Analysis: The Hero's Journey in Star Wars

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LAB:

Today we'll be in the library for only a little while (from 7:30 - 7:50). While you're here, please put finishing touches on your portfolios, print out any thing left to print out, etc. Tomorrow the marking period ends. Please make sure you have turned in your "Overcoat" ?'s Homework and any missing work you might have not completed.

On your way back to the classroom, please return The Epic of Gilgamesh and pick up both: Edith Hamilton's Mythology and Mythic Voices. We will be using selections from both books.

CLASSROOM:

Let's hear the rest of the chapters (3-6 & 7) of The Epic of Gilgamesh and discuss the Gilgamesh's hero journey & the work's 4 functions of a myth.

Hero Journey:
  • Status Quo/The Ordinary World
  • The Call to Adventure
  • (Refusal of the Quest)  
  • Accepting the Call
  • Entering the unknown
  • Supernatural Aid
  • Allies/Helpers
  • Acquiring/given a gift/Talisman
  • Tests & The Supreme Ordeal
  • Reward (finding the treasure)
  • The return/journey home
  • Master of Two Worlds/Restoring the World

Special Archetypes:
  • Heroes
  • Shadows (villains/antagonists/adversaries)
  • Mentors
  • Heralds/messengers
  • Threshold Guardians/Monsters/(represent hero's weaknesses)
  • Shapeshifters (represent change or reversal of fortune)
  • Tricksters (mischief-makers/fools)
  • Allies
  • Tempter/Temptress
4 Functions of a Myth:
  1. Evoke existential thought (what is the meaning of one's life?)
  2. Present an image of the Cosmos (where do I belong in the world? How did this world come to be?)
  3. Validate society or culture (what are the rules of the 'game'? How do I fit into society's roles?)
  4. Make sense of an individual's life: birth, growth, adulthood, maturity, death/change...

Watch Star Wars (1977) directed and written by George Lucas, starring Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, Alec Guinness, Peter Cushing, and the voice of James Earl Jones as Darth Vader. 

As you watch, take notes about how Lucas uses the hero's journey to make an existential statement. You will be asked to conduct an analysis of the film in light of the hero's journey and the 4 functions of mythology.

A few words about writing an analysis:

An analysis is usually an essay in which you study something (in this case a film) to understand how it works, what it means, or why it might be significant. Usually, we use deduction (or induction) to break down (or build) the object into parts. These parts are analyzed, then explained how they fit together to make meaning or how the object can be of use.

Skills writing analysis are often found in: literary analyses, essay exams, reviews, and research papers. They may also be found when you write lab reports, grant proposals, business plans, medical charts, legal briefs, case studies, and in technical writing (process analyses).

The first step is to work with a subject. Let's begin that process by viewing the film. 

As you watch, take note of scenes, characters, and events in the film that you could argue fit Campbell's definition of the Hero's Journey and the 4 Functions of Myth. Design for yourself a graphic organizer if you'd like. Know what you're looking for. It will make finding it a lot easier.

Let's try.

HOMEWORK: Edith Hamilton's "The Quest for the Golden Fleece" (117-130) and/or "Perseus" (141 - 148) story . Read and identify the hero's journey. You may create an outline, story board, mind-map or graphic design (like a board game) that illustrates key steps/figures of the typical Hero quest. Due: Nov. 9 (Wednesday).

NOTE: You may work with a partner for this assignment if you'd like--although you both should have read and understood the story (and both help complete the assignment!) 

Our coffeehouse is Nov. 8 at 7:00 in the Ensemble Theater. You are all welcome to attend (attending and reading a selection grants you extra credit for MP2!)

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