Timed Writing

In Campbell’s book, Hero with a thousand faces, the hero goes through many different stages to reach an ultimate goal. In this journey, there are three major steps, along with several minor stages, that the hero must complete. In the beginning of the journey, there is the call to adventure. This is when the character is either consciously or unconsciously faced with their mission at hand. For example, in Heart Of Darkness, the main character, Daniel, comes across a book with a magical power. When coming across the discovery of this power, Daniel is overwhelmed with curiosity as to what this book can do, which begins the call to adventure. The next major stage the character will go through is The Road of Trials. This stage presents a challenge in the character’s journey of which they need to conquer in order to proceed. In The Red Badge of Courage, the road of trials the soldiers face was found at the heart of war. In their trials, their faith in themselves was slowly slipping away, as they literally fight to survive. However, once this stage is completed, with hard effort, the final major stage is granted. This stage is referred to as the Apotheosis. This is the final appreciation that is gained after the hero’s personal excursion has ended. This is when the hero has reached their personal home, whether that is back where they started, or in a more desired location. In Christopher Vogler’s The Writer’s Journey, he uses The Titanic as a prime example. After Rose, the hero of this story, survives the sinking ship and the loss of her love (the road of trials), Rose is rescued to land. However, her “apotheosis” comes later when she realizes she is now a free girl, thanks to the trials she has been through. After the hero comes to this realization, the journey is at its end.

In my own personal journey through creating Project Three, I have not yet completed the three major steps. My call to adventure begun when I was introduced to the task ahead of me: preparing a lesson plan for fifth graders. My personal road of trials consisted of me finding a topic, and then finding a way to teach it through one lesson appropriate for my audience. This road of trials was challenging because it made me think of all the possibilities I could take to complete my task/journey. However, I came to my final consensus, where I decided my topic and the way of which I could express the topic in an appropriate way. My apotheosis will come when the project is fully completed and I receive my final grade because it is until then that I will appreciate the efforts I put forth while completing my mission.