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Hero's Journey Research Paper

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Semester A Unit 2 Lesson 8 Introduction and Objective Who would want to be in a belly of a whale? Most likely no one. This would be a dangerous place to be and your chances of getting out would be slim to none. So when Joseph Campbell termed the step of the Belly of a Whale in the departure stage of the Hero’s Journey, he clearly did so to emphasize the danger of the situation that can occur in this step. Students will be able to provide examples of the belly of the whale in the hero's journey. How do you know what you are reading is the part where danger is about to occur? Think back to stories you are familiar with and what led up to the danger and where was the danger? Open your digital notebook and describe your strategy and the …show more content…

MYTH_SA_U2_L6_ACT1 DOK2 Entering the Belly of the Whale is rather elaborate description, but simply means going somewhere dangerous. It is a reference to Johah entering the whale in the Biblical story. Literature has a number of symbolic references that pertain to areas of danger, such as the 'dragon's lair', or 'the lion's den'. The hero enters the zone of danger in this step of the departure stage. This entering into danger may start instantly after the first threshold or may entail some travel. The intensity increases during this part of the story. Some key points to know about this step that is also known as “Entering the Unknown”: • There may be a number of transitions into the danger zones within the story, each crossing some threshold and usually with a sense of not being able to go back. • With the increase in danger, the audience senses an increase in tension and is thus drawn deeper into the story. • As the hero enters the outside world, he or she learns of new rules unlike those of the ordinary world from which the hero comes from. These rules are quickly respected as their strength, patience, and determination are tested time and time …show more content…

This may be the belly of some animal such as when Little Red Riding Hood was swallowed by a wolf. In Raiders of the Lost Ark, the belly may be the locked well in which Indy and Marion are locked inside of by the Nazis, who leave them for dead. The darkness possibly symbolizes the lack of knowledge of what’s really in the new, dark world. The narrowness of this place may perhaps symbolize the way this lack of knowledge closes the reader into the story. The passage into “the belly of the whale” can also mean coming up against the part of us that needs to hang onto the harsh beliefs and behaviors that we’re trying to leave

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