Annotated Bibliography Vogler (83-105)

Elena Weinberg

Kelly

Analytic and Persuasive Writing

30 September 2008

Annotated Bibliography #4

Vogler, Christopher, and Michele Montez. The Writer's Journey : Mythic Structure for Writers. 3rd ed. Boston: Michael Wiese Productions, 2007. 83-105.

 

Summary

 

            The Ordinary World is essential to the affective portrayal of the hero’s journey.  Without the depiction of the Ordinary World, the audience has no way of recognizing their hero’s transformation, which makes it, in actuality, difficult to determine which character is the hero.  There are several crucial elements that result in the delineation of The Ordinary World.  The first is the title.  The title is the first thing an audience will see and can be a powerful metaphor in terms of the grand scheme of the story.  The next is the opening image, an important tool that sets the mood and familiarizes the audience with its characters.  Prologues serve many purposes and are useful devices for setting the scene in the Ordinary World

            The Call To Adventure is the force that sets the plot in motion.  Up until this point we are introduced to our hero in his or her daily routine, and feel an acute desire for something out-of-the-ordinary or a change to occur.  This step to the hero’s journey is the trigger for that change.  This Call may appear as synchronicity, temptation, heralds of change, reconnaissance, disorientation and discomfort, lack or need, no more options, warnings for tragic heroes, and more than one call:  call waiting.

 

Reaction

 

            The Ordinary World and The Call To Adventure are the very initial aspects of the Hero’s Journey.  Without these two steps, the plot would not have the same development or affect on the audience.

 

Questions

 

1.     Does the way in which the Hero is Called To Adventure have a large affect on the initial tone set in the film?

 

2.     Can different combinations of Ordinary Worlds and Calls To Adventure cause the same plot to take on many different facets?

 

3.     Is a more concrete Call To Adventure more affective than one that is more abstract?

Annotated Bibliography Vogler (49-80)

Vogler, Christopher, and Michele Montez. The Writer's Journey : Mythic Structure for Writers. 3rd ed. Boston: Michael Wiese Productions, 2007. 49-80.

 

Summary

 

This reading discussed six archetypes:  Threshold Guardian, Herald, Shapeshifter, Shadow, Ally, and Trickster.

 The Threshold Guardian serves the primary purpose of presenting a challenge to the Hero that must be conquered or overcome in order for the Hero to learn something critical about him/herself.  Vogler describes it as a feat meant “not necessarily to stop you, but to test if you are really determined to accept the challenge of change” (50).  He then goes on to say, “Ideally, Threshold Guardians are not to be defeated but incorporated” (51) into a Hero’s character.

The Herald provides the motivation for conflict, essentially announcing the need for change.  He is the Call to Adventure in the Heroes’ Journey, and may appear in the form of a human or a force. 

The Shapeshifter changes constantly from the Hero’s point of view and often is found in a romantic interest of the opposite sex.  This character can be either helpful or destructive to the protagonist and often serves as a catalyst for change, a symbol for the Hero’s psychological urge to transform.  Vogler calls the Shapeshifter one of the most flexible archetypes.

The Shadow can be portrayed negatively through villains, antagonists, and enemies.  It can also take on the psychological form of an internal force with which the Hero struggles.  Many Shadow figures are also Shapeshifters.  Shadows serve the dramatic function of challenging the Hero, offering him a worthy opponent to create conflict, and bring out the best in the Hero.  Vogler points out that humanizing Shadow figures is very effective because it makes “killing such figures…a true moral choice rather than a thoughtless reflex” (67).

The Ally serves the purpose of humanizing our Heroes.  This character often appears in the form of a best friend in whom the hero may confide or share human feelings.  Some of the common Allies mentioned by Vogler are Multiple Allies, Western Allies (Sidekicks), Non-human Allies, Animal Allies, Allies From Beyond the Grave, Helpful Servants, and Modern Allies.  Allies also may function as a window to “the Special World.”  They may introduce us to the new, unfamiliar world into which we are about to follow our Hero, and even explain its significance.  The Ally could also psychologically function as powerful internal forces that result in a sort of epiphany or spiritual realization.

The Trickster “embodies energies of mischief and desire for change” (77).  This archetype may psychologically present “itself through impish accidents or slips of the tongue that alert us to the need for change” (77).  The Trickster is also functions dramatically as a comic relief.  There are also Trickster Heroes that often affect the lives of others but don’t change much themselves.

 

Reaction

 

            These six archetypes have the common trait that they are incredibly versatile in terms of which characters possess which and when and how they are depicted.  These archetypes deal a lot with change and how Heroes cope with it as a catalyst and impediment to their psychological and sometimes even physical development.  It seems that many of these archetypes can very easily and concretely be related to ancient mythological tales like Homer’s Odyssey.  For example, Odysseus is very much a Trickster Hero.  Furthermore, Athena serves as Herald when she takes on the form of Odysseus’ old friend, Mentor, and tells Telemachus that it is his responsibility to get revenge on the suitors.

 

Questions

1.     Are there any examples of works in which the same character takes on every archetype at one point or another in the story? 

2.     Is this an affective method?

3.     Why might an author choose to bestow upon one character several archetypes?

Extra Credits 1, 2 and 3

Free Rice

For this extra credit assignment I went to freerice.com, a vocabulary quizzing website that donates grains of rice to the UN World Food Program. For each vocabulary word of which you guess the meaning, freerice.com donates 20 grains of rice to the UN World Food Program. I defined 50 vocabulary words and donated 1000 grains of rice in approximately ten minutes. Before this assignment I didn't really know what freerice.com was and I had no desire to explore it. I was surprised to discover that my vocabulary and common sense in guessing words' meanings is quite keen and I really enjoyed using the website. Others should definitely use this website because it is a great way to improve your vocabulary and simultaneously benefit those in need.

Six Word Memoir

I came up with the six word memoir, "nostalgically clinically sardonically imaginatively conceivably thoughtful." These are six words I thought of to describe my life and myself. I learned that I find adverbs quite aesthetically pleasing. I must, to use so many to describe my general state of being. I found it very interesting to reflect on myself for a moment and see what kind of words came to mind when I thought about the six that sum me up. It's not easy to do--find the right combination of six words that define You. I think this is a valuable activity in which others should partake because it causes you to take a moment to reflect on yourself and consider yourself in new and intriguing ways. You can learn a lot about yourself and really open your mind by taking the time to think in this fashion.

NPR: StoryCorps

I listened to a story about an elderly married couple. He is now 96 years old and she is in her 80's. They met in 1940 because he was working as a physician over the summer and stayed in her family's lodge. Their story touched me for some reason. It seems so simple, but they have been married for 60 years now, and appear to be as in love today as they were when they first met. This kind of love seems so unusual these days and I feel great amounts of both jealousy and admiration toward them for the life they have lived. Furthermore, I find it quite generous that they should desire to share their story with the Nation via NPR. Others should participate in this activity because it is important to see how others feel and perceive things. Their experiences are ones to be learned from and enjoyed: That is why they share them.

Character Analysis

It is hard for me to distinguish exactly what it is about the eldest daughter of The Twelve Dancing Princesses with which I identify most.  In any case, there must be some reason for the strong attachment I feel to this story and the way in which her character strikes me.  Perhaps, the mere fact that I am the eldest of my siblings brings me the greatest sense of connection with this character.  It could also be the way in which she is the leader of the girls, persuading them to follow her into the night to dance with inhumanly handsome men until their shoes are worn.  On that note, perhaps it is simply the love of dancing with which I identify.  I relate to the burning desire these girls feel to escape the stresses of their own lives through dancing.  Escape is not the right word.  It is a way to channel all that you are feeling into this one form of powerful and invigorating expression.  It is the way in which you feel you have control over your body, but at the same time allow your body a certain amount of control over your internal self.  I understand how someone might get lost in that high and allow several mediocre suitors to lose their heads or their ears, depending upon the version with which you are familiar.

In terms of leadership, I have always been more of an outgoing, comedic, overbearing type, than a quiet, do-what-I’m-told, keep to myself kind of girl.  Although I have adapted those traits more with age, I am still very much the same girl.  I love to act and sing and dance and play sports and hike and explore and be active in any way possible.  I suppose it is my itch for change and activity that makes me like the eldest of the sisters.  Since she is the oldest, I assume that she initiated this tradition that so greatly contradicts the norm by which twelve princesses are thought to live.  By instigating this tradition, she is demonstrating such an itch for variation in a monotonous lifestyle.  I cannot conceive of having to live such a life, and although I am not the rebellious type, I imagine I would be if such constraints were placed on me in daily life.  I am not sure which of these characteristics it is that I feel connects me most to this character, whose name I don’t even know.  It is most clearly a connection with the story of twelve girls and this burning desire and ability to enter an imaginary world in which my love for dance and the metaphorical experience of dance illustrate themselves.