Week 4

Assignment:
Please read Chapter "Practical Guide" from Book One: Mapping the Journey of Christopher Vogler's Writer's Journey.
‍Pick out 3 quotes from the text and write one paragraph of response for each quote.
Pick out the things that do and do not make sense to you, things you do - or do not agree with.
Find the main takeaway form the article for you personally.

Agreed

• “At heart, despite its infinite variety, the hero’s story is always a journey.” (7)
  
  No matter how the story is written, and regardless of the outcome, a hero always goes through a personal transformation, or a “journey”. Throughout this journey, the audience can see the challenges and experiences that shape the hero’s growth.  I also agree with this quote because each story may have varying details, but at the end of the day, the hero’s story is still a journey.
• “Modern heroes may not be going into caves and labyrinths to fight mythical beasts, but they do enter a Special World and an Inmost Cave by venturing into space, to the bottom of the sea, into the depths of a modern city, or into their own hearts.” (20)
  
  I appreciate and agree with this quote because Vogler compares and contrasts the way stories were told before versus now.  This continues the idea that even though the details are not the same, a modern hero’s story still undergoes similar themes that exist in the previous ones.  A hero still comes out of their comfort zone and enters the Special World. A hero also still approaches The Inmost Cave, or the biggest challenge of their story. I appreciate this quote too because it alludes to new archetypes due to changes in modern society, but confirms that a hero’s story theme still exists.

Disagreed

• “The Hero’s Journey is a skeletal framework that should be fleshed out with the details and surprises of the individual story.” (19)
  
  ‍Although Vogler argues that there is not a formula for storytelling, I disagree with calling “The Hero’s Journey” a skeletal framework as it pushes writers to follow a specific style of storytelling. The Hero;s Journey is a very Westernized way of telling stories, whereas many non-Western narratives do not fit this mold. The Hero’s Journey focuses on character development, which is a common Westernized theme. 

Main Takeaway

• Christopher Vogler lays out a broad framework for storytelling that maps out the journey of the main character, or the hero. Vogler encourages writers to map a 12-stage journey for their hero, but also emphasizes that no story is alike. Each story has details that make each hero’s journey different, but overall they are composed of the same backbone structure.