This Week's Vogler Reading...

In this week’s reading of Vogler, he discusses the ordinary world and the call to adventure. In the ordinary world, he describes the world in which the hero is used to being in before he is called to adventure and how to describe a great beginning to a story. I particularly enjoyed the point he made on page 84, “The mythological approach to story boils down to using metaphors or comparisons to get across your feelings about life.” This particular point opened my eyes about my own writing, specifically my first draft. I plan on developing my first draft into a better piece by following this point.
In the call to adventure portion, Vogler discusses the many ways a hero may be called. The call doesn’t even need to be human, and I think that a call usually isn’t. I particularly agree with the point in the paragraph titled, “No More Options” on page 103. Not all heroes in stories have the option of to take or not to take the call of adventure, some heroes are just thrown into adventure for better or for worse. If a hero rises to meet the challenge successfully, then he is indeed heroic. But if a hero doesn’t meet the challenge or doesn’t meet it successfully, is he a failure or was he supposed to fail it? There are so many interesting plot twists available.
1.) What was your favorite story that fit these themes and why?
2.) Are these themes described in our past readings? Describe.
3.) Who was your favorite hero, and how did they receive their call to action?

Strengths and Weaknesses

According to my partner, Alex Ostrowski, my weaknesses were (1) being hard to follow my story, mentally, and (2) a lack of depth or background details. My strengths, according to him were (1) good grammar and punctuation throughout, and (2) there was a good order in the running of ideas and thoughts.
I plan to put more detail into my true story, so it can make more sense to my reader. I will admit, my thoughts were rushed and running rampant throughout my writing. I was thinking of so many things at the time I was writing this story. At the time the event happened, my mind was also racing with so many random thoughts along with feeling sad. I will write a bit more clearly and give more background information, so my story can make sense to my reader.

3rd Vogler Reading summary...

In this reading, the rest of the possible characters and their roles were described. It was a little confusing sometimes, because characters were allowed to play multiple roles. It makes sense but for the examples, it was a little confusing to follow if you didn't already know about the roles beforehand. There was the trickster, herald, ally, shapeshifter, shadow and the threshold guardian in addition to the previous hero and mentor roles. I think I liked the trickster best out of all of the roles because I really like comedy. The one I liked the least was the shapeshifter because that role always confused me in stories. I rarely ever found out whether the shapeshifter was a good or bad guy in stories and movies. Maybe I'm just dumb like that, I don't know. I agree with the fact that the herald doesn't need to be human, and that it can simply be a call to adventure for the hero. The ally was a pretty obvious character role, and sometimes my favorite. I sometimes liked the allies better than the heroes in movies and stories. Shadows are the most complex character roles, in my opinion. Even more than shapeshifters, because you have a general idea about the shapeshifter. But sometimes, the shadow has ulterior motives that you don't even find out about until the end of the story. It is this character role that fascinates me the most.
1.) What was your favorite character role, and why?
2.) What was your least favorite character role, and why?
3.) How might you identify the roles of characters in the stories we've read in class?

Summary & Reflection of 2nd Vogler reading...

In this portion of our readings, Vogler discusses the many different character aspects of the hero's journey. But Vogler particularly discusses those aspects related to the hero and the mentor characters. Vogler states what quality makes a hero, "...sacrifice- the true mark of a hero." (pg. 31)
This is the quality that distinguishes the hero from all the other characters. There can also be many types of heros, as well. Vogler discusses mentors as well, stating that they often give the hero a gift after he/she has earned it. (pg.41) Mentors can be a variety of different people, or the hero's conscience itself. (pg. 42)
I was interested in reading all the different types of heros and mentors. Particularly the "loner hero," and the "comic mentor," as they both pertain to my life in general. I never had more than 5 friends in my lifetime so far. I was always sort of quiet, especially when I was in middle school. I wasn't always that way, but I became that sort of hero in my own life's story as I grew older. I gained a few more friends along the way that sort of brought out different sides to my personality more, I noticed.
1.) What type of hero most likely portrays your life story and why?
2.) What type of mentor was most likely in your life's story and why?
3.) Who was your favorite mentor and hero while growing up, and why?

Favorite Fairy Tale Character

My favorite fairy tale character from when I was a little girl, was Belle from Beauty and the Beast. We had a lot in common. We were both daddy's girls, and we loved to read. I still love reading books to this very day. I remember exhausting the local library of children's books, and being allowed to read the older kids books earlier than other children of my age. I just simply could not read enough when I was little. I did love to sing, but I probably wasn't as good a singer as her when I was little. She was just so pretty, smart, and not blonde. Those are the things I admired most about her. I noticed when I was little that the blonde Disney princesses always had to 'be saved.' Belle was more courageous to me when I was little, so I liked her more.

1st Assignment

The author really knows what he’s talking about. Every single element of a story is organized and titled. There are even some elements that I didn’t even know about, since they were added from other cultures. It’s not just about the physical journey of the hero, but the psychological aspects of it all as well. The lists and diagram clearly point out the specific sequences in every story. But these principles can also be applied to life, not just writing more stories.

I was completely in awe by the seemingly obviousness of the hero’s journey. I am amazed at the dynamic roles the hero can play. The book so far is a real page-turner, and I find myself reluctant to put it down. I can definitely tell how this book’s information can be applied to real-life situations. All of us are going through a journey called life, but it’s our choices that depend on the outcome of situations that arise. We can either arrive victorious, or crumble by the weight of a bad decision.

The hero can be anyone in a story, but it seems like the hero almost always is the most unlikely character in the story. The hero seeks out what must be brought back to their land, by traveling into the unknown. The hero acquires help with the task from a mentor that is a wise older being. The hero makes some acquaintances, enemies, and goes through trials before “going into the cave.” There is a long perilous path to endure and a monster to defeat. A treasure is taken and then there is the journey back, which can be equally perilous. The hero usually makes it back, and peace is restored to the land.

1.) How do different cultures play into various current movies?

2.) What’s the best ending to a story?

Is the journey to the destination better than the journey back? Why?