Blog #63 - Selina Zheng - Period 1 - 6/13/2020

Selina Zheng

06/13/2020

Period 1

Freshmen literature 2020

Blogger #62

Aim: How can our examination of Joseph Campbell's "The Hero's Journey" expose Odysseus as an archetypal hero?

Do Now: Interpret the following quote and apply it to Odysseus: 

This quote was brought to a class discussion after we reviewed the Aim. Mrs. Peterson addressed Joseph Campbell and his quote before she asked someone to spirit read the quote. After reading, several peers of mine answered the interpretation. One of the answers that were brought up caught my attention: they talked about how Odysseus seemed to follow this quote despite it not being addressed to him. I thought that there must be a deeper connection from this lesson to Odysseus. Of course, the foreshadowing was already done in the Aim. My answer which I don’t think I had the privilege to share was: Odysseus “ventured” out from beyond his kingdom and entered into a world where mortality is fragile. He experiences unworldly obstacles and through his wit, he surpasses them and “a decisive victory is won”. These fabulous forces could be referred to the help of deities that he got along the way.

After briefing through the Do Now, Mrs. Peterson went over the person with the quote memtioned before, Joseph Campbell. He is known for his book, “The Hero with a Thousand Faces”. The American pschylogist and mythological researcher devoted his life long research to capture the commonality of hero myths and stories in order to determine the theme in the essence of each hero. Campbell discovered a pattern found within stories from all around the world. It was fascinating how people from different cultures and religions even regions far and wide would have a similar copy fo a hero. 

With this discovery, Josepgh Campbell determined 2 terms to address his theory, the “Monomyth” which comes from the prefix mono for 1 and myth for myth.  This monomyth is reffered to the “Hero’s Journey”. 

In order to bring in more participation and relation to self, Mrs. Peterson asked the class to provide some books that we read in which could be connected to the lesson today. There were a variety of answers, some may include: 

~Percy Jacksons

~Fablehaven

~Divergent

~The Lion King.

Mrs. Peterson gave us 2 examples before starting in order to push the creativity flowing, she gave us a famous series, Harry Potter. It is one of the most read series for today’s youths and even adults. Harry Potter and his friends are the focus, and almost automatically connections were formed.

Within this quick discussion and popcorning names of books, Mrs. Peterson probed us to think wider and broader. After that, we continued the lesson to Archetypes. This vocabulary should sound familiar since it was in the Aim.

Archetypes in short are variables that share common factors and are made from the same mold, with natural differences as well.  In fact, Joseph Campbell the author mentioned before was highly influenced by a swiss psychiatrist named Carl Jung whose theroies involved archetypes. The official definition of archetypes from this lesson: “recurring images, patterns, and ideas from dreams and myths across various cultures.”

We were then provided examples of archetypes:

After a quick spirit reading, the class awaited a video. Through screen sharing, we could chose to look through Mrs. Peterson’s screen or watch the video ourselves since the link was provided. Here is the link: Netflix's Myths & Monsters: Joseph Campbell & The Hero's Journey ("Heroes & Villains," S1E1) [5:03]

In this video, the voice over not only explained Campbell as we did before, but also went over examples, which we also did before. Through animation we got to experinece one of the basic action a hero parttakes in. Without too much detail, the entire journey was more of an outline than a book. Because of that we got to understand this concept better. At the end of the video they left a preview of the next episode about how Author from teh Bible managed to play in with this concept. I would be lying if I did not want to watch the next episode. This concept was both interesting and refreshing especially how it has a point.

Finally with 5 minutes given toward this task, Mrs. Peterson asked us to answer the question in the textbox she provided via the docs. This question was : “Identify at least 2-3 examples of archetypes, as seen in The Odyssey. “ We were given more examples of archtypes,

A respectable classmate replied with Penelope as both a magician and sage. Their explanation was how Penelope managed to trick the suitors as well as how she was still rational even when Odysseus returned home. This showed her potential as both the magician and sage. I provided an example of one of my asnwers as well: “The Creator resembles the gods. They have their own sense of “aesthetics” and can over dramatize many things. Such a simple sentence could go wrong in their books.” Of course, I also added several other characters but for the sake of not influencing your answer, I only provided a couple of examples.

The last video before parting to answer the last question individually was more intellect about the Hero’s Journy. This time it focues solely on how the hero and the plot progresses. This is the link: The Hero's journey in 5 minutes [4:30]

The last page of the lesson inlcuded 2 tasks to finish. One was about the homework while the other was a well written paragraph with evidence. This is what the assignment included “Using the supplemental worksheet (19 Joseph Campbell’s - Monomyth framework) with this lesson (that you will also be using for homework) along with this diagram, apply Joseph Campbell’s theory to Homer’s Odyssey.

• Create a sketch of the diagram on your device or construct a chart/table here in your Google Doc tracking Odysseus’ path through the Hero’s Journey.

3. Assess Odysseus’ status as a hero through the lens of Campbell. 

• We’ve had multiple discussions about his status as a hero with many of you arguing both for and against him. With the application of Campbell’s theory of hero, has Odysseus emerged as more (or less) of an archetypal hero? Explain your answer below!

Include specific evidence from The Odyssey, as well as evidence from the stages of Campbell’s theory to support your response.”

Reflection: Today’s lesson explained a concept that I would have never thought up myself if not for ELA Literature. It was interesting to see how many stories that I had taken a liking to would actually follow to a certain extent the plot outline of the Hero’s Journey. Campbell captured the essence of these heroes and stories to the fullest and shortened it to the full circle we have today. Now whenever I read a book or perhaps even write one, I have a nice outline to look at the story with. Not only did my perspective widen but I also gained epiphany on how to come up with a journey worth reading. Of course, writers have other aspects to take in consideration when writing about a hero. But not only can I analyze other people’s writing with this in mind but also, when I write myself I have something to help me get started. Learning this is not only to apply to other books but also apply it to myself. I might not have the body or mind of a hero, but what all heroes have in common is their journey. Perhaps we won’t go to a fantasy world filled with monsters and superior deities but we have a mission and a quest awaiting each and every one of us.

I love reading. If there is anything in the world that I can not stop doing it would be reading. When I find a particularly satisfying book, I would acquire a moment of just pure happiness. A book should not be judged by its cover but it can be judged by the amount of attention the writer puts into the book. I read a lot of online books which meant they aren’t published yet or are translations. If the author is too amauter to even capitalize their I’s, I would want out immediately. I used to read paperback, published works but after a while of not being able to go to the bookstore as often as I wanted (not only during quarantine but even before), I started to go back into online reading. And it was worth it; there is a different taste to different books. Published books have this official and less pure tone to them. Meanwhile books by amatuer writers would commonly use cliches in order to stabilize their audience. Their writing style is less refined and looks too common since oftentimes they follow another writer’s work for inspiration. Bolder writers would try to incorporate a new idea that might capture the audience’s attention or disgust. Newer books that I started reading include translations. These books are translated from Chinese novels that are published. I think chinese novels have a different tone to them even after they are translated to english. They differ from english writers in a way that is subtle yet needs to be taken in account of. This new flavor of books has caught my attention which is why I filled my online library with these types of books.

Working from home is a question I answered before. And if anything, my answer remains the same. I seem to be doing better however, I feel even more discouraged when I don’t do as good on a test even when it is an open notebook. I try not to browse through my notes too often when taking the test, but I still succumb to the temptation. I know for a fact that it is allowed since my teachers would specify that it is an open notebook, but for my pride, I try not to use it. Still, when I do and get a not so desirable grade, I am whole heartily disappointed. Otherwise, learning from home is great academically but not so much for my mom. My mom sees us on our computers often and thinks that we are not doing our homework but is playing games instead. I do admit to pausing occasionally to read for my breaks but I am not lying when I tell her that I have homework to do. Still, she does not understand that because I have time, I take the liberty to plan out my schedule so when I don’t have time to help, I mean I don’t. This may sound confusing, but I tend to milk out as much time as possible to read and when I think it is time to be filial, I would help her. I know I should not take as many breaks and when I do take a break I should help my mom, but it is difficult to plan how long she would need me. My break is only so long and sometimes, helping her takes hours. If I try to go out after starting, she would definitely get mad. And so, this is the downsides of learning from home. 

New York is about to open back up. My coach informed us the other day that people who weren’t able to go out and run should be able to now. However, my mom has a condition that if I want to run I have to wake up early. I don’t have that good of a will and I don’t know if I could do it. I think working out at home is the better alternative even if I don’t get as much experience running long runs. Cross country is going to be tough now that I took such a long break away. Right now COVID-19 seems under wraps, but who knows what would happen since there have been many protests over the last few months. These protests are important but at the same time, I don’t know if it is the time for this. Humans are so restless. When we should be standing up for the other we are not, and when we have to stay home, we stand up. Black Lives Matter has always been a problem and it takes people dying to be posted on the media in order for them to start acting. That is disappointing. Otherwise, the things going on in the world are not too notable as of right now. The coronavirus is dying down in NY, and my parents don’t talk about it as often. My sister went back to work and life continues.