Reflect/Action

• I've found all my four modes about my topic, now I just have to finish my Rhetorical Analysis on them and write two paragraphs for each.
• I have to sign up for a volunteer job and relate it to my topic.
• probably volunteer with animals
• I want to put a small slide show together with pictures and information on my topic for when we show off our projects.
• I still have to put together a board for my topic.
• will do last after I have all my information and resources
  

4 Modes

Book: I Can't Believe I'm Buying This Book: A Commonsense Guide to Successful Internet Dating by Evan Marc Katz

Film: You've Got Mail

Song: My Internet Girl

Artwork: http://www.afroromance.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/online-dating-killed-cupid.png

The Bell Jar

In Plath's story the Bell Jar, we have a main hero Esther that goes through a series of tests while at the asylum. One test was when she lost her virginity to Irwin and found out that she bleeds excessively every time they have sex. So she ended up having to go the emergency room to get help. After finishing her first test she faces another one when she realizes her friend Joan committed suicide, and must attend her funeral as one of her best friends. Near the end, one of her final tests is when she must go through a series of interviews and prove she is not crazy in order to leave the asylum.

Annt. Bib. #8

Voglar, Christopher. “The Writer’s Journey”. Stages of the Journey. Studio City, CA: Michael Wiese Productions, 1998. 175-194.

Summary

This reading covered the Reward and the Road Back stages of the hero’s journey. The reward is in reference to the “thing” they take/receive for surviving death. This is usually followed up with a celebration for much needed time of relaxation and rest after going through the ordeal. Many stories show a celebration with a campfire scene. This gives the hero time to sit with companions (if any) and relive their adventure and really think about the things they learned and won. Others may use a love scene as a reward for the hero. Once they have conquered death they deserve to be loved. However, sometimes the reward is not an object or person, sometimes it is knowledge, a new perception, or self-realization, just depending on the story.

The second part of the reading covers the Road Back, in which some stories it is short and sweet while in others it’s a whole other ordeal/adventure. Some stories contain a realization stage, where the villain comes back for one more chance at revenge. Other stories contain a chase scene at the end of the movie to give a little more excitement after a relaxing moment during the reward stage. However, some stories will sad endings where the villain escapes or gets one last “punch” in before he is gone forever, in which the hero experiences a setback that may seem to doom an adventure.

Reaction

I like the Reward stage because when I was reading about all the different types of rewards I realize that as we grow up we tend to value things differently. When we’re younger, or at least when I was younger, I would see the reward as a treasure—basically a very valuable object. Now I feel more inclined to find knowledge or self-realization a little bit more valuable then actual treasure because I feel that it would be more use to me in life than just a bunch of shiny things.

Questions

1. What would be your reward at the end of your adventure?
2. Do you like stories that have a short “road back” or one that is exciting and has the villain make a last effort against the hero?
3. In your opinion do you think the Call to Adventure is easier, or the Road Back?

Annt. Bib. #5

Voglar, Christopher. “The Writer’s Journey”. Stages of the Journey. Studio City, CA: Michael Wiese Productions, 1998. 107-125.

Summary

The “Refusal of the Call” is found in practically every story. It’s very useful to writers because it really gives a dramatic affect and also makes the hero more relatable to the audience because it shows that he/she has fears like the rest of us. Its very natural for anyone to not want to go on a dangerous adventure that they may not return from. We all have come across those times where we really don’t want to do something and we make come up with any kind of excuse to get out of it. The reading also talked about how heroes sometimes persistently refuse the call, which in turn leads to some kind of tragedy. Most stories need the hero to overcome the fear of adventure for the story to begin. However, there are also stories that have what Voglar calls, “willing heroes”. These are heroes that accept the call to adventure immediately or even seek after a call to adventure. Also, in some stories, the refusal of the call doesn’t really come from the hero, but from other characters that may act as threshold guardians, powerful figures who raise the banner of fear and doubt, questioning the hero’s very worthiness to complete the task.

The second part of the reading covered the “Meeting with the Mentor” stage. This stage of the journey is also very important to writers because it to has the ability to create very dramatic scenes. The mentor is very important in a story and is present in almost every story. The mentor is a source of wisdom, protection, guidance, testing, training, and sometime magical gifts. Mentors are also important because they are usually the character that keeps the story going. Some stories tend to come to points where they could get stuck, but with the help of the mentor, the story is able to continue. It was mentioned in the reading that in every Greek story, there is some kind of mentor character and the word “mentor” actually comes from the character “Mentor” in the story The Odyssey.

Reaction

I agree with Voglar about both these stages being important to any story. Although I do believe its possible for a story to be good even without these two stages, but they are seen in almost every story known today. The one line I found interesting was, “When you are getting to ready to undertake a great adventure, the Ordinary World knows somehow and clings to you.” I like this line because I think it’s so true. Even in life, when we are about to make a big change or venture to someplace new and unknown to us, our Ordinary World seems even more inviting and comforting, and it makes you want to stay there all the more.

Questions

1. Can you think of a story where the hero does not come in contact with some source of wisdom before committing to an adventure?

2. Is a story with a “refusal of the call” stage necessarily better than a story that doesn’t have that stage?

3. How would you create a mentor character without falling into the clichés?

Kafka Quiz

1. It's hard to distinguish directly in "The Metamorphosis". We don't necessarily see Gregor in his "Ordinary World" but we do get told about his life; how he's a salesman and how he hates it and his boss. I feel like the story starts out with the "Call to Adventure", him waking up as a bug.
2. I think one of the social issues being critiqued is that of social class. Gregor and his family are part of the working class, and it sounds as if they are in debt to the manager who seems to rule their lives by having that upper hand. "The Red Scare" is somewhat similar because before the invention of the t.v., Joseph McCarthy had control over a lot of American's lives by having the upper hand about American's view on Communism.
3. A bug.
   

Revision Plan

3 Steps For Revision:

1. "Unpacking"-Put more detail into my story.
2. Make sure I answer the "So what?" at the end of my story.
3. Make sure reader doesn't have to make connections; that's my job.

3 Steps For Editing:

1. Watch for "Things, this, its..."
2. Watch out for too many commas.
3. Make sure each sentence in a paragraph has the same focus as the paragraph all together.
   

Annt. Bib. #4

Voglar, Christopher. “The Writer’s Journey”. Stages of the Journey. Studio City, CA: Michael Wiese Productions, 1998. 83-105.

Summary

This reading covered two stages of the Hero’s Journey, the Ordinary World and the Call to Adventure. The Ordinary World in a story is very important because it gives the reader a contrast for the Special World that the hero will be entering later in the story. Another function of the Ordinary World is to catch the reader’s attention by using certain dramatic effects. Some stories have foreshadowing of the Special World in the Ordinary World to catch the reader’s attention, while others use specific character entrances that help the audience connect with that character. When the story introduces the hero in the Ordinary World it usually helps show some character trait, or flaw, that the hero has that we can relate to. The audience being able to relate to the hero of a story is very important and is usually done in the stage of the Ordinary World.

The second stage of the Hero’s Journey is the Call to Adventure. This is when the hero encounters some major change in their Ordinary World, which causes them to be put into action to fix or deal with the change. The character that portrays the archetype of Herald, who can be good, bad, or neutral in any story, usually does the Call to Adventure. Also, stories don’t always have a hero that is willing to answer to the Call to Adventure; these hero’s we call reluctant hero’s.

Reaction

While reading through the first stage of the Hero’s Journey I was able to pick up a lot of tips for my story. I learned that background is very important and is what helps the audience relate to the hero of my story, which happens to be me. I liked reading these two sections because they give you great tips on how to start a story/Hero’s Journey, which I consider the hardest part when writing any story.

Questions

1. What do you think attracts more attention in stories/movies, stories that start in sequential order or stories that have foreshadowing in the Ordinary World, or they start out with a scene that the story will lead up to?
2. We learned that a perfect, flawless hero is very boring and not very interesting to read. Can you think of any perfect hero’s that you’ve read about that you’ve possibly liked, or disliked?
3. When writing a story and giving your hero flaws, do you think that you tend to give them flaws or traits that you, yourself have and more fully understand?

Annt. Bib. #3

Voglar, Christopher. “The Writer’s Journey”. The Archetypes. Studio City, CA: Michael Wiese Productions, 1998. 49-80.

Summary

This reading covered six more archetypes in a story, the threshold guardian, the herald, the shapeshifter, the shadow, the ally, and the trickster. These archetypes are very popular among many stories, and you rarely see a story without them. Threshold guardians are not the villain in most stories, but usually work with the villain of the story. They are usually guards or minions that help the villain stop the hero. However, sometimes a threshold guardian can be used as an ally for some hero’s, “Threshold Guardians are not to be defeated but incorporated.”

The herald is usually a character that issues challenges and announces the coming of significant change. Heralds provide motivation for the hero and get the story going. It is usually the Herald that is the one that gives the “Call to Adventure” which is what makes a story come about.

The shapeshifter is pretty much what its name describes it. The character in a story that plays the shapeshifter is usually the one that changes their moods, behavior, or view points in a story. Of course, many characters do this, but that is why there is no set archetype for any character, a character can take on more than one archetype.

The shadow of course, is almost as important to a story as the hero. The shadow represents the dark side, or the villain. Everyone has a bit of shadow in him or her, but we learn to suppress it, but of course this is why we need a shadow that is not suppressed so that our hero has a chance to learn something about himself.

The ally and trickster, who can sometimes be the one in the same, ally being a person that wants to truly help the hero, and the trickster being a person that does want to help the hero, but usually only to help themselves. The trickster is a complicated character because they usually are full of mischief and I think are generally good people but tend to cause the most problems in a story.

Reaction

It was interesting to read the other archetypes, and as I went through them, I would think about a lot of my favorite stories and try to place an archetype to each character. I agree with the thought that most stories have the main archetypes that Voglar listed. Also, when I thought about them and how a story might be without that archetype I realized that the story wouldn’t really be the same at all, and that having these main archetypes in stories are very important.

Questions

1. As we know by writing our own hero stories, we can probably put ourselves in any archetype. But if you could pick one you would most relate to, which one would you be and why?
2. Do you think that Voglar is correct about there being eight main archetypes? Do you think there are more important archetypes in a story? Do you think that a story doesn’t always need the archetypes we read about?
3. What kind of characters did you think about while reading through each archetype?

What Disney Character Am I Like?

I think I’m most like Belle from Beauty and the Beast. Main reasons being, I like to read any kind of story, I’m always wanting more out of life, I don’t like to try to fit in, I just be myself no matter what, I don’t judge people on their looks or how they dress, but on their personalities and actions, and I forgive people even if they’ve mistreated me in some way. Beauty and the Beast was one of my favorite Disney movies when I was growing up. It was the first movie I ever saw in a movie theater with my mom, but apparently I was more fascinated by the popcorn machine than the actual movie at first.

Anyway, Belle was always a dreamer, always getting lost in stories that she read and wishing that there was something more in store for her, which was the first similarity I saw between her and I. Also, I loved how she never let anyone thinking she was a “funny” girl put her down. She never cared about being different or fitting in, and when I was younger I knew that was a trait that I wanted to have.

Another trait about Belle I noticed was that she is able to forgive people even though they have been unkind to her in the past. When the Beast was mean and unkind, she was able to look past that after he rescued her. I’m similar in the fact that I don’t always stick with first impressions and I have a tendency to forgive others for past events. Also, I don’t judge people on their looks or how they dress, actually I try not to judge people at all, but rather see them for their personality and their actions, which I believe is what truly defines a person.