A HERO’S JOURNEY

A guide to understanding how almost every story, movie, or television show is written.

ORDINARY

WORLD

Allies

enemies

Refusal of the call

Call to

Adventure

Innermost

cave

Cro

ssin

g th

e

thre

shol

d

Return with the elixir

ordeal

reward

Students can use these stages to better comprehend as well as compare to other stories.

Meeting the mentor

The Anatomy of Fiction: A Hero’s Journey

Star Wars Harry Potter The Wizard of Oz

Luke Skywalker is living on the desert planet of Tattoine with his aunt and his uncle.

Harry Potter is living a very boring life with his aunt and uncle in London.

Ordinary World

Molly and Michael are moving to an old church house in the country. They are very upset because they had plans for the summer. Molly had language class, and Michael had science.

Ordinary World

Stage 2a: The Call to Adventure:

Wizard of Oz: In the

Wizard of Oz, Dorothy is the hero and her mission is to get back home to Kansas with her little dog Totto and help a Scarecrow, a lion, and a Tin man reach their dreams and by doing that she must go to the Great Wizard of Oz.

The “ call to the adventure” is when a hero is first called to do an important thing or job.

Star Wars: In Star Wars, Luke Skywalker is the hero and he is training to be a Jedi Knight. He must defeat Darth Vader and the Empire. And he also wants to join the Rebion and train with them. And they try to destroy the Death Star.

Molly and Michael are moving to an old church house in the country. They are very upset because they had plans for the summer. Molly had language class, and Michael had science.

Call to Adventure

Stage 3a: The Refusal of the Call

Wizard of Oz : In the Wizard of Oz Dorothy is scared to meet the Wizard of Oz. But she knows that she has to meet him and ask for his help so she can get back home to Kansas.

The “refusal to call” is when a hero does not want to be a hero or go along his or her path.

Star Wars: this is the part of the story or movie when Luke says he does not want to go to Allderham with Obi-Wan Kenobi. He says that he can’t go because he has to much work to do at home.

Stage 3: Refusal of the Call

Mollmo

Molly and Michael are moving to a church house. They don’t want to though. They had plans for the summer. Only mom and Dave want to move there so they have more things to paint and do more pottery.

Stage 4a: Meeting the Mentor

Harry Potter: Hagrid and Professor Dumbledore are Harry’s mentors. They teach him how to be a wizard.

“Meting the Mentor” is when a hero meets his teacher or the person who tells important information.

Star Wars: In Star Wars Obi-Wan Kenobi is the mentor. He tells Luke that his father was a Jedi and who killed him. He also presented his with a Jedi knight light saber.

Bad Ones :

Stage 4: Meeting the Mentor

Mr. Simens has been living there for a long time,he told Michael and Molly about things that happened in the graveyard years ago. The libraryan is also a mentor because she tells them about heather’s past.

5: Crossing the ThresholdHarry Potter: Diagon Alley and the Leaky Cauldron

Wneh a hero crosses the threshold he or her is seeing or being blown away by something.

Star Wars: The Cantina is a bar in Tatooine, a barn desert planet. There Luke and Obi-Wan Kenobi first met Han Solo and Chewbacca.

Stage 5: Crossing the Threshold

They cross the threshold when they see heather by the pond. Also when they saw the locket Helen gave Heather.

6a: Allies and EnemiesFellowship of the Ring: use this place to describe the friends and how they are often vary in personality and abilities.

Also, describe the enemy

Use this text box to explain “allies and enemies”. Explain why it is important to story telling. Check internet bookmark for help.

Star Wars: use this place to describe the friends and how they are often vary in personality and abilities. Also, describe the enemy

Stage 6: Allies and Enemies

Heather

Allies EnimiesBoth

Helen

librarian

Michael

Molly Mom

Dave

7a: Approach to the inmost cave

Batman: use this place to write a short description of the hero’s encounter with her/his fear. Insert image below.

Use this text box to explain “inmost cave”. Explain why it is important to story telling. Check internet bookmark for help.

Star Wars: this is when Obi-Wan Kenobi teaches Luke how to use a lightsabor with a hat on and with that hat on he can’t see a thing, so he is learning how to use the force.

Stage 7: Innermost Cave

8a: The OrdealWizard of Oz: use this place to explain this important element of rising action (near the top or climax)

Use this text box to explain “the ordeal”. Explain why it is important to story telling. Check internet bookmark for help.

Star Wars: use this

place to explain this important element of rising action (near the top or climax)

Stage 8: The Ordeal

9: The RewardWizard of Oz: what does the hero earn? Insert image below.

Use this text box to explain “the reward”. Explain why it is important to story telling. Check internet bookmark for help.

Star Wars: what does the hero earn. Insert image below.

Stage 9: The Reward

10: Return with the ElixirWizard of Oz: The elixir is a metaphor of the lesson learned or morale.

Use this text box to explain “elixir”. Explain why it is important to story telling. Check internet bookmark for help.

Fellowship:

Stage 10: Return with the Elixir