#1 23-29
The Archetypes
In this first chapter, we learn about the term "archetypes" A word invented by a man named Carl Jung a swiss psycologist. He coined this term to mean "the ancient patterns of personality that are the shared herritage of the human race" Here he is trying to say, that through time and space in all stories we find the same charecters and themes, good vs evil, heros on quests, mentors, side kicks, wise old men and women, magical gifts so on and so on. Every culture has this common bond both in post modern and modern times. He uses fairy tales as his example that they are like an anyaliticle dream of an entire culture. Using metiphores and storys to convey morals or to high light current social problems. Which makes archetypes crucial in story telling. He goes on to explane that the real key to Archetypes is they are allowed to fill more then one roll, on page #26 he gives us a list of the most common archetypes Hero, Mentor, Guardian, Herald, Shapeshifter, Shadow, Ally, Trickster. These rolls do not need to be maintained my one person, for example a person could come into the story as a threshold guardian and perhaps become a mentor, or start as a trickster and move to ally. This gives the story much more life and possibility.
Questions
1. Do we all have constant archetypes in our daily lives?
2. Do we serve the roll of an archetype in others daily lives, or is this title reserved for strictly fiction stories?
Vogler, Christopher. The Writer’s Journey Mythic Structure For Writers. Studio City, CA: MichaelWiese, 1998.
#2 29-39
Heros
First, heros through are own lence. Vogler talks about sigman frudes definition of a "hero" and what that represents, it represents are personal lence into who we are. The hero is our Ego, the part of us that was to split from the mother and lead our own lives. We feed the ego, but assigning people in our lives to differnt archetypes, this shows aspects of our personalitys and they act as the charecters in our fiction dreams. The ultimate goal as heros and to satisfy the ego is to put all of these differnt parts together and instead of removing ones self from all of it. coming to the realization that these things are you and are your self.
The differnt rolls the hero serves for the audiance or reader are important and consistant.
Firstly the roll of a hero is to show everyone the story through the heros eyes, a connection between you and the hero must be made and should seem uniqe. The hero should go through some sort of growth, through opsticals and challanges the hero should learn somthing and ultimatly be a better person for it in the end. The hero should be and is most likly the most active person, the one taking the most risks, fighting the evil, standing up to a boss, taking a political stand, just always taking the most risk and responsability. Giving everyone the sense that this person deserves the title of hero. Next is how a hero handles, sacrafice acording to volger the true mark of a hero, the willingness to give somthing up for somthing more important, including there own life. lastly in a factor of a hero is dealing with death. The heros ability to illistrate differnt ways of death and what they mean. Weather it be again through sacarfice and a lost of a lover or a bestfriend. Or through they're ordeal the risk of death. Or through actully dying and using that as a metephore. Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. are examples the book gave of men losing there lives in persuit of they're goals. A good additional example of not such historic men. Is Tom Hanks roll in saving privite ryan. He serves as the hero through the whole movie and fufill his duties and goals, but is rewarded with death. and were left to try and figure out what that means.
Hero, is also not a term that can not be played with similer to the Archetypes they fill many rolls and possess endless qualites. Here we learn about archetype heros, (archetypes that step it up in game time and act as a hero) Loner heros, Anti heros, Catalyst heros, willing and unwilling heros, All of these are simply differnt personality types of a hero. All of them are on a road with similer conflicts and battles trying to end up in act 3. But there is no limitation to who and what type of personality can become the hero in our storys.
Questions
1. Is there a most effective and perfered hero type in our culture?
2. Do peoples egos, allow them to make themselves not the hero in there own story?
Vogler, Christopher. The Writer’s Journey Mythic Structure For Writers. Studio City, CA: MichaelWiese, 1998.
#3 83-96
Stage One The Ordinary World
In this reading we learn both the opening model to a story and the concept of the Ordinary World. In the first few pages it gives us tools and ideas as how to bring in our audiances or readers. But what is the most important is the Ordinary World this is becuase so many stories bring the hero into a special world. So you should start in the Ordinary World, this makes the special world special. Puts the hero in a completly differnt element so that he/she faces challanges they normally wouldnt and grows in learns in a new way. By removing them from there element you are forcing them to find and define themselves. The example the reading gives is the wizard of oz. This is a perfect example. Becuase although the Ordinary world is so differnt from the special world, you realize at the end that the special world was actully always present and the archetypes of the story are real people in the heros life. The Ordianary world is the best place to present back story, showing us how and why they entered the special world, and to give your theme what the movie or book will be about should be clear in the Ordinary world before ever entering the special world.
Questions
1. How do you define the Ordinary World in a story that never clearly makes a split to a special world.
2. Does the hero always have to return to the Ordinary world?
Vogler, Christopher. The Writer’s Journey Mythic Structure For Writers. Studio City, CA: MichaelWiese, 1998.
#4 99-105
Stage 2 The Call to Adventure
The call to adventure is key, and can happen in a varity of ways. All it really means is what is the trigger that gets the story rolling, what act of g-d or personal choice or concidence gets the hero on they're path and moving towards they're active roll as the hero. This can be brought about like in the wizard of oz by a tornado and accidently killing a witch. Or by a feeling an itch to know more about your self or the world. Like in the matrix when they call out to neo, and his curriosity / insticts drive him to ultimatly become the one. In both of those examples the hero may see nothing wrong with they're oridnary world but are forced to realize that theyre is somthing wrong once on there path. Other ways arent as pleasent somtimes a hero must listen to the call out of desperation (lack/need) Like in John Q when his son is denined a heart transplant and he faces losing him. He acts quickly and despreatly to insure his sons life. Maybe theyre are just no other options for the hero, and they run with the circumstances there given. Other calls to adventure could be unpleasent and theyre actully warnings of doom. Whatever it may be, the story needs some sort of pull or force on the hero to initaite adventure.
Vogler, Christopher. The Writer’s Journey Mythic Structure For Writers. Studio City, CA: MichaelWiese,
#4 107-113
Stage 3 Refusal of the Call
This is the clear stage after the call to adventure the hero is faced with the difficult task and reality of how to anwser the call and that many times they don't know how.
This could mean they either make up excuses, or deny the call all together until it finds them. (which usally means bad things before good things) Some times there is two conflicting calls and the hero is stunned by the overwhelming choice they have to make. (heart vs brain) Somtimes its just fear, or even lazyness keeping the hero from anwsering the call, trying to convince themselfes that someone eles can replace them. Then there is actully positive refusal, like when being tempted by crime or an evil witch chosing not to give in, isnt a bad move. The brave ones who accept the call right away arent really in any better of a spot. Its usally then that they encounter a road block on there journey this is usally the roll of the Threshold guardian, standing in the way or trying to make the hero stray from the call. In these cases volger tell us there is the secert door theory in which somthing that the hero was told not to do will push them to do it even more so. The example given was beauty in the beast where belle is given the entire castle, but is aksed to simply stay away from one door. But cannot refuse such temptation.
1. Is the call ever truly refusable or do we just trick ourselfs into thinking so?
2. Would you refuse the call even if you knew it was yours to anwser?
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