So it turns out that the curriculum I'll be teaching includes King Arthur and teaching the Hero's Journey. Blah!
When I heard that, I instantly thought of my freshman high school class when we read a few chapters of The Once and Future King. Blah! King Arthur is overrated!
I also remembered my senior year learning about the Hero's Journey by reading The Odyssey. Blah and barf! Who cares that Odysseus went on a boat and that's an archetype of other people going on boats in other books?!
I told Kevin what I'll be teaching, and the minute I said King Arthur, his eyes lit up. When I mentioned the Hero's Journey, he got so excited he looked like he'd pop.
Sometimes I forget my husband majored in Comparative Literature.
And that he'd just spent the last month reading Le Morte D'Arthur FOR FUN.
He showed me a couple websites and some information about Joseph Campbell and his research into ancient myths. He worked off the ideas of a lot of other guys (of course) and came up with a bunch of elements that essentially every story, myth, legend, and epic adventure story have in common-- around the world. He put these ideas together and came up with the typical Hero, typical villain, and typical events that happen in these legends. He came up with the word archetype. (!!) That's pretty cool.
Then on one website, there was a chart showing how these archetypal events were strictly what George Lucas based Star Wars on. And it compares them to events on the Matrix.
This piqued my interest.
"Hey, that's kind of like in the Lord of the Rings when..." I started making my own connections and getting kind of involved.
"Wait a second, HARRY POTTER is the archetypal hero! And Voldemort is his villain! And his call to adventure is when he gets his letter inviting him to Hogwarts! And the Mentor is obviously Dumbledore! And there's a prophecy!!! Aaaahhhhh!!!!!"
There was much excitement.
Tonight, still thinking about Harry Potter being the Hero on the Journey, I said to Kevin (as if we were still having the same conversation from several nights ago), "But what's the Abyss for Harry Potter?"
Not missing a beat, he says, AND I QUOTE, "Well, it's the graveyard, obviously."
Obviously!!
I have a feeling this unit will be fun. :)
5 comments:
Good thing you married Kevin! :) Definitely figure out the parallels in Lord of the Rings as well, because since the movies came out there has been a surge in interest again. Harry Potter rocks!
I love this post! I do this to Dave all the time. It's not, "What do you think the Abyss is for Harry?" It's, "BUT what is the Abyss?" When I do this to Dave, he never mentions it. I think he's used to it. But it still usually takes him a minute to figure out what his crazy wife is thinking and how to answer her!
The rest of the story: Kevin had told me that "the abyss" was in Star Wars where they're stuck in the trash compactor. Okay, so I thought it was representative of that episode of the Odyssey where they sail through the two sheer cliffs. In my mind, the mental picture was the same: get squished between two cliffs or two sides of the trash compactor.
That's why I was having trouble thinking of one in Harry Potter and why it SHOCKED me when Kevin found it so obvious.
But then he explained what the abyss is (the underworld or dark regions of the earth, often meeting spirits), and it made complete sense. Well yeah, he goes through a treacherous maze, gets sucked to the graveyard where he faces Voldemort, sees his parents' spirits, and it's all dark and horrible.
Doesn't it make you feel funny to type "Voldemort"?
I don't know if I ever have typed V... You-Know-Who's name. Haha!
Good luck. I'm glad someone is excited to teach kids!
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