updated 7-27-04

Project 4
Report on a Modern Hero
Fall 2004

Background

The popularity of the heroic tradition seen in Greek and other ancient cultures has continued unbroken to the present day. Legends immortalize cultural heroes, fairy tales echo heroic themes, folk tales show average men, women, and children acting heroically, and even fables sometimes show animals taking the role of the hero. Modern stories, TV programs, and movies often follow the heroic tradition. Choose a hero or heroine from your childhood or from modern media on which to focus your discussion.  Then choose a Greek hero who seems to best match your modern character.

Your goal is to prove that your character is a hero or heroine by comparing and contrasting him or her in 5 main ways to one of the classical Greek heroes studied in Chapters 12-16 and 18.  While the paper will talk about both characters, the emphasis should always be on explaining and understanding the modern character.

Research

First review the textbook chapter and notes on the Greek hero.

Second, review or discover what authorities have said about the Greek hero by revisiting some of the sources you looked at when you did the Hero Treasure Hunt  for your report on the Legendary Hero.  

Next, review the 5 main clusters of ideas that define the classical legendary hero presented in The Heroic Pattern.  These 5 clusters will provide the basis of the comparison and contrast between your modern hero and the Greek hero.

Finally, find a paper source or web site that talks about the modern hero you chose to write about.  That site may also give you some ideas about how to compare and contrast your modern hero to the archetypal pattern.

The product will be a written paper of 1000-1500 words, due at the time set for the final exam. The paper may be handwritten or done on a printer, cover sheet, fronts only, stapled, no plastic or other binding. The last page of the paper should be a Works Cited page. Include items for your textbook, the new hero (film, TV, or book), one book you found in the library, and the url of one new web site.  If you're not sure how to write a Works Cited page, go to 

Hacker, Diana.  A Writer’s Reference, 4^th.  Boston and New York:  Bedford/St. Martin’s, 1999.
http://www.bedfordstmartins.com (September 16, 2001).

and follow the links to the section that talks about citations.  If you feel confused, see me and I'll be glad to help you out.

Writing the Report

Next, think about how your modern hero compares or contrasts to the Greek hero. To organize your paper, try starting with the 5 clusters of ideas outlined in the heroic pattern. Then you can add/subtract ideas as needed to suit your particular character.

The paper should begin with an overview of the heroes

• Who were they and why did you choose to compare them?
• What did the story-tellers hope to accomplish by telling or writing the stories? (For example, to entertain, to inform, to persuade, to ???)

The body of the paper should be organized into 5 main units.  Units may consist of more than one paragraph.  If an element in the pattern is not important, you can say that.

1. Early life: How does your modern hero/heroine compare to the Greek hero in terms of

• parentage
• birth
• early childhood

2. Young adulthood:  How do your hero/heroine's experiences in young adulthood compare to those of the Greek hero?  Be sure to include the reason for the journey or quest
   
3. Journey or Quest: How does your modern hero/heroine compare to the Greek hero in terms of 

• the help the character is able to enlist (mentors, talismans, special powers or weapons, etc)
• the battles or conflicts the character experiences and what they represent (struggles with conflicting duties, with sexual and other relationships, with fear, with the dark side of his/her own nature, with accepting mortality, etc.)
• how the hero wins (brute strength, courage, intelligence, divine or other mystical or magical help, ???)
• what the hero learns about nature, human relationships, himself, mortality, etc.

4. Return home:  Again, explain how the experiences of your hero/heroine on the way home compare to those of the Greek hero.
   
5. Major Themes and Motifs:  Did the writer of your modern legend emphasize the same themes and motifs as the Greek story-teller?  If not, why not?

Consider ending your report by explaining whether you found the modern character as interesting as the ancient heroes and why.

Grading:

(100 points) wise use of the archetypal pattern in selecting points to discuss
(100 points) specific examples that illustrate the points you are making
(100 points max) noting and explaining differences as well as similarities (20 each)
(100 points)  Works Cited
(-2 points each error) sentence sense, spelling, proofreading