Summary:

Stage nine is the next step in the hero's journey. In this stage the heros experiences the consequences of surviving death and they get to lay claim to their reward. After having survived death the hero usually engages in some type of celebration . This allows the hero to replenish strength needed for the return to the upper world. Many times following this celebration is a campfire scene which is an opportunity for the hero to tell jokes and boast. It's also a time for the hero to recall the events or people who influenced him or speak about the unwritten code by which runs his life. For the audience this campfire scene allows the audience to catch our breath after and exciting battle or ordeal. The aftermath of the supreme ordeal may also be an opportunity for a love scene because according to Vougler the hero doesn't deserve to be loved until she has sacrificed something and become worthy of love. Seizing the sword is when the hero aggressively takes possession of whatever was being sought in the special world. The prize is not always given and sometimes it must be taken this is called, "elixer theft". Heros may find that overcoming death gives them new powers or better perceptions. Heros may also see things more clearly, experience self realization or an epiphany. Not all stories follow this pattern. Sometimes following the near death experience the hero may experience some distortion in perception. This could be due to an inflation of the ego.

Few heros elect to stay in the new special world and most take the road back returning to the starting point of their journey or continuing to a totally new destination. The road back marks a time when the heros rededicate themselves to the adventure. The hero may also find that villains may rise up and need to be defeated once more. In some cases the heros leave the new world in a chase seen fleeing for their lives. In fairy tales this scene often involves a magical transformation of objects know as a magical flight. Another way a hero can leave this special world is if they are being chased by admirers or they are chasing after a villain who has escaped into the ordinary world. 

Reaction:

    When I was reading about the flight back to the ordinary world and how in fairy takes many times it involves a transformation of objects known as a magical fight, I immediately thought of the movie cinderella. When the clock strikes 12 she must leave the ball or the special world. As she is fleeing to return to her ordinary world, her clothes and magical wagon are all being magically transformed back into the ordinary objects they started as. I also noticed that she has to return to her ordinary world before her journey is over. In the end she doesn't end up staying in her ordinary world as a salve to her stepmom, she is whisked off to live with the prince and start a new life.

Q's:

Vougler states, "what the hero throws down in the chase to the ordinary world may represent a sacrifice or something of value." When we experience new things in our own lives and come back changed do we sacrifice old things that were important to us in order to make this change?

Do you think that sometimes this sacrifice involves leaving people behind who once were important to us, but may inhibit us from further growth?

Vougler also talks about a reversal of the hero's good fortune during the road back.  

Do you think that sometimes the road back is the hardest part of the journey?

Ester's character seems to be hardened rendering her incapable of experiencing her own pain. When she looses her virginity, she thought it would be a huge milestone in her life. It turns out to be an awful experience, ending in her hospitalization, yet she is numb to the whole event. She recounts the details with preciseness, but mentions nothing about how it made her feel. Shortly afterwards she finds out her best friend has hung herself. She is completely numb to this drastic news showing no sorrow at the loss of her friend. Ester's past experiences in the asylum must have desensitized her leaving her incapable of feelings her own emotional pain.

The strength of my outline was the detail I put into my research. Another strength was the amount of sources I had consulted. Another strength was being able to pick out the relative information out of all my sources and put it together so it makes sense to the reader. Another strength is my ability to inform the reader about the misconceptions on ethanol.

My weaknesses were defiantly my interviews. I had done so much research I knew basically all there was to know about my topic and didn't find the interviews that useful. I didn't utilize the interviews in my outline. I also only filled out the outline for about a quarter of my paper because I have many more paragraphs then the outlined allowed for. Another weakness is pharagraph organization. 

Vougler pg 143-173

Summary:
The Approach to the Inmost Cave and the Ordeal are two important stages of his hero’s journey. The Approach to the Inmost Cave is when the hero enters a new zone with its own Threshold Guardians, agendas, and tests. There are a few different approaches the hero can take to the inmost cave. He can use the courtship approach or the bold approach. Vougler uses different parts of The Wizard of OZ to explain the different stages in the approach to the Inmost Cave. Before the hero can move forward he has to get a plan of action. The heroes will need to regroup and make plans. There are obstacles and threshold guardians along the way in this approach to in inmost cave. Obstacles and illusions may also stand in the heros way and temporarily prevent him from making progress. Tests, high stakes and complications may deter the hero and make it necessary for him to reorganize and ready his defenses. At the end of this approach to the inmost cave there is no turning back the hero must get ready to face the ordeal and the potential life or death situation.
The Ordeal is the main event in hero’s story. The main point of the Ordeal for the hero to die so that he can be reborn. This is when the biggest change occurs in the hero. The Ordeal often involves the hero’s innermost fears.The rebirth of the hero impowers him to continue fighting these challenges. The Ordeal is a crisis and not the climax of the story. This part of the story is the most dramatic and causes the most tension. The hero comes close to death, may appear to die, and may even witness the death of others. The next step after cheating death involves a reward.

Reaction:
Vougler talked about Demonization and how, “no matter how Alien the villains values are they are the dark reflection of the hero’s own desires, magnified and distorted, her greatest fears come to life.” This is an interesting concept. That perhaps the hero and the villain could both have the same deep dark desires. I think this explain how in some movies a character that may start out as a hero but turn into a villain. Sometimes the hero gets caught up in the power he or she accumulates and gives into the dark desires of their heart. I think we also see this in manifest in life sometimes people you think are hero’s or role models and you look up to them, but power can change people and motivate them to give in to dark desires.

Q’s: Keeping in mind Vougler’s definition of demonization, can you think of a film in which the hero becomes the villain?

Do you think if you encountered a near death experience in your own life it would be powerful enough to change you so much that in a sense you would become reborn?

What do you think about the “death of the ego” where the hero embraces the god within and find a deeper meaning and connectedness to the world around him, instead of just living for himself? Could this be considered the most important stage in the Ordeal?

Summary:

Crossing the first threshold is when the hero stands at the edge of adventure, and the special world of act two.  Crossing the first threshold is an act of the will in which the hero commits wholeheartedly to the adventure.  Threshold guardians are the beings who try and block the hero from crossing the threshold. The task for the heros at this point is often to figure out some way around or through these guardians. Threshold Guardians who seem to be enemies may be turned into valuable allies.  At the crossing the hero must first take the leap of fate.  The hero doesn’t always land gently after the leap of fate.  The most important function of this period of adjustment to the special world is testing. Storytellers use this phase to test the hero, putting her through a serious of trails and challenges that are meant to prepare her for greater ordeals ahead. Another function of this stage is the making of allies or enemies. The testing stage may also provide the opportunity for the forging of a team. The strengths and flaws of the team members are revealed during testing. The hero also learn who his enemies are. The rival is a special kind of enemy. The rival is usually not out to kill the hero but just complete him in competition. Another hurdle the hero must get over is learning the new rules of this special word. An important place to gather information, meet people and learn about the journey ahead is the watering hole or a bar.

Reactions:

            I thought it was interesting how Vougler said that the hero doesn’t always land gently after taking a leap of fate. In life we don’t always get rewarded after we take chances. Sometimes when we are willing to confront challenges in our life and commit to our own adventures, things don’t work out right away. Getting committed is only part of the battle. I also thought it was interesting how Vougler talked about how, crossing the first threshold is when the hero is really tested. He said these tests are meant to prepare the hero for greater oreals ahead. I think this is true in life. Whenever we are tested weather is be academically, physically, or emotional it makes us stronger and wiser and more able to face the future.

Questions:

1.     Vougler talks about how strengths and flaws of team members are revealed during times of testing. Do you think that this is true of  your friends, that their strengths and flaws really shine through when your relationship, or your friends are tested?

2.     Do you think that a rival can be a good thing, and through competition with the hero push him to do his best?

3.     Can you think of a movie in which the rival is the actual catalyst to the hero’s success in his journey?            

Vougler 107-127

Summary: A refusal of the call is the most common reaction of a hero to their call to adventure. This is because the hero is being asked to say yes to a great unknown, to an adventure that will be exciting but also dangerous and even life-threatening. It wouldn't be a real adventure otherwise. It's understandable that the reaction would be hesitant because the hero is standing at a threshold of fear, fear of the unknown. It's natural for heroes to first react by trying to dodge the adventure. They also tend to make excuses why they shouldn't go on the ad venture, but a persistent refusal of the call can be disastrous. A hero may have more then one calls to adventure at a time and there may be some special cases where it's a good thing that the hero refuses the call. Some heros never refuse the call they are called willing heros. Heros usually violate limits set by mentors and threshold guardians due to what is called the law of the secret door. This is a symbol of human curiosity and the powerful drive to know all the hidden things or secrets. Meeting with the mentor is the second stage of the hero's journey in which the hero gains the supplies, knowledge and confidence needed to overcome fear and begin the adventure. The mentor is the source of wisdom. Mentor s in folklore are usually magical protectors. Chiron is a prototype for a wise old man or woman. The word mentor comes from the odysseys and his friend named mentor. Mentors act mainly on the mind of the hero. They can at times mislead the hero and if they become to attached it can be dangerous. The heros can also become dangerous to the mentors. Mentors can be regarded as hers wo have become experienced enough to teach others

Reaction: My initial reaction to the text was that I related the call to adventure to the call I received to come to Eckerd. I have never been away from home, and I've grown up in the same house in the same town all my life. When the prospect of leaving the state to go all the way to Florida came up I initially refused it. The other colleges I applied to were all much closer to home. It was my dad who functioned as the mentor on my journey. He convinced me that going to Eckerd was the best thing for me and that it was time I left home and really spread my wings. He has been supportive through the whole transition assuring me that this is the right place for me. He gives me knowledge and confidence I need to succeed here in this new environment. His role is that of the stereotypical mentor in the heroes journey

Questions:

Vougler states that in some stories there is no actual character performing the many functions of a mentor, but heroes almost always make contact with some source of wisdom weather it's looking inside themselves or learning from the past experiences of others. Can you think of a story that has no mentor character?

Can you think of a story where the hero found the wisdom he needed within himself rather then those around him?

Vougler also states that sometimes the hero mentor relationship can take a tragic of deadly turn if the hero is ungrateful. Can you think of a time when you were ungrateful to someone who has helped to mentor you?

revision plan

Editing

-       take out some commas that are not needed and only used to break up speech.

-       Fix the past and present verb tenses in my paper and make sure they are consistent.

-       Fix run on sentences

Revise

-       get rid of this, and it’s throughout my paper and replace them with more powerful descriptive words

-       transitions from one paragraph to the next

-       ending> need to find a way to communicate what lessons I took with me or what I learned from the experience> need to take back the elixer to my ordinary world> also communicate what the readers cdan learn from the story without sounding to cliché 

quiz

1.     The ordinary world of Gregor Samsa get’s completely turned upside down when he wakes up one morning and finds out he has transformed into a giant insect. His ordinary day to day routine was centered around work because he was a treveling salemen who was very dedicated to his job. He lives with his mom dad and sister and his money supports them. When he finds himself changed into a bug this ordinary routine of going to work to get his family out of debt is no longer possible. His call to adventure is when his parents, sister and chief clerk all try and get him to out of bed and to open his door.  It’s not that he refuses this call, but rather that his current situation of being transformed into a bug holds him back. He can’t figure out how to manuver his new body.  When he finally does leave his room he finds that his parents and boss are frightened of him and his dad shoes him away.  This special world he has enetered into is in the same setting as his ordinary world it just involves learning how to deal with his current situation of being transformed into a bug.

2.     The social issue being critiqued in this work is the work ethic of society, Gregor wakes up one morning to find himself transformed into a bug. Normally you would expect him to be hysterical over the fact that he is a giant bug, but he is more concerned with the fact that he is going to miss the train and can’t go on his business trip. The fact that he is going to have to miss a day of work is more distressing to him then his own situation. I think this critiques how our society can get so wrapped up in work that we become workaholics, even incapable of focusing on anything else. The red scare is related to the metamorphosis because the red scare was all about how Americans were afraid of communists. There were many accusations made against fellow Americans calling them communists. For the first time Americans were suspicious and afraid or their own people, their own kind. This is related to how Gregor’s mother and father were afraid of him, even though he was once just like them. They knew it was still him inside but because his appearance was different they shunned him. In the red scare many people were accused of being communists falsely because they appeared to be.

3.     A bug