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.