Revitalization of the Hero's Journey

Revitalization of the Hero's Journey

Presenter(s)

Mary Kathryn Caserta

Description

My practicum Capstone will provide an analysis of Joseph Campbell’s work to understand why Campbell’s model has been commonly employed in the classroom and involve a unit plan that modernizes the hero’s journey. The overarching goal of my proposed research will allow young, secondary school readers to more deeply connect with the hero’s journey and, through their narrative work and literary analyses, more deeply consider the importance of literature in their personal lives when the protagonists are more diverse. An updated model that accounts for these discriminatory practices that heroes face allows for contemporary discourse about the various steps of the hero’s journey; therefore, allowing the heroes in question to be critiqued and analyzed through a modern lens. In secondary education, the hero’s journey can allow for deeper engagement with texts when students are able to broaden their view as to who a hero truly is- is the hero always the muscled Hercules, or can it also be a scrawny girl from a novel who rises above the expectations set before her? Joseph Campbell’s hero’s journey is missing elements that should be included to update his seventeen-step model for contemporary audiences; in this practicum, I combine Campbell’s framework with some missing elements and stages that modern readers face on their personal hero’s journeys. An updated model of the hero’s journey will include a variety of heroic protagonists, specifically protagonists that further align with contemporary views regarding intersectional texts which explore gender, race, age, and preconceived abilities.

Publication Date

4-22-2021

Project Designation

Graduate Research

Primary Advisor

Bryan A. Bardine, Kara N. Getrost, Carol Sue Lewellen, Patrick W. Thomas

Primary Advisor's Department

English

Keywords

Stander Symposium project, College of Arts and Sciences

United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

Quality Education; Reduced Inequalities

Revitalization of the Hero's Journey

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