all wise old men and women.  It is a strange mix of man and horse, which guides many of the Greek heroes to the adventures. 

 

Reflection:
I think that the way that Propp named the hero as either a seeker or a victimized hero is a good way of working it.  I think in the metamorphosis that Gregor, is definitely the victimized hero, he didn’t choose or seek out to be turned into a bug he was in a way victimized when he was turned into a bug without his knowledge and work up having to find himself transformed.  However, I think that Carlyle from the offshore pirate was a seeker, hero, he sought out his own adventure to make Ardita fall in love with him.  I don’t really see in either Indian Camp, or The Offshore Pirate’s heroes trying to make excuses as to why they cant make the journey or adventure.  Also in the store Indian camp, who what the mentor to the father, as the hero, and what special tools, guidance, or powers did they give him in order to help the woman give birth?  In the story A Good Man is Hard to Find I think that the grandmother would be the hero and that she does remember her past experiences which are what holds her back from wanted to go on the adventure into a city where there might be a murderer, and she happens to be right and her whole family is killed. 

 

Reaction:
I agree with the fact that there are willing, unwilling and tragic heroes.  When I think of a tragic hero, I don’t exactly think of a hero if the character never wants to go on the adventure and is always making excuses and is afraid and turns into a tragic hero, I don’t exactly understand what he did that was heroic.  I understand that the unwilling heroes need a little push or self-motivation in order to want to take on the adventure, and I am still confused as to why the motivation always has to be the death or kidnapping of a family member.  If the common ground for refusal of the call is past experience why cant past experience also be the reason that the hero accepts the call?  I think that the past experience would help motivate the hero to not want the same thing to happen again to himself or to anyone else, giving them the reason to accept the call to adventure. 

 

Questions:
1. When the hero breaks the secret door law, is the outcome always negative?
2. Shouldn’t the hero be well versed and not afraid to accept the call to adventure if he has been on adventures in the past?
3. Does a tragic hero ever actually accept the call to adventure and if so do they usually finish the task at hand?

Comments from Peer Review

I learned a lot from what my peer editor gave me for advice.  It is hard to edit your own papers in certain areas of the rubric because I personally know the whole story, I know what I want the reader to get so when I read my own paper I have a bias because I think oh I learned this from my experience because of this event.  I might understand but my peer editor showed me that sometimes it is hard for a total outsider to understand what the theme or point of the story is.  I also know that I need to work more on my transitions between paragraphs to make the story flow better, leaving no room for the reader to have to make leaps to comprehend my story.  I also benefited from my editors comment that I should use a better choice of words, to open up my vocabulary to let the reader feel more emotion by using certain words, also to make the story more interesting and exciting to read, you never know you might teach someone a new word.  All together I really like the peer review process and I think it really helped me develop my paper better.  

Vogler, Annoted 4

Summary:
In the Volger reading he went through and explained the meaning and importance of the ordinary world.  He also explained each section in a story, and its purpose.  Some stories have a prologue which is a section in the beginning of the story that gives the audience background information about the hero’s ordinary world, life before he/she is called to adventure.  Not all stories have a prologue, some stories the title or the opening image tells the audience all they need to know about the story, and the hero’s background.  Volger also talks about the importance of the contrast between the ordinary world and the special world.  The example given is about the Wizard of Oz, how the Dorothy’s ordinary world is in black and white where the special world is in bright vibrant colors.  Vogler also states that it is important for the hero to have an inner and outer problem, the purpose of the problems are to give the character some way to relate to the audience, that the audience has been in the characters same position. If there is only an outer problem it makes it harder for the audience to connect with the hero.  Vogler states that every character no matter what role they play in the story must have an exciting entrance, one that speaks to the characters personality.  Once the audience has connected with the hero either through the opening scene and identification then the story gets started.  The hero is usually called to adventure when he loses something important in his life such as a family member or some type of subtraction from his/ her family.  This is called the hero’s lack.  Another way in which Volger says that the audience can connect with the hero is by wounding the hero.  To humanize the hero or any character give him or her a wound, a visible, physical, injury or a deep emotional wound.  The wound allows the audience to understand the pain the hero is going through and shows the audience that heroes can get hurt and not everything is perfect for them.  Another important development in a story is establishing what is at stake for the hero if he succeeds, or fails in his mission and what his success or failure means to himself and the hero’s society.  Vogler also talked about the use of the herald in the story and how they are responsible for getting the story rolling. 

 

Reflection:
I am having a hard time determining what is the ordinary world and what is the special world in the story A Good Man is Hard to Find.  I think that the special world is while the family is driving in the car and meet the convicts.  I also feel as though the videos we watch in class on Fridays are like a special world, with the way the society and women were treated and what was expected of them compared to today’s world as the ordinary.  The way the women didn’t have to work, and how life almost seemed like a dating show, where everyday men were looking to court women into marriage, and the women looked pretty and were educated.  It is obviously that in the story The Offshore Pirate, that the ordinary world was New York, and the special world was on the boat. However insisde the special world I felt that there was almost an ordinary world, which was on the boat with Ardita’s uncle and the second special world was when Ardita was on the boat with Carlyle. 

Reaction:
I understand the ordinary and special world but I also feel like these worlds are not only seen in movies, fairy tales, novels, and myths but also in real life.  I think that in every movies, novel, myth, and fairy tale there is a special and ordinary world, I think what if such a work had an absence of the special world then the audience would have nothing to compare the ordinary world to.  The special world and the ordinary world are what show the audience that the hero is going through a change.  One can tell this by comparing the way the hero is portrayed in the ordinary world before he enters the special world and then comparing the way the hero is portrayed after he enters the special world and returns to the ordinary.  I personally think that the prologue makes sense and I understand why it is in a book, or movie but as a reader I personally hate reading them.  I am so interested in the story that I want to just read the story, and I am no one for reading so having to read the extra prologue, aggravates me sometimes, but it does help me understand what is going on while I am reading a book or watching a movie.  I feel like the title is the hook, of the story of the movie before one has read or watched the work.  If the title is good one is going to be interested and intrigued and want to watch or read the work. 

 

Questions:
1. Why does a hero need to have an inner and outer problem in order for the audience to connect well with them? 
2. What other problems can initiate the hero’s call to adventure other then the death or kidnapping of a family member?
3. What is the difference between an action question and a dramatic question?

 

Vogler, Annoted 4

Summary:
In the Volger reading he went through and explained the meaning and importance of the ordinary world.  He also explained each section in a story, and its purpose.  Some stories have a prologue which is a section in the beginning of the story that gives the audience background information about the hero’s ordinary world, life before he/she is called to adventure.  Not all stories have a prologue, some stories the title or the opening image tells the audience all they need to know about the story, and the hero’s background.  Volger also talks about the importance of the contrast between the ordinary world and the special world.  The example given is about the Wizard of Oz, how the Dorothy’s ordinary world is in black and white where the special world is in bright vibrant colors.  Vogler also states that it is important for the hero to have an inner and outer problem, the purpose of the problems are to give the character some way to relate to the audience, that the audience has been in the characters same position. If there is only an outer problem it makes it harder for the audience to connect with the hero.  Vogler states that every character no matter what role they play in the story must have an exciting entrance, one that speaks to the characters personality.  Once the audience has connected with the hero either through the opening scene and identification then the story gets started.  The hero is usually called to adventure when he loses something important in his life such as a family member or some type of subtraction from his/ her family.  This is called the hero’s lack.  Another way in which Volger says that the audience can connect with the hero is by wounding the hero.  To humanize the hero or any character give him or her a wound, a visible, physical, injury or a deep emotional wound.  The wound allows the audience to understand the pain the hero is going through and shows the audience that heroes can get hurt and not everything is perfect for them.  Another important development in a story is establishing what is at stake for the hero if he succeeds, or fails in his mission and what his success or failure means to himself and the hero’s society.  Vogler also talked about the use of the herald in the story and how they are responsible for getting the story rolling. 

 

Reflection:
I am having a hard time determining what is the ordinary world and what is the special world in the story A Good Man is Hard to Find.  I think that the special world is while the family is driving in the car and meet the convicts.  I also feel as though the videos we watch in class on Fridays are like a special world, with the way the society and women were treated and what was expected of them compared to today’s world as the ordinary.  The way the women didn’t have to work, and how life almost seemed like a dating show, where everyday men were looking to court women into marriage, and the women looked pretty and were educated.  It is obviously that in the story The Offshore Pirate, that the ordinary world was New York, and the special world was on the boat. However insisde the special world I felt that there was almost an ordinary world, which was on the boat with Ardita’s uncle and the second special world was when Ardita was on the boat with Carlyle. 

Reaction:
I understand the ordinary and special world but I also feel like these worlds are not only seen in movies, fairy tales, novels, and myths but also in real life.  I think that in every movies, novel, myth, and fairy tale there is a special and ordinary world, I think what if such a work had an absence of the special world then the audience would have nothing to compare the ordinary world to.  The special world and the ordinary world are what show the audience that the hero is going through a change.  One can tell this by comparing the way the hero is portrayed in the ordinary world before he enters the special world and then comparing the way the hero is portrayed after he enters the special world and returns to the ordinary.  I personally think that the prologue makes sense and I understand why it is in a book, or movie but as a reader I personally hate reading them.  I am so interested in the story that I want to just read the story, and I am no one for reading so having to read the extra prologue, aggravates me sometimes, but it does help me understand what is going on while I am reading a book or watching a movie.  I feel like the title is the hook, of the story of the movie before one has read or watched the work.  If the title is good one is going to be interested and intrigued and want to watch or read the work. 

 

Questions:
1. Why does a hero need to have an inner and outer problem in order for the audience to connect well with them? 
2. What other problems can initiate the hero’s call to adventure other then the death or kidnapping of a family member?
3. What is the difference between an action question and a dramatic question?

 

Strengths and improvement

Strengths:
1. I think that my first paragraph is a strong paragraph because it is telling my reader who I am and what I am going to tell them in my personal memoir.
Improvements:
1. I think though that I need to have a better first few sentences to have a better opening to my personal memoir.
Strengths:
2. That I have all my ideas laid out for the reader, but I need to improve my vocabulary to make my ideas come across in a stronger way, but the ideas and information I have is good.
Improvements:
2. I need to make sure my reader doesn't have to make leaps and jumps to understand what I am trying to say, my reader shouldn't have to work to connect my story. I need to transition better to help them see my point of my memoir.

Annoted 3

Summary:  The reading for this week, explained each other archetype in detail, and how each archetype is useful in creating a story and what each archetype brings to a story and how they are important to stories.  The threshold guardian’s dramatic function and purpose in a story is to test the hero in the story.  The hero must pass by the threshold guardian by overcoming the obstacle put in place by the guardian in order to finish the mission the hero set out on. Next Vogler talked about the Herald. The herald is known as the spark that sets off the war, they issue a challenge to the hero and also notify the audience that a change and adventure is about to occur.  The herald gets the story rolling and motivates the hero.  Another, archetype is the shapshifter, the shapeshifter is an unstable character, usually of the opposite sex of the hero or a hero romantic interest, that changes constantly from the hero’s point of view.  Usually in stories the shapshifter is also called the femme fatale, the woman as temptress or destroyer.  Another archetype is the shadow.  The shadow’s purpose is to destroy or defeat and sometimes kill the hero.  The shadow is usually seen in the hero’s enemies, or appears in the villain in the story.  One other archetype is the Ally.  The ally can serve a variety of necessary functions such as companion, sparring partner, conscience, or comic relief.  The ally’s true purpose in stories is to humanize the hero.  Lastly, there is the trickster.  The trickster’s function in the story is to cut the big egos down to size and bring the hero and audience down to earth.  The trickster can either help the hero or villain or even be the hero, such as in the turtle and the hare. 

 

Reaction: The reading really explained how each archetype is important to a story and why it is necessary to know what each characters function is, which allows, me the audience to understand the story and also me the author to help my audience understand the message it want to send to my audience.   This reading pieced everything together and really explained some stories, I would never have thought of certain characters like the turtle mentioned in the trickster section as a hero, with out the description from the book I would never had thought about that simply children’s story in that way.  Vogler made it so that each archetype he talked about fit together and helped explain why stories make sense, if these archetypes were not talked about and analyzed it would much harder for myself to sit and write a story.  Vogler showed me what elements a story needs to make the audience understand and enjoy to story. 

 

Reflection: When I look back on the Indian Camp story I think about what archetype fits with each character, and I had a hard time placing an archetype with the unborn child’s father.  Also, I believe that if the uncle was the father he is the villain, but I also seeing god being the villain for causing the woman to have such a long and hard labor.  As for the little boy I think he fits with the archetype of the ally, I think that the threshold guardian and herald was the woman giving birth, the birth was the obstacle and the spark that set off the war.  I really feel that a character identifies with a different archetypes sometimes depending on whom the audience is and who the narrator is.  If a little boy was narrating the story of Indian Camp almost like he was telling his friends what he saw and how he helped his dad to the friend he little boy would look like the hero. 

Question:

1. What is the difference between the threshold guardian and the herald?

2. These are not all of the archetypes, the author decides which to use does he have to use all of these in order for the story to flow smoothly or can he use completely different archetypes?

3. Not every reader or audience member is familiar with these archetypes, I wasn't before, does that make if harder for the author to get his message across and harder for me as an audience member to follow the story?

Hero's Journey Chart

The Hero’s Journey Chart
Separation
Ordinary World- Describe the character’s world before the adventure begins.			Played soccer for 12 years without sustaining any serious injury. Started every varsity game since freshmen year Never had trouble or was held back from trying new skills or executing drills Never felt defeated or like you couldn’t reach my dream
Call to Adventure: How does the character receive the call to adventure? This is usually presented in a problem, challenge or adventure			I received my call to adventure when the other goalkeeper took me out. Had to learn how to get around on my crutches and perform normal everyday tasks such as going to the bathroom with help, bathing with help getting dressed with help, making myself something to eat, carrying things and concentrating on getting healthy.  Also not being about to wear normal clothes because my leg brace prohibited the clothing I could wear.  Also always being exhausted, sore and achy.   Loosing my scholarship to UNC Chapel Hill.
Refusal of the Call: Does the character accept the call immediately? Does the character express reluctance?			I didn’t accept the call immediately I was depressed and thought my dreams and hopes had been shattered.  I didn’t have the motivation to try or want to try or want to succeed I just thought everything was over and that I would never have the same life again. Never be able to play sports or exercise the same way.  I had totally given up.
Answering the Call: What motivates the character to accept the call?			When I realized that I only had one year left to play soccer at a competitive level I couldn’t give up the opportunity and let someone else take my place on the field.  Seeing other people recover and play again motivated me that I could do the rehab and be ready to play in the fall.
Guide/Mentor: Is there a specific character that helps the hero understand the life situation or provides the hero with special training?			My doctors, rehabilitation therapists, my team, my family, and friends all guided me to get healthy.  My mental mentor telling me that I can play the same again was my mom.  I couldn’t disappoint her; she wanted to watch me play just as badly as I wanted to play.  I couldn’t let her down by not trying to get healthy and not giving it my all.
Crossing the Threshold: At what point in the story does the hero leave the familiar world and move into a new, unfamiliar circumstance?			When I was part way through my recover, when I tried to touch the ball again It took me months to actually get to a low level of play.  I entered the unfamiliar world when I moved to a team of girls who were five years younger than me in order to practice my skills without feeling nervous of not competing at the same level I used to.
SEPERATION
Road of Trials: What specific challenges does the hero face? Tests, allies, and enemies?	The tests that I had to go though were if my muscles could function the same way and if my muscles were fully stretched and attached and that my body accepted them.  My allies would be there other teenagers who were suffering form the same injury I was and how we helped each other and showed each other our progress, everyone looked up to someone else and was determined to meet the standards that they set and to reach the position that they were at in their recovery.  My enemies would be my doctors, because they would not clear me to play at the beginning of my season since I wasn’t healed all the way.  With a litter persuasion I was able to get them to sign my consent form.  My other enemies are also the ugly disfiguring scars that I have on my knees, and learned to cope with the way they looked.
Meeting with the Goddess: Does the hero meet with a character with special beauty and power?			I think my goddess would be my physical therapist since she had the magic touch to always making my pain go away and for giving me the information, tools and her devoted time to helping me get better.
Ordeal- Meeting with the goddess, woman as temptress, atonement with the father
Atonement (“at one with”) with or Recognition by the Father: Is the hero reunited with his or her father or a father figure in some way? Does the hero reconcile his or her beliefs or values with another’s beliefs or values?			My dad lives in North Carolina and I live in New Hampshire.  A month after my surgery I went to visit him for thanksgiving he was so surprised and proud of me that I was able to travel alone and handle everything that I needed to handle to come and see him for the holidays.  My dad had hip surgery because he was in a car accident when he was little and also suffered from Leg Perthes disease when he was little so he opened me up to his thoughts and values of how to handle the life long scars and memories.  He showed me that it was okay to feel a little down but that no matter what it took you have to pick yourself back up and move on with your life, no matter how drastically different it may or may not be.
Ultimate Boon / Magic Elixir: Does the hero find some special solution to the problem he or she is attempting to resolve? This might be a magic potion or a key to something.			I think the magic that helped me find a solution was when I played in my first game back, against the same team that I was playing when I tore my acl and being able to still play against the goalkeeper and not being terrified.  Also wearing a six-pound brace solved the problem that my muscles were still not strong enough to play at my full potential.  It did restrict some of my movement and how fast I was able to run but the fact that I could run and keep up with the play was like magic to me.
RETURN
Refusal of the Return: Does the hero initially refuse to return to the homeland or the place that he or she   began the journey?			I didn’t want to play again because I was afraid of embarrassing myself by not being able to play as well as I had before.  I was also petrified that I would re-tear my alc or reinjure myself by trying to play when my knee wasn’t strong enough.  I also had no self confidence that I would be able to play at the same level prior to my injury.
Magic Flight / Pursuit: Is there some point (generally toward the end) where the hero is being chased or is otherwise trying to escape something?	I was trying to escape the pains that I felt every time I ran or played.  It took me a long time to get used to the pain and how to handle it.  I couldn’t escape playing the game because I couldn’t let my family and team down so I had to escape the fear and pain that was holding me back.
Rescue from Without: Is there some point when all seems hopeless, when it looks like the hero is going to die, then suddenly he or she is rescued unexpectedly?			When my doctor refused to sign my consent form to let me start playing again.  When I was well over the amount of recovery time needed and I still couldn’t complete basic tasks.  When my therapist told me that she would do everything she could to get my doctor to sign my release form including her coming to my house and just kicking the ball around with me or running with me at the gym so that I could get ready to play, just out of the goodness of her heart, she didn’t ask to be paid or for anything in return she just wanted to me get healthy and play again.
Crossing the Return Threshold: Is there some point where the hero clearly returns “home”?			When I started and played almost the whole time of my first game back.  Also as the season went on that I played the whole game and almost at the point where I used to play before my injury.
Master of Two Worlds: Does it appear that the hero has conquered life in both the familiar and unfamiliar worlds?			Yes I was able to eventually take care of my self, and perform everyday tasks like using the bathroom alone, bathing alone, getting dressed alone, making myself something to eat and carrying my own backpack and not having to leave early from every class to take the time to get to the next one.  Not being 3 months behind in school in order to take the time I needed to get healthy.
Freedom to Live: Since the hero typically begins the journey to resolve a problem, does it appear the problem is at last resolved so that all can live freely?			Yes I was able to play soccer again my mom could watch me play and I had regained most of my self-confidence.  I think I finally resolved my problem and finished my journey when I was able to wear   skirts or shorts that revealed my scars.  Also being able to wear normal clothes not having to wear sweatpants or wind pants because my jeans wouldn’t fit over my leg brace.

Vogler Reading and Annotation #2

Summary:  The passage that was assigned focused on the archetypes of characters in fairy tales, myths, and stories in general.  There are eight archetypes that occur most frequently in stories.  Those eight archetypes are a hero, mentor, threshold guardian, herald, shapeshifter, shadow, ally, and trickster.  The hero has a psychological function which Freud called the ego.  The hero also goes through dramatic functions such as audience identification, allowing the audience to identify with the hero.  The hero is considered a hero because he undergoes growth, either between a hero and a mentor, a hero and a lover, or even between a hero and a villain.  A hero should be fully active, and in control of his own fate.  He hero is responsible for performing the decisive action of the story, the action that requires taking the most risks.  A hero cannot be a hero if he is not willing to sacrifice his own well-being for the well-being of others.  Every hero has to come close to death and in some cases actually die.  The hero’s flaws are a starting point of imperfection or incompleteness from which a character can grow.  Heroes can be unwilling or willing.  Also you can have an anti-hero, which is a special kind of hero, one who can be an outlaw or villain from the point of view of society, but with whom the audience is basically in sympathy.  There are also loner and group heroes.  The former who is alone to start with then who travels into a group’s normal turf then he returns to isolation.  The latter starts within a group, who then travels out to be alone and who sometimes returns to their starting place.  The reading also talks about what role a mentor plays throughout the story.  A mentor can be an old mad or an old woman. The mentor gives the hero tools and powers he needs to succeed throughout his journey.  The mentor also motivates the hero, and there are dark mentors who block the hero’s path of continuing their journey.

 

Reaction-While I was reading this section I found many things to be interesting.  I was a little confused as to how a mentor can be a dark mentor.  I always think of a mentor as a person who guides, motivates and helps a hero.  I also found it interesting that the word mentor comes from The Odyssey.  As for heroes I thought that a catalyst hero is more like a mentor, at least in the case of Beverly Hills Cop.  I think that if a person doesn’t understand and undergo change in their selves that they are more of mentors then heroes.  I think that if a character has no flaws then they have nothing to change, which eliminates two of the keys elements in being a hero.  Also the fact that a hero can be unwilling confuses me.  If a hero is unwilling then they don’t have the passion or desire to complete the journey.  I think at first a hero might be unwilling but as time progresses and they change they become more willing. 

 

Reflection- Looking back on movies and stories a have seen or read I understand that even the littlest points of a story make the story.  If you were to change who the mentor or hero was as a person or how the identified with the audience the whole story could turn out differently.  Every element of a story has to be fulfilled in order to allow the story to flow smoothly and entertain the audience.  The fact that the reading for Wednesday’s class didn’t have many of the elements made that story just as interesting.  The story needs to have either all the elements of none of the elements any story in between just wouldn’t be complete.  Every character needs to take on many different archetypes, which allow the character to relate to the audience.  Not just the hero needs to relate to the audience, if only the hero relates to the audience the audience will not be able to identify with the story as a whole. 

 

Questions-

1.Can a group-oriented hero ever remain or turn into a loner hero if they don’t return to their home?

2. Does the type of hero determine the type or mentor and vice versa?

3. If a hero is supposed to possess multiple archetypes, can he ever turn evil and not complete his takes and in fact make the world worse?

Vogler Chapter 1 Annoted

Danielle Grant

February 2, 2009

Vogler Pages 1-20

 

 

Summary- Chapter one is focused around the journey of a hero.  Also, chapter one mentions Joseph Campbell’s contributions to the writer’s tool kit, and how he used these tools to write and tell stories.  His ideas were spread to movie producers, and editors.  In addition, Campbell’s tools were used to draw ideas from past stories or myths to form new and fresh stories.  The way to captivate an audience with one’s story is to clearly depict the hero’s journey from despair to hope, weakness to strength, folly to wisdom, or love to hate.  A hero’s journey is mad up of 12 stages including: ordinary world, call to adventure, refusal of the call, meeting with the mentor, crossing the first threshold, test, allies, enemies, approach to the inmost cave, ordeal, reward, the road back, resurrection and return with the elixir which the hero goes though in 3 acts. 

 

 

Reaction- I found it interesting that Vogler references the hero as a “her” rather than as a “he”.  When most people think of a super hero they think of a man because they are assumed to be stronger and accompanied with a safe place.  I learned a lot of little tips such as when showing a fish out of his customary element an author first must show the fish in that ordinary world.  I know it sounds weird but I never exactly thought that all stories and movies have the same outline.  Every movie or story has each of the twelve elements needed to form a smooth transitional book. I was surprised to read that every hero has a fear, when I think of a hero I think of a fearless person risking everything they have only to help others in need and better the world.

 

 

Reflection-I feel as if I haven’t been reading book efficiently enough because I never caught on to the fact that all books, movies and myths have the same outline.  When I look back on the books mentioned in Vogler such as Star Wars, An Officer and a Gentlemen and The Wizard of Oz I wonder why I never saw the connection between the three books.   I also thought it was really strange that non fiction and fiction also follow the same outline.   I also think that Carl Jung’s theory makes a lot of sense, in which humans relate to characters.  By the character having traits that most people can relate to allows the audience to be able to connect with the movie on a personal level.  This connection makes the story seem more realistic and meaningful to the audience. 

 

 

 

1.     Can you think of a story that does not follow the 12 elements of a Hero’s journey?

2.     Can you think of a story where a hero was halted at the fifth element of crossing the first threshold?

3.     Can a story be complete if it doesn’t meet the twelve elements of a story?